Zebulon town manager resigns citing 'serious personnel matter'

After less than four months on the job, Zebulon Town Manager Gilbert Todd Jr. has resigned. 

"Recent developments involving a serious personnel matter has led me to the point where I can no longer continue this role," he said during Thursday's Board of Commissioners work session. “I was put in a position where I was expected to take action that I believe was unethical and inappropriate.”

After WRAL News started asking questions about Todd’s allegations and the state of town management, the board of commissioners sent this statement via email:

“On Thursday, April 17th, Gilbert Todd, Jr. resigned from his position as Town Manager. The Board's priority is to provide quality, on-time services to the town's residents. Due to lack of budget development activity, Town services were at risk of being impacted. Mr. Todd was only asked to perform the duties outlined within his contract. There were no inappropriate requests made. We remain committed to transparency, integrity, and serving our community with the highest standards of accountability and are eager to fill the Town's open critical positions in a timely fashion.”

The town commissioners would not further specifics about the "personnel matter."

On Friday, Todd provided WRAL News with a written statement about why he resigned, stating, in part, "This and other directives by the board and its unwillingness to allow the town manager to manage the town; made it clear that I was unable to be successful in this role."

Since last June, three different people have held this position. Joe Moore resigned after about a decade; Taiwo Jaiyeoba took over for about six months; Then Todd exited Thursday night.

Commissioners confirmed Jaiyeoba is now taking on the role again.

“The board has agreed to hire our former interim town manager, Taiwo Jaiyeoba, to return and help guide the board and staff through budget adoption,” an email from commissioners reads.

In his 10 years living in the small town, Scott Carpenter now has some concerns about how it’s being run.

“My concern with the leadership is, there is a very high turnover with the department heads,” he told WRAL News.

Several residents mentioned how many new people lived in the area, and the how some of the well-established residents are resistant to change.

“We need leadership and management that will help guide this town through that growth,” Carpenter said. “What needs to change is, we want to see more openness, more transparency.”

Todd was previously the project manager for the Zebulon Public Works Department. A military veteran, Todd served in the United States Air Force and worked for the city of Raleigh, Wake County and the United States Department of Defense. 

WRAL News also learned the town is recruiting people to permanently fill its police chief, public works, communications manager, planning director and several other positions.