After meeting in closed session for two hours Wednesday, the Maxton Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Town Manager Katrina Tatum.

The board also voted to name Finance Director Myra Tyndall as interim town manager. The commissioners asked Tyndall to began her new job immediately.

Mayor Gladys Dean, who requested the special meeting, declined to say what prompted Tatum's resignation.

"It is a personnel issue," Dean said. "She submitted her resignation. I don't want to discuss it further."

But Tatum said that the decision to step down was not hers alone.

"Was it a personal decision? No," she said. "I resigned — as requested by them."

Tatum said that she has no clear idea why the board wanted her out as town administrator. She said she asked for — but did not receive — a written list of concerns or questions about her job performance.

"It is hard to defend yourself, when they won't give you specifics," she said. "When I make a decision, I can always explain why I made it. They ought to be gentlemen enough to do the same thing."

As Tatum talked outside Town Hall, her former staff helped remove personal items from her office and town-issued vehicle. Several town employees hugged her good-bye and cried.

Tatum was hired as interim manager in 2006 and was named manager about eight months later. Tatum, a Bladen County native, replaced former Town Manager Eric Pearson, who resigned to become town manager in Walsenburg, Colo.

"All I can say is that my work speaks for itself," Tatum said. "We made a lot of significant progress ... we've gotten $6 million for rehabilitation ... the infrastructure is improved. There are just a lot of things that the staff — because I didn't do it by myself — can be proud of."

Maxton resident James D. McEachin blamed Dean, who he said has been angling to have Tatum ousted as manager since her election as mayor in 2007. McEachin has served on a number of Maxton committees and organizations, including one that pushed for Tatum's initial employment as manager.

"Getting rid of Katrina was always a goal of the mayor," McEachin said. "It couldn't have been because of her job performance, which was outstanding. Katrina Tatum was one of the best managers we've had. Funds are still coming into this town to make this a better place and it is because of her."

McEachin added that the board's "constant meddling" in how the town is administered has hurt employee morale and will make finding a new manager difficult.

"There is no way that the town is not going to be hurt. Because of this same kind of pettiness, we've had four town clerks in the last few years," he said. "To me, that says something."

Tatum had previously served as interim town manager for Fairmont, but that board declined to hire her on a full-time basis. During the time she worked as town manager, Fairmont extricated itself from a financial mess.