IN PRINT: Seven people who recently left high-profile city jobs in Greensboro

The Random Listicle 

1.
Greensboro police Chief David Wray — January 2007

It happens all the time in cities: People with big jobs get better offers and move on. Or they get fired. Or, most commonly, they are allowed to resign — usually with a hefty severance — so as not to cause professional embarrassment or spook the herd. That’s what happened with Greensboro police Chief David Wray way back in 2006, when then-City Manager Mitch Johnson sealed the door to Wray’s office after getting disturbing reports of racial profiling within the department.

2.
City Manager Mitch Johnson — March 2009

The Wray affair percolated in the city for [more than, if you look at the time elapsed between Wray and Johnson’s departures] two years, causing strife among the citizenry and between city council and staff. Not everyone agreed with the way Johnson handled the case, and even those who did felt that he had become too big of a distraction to effectively handle his job. Council voted 5-4 to terminate his contract in a contentions vote that saw two councilmembers, Zack Matheny and Sandra Anderson Groat, change sides at the 11^th hour.

3.
City Attorney Terry Wood — August 2010

There’s not much to say about City Attorney Terry Wood’s retirement in 2010: He was old. He was succeeded by an interim, Becky Jo Peterson-Buie. Then Rita Danish lasted for a six-month stint and Thomas Carruthers did a month before Tom Pollard, a retired city attorney from Wilmington, came on to make crucial calls on the rental unit certificate of occupancy ordinance and the White Street Landfill. Then came Jamiah Waterman, who gave way to Mujeeb Shah-Kahn. More on him later.

4.
City Manager Rashad Young — October 2011

Young came on in 2009 as Johnson’s replacement and lasted two years before leaving to become city manager of Alexandria, Va.

5.
Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Ed Wolverton — April 2013

Technically, Ed Wolverton worked for Downtown Greensboro Inc. as its president, but actually, the non-governmental organization answered to city leaders as well as a narrowly defined group of downtown stakeholders. Wolverton’s press release said he chose not to renew his contract so a new task force that was analyzing the district would “have complete freedom to consider all alternatives and options moving forward.” He’s already caught on in the same position on the coast for Wilmington Downtown Inc.

6.
City Manager Denise Turner Roth — January 2014

Turner Roth didn’t exactly have it easy as Young’s replacement. The longtime city staffer oversaw a new public-records policy that came into play after a records request reveled an email naming a councilmember as a confidential informant to police. She suffered no shortage of slings and arrows from council and had her detractors among the public, but in the end she got a better offer. Last month she took a job in Washington DC, as deputy administrator of the US General Services Administration.

7.
City Attorney Mujeeb Shah-Kahn — February 2014

Shah-Kahn also had a hand in the city’s new public-records policy, but that’s not what did him in. His resignation last week came after council discovered that the contract for a forgivable loan to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum — at a total of $1.5 million — was never signed. Clearly, somebody had to pay. He leaves with a severance package totaling $83,000 and, presumably, a bad taste in his mouth.