Over the past few months, the Town of Carrboro has been missing permanent people from a pair of key positions on staff. Even before Richard White transitioned from his role as town manager last November, and town clerk Wesley Barker left for a new role in October, the local government was simultaneously looking for their replacements.
But at the end of March, a pair of hires helped Carrboro shore up its staff and welcome two new members to its team.
Mayor Barbara Foushee could hardly contain her glee when talking about the town’s choice for its latest town manager, Patrice Toney, with 97.9 The Hill. Foushee and the rest of the Carrboro Town Council formally approved her hiring last Thursday after an extensive search conducted by an outside firm.
The mayor said the process took longer than expected because some of the town’s top choices dropped out, causing the search firm and council to hold more rounds of interviews.
“So, there was more that went on behind the scenes than what it looks like, it wasn’t just straight through, we had a couple of iterations of [candidate groups]. But I’m happy, because otherwise… if we hadn’t had that second iteration, we would not have found Mrs. Toney. She submitted her application, the council was very impressed with her, and it was a unanimous vote to bring her in.”
Toney has served as the assistant city manager for Winston-Salem since July 2021 and was also tapped to briefly hold the interim manager role. But she’s got an expansive career in local government, having worked with the city since 2016 as its budget and evaluation director and working for Forsyth County before that. While her recent work focuses on government finances, Toney previously worked for the county and city in public health roles, such as an outreach supervisor, an adolescent health consultant and a communications specialist for the police department.
Foushee said that breadth of experience across 25 years stood out to her.
“I remember looking at her resumé and thinking, ‘Wow, you’ve really come up through the ranks,’” said the Carrboro mayor.
While she helped handle city budgets more than half a billion dollars for Winston-Salem, Foushee said she believes Toney’s perspective will be helpful despite Carrboro’s budget being a fraction of the size.
“I think it’s going to be absolutely amazing,” she said, “because when I look at what [Toney] was over in Winston-Salem, with the budget [and] the size of the budget, it gives me great comfort. I think she can come here and definitely work with a smaller budget, potentially [bringing] in more ideas about the budget process. I just think she’ll be amazing.”
Earlier in the week, the Town of Carrboro also announced its selection and the start of Lamar Joyner in the town clerk role. While less hands-on for all town staff like the manager, the clerk position is critical for handling council matters and operations.
Foushee said she believes Joyner’s communication style blended with his experience as a county clerk for Buncombe County will make for a good fit.
“With the town clerk role,” she said, “you work with town staff, [and] you also liaise with the mayor and town council. But you’re also in touch with the community. That very even temperament he brings with him – not easily rattled, as he deals with community, town staff, the town council, and the mayor – I think that’s a great aspect to have.”
While Joyner has already begun his position, effective last Monday, Toney will formally join the town on May 6.
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