Ralph Clark This is Me

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1. 1. The Kinston Free Press

   www.kinston.com/SiteProcessor. - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/1/2007   Last Visited: 2/11/2007

   The project is part of a multi-phase plan to rid East Kinston of condemned structures in order to help revitalize that section of the city, Kinston City Manager Ralph Clark said.It's no coincidence that all of the homes in this demolition project are within a few blocks of each other.
   
   "We're taking this neighborhood by neighborhood," Clark said."We want to make a statement."
   
   The first five homes will be torn down by the end of the month and another five structures will be demolished in each of the months of March, April and May.Clark said the remaining buildings will be torn down in July, the start of the city's new fiscal year.
   ...
   Clark said that's a common theme for a lot of dilapidated homes in East Kinston.
   
   "The first generation builds them, the second generation lives in them and the third generation tears them down," he said.
   ...
   Clark did say the council will likely have to find money in next year's budget to pay for demolition of the remaining properties.

2. 2. The Kinston Free Press

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   Published on: 7/26/2006   Last Visited: 7/26/2006

   Ralph Clark, Kinston's city manager for almost seven years, has announced he plans to retire early next year.
   
   Clark, who turns 60 in January, told city employees at a recent staff meeting that he will retire sometime between Feb. 1 and June 30, 2007.
   
   "I wanted to give early notice so that the staff can start planning and doing things differently if necessary," Clark said."I have accomplished what I set out to do in Kinston.It's time that I get out and let the younger managers take over."
   
   Clark has worked in local government for more than 32 years, serving as city manager in several North Carolina municipalities including Elizabeth City, Clayton, Washington, Roxboro and Smithfield.
   
   When he retires, however, Clark said that he still intends to work as a manager for a smaller unit of government.Under state retirement regulations, he said, he is still eligible to hold a government position and earn up to 50 percent of his final monthly pay.
   
   Over the next several years, Clark said, there are more managers across the state retiring than the number of new managers coming into the system.In this situation, he added, many smaller communities will not be able to find experienced managers that they can afford to pay.
   
   "I don't know where I will be going, but it will probably be somewhere from the Piedmont east," he said."It will be a community that needs help in some areas, and a community that can benefit from my experience in local government."
   
   Clark added that he made a list in 2000 of the things he wanted to accomplish as city manager in Kinston.The list included such items as finishing the flood buyout, getting a new water treatment plant on line, making improvements to Grainger Stadium, planning for construction of a new main fire station, ensuring the city's financial stability and improving the city's relationship with the media.
   
   "I've accomplished all but one of the goals I set," he said.
   ...
   "This absolutely is not going to turn into a competition between the two," Clark added.They are not going to be competing against each other.I'm just going to give them the opportunity they might not otherwise get â€" the opportunity to sit in the manager's seat and call the shots."
   
   "It has been a real learning experience working with Ralph," Robey, the city's deputy manager for five years, said.
   ...
   "Ralph has always supported us in our work and as we pursue our education," Stevens said."He has always been good about letting us try different and new things."
   
   Both Robey and Stevens agreed with Clark that they will not compete with one another for the manager's position.

3. 3. The Kinston Free Press

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   Published on: 12/1/2006   Last Visited: 12/4/2006

   Monique Hicks, administratvie assistant to City Manager Ralph Clark, has been at her job for 10 years.
   ...
   With an administrative assistant as capable as Monique Hicks, Kinston City Manager Ralph Clark says his job of managing city affairs is easier than most people think.
   ...
   "She certainly has made my life easier," said Clark, who Hicks has worked for over the past 7 1/2 years.