HdG Director of Administration Leaves Role

There's a vacancy in the City of Havre de Grace administration.

Carol Mathis, who has been the director of administration for Havre de Grace since 2007, is leaving her position.

Mathis' three-year contract was set to expire at the end of 2012, and she did not ask to renew it, according to the mayor of Havre de Grace.

"It’s pretty much cut and dry," Mayor Wayne Dougherty said. "Every three years, contracts come up for renewal and she opted not to renew hers."

Patch was unable to reach Mathis for comment. No one answered her home phone, and her voicemail box was full. Her city email is being redirected.

The mayor said that currently, Mathis is on leave. He declined to comment on Mathis' reason for leaving, citing that it was a "personnel issue."

As for filling the vacancy, "it would be the first of the year before we do anything," Dougherty said.

Mathis leaves large shoes to fill. According to city code, responsibilities of the director of the administration include personnel, procurement, information technology, elections, public notices, leases, economic development, property transactions, and keeping records of city documents and council minutes.

Three years ago, Dougherty broke a tie when the City Council voted on Mathis' contract, according to minutes from the Nov. 16, 2009, meeting. Her contract was renewed, 4-3, and those who opposed the decision in 2009 are no longer on the council. Two members who voted for renewal are still on the council: Councilman Bill Martin and Council President Randy Craig. 

Martin said he did not know the circumstances surrounding Mathis' decision to leave her position since it was not official council business.

"Whatever transpired is between the mayor and the director of the administration," Martin said, adding that if Mathis had asked to renew her contract, the council would have been required to vote on it.

On a personal note, Martin added: "Miss Mathis is a really nice woman, and I hate to see her go."

According to her resume, Mathis was previously a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and has a master's in public administration from California State University-Fullerton. She was an adjunct faculty member at California State University-Fullerton and served as executive director of a nonprofit in Orange County for at-risk youth. Her husband, Don Mathis, is president of the Community Action Partnership, a D.C.-based organization dedicated to fighting poverty, according to The Washington Post. Before he assumed that role in 2007, he was head of the Harford County Boys & Girls Clubs for ten years.