KANNAPOLIS — After being a member of the Kannapolis City Council for over a decade, Tom Kincaid resigned with a letter addressed to Mayor Darrell Hinnant and the rest of council dated Dec. 7. At their Dec. 11 meeting, council officially confirmed his resignation. At the end of the meeting, Hinnant read a prepared statement aloud to explain the situation and how they got to this point.

Kincaid is the owner of Caremoor Retirement Center and he recently sold his property that includes 5.36 acres and four buildings to Cooperative Christian Ministry for them to operate a “transitional housing facility to house Cabarrus County and Kannapolis individuals, families and senior citizens in housing crisis or at risk of becoming homeless, with a supportive program to educate, stabilize and empower the household to achieve personal goals and housing stability.”

Hinnant said that he and the rest of the council were initially unaware that Kincaid and CCM were working on a deal together. At the same meeting, council approved a grant agreement that will allow the city to give CCM $3 million to assist in the purchasing of Caremoor. 

However, according to the written statement Hinnant read, there was a division amongst council on whether or not to provide the money based on Kincaid’s ties to CCM. 

“We were told, without any doubt, that there was nothing illegal or unethical that we can give the money to CCM and CCM could go make a deal with anybody that they chose to make a deal with,” Hinnant said.

In the statement, Hinnant referred to “The Group” as three council members, Doug Wilson, Ryan G. Dayvault, and Dianne Berry, who said that they would not approve the moving the money unless Kincaid resigned. 

“Not wished, they demanded his resignation. Quote, ‘They would not move the money without him resigning,’” Hinnant said. 

On Wednesday, Kincaid said that he felt that it was “totally unnecessary” for him to resign and that “The Group” was trying to get Milton Smith, the fourth highest vote getter in this year’s election, appointed to council. Kincaid said that he “felt like a hostage” and only resigned because the deal with CCM was too important for the public to jeopardize.

When asked if he wanted Kincaid to resign, Wilson stated the following: “It was never my wish for him to leave council. He made that decision. We didn’t force him to do anything. If that’s been the way it’s been portrayed, that’s just not accurate.”

Wilson went on to say, “The mayor’s definition or interpretation of what happened is different than what mine would be. I think that’s probably pretty obvious. I’m not going to get into that, he’s entitled to say whatever he thinks to a certain extent. I’m not sure where the mayor got his information from.”

It is now up to council to figure out how to fill the vacancy left by Kincaid. In the past, the council has accepted open applications from candidates, then it selects the five it determines to be most qualified, ultimately choosing one from that pool. If council does decide to go with that route, Hinnant said applications could be accepted at the beginning of next year. Wilson, at the moment, is unsure how it will be determined.

“I don’t know how that’s going to work out. I really don’t because I think that it may be difficult for us to reach an agreement on who should fill the seat. I think that’s probably going to be a real challenge,” Wilson said. 

The divergence of opinions within council paints an unclear picture of how its members will continue to function as a whole. Both Hinnant and Wilson are hesitant to say how that will be done.

“It’s going to be tough…It’s going to be a while before we can act together,” Hinnant said.

Meanwhile, Wilson said, “I think that’s the million-dollar question right there…How we go forward from here is a big question.”