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Ousted officers seek legal counsel
By Lynn Hotaling
The Jackson County Airport Authority’s former chairman and secretary/treasurer have engaged legal counsel in an effort to retain their positions.
Though a reconstituted Airport Authority elected Gary Buchanan chairman and Ed Riley secretary/treasurer on Feb. 23, Tom McClure and Jim Rowell maintain that they still hold those offices.
Buchanan and Riley were advised of McClure’s and Rowell’s position through a letter last week from Asheville attorney Joe McGuire, who represents them and Airport Authority member Eldridge Painter.
McGuire’s letter was prompted by the announcement of a special meeting Buchanan called March 4 for the purpose of selecting legal counsel for the Authority and “following the bylaws regarding the specified location of the Authority records.”
In the letter, McGuire contends that the Airport Authority is currently acting “contrary to law” and is not duly constituted.
“Chairman McClure, Secretary/Treasurer Rowell and Mr. Painter dispute and do not recognize the legitimacy of either Ed Riley or (Buchanan) as members of the Authority,” McGuire wrote. (Mr. Buchanan is) not authorized to act as chairman of the Authority, nor may Mr. Riley and (Mr. Buchanan) conduct any meetings or business in the name of the Authority.”
The announcement of the March 4 special meeting, which was not held because a quorum of the Authority’s members was not present, was apparently triggered by Rowell’s refusal to surrender the Authority’s records to Riley, which was reported in this newspaper’s March 3 edition.
“There is no reason to hold a special meeting or to retain counsel regarding the books and records of the Authority, which properly are and will remain in the possession and care of Secretary/Treasurer Rowell,” writes McGuire. “As members of the Authority have been aware, the business of the Authority has required that its records be maintained by the Secretary/Treasurer at his office, since the Authority office at the Airport is neither suitable nor convenient for safekeeping of the books and records. This was the practice of the secretary/treasurer prior to Jim Rowell as well.”
McGuire closes by informing Buchanan of McClure’s, Rowell’s and Painter’s intent to take legal action “unless the Authority is reconstituted as prior to the unauthorized removal of Chairman McClure and Secretary/Treasurer Rowell.”
Members of the Airport Authority are appointed by Jackson County’s commissioners, though the Authority itself was created by the General Assembly.
Commissioners voted to remove McClure from the Authority during a Jan. 12 called meeting. McClure has maintained since that time that commissioners do not have the authority to remove him. That contention has been confirmed by attorney David Lawrence of the Institute of Government in Chapel Hill.
In the wake of that move, commissioners decided that the remaining five members had to be reappointed in light of procedural violations, such as the fact that members hadn’t been sworn in as statutes require and that at least one member – Buchanan – had not been appointed in the manner stipulated by the bylaws.
Commissioners charged the five with holding a meeting and providing at least two names to be considered for the sixth spot.
Instead, authority members submitted seven names: Riley, McClure, Dennis Wilkey, Alston Macon, John Wittekind, Gary Boyer and Dorothy Gamble. County leaders chose Riley during their Feb. 15 meeting.
Buchanan, who had not responded by press time to efforts to contact him for this report, has announced another special Authority meeting for today (Thursday) at 8 a.m. in Room 203 at the Justice Center. The purpose is again to retain legal counsel, according to an e-mail announcement from Riley.
Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Roberta Crawford, that board’s highest-ranking officer in the wake of the Monday resignation of Chairman Stacy Buchanan (See related story on page 1A), said Tuesday she had no comment on recent events surrounding the Airport Authority.
“I don’t feel comfortable commenting on what could become a legal issue,” she said.
During the Feb. 23 meeting, Buchanan announced the Authority’s regular meeting time as 7 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month in Room 203 at the Justice Center.
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