Fired

  Mecklenburg County commissioners are now looking for a new county manager after they fired Harry Jones Tuesday night.  One thing is clear in the shake-up: the new manager won’t have as much autonomy. 

County government has had its problems of late.  For starters, there was the botched 2011 property revaluation.

“This is a special situation and so every part of it, in my view, we must do carefully,” said Commissioner Trevor Fuller at a meeting in December.

After months of growing tensions between longtime Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones and county commissioners, the board voted Tuesday to terminate Jones.

His firing was swift, and seemed well-orchestrated. After a 6-2 vote with Dumont Clarke and Vice Chairwoman Kim Ratliff opposing, the board ended Jones’ contract shortly after it emerged from a three-hour closed session. Commissioner George Dunlap was absent.