With a new fiscal year just around the corner, it looks as though Buncombe County will also be looking for a new budget officer.
After about 1-1/2 years in the position, Budget Officer Mamie Scott has been transferred to the Planning Department, County Manager Wanda Greene confirmed June 4.
Scott’s new duties haven’t yet been defined, both women said. Greene declined to explain the transfer (and under state law, most personnel information is not considered public record).
“Mamie’s a talented lady, and this is an opportunity for her,” Greene observed.
The typically cordial Scott had little more to say about the matter, other than suggesting that budget-related questions should be directed to the county budget analyst or finance director.
Scott assumed the budget position in January 2002 after serving as director of the Asheville-Buncombe Office of Minority Affairs for the previous four years.
County-government junkies may recall that the budget officer’s position — and the Finance Department in general — have had more than their share of turnover during the past three years.
Eight-year county employee Ken Goble served as assistant finance director, budget administrator and budget director before he was fired in July 2000. (Goble sued the county over his dismissal but lost the case in April 2002.)
After Goble left, Donna Clark was tapped to fill the budget officer’s position in November 2000. She served in that job for 13 months until she was promoted to finance director in December 2001.
Clark, in turn, had taken the place of former Finance Director Nancy Brooks, who abruptly retired on Aug. 1, 2000. (Greene, who is a CPA, filled in as finance director between Brooks’ and Clark’s tenures.)
Details of the county’s plans for filling the vacancy haven’t yet been worked out, said Greene.
— Tracy Rose
