GATEWAY board must pick five new members
By Matt Caulder
Published in News on July 10, 2014 1:46 PM
Five new members will join the GATEWAY board of directors this month due to a newly discovered bylaw limiting members to six consecutive one-year terms on the board.
The rule, which was discovered late last month by a city employee, will shake up the seven-member board, leaving only two veteran members.
The board is made up of three representatives each from the city and county and one jointly chosen seventh representative.
All three of the Wayne County appointees moved off of the board with one of the city representatives and the jointly chosen GATEWAY representative leaving as well.
Wayne County Commissioners Joe Daughtery and Joe Gurley, as well as Brent Heath, replaced Wayne County Finance Director Pam Holt, Commissioner John Bell and former Goldsboro City Councilman Bruce Gates on the board.
Daughtery joined the county board two years ago and Gurley was sworn in July 1 of this year to replace former Commissioner Steve Keen, who vacated his seat after taking a position with the governor's office.
Heath applied for three board positions in May, the Wayne County Planning Board, the Wayne County Latino Council as well as the Mount Olive Planning Board, but was not selected for any of them.
Heath's occupation is listed as a general manager at Boling Furniture in Mount Olive.
The city has not replaced its position, vacated by John Forbes, but board member Gene Aycock asked his fellow city councilmen at the July 7 meeting for any names of people who would faithfully serve in the position attending the monthly meetings.
"It's really not a problem," Aycock said. "We have just got to make an appointment from the city. Right now only two members from the city are left, (Councilman William) Goodman and I."
The GATEWAY appointee, chosen to replace Wayne Opportunities Executive Director John Chance, will be appointed by the rest of the board at its meeting July 31.
GATEWAY Director Lynn Lamberth is excited for the change and hopes the new members will be as supportive as her board has been in the past.
"I think that the city and county have both been so supportive and having the new board will be amazing," Mrs. Lamberth said. "Change is always a little 'eh' but I think it will be truly good."
The new members come onto the board amid a time of improvement for the once struggling system.
In the past fiscal year the system saved $500,000 in operating costs, a fact that was attributed to Mrs. Lamberth's leadership.
She joined GATEWAY a year ago.