CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx's wife, Samara, has resigned from a high-paying DSS job that was one of three sparking concerns about nepotism last year.
Reached at her home Sunday morning, Foxx said she resigned from the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services effective Dec. 31 to “focus more time and energy” on her family. The couple have a 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.
Her husband was a councilman and mayoral candidate when she was hired for the job – with an annual salary of $100,000 – which was posted for just a day.
The agency hired two other relatives of high-ranking government officials early last year: the daughter of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe and the daughter of Resident Superior Court Judge Yvonne Mims Evans.
The hires prompted a public debate about hiring practices and perceptions of favoritism in local government.
Officials said the three hires were made in accordance with county policy and without regard to family ties. Commissioners examined resumes from the three during a lengthy closed session and concluded the hirings were proper. But County Manager Harry Jones soon changed the minimum time that most available jobs would be posted to six days.
Samara Foxx, a lawyer, was hired in summer 2008 as a special assistant to newly assigned DSS Director Mary Wilson. Foxx later headed DSS business affairs, one of six divisions in the agency. Wilson could not be reached Sunday.
Wilson had said in the spring that Foxx won the job over other candidates because of her experience, including work in legislative affairs.
Hollye Monroe was hired early last year as a management analyst with social services for a $46,613 annual salary. Tracey Evans was hired as a social services manager at a salary of $57,380.
DSS is the county's second-largest department and has an annual budget of $180 million. It employs 1,200 employees.
