Oxford announces interim city manager

The City of Oxford Board of Commissioners announced Steven Harrell will serve as Oxford’s interim city manager starting Jan. 3.

Harrell comes to the city with nearly 39 years of experience in municipal government, and nearly 28 of those as a manager.

“The Board feels that Harrell’s extensive credentials position him well for leading the city in the coming months, especially with the utility projects underway and the upcoming KLRWS plant expansion about to begin," Mayor Sergent said. "His planning expertise will also be a boon as the city faces further development and related discussion."

In 2020 Harrell retired from his position as the town manager of Ayden. He has since served as interim manager for Robersonville in 2021 and Brevard in 2022.

"Harrell comes highly recommended by Ellis Hankins, former executive director of the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and was so effective in Brevard that they asked him to come out of retirement to become their manager," Sergent said. "We hope that our community will make Mr. Harrell feel welcome in the coming weeks as he works to apply his skills to our city as we continue our manager search."