Crystal Reed named Town Administrator for Glen Alpine

Crystal Reed, has been named as the new town administrator for Glen Alpine. Reed comes to the position with more than 20 years of municipal government experience, including more than 17 years with the City of Morganton. 

Reed provided administrative support for Morganton’s Development and Design Department for most of the last 18 years. Her experience includes working with Morganton’s building, engineering, planning and zoning, and fire inspection services.  

She said the biggest challenge in her new job thus far, is understanding the full scope of her new position. 

“Although a lot of the operations are the same or similar, there are a lot of differences too. Over a 20-year time, I got to know a lot of the citizens of Morganton. I was used to knowing faces and names. But as I am here and can be out in the community more, I’m looking forward to putting faces with names,” said Reed.

In general, the role of town administrator in Glen Alpine not only covers financial and administrative functions for all town departments, the position also provides assistance to the board, operates the town hall office, provides customer support, and coordinates an assortment of special events.

“I haven’t been on the financial side of local government and that’s a challenge as well. I’m also the finance officer here,” said Reed. 

“I’ll be taking classes and learning that side of things. I was familiar with it but I didn’t work in it daily so with it just being me here, I’m the operational person of everything,” she said laughing.

“I’m working closely with department heads, especially Rodney (Police Chief, Rodney Cox). We have open positions in the Police Department so I am relying heavily on him to guide me as we work on recruiting,” said Reed. “He knows his department and what needs to be done.”

Reed will also be working to attain her Town Clerk credentials. “I’m excited about that. Renee Carswell, with the city (Morganton), is sort of mentoring me. She’s been a help, especially when I made the decision to come here,” said Reed. Carswell is the Executive Assistant/City Clerk for Morganton.

“She’s somebody I could connect with both personally and professionally to help guide me and direct me as I do the clerk certification program,” said Reed. 

Melissa Lalonde, formerly in Reed’s position, is also helping Reed navigate through the roller-coaster transition from a support role in a large government department to holding the reins for daily operations for a whole town.

“Crystal has done exceptionally well as she adapts to the role of clerk/administrator. Her job is ‘ever-changing’ and she understands that it will be a long learning process and mistakes will be made and are expected. She is a great addition to our town of Glen Alpine staff and her skills are very much appreciated,” said Glen Alpine Mayor Bob Benfield. 

“I do want to thank our former clerk/administrator, Melissa Lalonde, for taking the time to work with Crystal and training her for her duties with our town,” said Benfield.

Although she lives in Drexel, Reed is a Glen Alpine native. 

“I went to Glen Alpine Elementary School and to Glen Alpine Junior High. Then my first year in high school was the first year of ninth grade at Freedom,” said Reed.  

Reed landed in her new role in the peak of a contentious election season. Four candidates have filed for two open seats on the Board of Aldermen. 

“My hope is that the aldermen can be a little bit more involved with the daily parts of what goes on in town. I’m learning and we’ll have some new aldermen, so we’ll be learning together how everything operates. We can work together to see what changes need to be made,” said Reed. 

“We need to do it as a team and not pit one against the other. We’re here to make the town run smoothly, make the town better. For the citizens and the people who work here,” said Reed. 

“Living in Drexel is somewhat of an advantage. I don’t have a vote in Glen Alpine. I’m here to do my job. I don’t have any bias and will be focused on doing my job and doing it well,” she said. 

Reflecting on the myriad of responsibilities she now has before her, Reed said, “I think eventually I will be, and I need to be as the administrator, involved with everything that is going on. My goal is to stay here until I retire.”

 Reed’s first major event is Glen Alpine’s second annual Fall Festival set for Friday, Oct. 6, beginning at 5 p.m. on Linville Street in downtown. The town-sponsored event will include food trucks and over 30 vendors. Live music from Fox and Company begins at 7 p.m. 

Pam Walker is the Central Burke Reporter at The Paper. She may be reached at pam@thepaper.media or 828-443-6103.