Five Points-based director resigns

Darryl Radford, the first-ever salaried director of the organization aimed at improving economic conditions in Five Points, has resigned after less than six months on the job.

Radford, a minister, was hired to lead the Uptown Business and Professional Association late last fall, after the organization received a $30,000 grant to help pay for a director. He resigned this month, and this weekend, he said the association’s board of directors had asked him earlier “to remove the Rev. from my name.” He said that was a key factor in his decision to leave New Bern. 

But members of Uptown’s board of directors, including a soon-to-be-ordained deacon, said Friday night that they have no problems with Radford’s faith, and had told him only that the association’s primary mission was not a religious one. They also said they were under the impression that Radford had resigned to take a six-figure job, making three times the money he got as the head of the Uptown Business and Professional Association. Radford said Saturday that he had taken a job with a company in Chicago, but did not want to discuss it.

Radford said in a Friday night e-mail to the Sun Journal that his resignation “was the best option for me to maintain my morals/values and character as a man and as a man of God.”

“I was first approached by my board of directors and asked to remove the ‘Rev.’ from my name,” Radford said. “They felt as though this gives the impression to the public that we were a religious organization. I can understand that mentality, and would really give it some credence had I been the type of person who did not understand the difference between my religious beliefs and ability to properly handle the organization’s business matters separately.”

Rick Fisher, the association’s treasurer, said Radford gave no hint of dissatisfaction when he resigned. He said he believes Radford just got upset because he wanted to work with the association until March 19, but was asked to leave sooner so Uptown could save money.

Association members now have to contact the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to find out if they have to return the $30,000 grant that was to be split for two years to help pay Radford’s salary.

Mary Peterkin, the association’s president, said the board of directors had talked to Radford about “the appropriateness of religion and the when and where of it, and making sure there is a clear separation of business and religion.”

She said the board of directors felt the discussion with Radford was necessary after a Jan. 29 program on the Great Fire of 1922. The program was supposed to focus on how New Bern’s churches were crucial to the city’s recovery from the fire. Fisher described the program as being full of “sermonettes” and said it was “more church session than history lesson.” Fisher, who said he will soon be an ordained deacon in his own church, said all of the association’s members are “strong Christians,” but that the program was not supposed to turn out the way it did.

“We were supposed to talk about the history of the fire first,” Peterkin said. “But we got all religion and no history. People were leaving because the program was not what they expected it to be. There’s a proper way to include religion, but that was not it.”

Radford said Saturday that if he had the opportunity, he would take the job again, but would make sure there was a clearer understanding between him and the board members as to what his role would be.

“I think there were some i’s that weren’t dotted and some t’s that weren’t crossed and that caught up to us,” Radford said. “But I honestly believe we had some real growth happening, and it weighs heavy on my heart to leave this way.”

Both Fisher and Peterkin said Radford had not permanently moved from his Raleigh apartment, but that he had been living rent-free in New Bern. They also said Radford had not brought any money into the Uptown association during his brief tenure, though one of the conditions of his hiring was to raise some of the money for his own salary.

The association, which exists to bring development and economic opportunity to one of New Bern’s poorest neighborhoods, has run on a limited budget for more than a decade, and was paying Radford in the “$40,000 to $50,000 range,” Fisher said.

“We didn’t have any sort of conflict with him that we knew of,” Fisher said. “He told us he had a $150,000 job that he just could not turn down, and we thought that was that. It seems like there’s some sort of campaign going on now that might hurt our association, which has been trying to do good for years.”

In his letter of resignation, Radford called his time on the job “very rewarding” and he thanked the board of directors for the “support and opportunities you have given me.” That letter, which is not dated, gives no hint of discord.

But Radford said Saturday that he had “agonized” about leaving for several weeks, and that ultimately, “a word of encouragement” from a senior member of the association had convinced him that resigning was right. 

“I have lots and lots of trepidation about this decision,” he said. “But to everything there is a season, and maybe my season was to get everything organized so that a new leader can come in.”

Nikie Mayo can be reached at 252-635-5665 or nmayo@freedomenc.com.