MURFREESBORO – Out with the old; in with the old.

After three years on the job, Brandon Holland has resigned as Murfreesboro’s Town Administrator. His last day on the job was Wednesday. The Randleman, NC native has accepted a job as Town Manager in Ayden. He starts a new career on June 9 in that Pitt County town.

“I told the (Murfreesboro) Council at our meeting Tuesday evening that I felt my job here was a very positive experience and a significant step in my career as a municipal administrator,” Holland said on Wednesday afternoon.

“I am very thankful that the Council and the citizens of Murfreesboro allowed me to serve them for the past three years. I wish the town much success in the years to come,” he added.

While members of the Murfreesboro Town Council search for Holland’s replacement, Hugh Montgomery has been named as Interim Administrator. Montgomery, a native of RockinghamCounty, is no stranger to Murfreesboro, having twice served as the town’s interim leader. The latest of those two stints came for four months (February – May) in 2010, filling in between the departure of Cathy Davison and the hiring of Lee Capps in June of that same year.

For Holland, it was Murfreesboro’s small town charm that led him to the town three years ago. He came to Murfreesboro armed with education and experience in public management.

“We really enjoyed working with Brandon during these past three years,” said Murfreesboro Mayor John Hinton. “He did a fine job as our Town Administrator. We hate to see him leave, but at the same time we wish him nothing but the best in his new job in Ayden.”

Holland was originally enrolled at North Carolina A&T University, where he was on the football team. After a year he transferred to Appalachian State University, a school known for educating one-third of town/city managers in the state. There, he graduated with a degree in public management and a minor in communications in December 2008.  It was his junior year in college that Holland knew he wanted to be a manager.

“I wanted to do this because of the variety. I didn’t want to do just planning, just law enforcement, I wanted a little bit of everything,” he told the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald in an interview after accepting the position in Murfreesboro. “No day is the same on this job and that’s what I like about it.”

He earned a master’s degree in December of 2010 and also gained experience through internships – two with his home town of Randleman in the City Manager’s Office and another with Kannapolis in the City Manager’s Office and Public Works. He worked as assistant city manager in Randleman before coming to Murfreesboro.

Seven months into the job, Holland was awarded a three-year contract extension by the Murfreesboro Town Council in December of 2011.

Montgomery, age 55, brings a wealth of experience in municipal government, as well as his previous knowledge of working in Murfreesboro. He has served for over 25 years in municipal leadership roles across North Carolina. His first administrative position came in Creedmore and he has held positions in Marshville, Ayden, Pittsboro, Wendell, Maxton, Banner Elk and even had a previous stint as an interim in Murfreesboro in 1998.

He attended Lees-McRae College in 1978 and earned a degree in business administration from UNC Greensboro in 1980. He earned a masters degree in 1985 from UNC Greensboro.