Actors who participated in Renaissance Fair say they didn't get paid and the former  board treasurer expresses concern over finances.

After spending some vacation time at the beach last week, Knightdale Town Manager Seth Lawless came back to a report that let him know more work was ahead.

While he was gone, the U.S. Census said Knightdale is the fastest growing town in the state.

According to the report,  the town’s population increased by 24.5 percent to more than 10,000 between July 1, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

“Knightdale’s been growing at a pretty good clip for quite a while,” said Lawless. “In a previous report we were in the top 10. It’s nice to get some recognition for what’s been going on for several years.”

Lawless said the growth had boosted tax revenues at a time when it was especially needed.

“While budget times are difficult everywhere, but it has been not nearly as difficult here as in other places,” he said.

Lawless said water and sewer infrastructure is in place for future growth, but its fast pace is not a given. In fact, Knightdale's current population is less than the population projection of 13,998 for July 2010 that was made during water and sewer merger agreements with the city of Raleigh.

That means the town had to raise its water and sewer rates 15 percent this year to try to catch up on its debt to Raleigh.

“We expect to see continued development, but at what pace, it remains to be seen. That’s a little outside of our control.  We are as ready as we can be,” he said.

He said the challenge is making sure the town doesn’t get too far out in front of or too far behind the service needs of the population.

A fire station in southwest Knightdale is a good example of that measured approach, he said. Two years ago, Knightdale was ready to build a $1.5 million fire station. “Even with the growth we have had, we found a better way to provide that service because there just weren’t as many rooftops in the southwest part of town that we thought there’d be by now,” he said.

The town contracted for fire services with the Eastern Wake Fire Department that serves rural Knightdale.

Lawless said the census report didn’t take the town by surprise. He said the town’s internal estimates showed an even greater population at 10,970 than the census report.

“They’ve been (the internal estimates) accurate previously,” he said. “It will be interesting to see the actual results of the (2010) census when they come in December or January.”
 

If all goes as planned, Seth Lawless will soon become the Town Manager of Knightdale.

Town Manager Gary McConkey retires April 30 and Lawless, the assistant town manager, will take the helm.

Mayor Russell Killen said Lawless has proved himself during the three years he has been working as McConkey’s assistant.

Killen said the assistant manager position was created to do just what it has done – give the town a change to try Lawless out.

Killen said Lawless is a good fit: He’s proved himself capable of being prudent with tax dollars, been well-accepted by the staff and community, is fair, sets high expectations and is just an all-around nice guy, Killen said.

“Almost everybody likes Seth,” said Killen, “That’s something you can’t underestimate – both in getting people to work with you and for you – that’s important. He’s just a generally nice guy and that helps in a lot of situations that town managers are going to have to face.”

Read more in Wednesday’s Eastern Wake News.

Sometimes the play by play events of a what goes into a newspaper story are interesting. Also, sometimes what does not go in a newspaper story is interesting.

Such is the case in the story of the town of Knightdale's decision not to release the names of the candidates for police chief/public safety officer.

It all began when I asked Town Manager Gary McConkey for the names of the top six candidates for police chief/public safety officer two weeks ago.

McConkey said he would release them because it is public record, but he only knew only two names of the six -- current Knightdale public safety employees Eric Daniels and Skip Blalock.

McConkey wasn't in touch with all that had transpired in the search because it was being handled by Assistant Town Manager Seth Lawless.

McConkey said to contact Human Resources director Suzanne Yeatts for the names. But when Yeatts got an e-mail me from requesting the release of the names, she wasn't sure if that was legal so she ran it by Lawless.

When I asked Lawless about releasing those names, he said he would check on it.

In the meantime, Yeatts contacted Diane Juffras, an attorney and employment specialist at the UNC School of Government for an opinion.

"I think I remember learning in one of your sessions that we are not required to disclose the names of applicants," Yeatts wrote to Juffras.

Juffras responded that the N.C. Supreme Court has ruled that candidates names may not be released.

And that's what Knightdale decided to do.

In the meantime, I contacted Patrick Baker, city attorney of Durham, who released the names of final candidates for police chief when he was city manager of Durham during a search there.

He had released the names, he said, because he thought it was important for public and department buy-in of the person directing law enforcement in a city. He said he would release the names during a search for any top job in a city because of the importance of the job.

Baker said the law allowed the names to be released if the candidates agreed to it. Durham tells people up front that they want to release top canidates' names.

I later contacted Juffras and she ultimately agreed with Baker on the interpretation of the law.

"The case Ekin Tribune v. Yadkin County Board of Commissioners 331 NC 735 (1992) clearly establishes that GS 153A-98 and GS 160A-168 prohibit counties and cities respectively from disclosing any information about applicants, including the very name of an applicant....Sometimes applicants give permission to do so, but other times applicants do not wish it known that they have applied for a position since that information could jeopardize their relationship with their current employers if ehy do not get selected for the position," Juffras wrote.

To make sure I was clear on what she meant, I then wrote back and asked if the latter part of what she was saying meant a town could release a name of a candidate if they had that person's permission.

"A town can always release a name if they have a release from the person in question," she wrote.

I went back to McConkey, and he hadn't understood Juffras' earlier advice to them to allow release of names.

I asked him if he would release the names now knowing that information.

He wanted to check it out, but he would be inclined to release names if the candidates, of course, agreed.

He also said at this late date - the assessment center an extensive interview process that takes all day -- is tomorrow, and that the decision on hiring could be made soon.

Given that case, he said he didn't know if releasing the names at this point would make a difference.

The facts from some of what transpired were not included in newspaper stories about the release of names. Some of them weren't known at press time.

That's the beauty of the Internet in news reporting.

All of this, I think, shows how important, and difficult, it sometimes is to know just what someone means. Sometimes it takes conversation -- something the internet can not quite capture.

So there you have it. The story of the names or the story of no names.