Board meets in closed session
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 19, 2012 1:46 PM
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday morning met behind closed doors for more than two and one-half hours only to return to open session to adjourn without comment.
At one point, raised but unintelligible voices could be heard coming from the conference room where commissioners were meeting.
Reasons cited for the closed-door session were attorney-client privilege, to discuss possible location of an industry in the county and performance of a public employee.
The session started at 10:32 a.m. and lasted until 1:08 p.m.
Chairman Steve Keen did not return a phone call asking for comment on the closed session.
Attending the meeting were Keen, Commissioners Ray Mayo, Joe Daughtery, Wayne Aycock, Bill Pate and John Bell as well as County Attorney Borden Parker.
Development Alliance President Joanna Helms met for a while with the board as did Marcia Wilson, clerk to the board, and County Manager Lee Smith.
The board did not identify the public employee being discussed, nor is it required to do so under the state’s Open Meetings Law.
However, Smith and Human Resources Sue Guy have been constantly under the microscope in recent months because of problems with a new payroll system that have persisted since it was implemented in July.
Earlier this month, both were grilled by commissioners during a work session on the payroll system problems.
Commissioners at that time expressed frustration and impatience with the fact that Smith and Ms. Guy have yet to resolve the problems.
The Open Meetings Law requires that “full and accurate” minutes be kept of any and all closed sessions. Those minutes are considered public record, but may be withheld from public inspection as long as making them public would frustrate the purpose of the closed session.
Smith, who has been county manager for 10 years, serves at the pleasure of the board.
In October 2011, the board gave Smith a six-year extension on his contract that is automatically renewable on Dec. 31 of each year. Keen voted against the extension, arguing instead for a one-year agreement.
At the time Keen said, “All seven county commissioners come in (start filing for office) February of 2012, the election is in November and the contract is up in December,” he said. “To be fair to potential new board members to have the county manager on the same page as the commissioners, to make it fair and practical, I ask that the amendment just be approved for one year in order for the commissioners and county manager to align themselves.”
His motion was defeated 6-1.