Tommy Thompson to Resign his Position with the EDC and Committee of 100 | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Economic Developer Tommy Thompson is reportedly set to be leaving Beaufort County in the same manner in which he operated here - under a cloud.

   In a surprise announcement today, April 18, 2012, Tommy Thompson, Executive Director of the Beaufort Economic Development Commission and the Beaufort County Committee of 100, has resigned. It is unclear as to why the controversial director resigned after over 11 years as a county employee, but accountable to the independent, county commissioner appointed Beaufort County Economic Development Commission, with one issue quite clear; Thompson's tenure with Beaufort County's government will soon be at an end.

   The Beaufort County EDC Executive Director has had a rocky relationship with some Beaufort County Commissioners, while having a rather chummy relationship with others. Regardless, after over 11 years as the county's economic developer, Tommy Thompson's true success rate of job creation, by all reasonable metrics, is in the negative value range. This deplorable success rate may have been a strong factor in the Economic Developer's heretofore sudden departure; however, some may point also to the fact that Mr. Thompson never moved to Beaufort County, instead choosing to commute from his home in Craven County ... for over 11 years.

   Others point to the fact that, within the two economic development groups that Thompson headed up, strong sentiment was organized into Political Action Committees against county commissioners, who did bow to the desires of Mr. Thompson and his heavy-handed associates. Also, there have been strong allegations in the community, that County Commissioners, who allowed the Economic Developer to preside unchecked, were subsequently rewarded in a political sense. Regardless of which side of this issue that the respective county commissioners took in this near decade debate - whether to hold the economic development groups accountable or turn a blind, incurious eye away, and reap the political rewards as an "insider" - one inarguable fact remains: There was little sustained success in the arena of economic development in Beaufort County, and it still remains a very expensive and unsuccessful proposition for the taxpayers of Beaufort County.

   Since a majority of Beaufort County Commissioners have not taken action to remedy this ongoing elaborate expense, there has arisen, from the community of Beaufort County, a number of strong voices, most notable of which is Warren Smith, urging the governing body to take a more assertive role in managing this historically unproductive department. It remains to be seen whether the Beaufort County Commissioners will now find the intellectual gumption to reign in this unproductive ambition.