City approves hiring new city manager

The Breckenridge City Commission approved the hiring of a new city manager last week.

In their Tuesday, Aug. 9 meeting, the vote was split 3-1 to hire Cynthia Northrop, who is the current City Administrator for the city of Rhome. Commissioners Rob Durham, Gary Mercer, and Vince Moore voted in favor, with Mayor Bob Sims voting against the hiring. Due to conflicts which occurred in executive session, Commissioner Greg Akers left the meeting, and was not present to cast a vote.

According to minutes from the Aug. 4 special meeting of the Rhome City Council, Northrop resigned her position, which was accepted. An agreement was considered and approved for Northrop to stay on with the city of Rhome for “consultation services” at a rate of $50 per hour. The agreement began Friday, Aug. 5 and will run through Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.

It is currently unknown when Northrop will begin her new position as Breckenridge’s city manager.

According to Northrup’s resume, prior to her position with the city of Rhome, which she held since February 2020, Northrop was the Assistant Executive Director of the Dayton Community Development Corporation (DCDC) from June 2019 to November 2019.

According to documents obtained by a Rhome Facebook page, Northrop was dismissed from her position with the DCDC. An affidavit posted by the page states that she was dismissed for “unauthorized use of funds for personal gain.”

The document alleges that Northrop used a DCDC credit card to purchase a membership, and did not seek permission priortomakingthepurchase. It also alleges that had Northrop purchased the membership through an existing government account, it would have cost $200, instead of $400.

“Northrop’s actions have resulted in additional expenses to the department and ultimately the taxpayers of the City of Dayton. Additionally, Northrop’s actions have resulted in a loss of trust and confidence in her as an employee of the DCDC,” the document states. According to her resume, Northrop has served in various community government roles since 2001. She is also the CEO of her own company, Northrop Communications. Northrop has a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of North Texas, and, in 2020, became a Certified Public Manager.

When Northrop’s city of Breckenridge employment contract was requested, a representative from the city stated that terms were still being negotiated. Requests for if her contract would be made available went unanswered, as of Monday.

Breckenridge considered Northrop’s employment contract during a meeting Tuesday, but due to a Monday press deadline, information was not yet available.