Boyette doubles down
District 2 City Councilman Chris Boyette, after getting the OK from Interim City Manager Matthew Livingston to do so, reveals why proposed contract is a “sweetheart deal.”
BY KEN FINE
When it comes to whether or not the Goldsboro City Council will, indeed, move forward with a search for a new city manager, District 2 representative Chris Boyette is not ready to back down.
But he wants the public — and the four council members who voted to not extend a contract to Interim City Manager Matthew Livingston — to understand exactly where he is coming from.
And during the council’s Nov. 4 meeting, he was unable to articulate why Livingston’s contract offer was a “sweetheart deal” without creating an ethical quandary.
So, he went to Livingston and asked for permission to share what he believes is the “sticking point” — the piece of the contract that makes it too good to pass up.
“Fortunately, I was authorized to do that,” Boyette said Tuesday. “Because I really want people to understand that this is not just about a proposed salary.”
But in order to ensure he is understood, he felt it necessary to go, momentarily, back in time.
Former City Manager Tim Salmon, Boyette said, had a “forever contract” — an agreement with the council that had no definable timeline.
And that meant that when it was time for Salmon and the city to part ways, it cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
“That was ludicrous. I would have never voted to approve that contract,” Boyette said. “I would never vote for somebody to have a forever contract.”
So, when Livingston presented his proposed contract to the board — a two-year deal with a salary that was “not a dirtball cheap price,” but was “on the cheap side of the range” typical for the position, Boyette said the choice was clear.
“No manager in America is gonna come for less than a 5-year or 10-year contract or, in Tim Salmon’s case, a forever contract,” Boyette said. “So, I think it’s huge that Matt came back and only said two years. It speaks volumes to his confidence in his ability to do the job and his ability to get along with everybody. Because if he doesn’t hook the horse to the plow, in 24 months
we can send him up the road. And he’s asked for no payout. That is a dream come true — to have any manager being willing to accept those terms.”
• • •
Goldsboro has been without an official manager since Salmon resigned in February after a tumultuous tenure defined by everything from chronically late financial audit submissions to the state to an investigation by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor that alleged wrongdoing by council members and city employees under his watch.
And while Livingston has held the job in an interim capacity since his former boss left the post, Mayor Charles Gaylor had been, until recently, unable to get the council to move forward with a search for a new chief executive.
Boyette said he was shocked that the ma-
jority of the board voted last month to launch a search, but declined to provide details about why in order protect the sanctity of discussions held in closed session.
“Let’s just say there is a reason Matt brought us a proposal and leave it there,” Boyette said.
And beyond what he believes is a council that is generally impressed by Livingston, several department heads have requested — and been granted — the opportunity to speak with members of the council since the vote to conduct a search was held to share that they fully support Livingston.
For Boyette, their thoughts are another reason he believes the council, when it reconvenes Nov. 18, should reverse course.
“At the end of the day, you have a completely qualified candidate in every way offering a sweetheart of a contract and he’s the guy that the department heads want,” he said. “It is lu-
“ This wasn’t the smooth process it could have been. But that’s no reason to spend a fortune to reach what I feel is a conclusion that has been staring us in the face since February. ”
- Chris Boyette
dicrous to go out and spend money on a search and then have to pray to God that they can do as good of a job as the guy who’s currently in the seat. And I really don’t think anybody can out-credential him. He checks all the boxes.”
And he hopes that Monday, his final plea will be enough to convince the majority of the council of the same.
“I have talked to Matt, and he has assured me that the contract he offered to us is still very much ready to go. And as a council, as I’ve said before, that contract is still before us for consideration and approval,” Boyette said. “So, yes, we could vote on it Monday and accept that contract as presented. And you can take this to the bank. Hiring this man would be the best decision for the future of this city and deep down, I think every single member of the council knows that. I get it. This wasn’t the smooth process it could have been. But that’s no reason to spend a fortune to reach what I feel is a conclusion that has
Bell sees potential “moment” for SJAFB
When what he characterized as a “pro-military administration” gets to work on Capitol Hill, good news for Seymour Johnson Air Force Base could appear on the horizon. BY KEN FINE
As the nation prepares to move forward after a contentious 2024 election, House Majority Leader John Bell said the results have presented Wayne County with an opportunity — particularly because things “could not have ended up any better for Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.”
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), a fierce advocate for the installation, is now a member of the majority in his chamber.
Voters sent Rep. Don Davis — another man known for going to bat for the Goldsboro installation — back to Washington.
And President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has publicly called for the ousting of Air Force Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who, last year, justified divesting F-15E Strike Eagles when he was serving as Air Force Chief of Staff.
“It really couldn’t be a better situation for us,” Bell said. “But we’ve got to go. It’s time to go. If we do, this could pay huge dividends for us.”
Back in July 2023, Brown testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
And while, for most, it might have seemed like a routine hearing, in between his praise of airmen and the air power they deliver, Budd asked about plans spelled out in the DOD’s “Report on Force Structure Changes for the Fiscal
Year 2024 Defense Budget” — specifically, the proposed retirement of 119 F-15Es.
He told the senator the decision was made “to balance capability and capacity” — that retiring the least advanced Strike Eagles in the Air Force’s inventory while adding additional F-35 Lighting IIs and F-15EXs would help accomplish that goal.
“Prioritizing modernization efforts to keep pace with near-peer competitors requires difficult tradeoffs with existing inventories and programs,” Brown said. “The Air Force determined the best mix for the fighter fleet calls for maintaining an F-15E fleet of 99 aircraft … and shifting resources to maximize procurement of newer fighters and capabilities.”
Budd pushed back.
With new radars and an “electronic warfare overhaul,” the nation’s F-15Es remain “the most advanced fourth-generation fighters in the world,” the senator said, adding they have “years of service left.”
But the Air Force, Brown said, believed backfilling the fleet with more than 100 F-15EXs — a two-seat fighter with a stronger airframe and 28-percent larger payload than the Strike Eagle — was the most prudent path forward.
Less than a year later, then-4th Fighter Commander Col. Lucas Teel confirmed that the Strike Eagle cuts included in the NDAA would impact SJAFB.
The 333rd Fighter Squadron would be deactivated.
The 335th “Chiefs” would become a training squadron in 2025. And the wing, itself, would switch to a training-only mission. City, county, and state leaders told Wayne Week they were “blindsided” by the news — and in Wayne County, elected officials vowed to “reassess” relationships in Washington, D.C., before ultimately replacing their lobbying firm, the Roosevelt Group, with Crossroads Strategies.
Since then, the F-15E divestment has been put “on hold” and both Budd and Davis ensured language was inserted into the Senate and House of Representatives’ respective versions of the 2025 NDAA that would protect Seymour Johnson’s Strike Eagles.
But Budd did the same thing back in 2023 in what would prove a futile effort.
So, now that what he characterized as a “pro-military administration” is moving onto Capitol Hill, Bell said the time to get aggressive in fighting for SJAFB has come.
“I don’t think most people really understand how huge this could be for our community and our state. With the election results and the pro-military administration, it’s a huge opportunity for us to play offense — not only to protect Seymour Johnson but also to grow our military presence,” he said. “And I can tell you this: I look forward to working with our entire delegation to make sure that happens. But like I said before, it’s go-time. We can’t afford to sit back and wait for things to go our way. We have to take advantage of this moment and if we do, I can’t overstate how much we stand to gain.”n
{ our TAKE
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BE FEARLESS!
There is a saying about making decisions about your future.
When you make a landing on a course for your life — when you can no longer avoid the call to follow a dream — you have to go all out.
You have to burn the boats.
No retreat.
Only forward.
Tim McGraw said it another way. His father’s advice? Live like you were dying. How many times have we ignored that call?
The truth is, it is easier to just let the status be the quo — to do things “the way they have always been done.”
No risk. No worry. No challenge.
But also, no progress.
We forget that few — if any — great discoveries or moments in history have been the result of standing still, of doing the safe, easy thing, even when everyone said you were nuts for trying.
It took a lot of courage for a group of colonists to decide that they could take on England — and even more to become the resistance in Europe against the Nazis.
And what about all those military heroes —
the ones who jumped on top of a grenade or risked their own lives in defense of their country and their comrades?
They did not think about the easy way.
No way.
So, sometimes, we have to remember that courage is in our DNA in this nation — and is part of this community’s identity as well.
We have never been ones to sit back and accept the easy way — that is, until lately.
In recent years, some of us have watched a small group of people tell us how we should think, and stayed silent while they changed the very fabric of who we are.
Said another way, there are far too many people in this community who have had an easy row to hoe for too long.
And sadly, we let it happen.
We were too caught up in fear of being cancelled to ever have the courage to speak up for what we thought was right.
So, they decided for us how our community and our county would move forward.
We stopped talking to each other — and forgot the common ground that got us here.
Our community did not get to where it is because it was in the hands of people who
thought that their opinions, their expertise, and their connections trumped ours.
We had servant leaders who “got it” — people like Jack Best, Chuck Allen, Al King, Troy Pate Jr., Kate Daniels, Carey Winders, Julie Metz, and other visionaries who believed that their work was about more than power, a personal legacy, or public acknowledgement at a banquet.
These days, it feels like we have too many who feign leadership for the title.
But times they are a changing.
This community has cleaned out a lot of the bad actors — the people who really seemed to be interested only in how they could get ahead, not improving Wayne County.
But there are more who still don’t get it.
They think they run this place and that their opinions are the only ones that matter.
Well, we are here to tell you, again, that they aren’t.
Over the last year, we have watched a lot of people come out of their comfort zones.
They don’t just go along to get along — not anymore.
They say what they think and their contributions to the discussions have made us a stronger community.
We have seen people put their hats in the ring and step up to serve.
And they are doing so with courage and commitment.
So, while we are not finished yet, we are off to a strong start.
And there are stories that warm our hearts that reinforce that message, too.
In this week’s edition, you will read about a couple who are chasing a dream.
After years of being a big part of this community and guiding numerous young people toward a new vision for their future, Tyler Davis and his partner, Bri, are taking a chance — heading to Nashville so Tyler can shoot his shot at his dream of becoming a singer/songwriter.
Yes, it will be hard.
Yes, closing their record store will be a major step.
Yes, it is a risk.
And yes, failure is a possibility.
But as Tyler described it, with tears in his eyes, it is what his father told him to do — and he could not just sit back and live the easy life, the safe life, without putting everything on the line.
He knew it was time to burn those boats.
This community will miss him — and Bri. They have contributed much, and their influence has changed many, many lives.
There are dreams being lived right now because they showed someone else they were possible.
The record store was a gathering place for those who might not have been sure where they exactly belonged.
But Tyler and Bri showed them who they could be.
That’s a gift — especially for a young person trying to find his or her own way.
And it is a legacy.
So, it is high time that Tyler and Bri took a chance on some dreams of their own.
But we chose to tell their story because there is a lesson here — a big one.
They are leaving this community’s young people in our hands.
Now, it is our turn to show these future community leaders what really is possible when you have Wayne County blood running through your veins.
And it is time to come up with new places for them to gather and new mentors for them to admire and to emulate.
In other words, we have to continue what Tyler and Bri started.
It won’t be easy for them to say goodbye, but the going might be easier if they know that there are people ready to pay it forward — if some of those teenagers who have found their calling come back to create connections with the next generation.
The good news?
There are places doing that right now — and they are shaping the people who will one day lead this community into the future.
So, Tyler and Bri, we will carry on.
We will miss you and pray for you, but we will carry on.
Burn those boats, take that stage, give your dream your best shot.
And know that while you do, your story will inspire us to continue.
We hope it will also plant a seed of hope that anything is possible in the mind of another young dreamer.
And we will take another lesson from your decision, too.
This community is really at a crossroads. There is no more time to do things the old way, the easy way, the “how we have always done it” way.
We need a new vision.
We need a community that talks to one another and a coalition that sets its sights on making things better.
No one should speak for us anymore.
And no one should ever again take our voices away.
This is a community of hard-working, com-
passionate people with very, very big hearts.
We tear up when our national anthem plays and we know what it costs to keep a country free — and a community strong.
Our parents taught us to say, “yes ma’am” and “yes sir” and that leadership is as much about service as it is power.
We don’t need someone to tell us what kind of community we should build because deep down, we already know.
So, there should not be any more elections where only a handful of voters make the choice — and those primaries and Election Day ballots should never again be without challengers.
There are so many people in this community with much to contribute.
Think something needs to change?
Speak up.
Think something is being handled improperly or that you are not getting the whole story?
Demand accountability.
Tired of the name-calling, the race-baiters and the hate-mongers?
Be part of the crew with the courage to start the conversations again.
We have done it before.
It can be done again.
And we might just be amazed at how many values and goals we still share.
We can build this community back to the days when neighbors cared for neighbors and when decisions were made with the future in mind.
It is not going to be easy. But we can do it.
All we have to do is burn the boats.
We need new ideas and new players.
We need courageous leaders and to jettison instigators whose only goal is self-aggrandizement.
We need to dream big.
Really big.
Just like Tyler and Bri.
And then we need to find leaders who can make those hopes and prayers for our community a reality.
It is about believing in ourselves and in this county we call home.
We have some serious issues to deal with — not the least of which is making sure that Seymour Johnson Air Force Base remains a strong and vibrant part of this community.
And one of those leaders — those fighters who don’t see obstacles, but opportunities — House Majority Leader John Bell has issued the first call to action.
We have a shot with the incoming administration to advocate for this community’s future and to showcase what SJAFB means to Wayne County.
But we won’t get there if we play it safe.
So, it’s time to go all-in.
It’s time to burn the boats.
It’s time to swing for the fences without fear
If a singer/songwriter with everything to lose is willing to do it, why not us? n
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Tyler Davis has tears in his eyes.
He tries to speak but chokes up.
The 34-year-old is thinking about his father, Tony — how his hero nearly died; how now, after a prolonged recovery in an intensive care unit, he “looks different.”
“I mean, he’s not the same,” Tyler finally said. “He’s frail.”
When his son was growing up, Tony was a local legend.
He was a musician — like his father before him.
He had opportunities to be a session player in Nashville and, later, to perform for record executives after his band won a talent show.
But he never really took his “shot.”
So, after watching his son grow from the little boy picking at his grandfather’s guitar to a talented live performer with a recording studio, he gave Tyler the advice he, in many ways, wishes he had taken.
“He’s just like, ‘You have to go and try. Do it. And do it 100 percent,’” Tyler said. “I just don’t ever want to look back and have to wonder.”
And that means in a few weeks, he and his partner, Bri, will close the doors at Gold City House of Music and move to Nashville.
“We love this place,” Tyler said. “But it’s time.
Continued on page 14
Tyler Davis and his partner, Bri, share a kiss during their performance at N.C. Freedom Fest.
The couple's business, Gold City House of Music, is part record store, part recording studio, and part classroom.
Live music has always been a part of Tyler’s life.
He remembers watching, on the patio by the swimming pool, his father play gigs in Myrtle Beach.
He can still see his uncle, Gerald, performing with The Embers.
“I’ve been around live music since I was born,” Tyler said.
So, as he grew older, obsessing over songs and idolizing their creators was a norm.
He asked his mother to “dye my hair black,” so he could look like Elvis.
He wore dark sunglasses and took his keyboard to school the day he delivered a book report on Ray Charles.
And when the second-grade talent show rolled around, he played “Great Balls of Fire.”
All the while, his instrument of choice was ever-changing — from piano to bass to electric guitar.
But it was the lyrics — the stories they told — that made him realize he wanted to follow in his forefather’s footsteps.
Looking back on his childhood and his coming of age, it makes sense to Tyler that he fell for genres ranging from R&B and outlaw country to gospel and classic rock — all of which influence the music he creates.
“The songs were good,” he said. “I find myself torn between soul music and country music and Americana, because they’re the same things with a different rhythm. They’re songs about heartache and struggle.”
So, it’s no surprise that when his parents’ marriage started falling apart, he gravitated toward a safe space those artists had created.
“Things got progressively worse and worse at home. And it was just adults going through adult things, but back then, I thought I was old enough for them to just tell me what was going on and I wasn’t,” Tyler said.
He retreated to the home of his friend, Tanner, and a band would form.
“I just didn’t go home,” Tyler said.
And it was during those all-night jam sessions that he continued to hone his craft.
He learned The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Jet, and Led Zeppelin.
He played his first “paid gig” — $50 to drive to Atlanta and play “a doctor’s 50th birthday or something.”
“That’s really when I started taking it really seriously,” Tyler said. “That’s when I would pick up (Tanner’s) guitar and just try to work things out. It was obsessive.”
When his parents finally divorced, he would move to his father’s family farm in Fremont — the land on which his great-grandfather picked tobacco.
“ I just dont ever want to have to look back and wonder.”
And to pay for his gas and car insurance, he started playing gigs around Wayne County.
“So, my dad got me a gig playing at Double Ds, which was the little bar on Main Street in Fremont,” Tyler said. “I was 17 and I might have known 25 songs that I could play and sing by myself.”
But he walked out with $98 in his pocket.
“Look, I worked for $7 at a used car lot. It would have taken me a solid two weeks of work to make that much money,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
And Double Ds turned into the Snack & Cue. Snack & Cue turned into The Flying Shamrock.
And by the time he was 30, he was headlining at the Paramount Theatre and playing in front of large crowds at N.C. Freedom Fest. By 2020, he was in his prime.
“2020 was going to be a pretty big year. I had booked gigs in L.A. and Austin for South by Southwest and Nashville for a week. I was trying to get on the path toward doing bigger things — to network and spend time in bigger cities,” Tyler said. “And then COVID happened. All of that got shut down.”
It was devastating.
His mental health took a turn for the worse.
He started to doubt that he was ever going to “make it.”
But his partner, Bri, helped ensure music remained a focal point of his life.
The couple opened a record store/recording studio in downtown Goldsboro.
And inside Gold City House of Music, they would mentor teenagers and offer them a safe space to be creative.
“We have a lot of students where, you know, they are kind of on the fringe — people who don’t necessarily fit in,” Tyler said. “This is a place where they feel like they can come and hang out and feel accepted for who they are. I knew that when we opened this place, that is exactly what I wanted it to be.”
All the while, Tyler was still creating — releasing an album in 2023.
But the lyrics revealed that he was still haunted by what the pandemic took from him.
“Maybe I’m paranoid
Or maybe entitled
But I thought that by now I’d be farther along.”
“I thought that I was reaching my moment and then the whole world fell apart,” Tyler said. “I just felt like I’d missed it.”
He channeled those feelings while he wrote the tracks for “Wanderlust & Happy Pills.”
