By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
After years of service as County Manager, Dr. John Crumpton attended his last meeting of the Lee County Commissioners Monday. It was a sweet moment for the highly-respected manager, whose counsel and wisdom are often sought out by his peers across the state. But though his contemporaries from Murphy to Manteo may share many of the same responsibilities as he, few would claim to be his equal.
Kirk Smith, chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners, left his center seat at the commissioners table and went to the podium to read a proclamation that was passed unanimously in Crumpton’s honor.
The commission recognized the departing manager’s career as the county’s top executive that has spanned nearly 16 years. It began in January 1992 when he was hired as finance director, a position he kept until July 1993. He left county government for other pursuits but returned in July 2007 after being hired as county manager.
Smith gave credit to Crumpton for having a knack to get things done. Like the man behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz, Dr. Crumpton played a critical but often behind-the-scenes role in establishing the Sanford Area Growth Alliance in 2014, a public-private partnership that has been wildly successful in attracting new industries to Lee County.
When a quarter-mile wide EF-3 tornado with winds approaching 160 miles an hour struck Sanford in April of 2011, wiping out the Lowes Home Improvement store on Horner Boulevard with 100 people inside, it was Crumpton who stepped up to lead the county’s response to one of the worst tornado outbreaks ever to hit the southeastern United States. More than 500 buildings in Lee County were damaged and losses topped $57 million. His leadership in an unprecedented time of crisis earned kudos from state and national leaders alike.
The proclamation pays tribute to some of Crumpton’s many other achievements, including construction of the W.B. Wicker Elementary School, improvements to Lee County High School, upgrades at several of the county’s parks (including Kiwanis Children’s Park), and his leadership in laying the groundwork for projects that will be completed in years to come, like the new county library near O.T. Sloan Park, the former Marelli property that is being converted into a high technology campus for Central Carolina Community College, and the Multi-Sports Complex that will begin construction later this year near the intersection of the U.S. 421 bypass and N.C. 42.
After the proclamation was adopted and Crumpton posed for a photograph with the seven commissioners alongside his wife Katherine, the retiring county manager took a few moments to speak about the importance of relationships in being successful in making local government work for the people.
“None of my relationships has been better than the one with this board of county commissioners,” he said. “I’ve worked for 22 commissioners and had six chairmen over my career. To the longest serving member of this board, Mr. (Robert) Reives, I want to thank you for your friendship and your counsel. You are a wise politician and you gave me a lot of great advice.”
After hundreds of meetings with commissioners over the years, Crumpton’s final words were of appreciation for the media.
“I want to say thank you to the press,” he concluded. “I’ve had a great relationship with the press for 15 years and eight months and it’s something I’m very thankful for.”
Sitting in the back of the room for the entire length of the three-hour meeting were many of Crumpton’s staff. He had personally hired most of them served as their mentor as their own professional journeys began. Perhaps it is they who will miss him most.
But one of their own will take his place in a week after Crumpton’s last day on February 28. A new era begins on Wednesday, March 1, when Assistant County Manager Lisa Minter takes her seat as Lee County’s first female county manager.
Good riddens , we need new leaders that put the County and it’s Citizens first not personal self interest! Two crooks patting each others backs!
What a trashy statement by a low class individual. Lee County is going to the dogs.
Crumpton has been the best County Manager in Lee County history. bar none.
A lot more was accomplished under Bill Cowan’s reign during the 90s.
To be clear. I think John Crompton was good for Lee County. Hope he enjoys retirement.
Bub did not have to work for abject morons during the Tea Party/MAGA rife with Carpetbagging Locusts.
Brambleberry, I have always found it interesting that so many people in Lee County use the term “Carpetbagger”. In my experience, the term has been levied against primarily Republicans that were not born in Lee County or North Carolina by Democrats. I find this somewhat ironic. Some people that belong to the Democratic Party use a term they think is some sort of insult and never understand the racist connotations that come from using that term. It isn’t racist connotations directed at the person they call Carpetbagger, it is an admittance of the name callers racist mindset. How you may ask? If you understood the history of the term carpetbagger it was a southern insult to northerners who migrated south in the reconstruction era to honestly take advantage of the post war economic growth opportunities. It really took hold as an insult when these northerners started running for political office and threatened the status quo of the southern way of life…(Segregation, racism, bigotry). You see, by embracing the term carpetbagger you aren’t insulting anyone. You are exposing your multigenerational strong beliefs that outsiders, “Carpetbaggers” are actually a threat to your status quo. It was the Carpetbaggers that eventually forced the end of the post reconstruction racist laws like segregation. It is also the “Carpetbaggers” that launched the economic recovery of the south. So by calling these people Carpetbaggers all you are really saying is you are either ignorant to the racist connotations of the term, or you are well aware of it and are projecting your racism and bigotry at others. Lest we never forget it was the Democrat party that was the party of slavery, Confederacy, and Jim Crowe…
Lest we never forget it was the Republican Party that stood for the income tax(later ruled unconstitutional), the redistribution of wealth(40 acres and a mule), and the suspension of Habeas Corpus.
The parties switched places on many political viewpoints in the 1960s. Read some books that weren’t written by Dinesh D’Souza please Mr. Roberts, so you don’t sound so uninformed.
Ah another believer in the “Southern Strategy” theory that doesn’t actually pan out when you look at the numbers. You do realize, after the Civil Rights Act of 64 was signed into law. The Southern Dixiecrats were so outraged that out of the hundreds of Democrat politicians at all levels of government, only 3 switched to be Republican. Oh yea the great switch… I am curious do you think the idea of 40 acres and a mule was a bad idea? I wonder where we would be today had the freed slaves actually been given what they were promised? BTW the reason Sherman created the 40 acres and a mule policy was because that is what 20 Black ministers told him would be the best course to give freed slaves a chance at independence and wealth. And why didn’t they get their land as promised. Oh yes, the confederate (Democrat assassin) John W. Boothe killed Lincoln, then the Vice President Andrew Johnson (Democrat) ended the policy to appease his slave owning land holders in the south. As for habeas corpus being suspended, I think it had something to do with the country being in a civil war. You know a Martial Law scenario… I love how people like to say the parties switched sides in the 60’s. This is the biggest display of projection ever on a national level. The fact is the Democratic Party owns their history and embraced slavery, wrote Jim Crowe laws, and embraced segregation all the way into the 90’s. There are statues of your greatest heroes in the halls of Congress and these racist segregationists have been honored at the highest levels by current Democrats sitting in Congress right now, and one of them is the Damn President. So don’t spin that nonsense that the parties switched. That has been debunked many times. Statues of Storm Thurmond, Robert Byrd, and many others are all over DC and they were all Democrats, segregationists, and Jim Crowe supporters. Why do you think Democrats want to tear down so many statues? It is there people, the Democratic Party paid for all of the statues. They want to tear them down for the same reason they created the Southern Strategy story. They want America to forget what they have done, and who they are. Honestly, Kamala Harris even gave quantifiable evidence in a national debate the Joe Biden is a Racist, Segregationist Democrat. Democrats are so removed from reality, they still nominated him, still voted for him and she actually agreed to be his vice president… Give me a break!!! How could someone be so pathetic as to run on the same ticket and work with someone they believe is a Racist??? SO anyway. Yea, I actually am pretty well versed on the history of the Democratic Party and how they try to rewrite history so they aren’t blamed. I bet you think LBJ is the reason the Civil Rights act of 64 and the voting rights act of 65 became law.
Wow, you really are not very bright and your history is really off. Southern Republicans did not come into being until the late 1960’s and did not bloom in earnest until 1972. That’s when Jesse Helms was elected.
I don’t hear the term being levied against Republicans. I hear it used levied against greedy, ignorant slobs who move in after ruining the places they used to live and bringing their backwards crap with them.
Better to be called a Carpetbagger, than a simple Dumbass.
Speaking of tearing down statues because some people are offended
Why don’t they do it fairly and year down MLK because they offend a lot people too?
.
Without a Republican in site, my property taxes have risen more in the last 2 years than EVER B4! Like them taxpayer funded retreats?
City Tax rate last 4 years, 62 Cents, 60 Cents, 60 Cents, 62 Cents
County Tax rate last 4 years 79.5 Cents, 77.5 Cents, 77,5 Cents, and 76 cents.
Hmm, that’s a flat City of Sanford property tax rate over the last 4 years and the County came down a slight bit.
How are your property taxes going up exactly? And don’t lie.
must be the value was overstated cause they sure sky rocketed!
My challenge is to D.Roberts to reply to articles using less words than in the article 🤣
Truth.
Funny how some folks claim their taxes went up when the rates stay the same or fall and there has been no re-evaluation since 2019. Liars?
Robbery Victim seems to be telling a lie since there has been no revlauation since 2019
For a small fee of 200 dollars I will dig out the bills otherwise SHUT IT!
While politicians didn’t switch en mass, voters did. What was once the solid south in the D column surely did switch to the R column.
And as for local Real Estate Taxes, there are two components. The assessment of your property done by professionals and the tax rates chosen by politicians. Generally when one goes up a lot (are you willing to sell for your 4 years ago assessed value) the other goes down. I somehow doubt the politicians of whatever party are willing to risk their jobs over increasing the tax rate by the 40+% my assessment went up.
I am curious what metric they use to determine property value. Does anyone know how we can find out? My property taxes went up as well because my property values assessment went up. I wonder how they do it. They don’t send out an appraiser or anything. If anyone knows please tell me or if you know how we can find out.
Thanks.
At some point a tax appraiser likely measured the exterior of your house. Since they most of the time do not enter the home they have to estimate the upstairs if there is a second floor. The tax appraisers have to do mass appraising. They have a formula they use since they can’t do the standard sales comparison approach to value as you typically get in a mortgage appraisal. They will grade the quality, condition, etc. of your home. They also keep up with market sales and they also place your property in market zones. If a person thinks their tax valuation is too high the first thing that shoul be looked at is whether or not the home size is correct. Next thing that can be disputed is quality and condition. A friend of yours found out that his parents property was getting taxed too much since the tax office didn’t remove the power pole sight that was once used for a trailer hookup that had been removed years ago. In the end if you still do not agree with the tax value you can contest it thru the Board of Equalization and Review which is made up of Lee County Citizens. Some people get a fee appraiser to do a market appraisal prior to meeting with the tax office. There is no gaurantee the Fee Appraiser will come in lower than the tax value or that the tax office will substitute the value so be careful before ordering such an appraisal.
Thank you.