NEW HANOVER COUNTY COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE 230 Government Center Drive, Suite 195, Wilmington, NC 28403 P:(910) 798-7184 | F:(910) 798-7277 | NHCgov.com Chris Coudriet, County Manager | Tim Burgess, Deputy County Manager Bradley, Assistant County Manager | Lisa Wurtzbacher, Assistant County Manager Tufann: February 13, 2023 Cedric Harrison 1624 Princess Street Wilmington, NC 28403 Dear Cedric: This isto inform you that you are being dismissed, effective immediately, due to unresolved patterns and practices related to your performance and leadership deficiencies throughout your introductory period. Even though | repeatedly addressed these concerns with you and provided you with guidance and ample opportunities to improve, your performance has not reached a level that is expected from a department head or from anyone entrusted wit the responsibilities of your position at New Hanover County. There have also been specific violations to County policies that cannot go unaddressed, Since you began employment on March 22, 2022, the issues | addressed included concerns related to your leadership; conflicts between outside employment from your private business and your role with New Hanover County; attendance; insubordination; and lack of always demonstrating all the County’s shared values. In September 2022, your six-month introductory period was extended for at least 90 days, in order to provide you with an opportunity to improve in numerous areas noted as part of your performance evaluation. In addition to the County's, shared value of integrity, other areas identified as needing improvement included a better understanding of the financial responsibilities required by your position and adherence to the County's financial policies and procedures; documented personnel management; establishing business partners; creating and sharing reports/data related to PCU and the divisions therein; timeliness, punctuality, and attendance; and a County principle of being easy to do business with. To further assist you in achieving success in your role, the County made a substantial financial investment by obtaining the services from an outside coach. Following the extension of your introductory period in September 2022, | addressed concerns over your outside ‘employment from your private business. You were using the County's Microsoft Outlook calendar to track appointments related to your outside employment from your private business. | directed you to end the practice of using the county's Outlook calendar to track appointments related to your outside employment and reminded you that your outside employment was secondary to your job with New Hanover County and must not conflict or be comingled with your position. It was during this time that | realized you had not completed an “outside employment request” form that is required by employees who engage in outside employment activities. | requested that you submit the completed form to me at that time and, even after multiple requests, have still not received it. During our scheduled monthly meeting in November 2022, we discussed that PCU had three vehicles assigned to the department for use among staff, when necessary to carry out their duties. This included the recently obtained Ford Expedition. At that time, you assured me you were complying with County policy that all of the vehicles assigned to PCU were housed in the parking deck, when they were not in use, because they were only allowed for business use. However, as noted below, you have violated that policy. In December 2022, your introductory period was again extended, to provide you an additional opportunity to demonstrate improvement in your performance, ensuring you were meeting the expectations required of a department head. You were still working with the outside coach and there were areas in need of improvement thatDismissal ~ Cedric Harrison Page 2 were previously discussed during your evaluation in September 2022, including the shared value of integrity, which was identified for a second time as needing significant improvement. You were stil not providing me with required reports that | repeatedly requested from you in addition to the outside employment request form. [As we are approaching 11 months of your employment and recognizing that an introductory period cannot go beyond 12 months, your continued leadership and performance deficiencies that | have repeatedly addressed with you are still of great concern. Your most recentactions that reflact my concerns over this continued pattern, which have come to my attention over the last week, include but are not limited to: # Insubordination. You continue to ignore my requests for completion of the “outside employment request” form, with the latest emailed to you on Friday, February 3, 2023, to be due to me by 12 Noon, Monday, February 6, 2023, which was not recelved. Additionally, | recently discovered that you circumvented me, by going to the Chief Information Officer in an attempt to replace the current iPads recently provided to your staff with laptops, ata significant cost to the County, after | specifically informed you that replacement. was not needed and would not be supported. + Use ofthe county email system to conduct your outside employment activities during county businesshours in January 2023, for which | have obtained the emails through the email system. # Use of the PCU social media page on more than one occasion to promote your private business, despite my previous directive that your outside employment was not to conflict or be comingled with your county position ‘+ Violation of the county's travel policy by using one of the three county vehicles (Ford Expedition) that has been assigned to your department for your own personal use and during personal hours. | was notified on February 7, 2023, by a credible eyewitness, that you drove the vehicle on Sunday, January 15, 2023, to a restaurant and you even transported a child in that vehicle on that same day. ‘+ Lack of good judgment, failure to demonstrate the shared value of stewardship, and inappropriate oversight that is expected from a department head. On February 7, 2023, it was brought to my attention that you Used your county-issued procurement card to buy a birthday card from Amazon, for a business partner, resulting in a total charge of $14.96. Along those same lines and also on February 7, 2023, | discovered that you used county funds to create a banner that not only included the PCU logo, but also contained a collage of photos of individuals, where one of them made an inappropriate and offensive gesture. The banner was hung in the public reception area of the PCU suit. Department heads are held to high standards and must abide by all of the County's policies, while demonstrating strong leadership and setting an example for others within and outside of their respective departments, For 11 months | have met with you, encouraged you, and provided you with helpful feedback and guidance for improvement. When | consider the totality of ongoing performance and leadership deficiencies, it is my determination that dismissal is appropriate. Since you are still in your introductory period, you do not have a right to appeal this decision. Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes (G.S. 1584-98}, this letter is a matter of public record and may therefore be released to any party upon request. Sincerely, Aboud Assistant County Manager