The most powerful government employee in Charlotte has announced plans to retire at the end of the year. City Manager Curt Walton says he's ready for a "new adventure" after five years in the position and twenty prior years in other city jobs.
Charlotte has what's called a "weak-mayor" system of government, which means the city's 6,800 employees and $1.7 billion budget are the city manager's responsibility.
Aside from hiring good people, Curt Walton says the best thing he's done for the city since becoming manager in 2007 is to make it operate more like a business.
