Pittsboro’s new town manager Jonathan Franklin has big plans to match our developing community

Jonathan Franklin, a native of Climax, North Carolina, has 12 years of government experience across the state. His first role was serving as the town manager of Maysville, followed by town administrator in Louisburg and later as a city manager in Newton. Jonathan, 37, holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from East Carolina University, a master’s degree in public administration from Appalachian State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Mount Olive. The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners unanimously selected him to serve as the town’s new manager, the role that oversees city administration and government operations. On May 1, Jonathan officially assumed the role, carrying with him a wealth of wisdom and a dedication to serving his community.

What motivated you to pursue this position? On a personal level, why is it important to you? I was born and raised right down the road, so for me, this was basically a homecoming.

Was there anything in particular that made you want to come home now? I think you get to a certain age and that kind of becomes more of a priority. My parents are retired, so being able to get back home to spend more time with them was a key point. From a professional standpoint, I enjoy small town management a lot more.

Has it been what you’d hoped for so far, professionally and personally? Pittsboro is the fourth town I’ve worked in, but it’s the first where every single person – I’m not kidding, every single person, including my parents and mother-in-law – who has come to visit has said, “I want to move to Pittsboro.” It’s a special place.

How would you describe the special element of Pittsboro that makes everyone want to move there? The small-town nostalgia. You’ve got the kind of old-style restaurants downtown, [S&T’s] Soda Shoppe, the bookstore, the chocolate shop – all these great places to socialize. And, there’s the positive growth perspective from the new developments coming in. Most places have one or the other – they don’t have both.

How will you go about balancing growth while also supporting the existing local businesses that you mentioned that give the town its unique character? As a staff, we’ve got to understand those different perspectives and be flexible in how we help those different businesses move forward. We’ll get as much input as possible from different stakeholders. Rather than saying, “Here’s what the town’s gonna do,” I think it’s more important to ask, “What would you like to see the town do?”

How do you plan to foster community engagement in government and get the people of Pittsboro involved in decisions? We’re being as transparent as we can with the information that we have, and how we provide that to the public. We want to have a bigger presence on social media as far as sharing events and information, and we’re currently rebuilding our website. We are also looking to have some town hall-style meetings in the future to gain more insight and perspective from community members.

What steps will you take to ensure transparency and accountability among the people involved in government and in the decision-making process? I think any major decision needs to be vetted by the public. We do that through public hearings, public meetings and social media. We’re hoping to do a newsletter at some point soon, and of course continue to engage the community in the decisions that we’re making moving forward.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Pittsboro right now, and how do you plan to address them? The number one biggest challenge is water and sewer. The proposed merger with Sanford hasn’t been approved yet, but it’s being considered. It would increase capacity and the ability to follow our town’s growth. Our hope is that with the partnership, our rates will decrease over the next five years.

How do you think your past experiences will impact your approach to this position? Everywhere I’ve worked has had issues and opportunities that have given me a lot of insight into the struggles growing towns face, the cost of keeping and maintaining the infrastructure and being able to provide good services for a fair price. Those past experiences have given me the ability to evaluate where Pittsboro is now and where we need to go.

What are other initiatives and programs that you hope to prioritize as town manager? One of the great attractions of Pittsboro is its downtown and that feeling of community that you get the moment that you step into town. With all the new growth and development that is happening in Pittsboro and Chatham County, we want to make sure that we prioritize maintaining that legacy Pittsboro look and feel. Making that a priority and then maintaining that through all this growth and development over time is going to be key. Next, expanding our parks. In the 2024 fiscal year budget, we’ve got a million dollars in investment going into several of our parks.

Regarding matters of diversity and inclusion, how do you plan to ensure that the town’s policies and services meet the needs of all its residents? In Chatham County we’re doing a lot to try and expand our recruitment efforts and trying to make this as flexible a workplace as possible. There’s not really a blueprint for equity and inclusion, [so] the approach depends a lot upon the organizational culture, which, I think we already have a great one here. We have to understand the value of diversity, and the Board of Commissioners, the community and the staff as a whole will help decide how we move in that direction. It’s not just about checking boxes and meeting percentages, it’s about attracting the best talent, making sure you have the most diverse points of view so that you can achieve the most success.

Anything else you’d like to add? My wife [Lauren Powell Franklin] and I are excited to be here. It’s been a wonderful first two months – I have a great staff, the board’s great to work with, we have wonderful partners. We’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of our Strategic Framework and the Climate Action Plan. Overall, I think Pittsboro is in a great spot. Once we get over the utility hump, you’ll see nothing but great things coming from this part of the state.

Want more Chatham County news? Subscribe to our newsletter here!