Zebulon votes in interim town manager with big credentials, checkered past

The town of Zebulon voted in a new interim town manager last week during an emergency called meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

The meeting was called after former Town Manager Joe Moore resigned unexpectedly after nine years on the job.

The interim manager, Taiwo Jaiyeoba, serves as the principal of City Development Advisers, a land use and community planning company he started in 2019.

Jaiyeoba resigned from his role as Greensboro’s city manager in March amid controversy.

At the end of December, police were called to Jaiyeoba’s home after he was involved in a domestic dispute with his two adult daughters. The Assembly reported in March that body-cam footage of the incident was sought by the reporters from Greensboro News & Record, and a Superior Court judge granted the request.

However, on the day it was to be released city officials announced that they were appealing the decision to make the footage publicly viewable. A decision on whether or not the footage will be released remains in legal limbo.

Jaiyeoba was the subject of a separate, concurrent incident that WFDD reported directly led to his resignation from his post as city manager.

Two senior-level city employees who spoke with the outlet said they had seen documents that were part of a city inquiry which found that Jaiyeoba sent inappropriate, sexual messages to a female municipal employee.

Despite mounting public pressure related to the domestic dispute incident, it was the sexual harassment allegations that led Jaiyeoba to resign as Greensboro’s city manager on March 5.

Prior to his stint in Greensboro, he served as the airector of planning as well as the assistant city manager in Charlotte. His work there, especially as it pertained to the city’s transit service, was celebrated for reversing some of the harmful effects that the city’s segregated past had left on the public transportation opportunities afforded to those living in Charlotte’s Black neighborhoods.

Jaiyeoba was recommended to take up his role in Zebulon by the North Carolina League of Municipalities. When a municipal manager or administrator resigns without a clear succession plan in place for their former role, the league is called upon to place an eligible candidate in that role until a more permanent employee can be found.

Still, the town could have rebuffed the suggestion and prompted the state League of Municipalities to suggest another appointee. In the end, though, he was approved by the town board in a 5-0 vote.

The town’s communication director confirmed that the city has contracted City Development Advisers, of which Jaiyeoba is the principal, to serve in the in role until July 1, or until a permanent city manager is found, whichever deadline comes first.

Jaiyeoba’s confirmation did not come without a bit of push-back from members of the board.

“I was concerned about the process that our board used to do this,” Commissioner Beverly Clark said. “Some of us didn’t know about it and how they went about identifying the person. Have they met him before? When did they first meet him, and why they didn’t share that with the entire board?”

In his own remarks, Jaiyeoba made clear that he intends to approach the position as a purely temporary one, and will seek to help the town identify a successor who understands its long and short-term development goals.

“I do not want to give a sense that I’m going to be here permanently, but will very actively be assisting the town in securing an assistant town manager within 30 days while, at the same time, working to get a permanent town manager in place,” he said.

For the duration of his tenure as town manager, Jaiyeoba says that his primary objectives are to pass a town budget for next fiscal year and expedite the recruitment process for other vacant municipal positions, including an Assistant Town manager, IT Director, and town clerk.

“Zebulon is poised for great things,” he said. “Working with the Board of Commissioners, our staff will work diligently to ensure that delivering the quality of service our residents have come to expect continue to be our top priority.”

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