On Tuesday, the city confirmed that two members of Wilmington’s leadership team had resigned.
Deputy Manager Chad McEwen and Director of Economic Development Aubrey Parsley are both leaving the city. According to a city spokesperson, their resignations were both recently accepted, effective this Friday.
McEwen was hired away from his role as Pender County manager in May of 2022. He’d previously served as assistant county manager in Pender and town manager for Burgaw.
Parsley was hired in 2019 to direct the city’s rail realignment project; at the end of 2021, he took on the role of economic development director.
The city said the positions have not been eliminated, but officials are looking at the city’s org chart.
“City leadership was already in the process of assessing our organizational structure, and this vacancy creates additional pathways to consider; however, no decisions have been made at this time,” a city spokesperson said.
The city did not comment on the reasons for McEwen and Parsley's departures.
The city’s leadership team has seen other changes over the last six months, including new city manager Becky Hawke, who replaced Tony Caudle after his retirement. Hawke also created a new chief of staff position, hiring Dennis LaCaria for the role in early October.
