On Wednesday the Pinehurst City Council announced that Robbie Hood is coming back as interim City Administrator following a settlement agreement with suspended city administrator/police chief Stephen Stroud.
As the song says, Hood said he plans to hit the door running on Monday at 7am
“I kept my home in Pinehurst that I bought six years ago and now things have come full circle. I’m glad to be back and look forward to helping the city move in the right direction,” Hood said. “I was retired for four months but realized I still have gas in the tank.” Hood retired earlier this year after five years in Vidor as their city manager. He served as Pinehurst City Administrator from 2015-20.
Hood has 30 years of government experience. “In a town our size we have to be creative and proactive to bring business here and get sales tax numbers up. We’ll look at creating reinvestment zones and carrying out the wishes of council.”
Councilman Troy Pierce made it a point to say when he made his motion about bringing Hood back that he would be back at the amount Stroud was paid which was $72K plus benefits according to Pierce.
Council did not announce their settlement with Stroud. He attended the meeting with lawyer in tow. The two met with council in closed session. The TMPA said Stroud was asking for three years severance after being on the job for 11 months.
Councilman Dr. Mike Shahan made the motion to have City Attorney Tommy Gunn finalize the agreement with Stroud and to bring the details to the next meeting.
As for naming an interim Police Chief, Shahan made a motion to table it. No announcement was made as to who is running the department now. Mayor Sarah McClendon was asked about it after the meeting and she said she had no comment.
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