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When Oakland Mayor Shane Taylor found an envelope in his town mailbox the evening of Feb. 10, he had no idea how consequential its contents would be until the following day when he read the two letters inside.
Written by several town employees, the anonymous letters accused Town Manager Andy Stewart of creating a “toxic” “work atmosphere dominated by fear and intimidation.” The letters, obtained through a public records request, documented meetings throughout 2024 and into 2025 in which Stewart reacted angrily when questioned or challenged by employees and stated on several occasions that the workplace had “too many female employees.”
The letters noted that many staffers were actively seeking positions elsewhere; there was concern for new hires and potential legal action against the town; and a fear of retaliation from Stewart.
The letter writers urged the mayor to investigate their allegations and take “appropriate action” to “ensure the Town (sic) provides a safe, respectful, professional environment for all employees.”
Taylor told VoxPopuli by text that after he read the letters Feb. 11, he called a meeting for later that day with Stewart, Oakland Police Chief Darron Esan and Stephanie Velos, the town attorney. At that meeting, Stewart initially agreed to resign.
Stewart had worked for Oakland for just 21 months, joining the town staff in May 2023.
“My intent was to make this as private of a matter as I could by respecting both the town employees and former town manager, but also knowing this would be an open public matter,” Taylor texted VoxPopuli. “I wish Andy all the best in his future endeavors.”
An item was swiftly added to the agenda for the town commission meeting that evening where Taylor announced Stewart’s resignation.
The commissioners voted to accept a letter of resignation from Stewart within 48 hours after the vote — with Commissioner Joseph McMullen voting nay to allow Stewart more time. But during the meeting, Taylor received a text message from Stewart that was read aloud. It said: “I feel at this point I would prefer the commission to go ahead and terminate me without cause.” The commission unanimously voted to terminate him.
According to the letters, the town manager’s outbursts began in mid-2024 and continued through January. On multiple occasions, the letters said, Stewart responded to questions or disagreement from employees with “I am the boss” and “I hired you,” implying that he could fire them at will and that they had “no protection under his leadership.” The letter writers described him as becoming “enraged” and “exceedingly agitated.”
“Andy is extremely unpredictable in his moods,” one letter stated. “One day is happy, one day is angry. Anything can set him off. You never know how a meeting is going to go. We have resorted to recording Department Head (sic) meetings due to his aggressive outbursts.”
Both letters described a key August 2024 department directors meeting, where Stewart “became visibly upset and refused to engage in any constructive conversation” after a director questioned Stewart’s statements about the budget. The letter stated that Stewart was not informing the directors about budget decisions and “became even more hostile” with them after this incident.
Both letters also referenced another pivotal incident when Stewart attempted to circumvent the commission’s Sept. 9, 2024, decision to pay Orange County Fire Rescue $2 million for services. The commission voted to raise the town millage rate to 6.7 mills and pull funds from the town reserves to cover the bill, which was to be paid in full, according to meeting minutes. But according to one of the letters, Stewart wanted to utilize the payment plan that Orange County offered instead.
“He explained that he wanted to NOT pay the full amount but rather the payment plan offered in the letter [from Orange County to the mayor],” one letter writer said. “He wanted to take the money we would’ve paid OCFR bill (sic) and put it into an account to collect interest.”
According to the letter, the discussion began via email, but as Stewart encountered pushback, he went to the letter writer’s office to direct them to contact Orange County about the payment plan. The letter writer refused, pointing out that the commission had “agreed on the record to pay in full … and raised the millage for it.”
Stewart “got enraged and said, ‘I am your boss, and if I tell you to do something, you are going to do it.’”
The situation became so volatile, Elise Hui, the assistant town manager and town clerk, and a representative from Human Resources had to intervene. The other letter noted that the staff member felt “trapped and unsafe in her own office, as she was sitting behind her desk, and Andy was standing in the path to her exit.”
“Elise then tried to stop him from continuing,” the letter stated, but he would not be deterred. “His response was, “No. We are going to continue this.”
Hui told VoxPopuli she could not answer questions about the Stewart situation.
Before being hired as Oakland’s town manager in May 2023, Stewart worked as the town manager of Kitty Hawk, N.C. for six years, until he resigned suddenly without explanation, according to The Outer Banks Voice. Asked to comment on Stewart’s abrupt departure, Melody Clopton, the current Kitty Hawk town manager, would only confirm Stewart’s years of employment (2016-2022) and that he resigned. “There is nothing else to report,” she said in an email.
Hui will serve as interim town manager until the commissioners find a replacement.
