North Carolina Senator Kevin Corbin had a difficult decision to make back in 2013. Should the Macon County Board of Commissioners select a county manager based on past experience or a future-oriented mindset? Choose a candidate with technocratic skills that the county desperately needed or someone who knew the culture, life, and the internal relationships that make Macon County run?
Corbin, serving then as Macon County Board of Commissioners Chair, took a leap of faith and convinced the board to choose Derek Roland, setting off an 11-year journey that has seen the county bounce back from a real estate dip, address unprecedented population growth, tackle unique challenges such as a pandemic, and turn capital projects that were once just dreams into reality.
However, on Sept. 10, Roland opened the monthly board meeting by announcing his resignation, effective October 2024.
Surrounded by “amazing” people
Looking back on that providential decision to take the chance on a highly confident but wet-behind-the-ears, 28-year-old, Roland laughed and said, “Without Jesus, Momma, and Kevin Corbin, I wouldn’t be here.”
As he was talking, Roland began clearing the budget reports and forms from his desktop, showing memorabilia kept under the glass top.
“Everything is here for a reason,” he said.
The Franklin High School graduate, whose family has resided in Macon County for many generations, showed such items as: cards from Pamela Ledford, his assistant, whom he credited as the “boots on the ground” that keeps the county running year after year; a note from the late Harold Corbin; a thank you from Rotarian Dale West following a presentation with former County Manager Ron Winecoff; and, a note of encouragement from the late Dorothy Crawford, long considered a stalwart in the community. Also, on his desk are drawings from his children, pictures of grandparents, and other family photos.
Roland recounted the support he received in every phase of his life as a county employee. After a family member died unexpectedly in October 2010, “The whole county just surrounded me and my family with love.”
When Roland married his wife, Debi, a few years later, he invited all the county employees and the board of commissioners to share in his celebration.
A journey of appreciation
Finishing his master’s in public administration from Western Carolina University, Roland remembered the speed with which he took on his new role as county manager.
“I graduated on a Saturday and started this job on a Monday.”
Roland made it clear, though, that the accomplishments Macon County has made over the past decade are credited to the people who trained him, guided him, and worked with him on a daily basis.
“The people here are amazing,” said Roland. “The only job a manager has to do is to make sure department heads are able to do their job. At that point, you get out of the way. You’re on the team, just like they are. You’re all trying to carry out goals.”
Roland said he learned his management philosophy from Sam Greenwood, a former manager, when Roland was serving as the Town of Franklin planner.
“Sam had been such a successful manager, and I learned so much from him and [Mayor] Jack Horton.”
Roland offered thanks for those who took a chance on him early in his career, when he was working in the real estate industry in 2009. “It was a recession here, there was a hiring freeze, and real estate wasn’t selling. Jack Morgan, as director of Planning, Permitting and Development, gave me a chance. It was my first job. I had worked at Huddle House through college … but [this was] my first job in a real organization.”
Recalling the hijinks and not so gentle hazing of the Inspections Department, where Roland would often find his keys locked in his truck if he had not properly secured the vehicle for the day, he stated, “The camaraderie over there … I love these employees, every single one of them.”
Turning more serious, he noted, “They taught me a lot about how to deal with people … and working together. You spend more time at work than you do with your family.”
Roland considers one of his greatest accomplishments as county manager was to help stabilize the area’s workforce.
“We put a committee together [in 2021] and we contracted with an outside firm to do a pay study. We got about three months into it, and they gave us the product back,” he said.
The report was overly technical and would have forced the county to overhaul its entire personnel system.
Undaunted, Roland took a different approach.
“We went to the drawing board. We did get some valuable things from that [including] evaluations we were able to later use. But we pretty much started from scratch and built that pay study from the ground up. The work that went into that … that the committee did to pass that pay study … we were all in. We were somewhat affected by COVID, but you know, we had no choice. We were bleeding employees. The vacancy rates in our public safety departments were skyrocketing. We had to do something. That committee put together a pay study we still use that has made us competitive and set us apart from the rest of Western North Carolina.”
He added, “We had a $6 million reserve fund that had been depleted. We had a tough time bouncing out of the recession by 2013. We didn’t want to lay off employees. By the time I got here, the reserves were empty. We were having to bring money out of the general fund to subsidize the health insurance fund.”
Working with a local insurance company and the committee, Roland recalled, “We were able to structure it so that our plan became solvent. A group of county employees saved our health insurance fund.”
The budget as a focal point
When Roland became Macon County’s manager, the county budget was about $46 million. It has since grown to $67 million.
“It’s natural growth. If anyone ever… looks at the CPI [Consumer Price Index] and what that has done over the years … we compare everything to Jackson County. They are over $80 million. Here’s the thing, when we started here, we had the third lowest tax rate in the state. We are the lowest tax rate in the state today.”
Roland encouraged anyone seeking more information on the county’s budget solvency and efficiency to review the FY 2025 budget statement at www.maconnc.org.
“We’ve been able to do $150 million in capital improvements without increasing that tax rate or compromising services. We’re about to put a new high school up … we’ve increased funding to education. It has taken more employees. The U.S. Census Bureau cites a year-round population of 38,000 people, but you have to keep in mind that for four to five months of the year we have 75,000 people here; you’ve got to have your dispatch office, your EMS, your ambulances, your Sheriff’s office, your public safety … [for all those people].”
Roland pointed out that he has so much respect for everyone who contributes to making the county run smoothly, and he lauds individuals with whom he has served – especially past and current board members. Even when they have disagreed on policy, he noted, “What we agree on is that we love Macon County.”
Advice for the incoming manager
“The worst thing that can happen to local government, here in Macon County, … is try to bring national politics to a local level. There is no place for that.”
Roland said he plans to leave the county manager job but not Macon County. His next move is into the private sector as manager of Highlands Hardware and Lumber Company, opening up in spring 2025.
“It’s an opportunity for me to do something different and provide a better life for myself and family.”
As a final thought on his time in county service and his counsel to the person who will fill his shoes, Roland reflected, “It’s one of the greatest privileges of my life to work here. No matter how hectic [things get], keep God in your life and trust in Him.”
Editor’s note: Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe was named interim county manager at the Oct. 8 meeting of the Macon County Board of Commissioners.