State lawmakers say the pension system needs serious review after a former director of a regional mental health center became the state’s top public pensioner despite running his agency into the ground.
Last year, Charles R. Franklin Jr., 68, of Greenville became the recipient of the largest pension among state and local government employees at $211,373 annually. He started collecting his retirement checks just as the state Department of Health and Human Services took over his agency, the Albemarle Mental Health Center in northeastern North Carolina, for failing to meet basic standards of service.
