SALISBURY — Rowan County has fired the director of its inspections and building code enforcement department.
County Manager Gary Page said that Building Code Enforcement Director Dana Hart was dismissed on June 11.
Despite state law requiring government agencies to provide a letter stating the reasons when an employee is fired, Page said the county will not release more information until the beginning of August, because Hart still has time to appeal his dismissal.
In a phone interview late this afternoon, Hart said he doesn’t plan to continue the appeals process. He said he was fired after confronting Page during a meeting of department heads.
According to Hart, in that budget meeting, Page told him to dismiss plans reviewer Brian Goins and office assistant Julia Brown. Hart said he didn’t disagree with cutting two positions, but he told Page not to tell him who to lay off.
Page said Wednesday that those two positions were cut to save costs, because construction in Rowan County has slowed and revenue from building permits has dropped.
He said the county could not afford to continue paying three plans reviewers, including Hart. When Page cut one of them in the budget, the county manager said, he did not know he would be firing the department’s director as well.
Thomas O’Kelly is serving as interim code enforcement director until a permanent replacement is found. The position is now advertised on the county website.
Read more in Friday’s Salisbury Post.