By Chris Berendt

Staff Writer

Rick Moorefield said Friday he intends to accept a conditional offer for the attorney’s job at Cumberland County, a move that will leave the Sampson County Board of Commissioners to fill two high-level county positions.

Moorefield currently serves as both the county’s manager and attorney, having officially assumed the dual role in September. Two months later, Moorefield said he is moving on.

During open session at the second-floor conference room of the Department of Social Services building Friday afternoon, Moorefield told commissioners he planned to take an offer from Cumberland County. He said it would be “foolish” of him to refuse.

Just days earlier, Moorefield called commissioners individually and told them he was “considering” the offer from Cumberland County, but no official notice had been made and the matter was not discussed publicly among the board — until Friday.

“Cumberland County has made me a conditional offer for employment, nothing official, to be the county attorney over there,” Moorefield said to commissioners, before expressing his intent to accept the offer. “I do not have a problem with any of the commissioners here and have the utmost respect for all of you. It’s an offer that it would just be foolish of me to decline.”

The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners has not yet hired Moorefield and officials in that county have remained mum on the issue. Cumberland communications manager Sally Shutt noted two closed sessions held on personnel matters Monday, but “there had been no announcement made” by the Cumberland board regarding the matter, she said.

Moorefield said Friday he was heavily courted by Cumberland County in the days leading up to his ultimate decision.

“They wanted me back real bad,” Moorefield said. “Susan (Holder, assistant county manager) and David (Clack, finance officer) can tell you, I agonized over this for a couple days. I’ll miss all of you.”

Moorefield has previous experience in Cumberland County, having served as its assistant county attorney for six months, from October 2006 to April 2007, before being hired to the attorney’s post in Sampson.

The county manager said Friday he had not had a “whole lot of interaction” with the Cumberland board during his six-month stint there three years ago, but knew they did not want to see him leave.

Sampson County board chairman Jarvis McLamb expressed much the same sentiment Friday.

“I dread to see you leave, but if you can advance yourself, I don’t blame you,” he said.

Commissioner Jefferson Strickland commended Moorefield’s work on the current fiscal year’s budget.

“And, believe it or not, I was looking forward to doing that again,” Moorefield replied.

The outgoing county manager thanked the board for the opportunity to wear yet another hat in his service at the county level, pointing to previous career service as both a county attorney and county commissioner. He said he did not want to give the impression he was backing down from the county manager’s seat.

“It’s been a strange year, but I think we’ve accomplished a lot,” Moorefield remarked. “I’m not afraid or scared of the challenges we face, because over the next two months we do face a lot of challenges. It’s just an offer I cannot decline.”

“This was something I’ve wanted for a long time, to be a county manager,” he continued. “It’s been an experience I will always value.”

In addition to his initial attorney role in Sampson, Moorefield took over as interim county manager following Scott Sauer’s departure on Feb. 1, 2009. He stepped into the county manager position the next month. He continued to offer legal counsel for the board on an interim basis and was officially designated the county’s full-time attorney in September.

With Moorefield’s departure, the board will have two void positions.

“Working with you for the last 10 months,” McLamb said, “I think a manager needs to have some legal knowledge.”

McLamb said a search for an interim county manager would be imminent. The board met in closed session with Moorefield to discuss personnel following his public comments. When the board came back into open session, no action was taken.

McLamb said it was his understanding that Moorefield would work with Sampson County for the next 30 days, possibly until the end of the year. The task of filling the county attorney’s position was not even discussed, the board chairman said.

“They want me to come next week, but I’m not going to do it,” said Moorefield. “I have never left a place of work with something big undone.”

On Thursday, Commissioner John Blanton mentioned the recent resignation announcements by longtime Emergency Management director Ray Honrine and recreation director Ali Noll from their respective posts. He said weathering another resignation of a key department figure would be a lot to handle.

Money was a big player, and other counties have more to offer than Sampson, Blanton said.

On Thursday, prior to Moorefield accepting the Cumberland offer, Blanton noted Sauer’s departure to Harnett County, Moorefield’s consideration of a similar move and the prospect of Sampson looking for its third different county manager in one calendar year.

“The next time we look at this, we need to look at someone that’s not going to use us as a training field,” said Blanton.

Commissioner Malachi Faison gave his blessing to Moorefield but noted his surprise at the call earlier in the week. He said he knew it was bad news, but the possibility of the county manager leaving, Faison stated, “was far from my mind.”

“I didn’t go out looking for this,” Moorefield said. “This stuff has happened very fast.”

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.