[0:00] Uh, I was told by the staff attorney that she did not know what this

[0:03] legislation was about, but she would check and get back with me.

[0:07] Um, never heard from her. Uh, I tried to email her I emailed her

[0:11] again today to see if there's any update. So,

[0:14] uh, I believe I'm correct Dia that you've not heard from your um,

[0:18] counterpart in Franklin County. Um, so despite our efforts to find out what

[0:22] this was about, uh, we've had no word. Um,

[0:26] uh, what I call radio silence. So, I I I don't know what that means, but in any

[0:31] event we thought it would be um, important to have you have this

[0:35] emergency meeting to consider uh, a resolution on opposition to this

[0:40] proposed legislation. Um, so that is the presentation. The proposed resolution is

[0:48] attached [clears throat] to your agenda packet. It's um,

[0:52] it's one page. I've I Mr. Chairman, I don't know if you want me to read this

[0:57] or not. For the public there are copies I think at the table if someone wants to

[1:01] have a copy. Um, I will defer to the board to have for any questions you have

[1:07] or comments uh, before you take action on the

[1:10] resolution. Okay, you've heard information coming

[1:13] from attorney Rollins. Um, Cook Commissioners any questions or

[1:16] comments? Miss Denton you have anything you want to add?

[1:21] Okay. All right. Yes yes sir. Yes ma'am Vice Chair Davis. Just clarifying the

[1:27] where this proposal is and what actions or steps

[1:33] will be taken from starting tomorrow.

[1:40] Um, Miss Davis, all I can tell you is I

[1:43] looked at the legislative history just before the meeting today and all I can

[1:48] tell you is it is out of committee. It is scheduled on Tuesday to be in both

[1:52] chambers, the House and the Senate for some kind of action. Uh, I assume that's

[1:58] a vote. Don't really know. Uh, in fact this

[2:01] happened so quickly that the version of the bill you have in front of you was

[2:05] not available uh, from the General Assembly website hadn't been updated yet

[2:09] because this just happened yesterday. But as it's presented to you today, it

[2:13] will be before the Senate and the House in the chamber of both houses

[2:18] uh, on Tuesday for some kind of action. Um,

[2:23] I'll add one more thing that that I've in the resolution we we basically made

[2:28] it clear that it's an

[2:32] it may be appropriate for a county or a unit of government to go to the

[2:37] legislature for a local bill because you want the authority to do something that

[2:42] you don't otherwise have authority to do by general statute or by general law.

[2:47] Um, in in in my 40 years being involved in

[2:53] local government work, I have never seen a situation where another county goes to

[2:59] the legislature asking that another county

[3:04] is deprived of what their statutory rights are.

[3:07] Uh, and that's what's happening here with respect to Halifax County and also

[3:12] um, Warren [snorts] and Vance County. I can

[3:15] tell you as I've been told by both county attorneys that that Warren County

[3:19] and Vance County are both considering similar resolutions tomorrow.

[3:24] Um, and I will also like to say and I I appreciate uh, the city attorney for

[3:31] Roanoke Rapids Mr. Davis reached out to me yesterday as I was pulling up my

[3:35] driveway um, uh,

[3:38] after I got home. Um, I had a text from him. He said, "Have you seen this?" And

[3:43] I said, "Oh, yes. We've seen it and we've been working on it."

[3:46] Uh, and I appreciate the support we've been getting and updates from Mr. Davis

[3:50] and uh, the city's efforts and the city's behind us on this proposed

[3:55] resolution. And um, there [clears throat] may be others I've

[3:58] not had personal contact with, but I did appreciate Mr. Davis reaching out when

[4:02] he did. Okay, any any further questions Miss

[4:06] Davis? >> And and just a suggestion too just to

[4:08] make every effort we can to show a strong

[4:12] opposition to this. I suggested um, to um, Miss Denton is there a possibility

[4:19] of using the bus that we have with 4-H and having some of our citizens travel

[4:24] to Raleigh on Tuesday just to see that process and let their voices be known

[4:29] too. I think it would be a great idea if we could pull that off.

[4:35] We'll definitely try to make that happen. Okay, that's something to

[4:38] consider. All right, um, Commissioner Silver. Um, just want to know you I

[4:42] reached out to the Haliwa Saponi tribe and I spoke with the chief vice chief.

[4:47] They are strongly opposed and they're going to meet and

[4:51] plan on probably most likely issuing issuing a resolution.

[4:54] I've probably been contacted by 50 to 60 citizens from Halifax, Warren

[5:00] County and surprisingly Franklin County that oppose this legislature and stuff.

[5:05] So, I encourage you to remind all the

[5:08] citizens to regardless if they're state resident, their representative has a

[5:12] vote on this and they can help us out. Okay.

[5:16] All right, and I do have some to report a little bit later along the lines of

[5:20] what Commissioner Silver talked about. I appreciate you you as well as all the

[5:25] Commissioners being in touch with me today.

[5:27] Think I talked with all of you all today for the very first time since I've been

[5:31] chair. One day I'll talk to all of you. But anyway, that that's been great

[5:34] talking to some of you several times. All right, in reference to the

[5:38] resolution opposition to Senate Bill 214 part 5 section 5. Any further comments

[5:44] or or questions or anything to attorney

[5:46] Rollins? One last comment. I'm sorry. And just thank you to Rodney I'm

[5:51] representing Rodney Pierce for sharing [clears throat] this when he found out

[5:54] about it and letting us know. Um, you know, he really started the ball

[5:58] rolling. So, um, big thanks to him Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks goes to Senator

[6:03] Sanderson too who voted against it uh, when it appeared before him yesterday.

[6:07] So, anyway, with that being said anything else?

[6:11] All right, if not I'll need a motion to And I and I got to tell you some old

[6:16] things too you all probably got to make some comments too, but can I get a

[6:19] motion to Okay, motion made by Commissioner

[6:22] Bearsdell second. Second. Second by um,

[6:27] co- co- um, by Vice Chair Davis. Uh, any further

[6:31] discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All opposed like sign.

[6:35] Okay. All right, Commissioners um, and I want you all to chime in. I know

[6:40] several of you have talked with officials and other folks and we don't

[6:44] want to get into the weeds of it cuz we're not going to be here long.

[6:47] You know, but you know, if you have something to say very specific, you

[6:50] know, we just need to do it. Uh, want you to know that I'm not going to be

[6:54] sitting here reading these letters, but Miss uh, Denton and

[6:59] and also our deputy county manager has put together some letters for me uh,

[7:04] that has my signature on it. Uh, one letter going to the chair of the

[7:09] Franklin County Board of Commissioners basically showing our displeasure

[7:13] uh, with what has taken place. I'm not going

[7:15] to read it. You have a copy before you Commissioners. Um,

[7:19] and uh, it's pretty strong language. Very professional, but pretty strong and

[7:23] and it's just totally wrong. It's very dishonorable

[7:27] uh, of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners. I'm just totally

[7:31] disappointed in that board. Um,

[7:36] we also sent a letter to Representative Pierce thanking him

[7:40] and also advising him what has taken place as well as Senator Sanderson who

[7:45] cast that vote yesterday uh, against it and I thank Commissioner Barrett you

[7:49] talked with him today, right? Okay. And uh, we appreciate you know,

[7:54] uh, you doing that. I have personally contacted every mayor

[7:58] um, in the county with the exception of the mayor of Scotland Neck and I talked

[8:02] with the mayor pro tem in Scotland Neck and they're going to be coming out

[8:06] resolutions doing the same thing that we're doing here tonight each one of

[8:09] them. In addition to that, Halifax Rising's

[8:13] Economic Development Commission, HCIA Miss Davis is the president of the

[8:18] Halifax County Intergovernmental Association.

[8:21] Um, I talked with Thomas Wren Roanoke Rapids

[8:24] graded Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District. Um,

[8:30] and I think Miss Denton is going to be talking with the Upper Coastal Plains.

[8:34] Anyway, all of them are going to do a resolution as well. Um,

[8:38] you know, in opposition of this bill. And you know, I I just you know, I don't

[8:44] want to say a whole lot about it because I want to remain professional. I want to

[8:47] keep my cool with this, but this thing has got me boiling.

[8:50] And you know, this is just totally disrespectful y'all. And I think

[8:53] attorney Rollins summed it up. You know, if it was something here in the county

[8:57] that we needed to do is different, but when you reach across to another county

[9:00] and try to do something like this, you know, that's just as low as you can

[9:04] go. And uh, you can print that too if you

[9:06] want to Richard. I don't mind. You know, so anyway, um,

[9:13] anyway, that's all I'm going to say at this point. Um, any of the Commissioners

[9:15] want to chime in? I like I said, I won't get into the weeds cuz we're not going

[9:19] to be here very much longer.

[9:23] Anyone else? Commissioner Redding? I also want to start with acknowledging

[9:28] Representative Pierce for his leadership and

[9:31] for communicating with us on an ongoing basis about the

[9:36] updates. And

[9:38] just to follow up on the point you made when we attend either the national

[9:44] county commissioners conferences or state conferences,

[9:47] we seem to you know, unite together for

[9:53] not just uh, in support of our goals, but also

[9:58] in support of what we're trying to achieve

[10:03] either locally or within our schools or economic development and so on and so

[10:08] forth. And it's just as you pointed out, it's

[10:11] disturbing to see that one county seems to not

[10:16] be in agreement with that united front that we have. And we have

[10:22] too many issues, whether it's trying to improve our public schools,

[10:27] whether it's trying to improve economic development,

[10:30] our infrastructure, whether it's

[10:34] you know, trying to improve our health care in our counties

[10:37] uh to be uh taking time out of our agendas and schedules and

[10:43] and uh work days to be focusing on something

[10:46] like this that

[10:48] clearly is not legal or um as I said

[10:54] in line with what we're trying to achieve unitedly as a county

[10:59] commissioners association. Very well put. Thank you. Anyone else?

[11:04] Commissioner Silver. Again, Chairman, I just want the people that's listening

[11:07] here in our neighboring counties. If they can do this to us, who say they

[11:11] won't come for them. And also, it's very disrespectful and I

[11:15] call names. We just had um Alan Chester, Senator to support this

[11:19] bill at I-250 who sat there in that room, made no motion to that. I feel

[11:23] like that reflects poorly on relationships with other government

[11:27] bodies. Thank you.

[11:30] Okay. Anyone else?

[11:35] Um Commissioner Barry, did you want to say

[11:37] anything about your conversation with uh Senator Norman Sanderson today?

[11:41] Well, I mean, I'll I'll give you an update. I I called his office earlier

[11:44] today and after speaking with his legislative assistant, he called me back

[11:47] this afternoon. Um

[11:50] and very supportive of of of us and and our issues. He said he you know,

[11:55] obviously he voted against it when it first came up.

[11:58] Um and I you know, strongly told him how

[12:02] upset the people here in Halifax County were

[12:06] and that not only did we expect him to vote

[12:10] against it, but we expected him to throw his full weight in opposition of it.

[12:15] And he indicated to me that was his intention. Um that was he was going to

[12:20] do everything he could to to fight it and get it taken out of the bill. Okay.

[12:24] Very good. Thank you for that update. Anyone else? I can answer. Ms. Denton.

[12:28] Um good evening, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here on short notice. Um

[12:32] we thought this was very um

[12:34] very well [clears throat] justified as an emergency meeting with the the

[12:37] seriousness of the the language in this bill. Um two other updates just for your

[12:42] information. With this being a local bill, if it passes, it cannot be vetoed

[12:46] by Governor Sun. So, just know that. Um additionally, we

[12:50] have a when the General Assembly is in session, we have a managers call with

[12:55] our state association every Thursday at 4:00. I was on that call today. They are

[13:00] aware of the bill, the language in the bill, but as you know, they they need to

[13:04] remain neutral. But I I think they're very aware of what

[13:08] this this could mean across the state of North Carolina for all counties.

[13:12] Um and I think you may see some additional counties sign on and hold

[13:16] meetings and pass resolutions. Um we've I've had at least one additional county

[13:20] manager um contact me today that's not listed in

[13:23] the bill. Mhm. Um but could be affected. So, we'll be talking to our other our

[13:28] neighbors. Okay. And you may see some additional action. All right. One thing

[13:32] that I forgot to thank you, Ms. Denton. Uh

[13:35] in this information I just passed out, Commissioner, I do have to have your

[13:39] approval for these letters and I didn't ask you for that. I'm sorry. Uh let's we

[13:43] can do all three of them together. Um we'll be okay, I would think. Yes, sir.

[13:48] Okay. The letter to the chairperson um Roxanne Bragg in Franklin County, the

[13:54] letter that I'm sending. You have a copy before you. The letter to Representative

[13:58] Rodney Pierce and also uh Senator Norman Sanderson.

[14:02] Uh I need a motion uh you know, for your approval to to send

[14:05] these letters. I forgot to ask that. May I have a motion?

[14:08] » So moved. Motion made by Commissioner Silver. Is there a second? Second.

[14:11] Seconded by Commissioner Webb. Any further discussion? All those in favor

[14:14] say I. I. All opposed. It's been said several times, but please, y'all, when

[14:20] we see these people out, Representative Pierce, we'll probably see him a lot and

[14:24] we see Senator Norman Sanderson, you know, out a lot, too, and or even when

[14:28] we go down to the legislative day in June or at the conference in August, uh

[14:34] make sure you tell these folks a big thank you.

[14:37] You know, please do that because you know, they represent us and um

[14:41] you know, I mean um I don't know how many times I talked to

[14:44] Representative Rodney Pierce today and I told him last time I talked to him, I

[14:48] said, "This is all you've been working on last 2 days." I know. So, anyway, but

[14:53] but please thank them for all their hard work. So, anything? Anything else?

[14:58] Chairman, Commissioners, Uh huh

[15:01] Mhm. Yep. Sorry about that, but this is just

[15:04] for us, okay? Okay. All right. Anything else,

[15:08] Commissioner? Anything, staff? No, sir.

[15:11] Okay, with that being said, can we get a motion to adjourn?

[15:15] Motion made by Commissioner Red. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by

[15:18] Commissioner Barry. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I.

[15:22] All opposed. Okay. Meeting adjourned and the next meeting is May 4th at 9:30.

[15:27] Thank you.

Halifax County Commissioners Regular Meeting - April 23, 2026

Transcript