LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Board of Elections has begun its search for a director — again.
The Robeson County Human Resources Department posted on Monday an advertisement for the position that has been vacant since G.L. Pridgen retired from the job in early August 2018. At that time the board began a search for his replacement with the goal of having someone hired quickly.
That search was never completed.
“They dissolved the (county) board before they could hire somebody,” said Jack Moody, who joined the county board shortly after Steve Stone left the board on June 1.
The county Elections Board and the elections board in all North Carolina counties and the state Board of Elections were dissolved in December 2018. The previous nine-member state board was dissolved after a court ruled it was unconstitutional. The state and county boards were reconstituted in a five-member format.
About one month ago, Moody brought up the fact that the county Elections Board had been without a director since Pridgen retired. When asked if he wanted to make a motion to readvertise for the position, he said yes.
“We’re going to hire a director,” Moody said. “We’re advertising it with the county for 30 days. It has to run for 30 days.”
A copy of the advertisement obtained by The Robesonian states the advertisement was posted Monday and will run through Oct. 29.
“I’m pretty sure the previous board set the qualifications,” Moody said.
The advertisement posted by county Human Resources lists the minimum qualifications as “a bachelor’s degree in Business/Public Administration or related field; threes years’ experience in managerial administration, preferably elections related.”
Moody said he is not sure if the State Board of Elections will have a say in who gets the job. He does know that the county board will conduct all interviews.
The Robeson County Board of Commissioners has no role in who is hired, board Chairman Jerry Stephens said.
“We have no say over that position,” he said. “They are solely responsible for hiring their director.”
In 2018, the county Human Resources Department reported that the county Elections Board would send a name to the state Board of Elections for its approval.
County Elections Board Chair Tiffany Peguise-Powers, who was a member of the board in the summer of 2018, could not be reached for comment. Requests for information sent to the State Board of Elections were not answered as of Monday evening.
Tina Bledsoe has been serving as interim county Elections Board director since Pridgen retired. She also served as interim director for about one and a half years before Pridgen was hired on Jan. 14, 2014.
Bledsoe could not be reached for comment.
Also in 2018, the posted minimum job requirements were a bachelor’s degree in public administration and three to five years of elections experience. The county Human Resources office reported in early August 2018 that it had a “handful” of applications.
Pridgen’s salary was $52,480 a year at the time of his retirement. The salary included in the advertisement posted Monday is $48,103.02, but that could be the base salary, and the actual salary offered to a final candidate could be more.
