Tim Buck: A life of public service

After 19 years as Pamlico’s county manager, Tim Buck attended his last county commissioners meeting on Monday, January 27. He sat in his usual shirt and tie with his wife and family behind him as his retirement was officially recognized by the county commissioners with a resolution, proclamation and a plaque honoring 29 total years of service, dating back to his first county position.

As the county manager, his job was to carry out the policies of the board of commissioners while researching and giving them recommendations. Basically, he took the vision of the board of commissioners and helped make it happen. For example, he brought in resources after each hurricane to help the county recover and become more resilient. He said that he is most proud of leaving the county in a condition beyond recovery, where they can really move forward.

During Buck’s tenure, Pamlico was affected by the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008, Hurricane Irene in 2011, Hurricane Florence in 2018 and the COVID pandemic in 2020.

“A lot of my time has been spent in either preparing or recovering from natural disasters,” Buck said. But thanks to grants that went toward housing and the elevation/acquisition of structures relating to safety, he said, “I'm glad that we've had some successes.”

At his last county commissioner’s meeting, 11 people spoke on Buck’s behalf, including his clerk, Tracy Boyd, who referred to him as “one of the best bosses” she could ever ask for while tears came to her eyes. County Commissioner and Chair Edward Riggs said he would miss “the only county manager I’ve known since being commissioner.”.

“Havin’ been here since 1991, we’ve seen all the managers come and go from the beginning to now,” said County Commissioner Doug Brinson, who has been on the board since Buck started his public service career. “You have more than held up your end and made the county proud. [The] time that you have dedicated to public service and taken away from your family’s time. A lot of people don’t realize that.”

Buck began nearly 30 years ago, in 1996, as the 30 year-old office manager for Pamlico’s water department, and expanded over the next ten years with appointments with the fire marshal, jail and tax office, before settling into the office of the county manager for nearly 20 years. He said he didn’t originally set out on this path intentionally when he first began his career.

“I really wasn’t looking at local government,” he said in an interview with Down in the County.

After high school, he attended Emmanuel College for “general studies” for two years in Georgia. There he met his wife, Lisa, before returning to North Carolina to attend Eastern Carolina University until he graduated in 1988 with a degree in business administration. He and Lisa graduated together and married the same year.

Having come from four generations of Bucks who were born and raised in Pamlico County, Buck always knew he’d move back.

“It's a rural community, first and foremost. But to me, it's where my family is, " said Buck.

His first job out of university was selling office equipment at Daughety’s Office Machine, but sales didn’t suit him and it wasn’t long before he moved on.

“I almost starved to death doing that,” Buck said. “I'm not a salesperson. If I ask you to buy it, and you say no, I'm happy with that.”

A year later, in 1989, he started working at STS Micro Scan in Havelock, converting Canadian patents from paper to digital copies for $6 an hour up until 1996, when the company went out of business. As a young man, Buck found himself unemployed with a pregnant wife, with no way to provide for the family he was starting. He had already begun working toward his master's in business administration from ECU when the company shut down that April.

“My wife was patient,” Buck said.

Upon graduating, Violet Ollison, a longtime friend who worked with Buck at STS Micro Scan, had found a job working with the Department of Social Services, and encouraged him to apply to become the office manager for Pamlico’s water department.

He got the job on  July 5, 1996, starting his almost 30-year career as a public servant.

“That’s the first time I knew or even thought about working in a county government,” Buck said.

He had set out on a new path, but necessity called Buck away from that appointment after just a short time. In 1997, Pamlico’s then-County Manager Martin Beach asked Buck to be the GIS coordinator for the fire marshal, another appointment that was short-lived.

Though he gained a new admiration for firefighters, he felt it was work he could not do safely, so in 1998 when then-sheriff Danny Miller called him to be a jail administrator and 911 administrator, Buck jumped. He stayed there for two years, running the jail and dispatch center, which he called “probably the toughest job” he’s had at the county, but said it taught him how to be a manager.

By mid-2000 Buck was called up again by then-county manager, Randy Beeman and offered a position as the county’s tax administrator, which he filled until 2006, helping to integrate a system that would allow for the first set of electronic digital photos, and working to create the county’s first website.

“I really didn't go looking for these jobs,” Buck said. “The best way to tell people to go about their job is ‘do your job as best as you can, work as hard as you can, and help as many people as you can…’ That's what I tried to do, and I guess it got noticed.”

In 2006, the third county manager during Buck’s first decade in public service, Tim Owens, left his position. Ann Holton, a county commissioner in 2006, asked Buck if he'd like to become interim county manager.

Before Holton called, Buck didn’t have the county manager position on his radar, but upon starting the job as interim in March 2006, he said, it grew on him.

“I kind of liked it,” he told Down in the County. “It was not boring. It's constantly something going on,” he continued, adding that he likes helping people and had a better opportunity to do that as manager.

By July 2006, Buck was appointed by the county commissioners as the full-time county manager.

While he knows being from Pamlico gave him an advantage, Buck believes he was appointed for nearly 20 years because he truly learned how to work with the board.

“He and I had to learn how to dance together for a while and it was a great time,” County Commissioner Candy Bohmert illustrated.

Mark Brewington, the previous assistant county manager, will become the new full-time county manager. Brewington and Buck have been working in the same office since September 2024.

“I’m a servant,” Brewington said when asked to describe himself. “It is a blessing and an honor for the commissioners and the citizens here at Pamlico county to put trust in me to come in and help them run the county.”

Brewington will focus on economic growth and opportunities, while maintaining Pamlico’s identity.

With people in retirement age moving into Pamlico and youth leaving after high school and not returning, Buck is confident that Brewington will help recruit businesses that will help with economic development/entrepreneurship and the retaining of youth.

“He's a people person– he understands people, but he's a good manager and some of his strengths address some weaknesses that we have,” Buck said in regards to writing policy and Brewington’s experience in law enforcement management and business. “Mark is ready to go.”

Buck, now 58, said he wants to “enjoy life”  with his grandkids and also retired wife.

After retirement, he said, he wants to do more for his community. He will continue to live in Reelsboro and will serve in his church more.

“I do love this county,” he said. “Four generations of Bucks and I’m not going anywhere.”

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