[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.