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Judge rules in favor of ousted airport authority officers
By Lynn Hotaling
After considering additional written evidence for two days, Superior Court Judge Ronald Payne last Wednesday (April 13) granted the preliminary injunction sought by ousted Jackson County Airport Authority officers Tom McClure and Jim Rowell and member Eldridge Painter.
Last week’s ruling effectively turns the clock back to Jan. 12 for the Airport Authority, restoring McClure to the body and reinstating him as chairman. Rowell, who remained on the board, will once more be secretary-treasurer.
And Ed Riley, appointed Feb. 15 to fill McClure’s spot and elected secretary-treasurer Feb. 23, is apparently no longer a member of the Authority.
“It’s a victory really for the airport and the people of Jackson County,” McClure said last Thursday.
Judge Payne’s ruling restores McClure and Rowell to their former posts pending trial of the suit filed March 21 on behalf of McClure, Rowell and Painter by Asheville attorney Joe McGuire.
“The case will move forward towards trial, as with any lawsuit, unless the parties can resolve the issues by a settlement,” McGuire said April 14.
“I haven’t completely digested (the ruling) – I guess it means Ed (Riley) is gone – at least temporarily,” said Jackson County Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan, who declined to address the matter further while it is being litigated.
County Manager Ken Westmoreland said Thursday that he had been advised of the ruling by county attorney Paul Holt but declined comment because he hadn’t read the document himself.
Holt had not returned a Herald phone call at press time, and Gary Buchanan, who was elected Airport Authority chairman Feb. 23, did not respond to an e-mailed request for a comment.
Riley responded to an e-mail but said he did not have enough information to comment.
A copy of Judge Payne’s ruling on file in the Jackson County Clerk of Court’s Office indicates that his decision to grant the injunction was based in part on the plaintiffs’ “likelihood of success” at trial.
“The plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the action of the Commissioners to remove McClure as a member of the Airport Authority without notice or opportunity to be heard was contrary to law,” Payne wrote under the heading “Conclusions of Law.”
Also in that section, the judge wrote that the plaintiffs “have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the action of the Airport Authority to remove Rowell during his term as secretary-treasurer was contrary to the by-laws of the Airport Authority.”
McMahan did confirm that commissioners discussed the matter with board attorney Holt during the closed session portion of their April 18 meeting.
While state statutes allow county officials to bar the public and press from discussions of legal strategy, questions remain as to the legality of the closed sessions commissioners held Jan. 11 and 12 prior to McClure’s unexpected removal from all appointed county posts.
That action was part of a complex, five-part motion made by then-Commissioners’ Chairman Stacy Buchanan that was seconded and voted on with no discussion among the commissioners. Officials said the two closed sessions were for discussion of personnel matters, an exemption allowed under North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law.
However, McClure was an appointed official and not a county employee, so the personnel exception would not apply to any discussion of him, said Amanda Martin, legal counsel for the N.C. Press Association.
In Martin’s opinion, any debate concerning whether to audit the county’s Economic Development Commission, dissolve the county’s revolving loan committee, and/or foreclose on delinquent loans – all of which were part of Buchanan’s motion – should have occurred in open session.
The fact that commissioners were able to act on such a complicated motion without discussing it first seems to indicate that they must have somehow known the contents of the motion ahead of time, Martin said.
The lawsuit filed by McClure, Rowell and Painter contends that commissioners’ Jan. 12 actions violated the Open Meetings Law, but that claim was not addressed in Judge Payne’s April 13 ruling.
Adding to the confusion surrounding the Airport Authority is a bill introduced in the General Assembly by Rep. Phil Haire (D-Sylva) that would consolidate Jackson and Macon counties’ existing airport authorities into a joint Jackson-Macon authority. Commissioners – acting once again after a closed session with no open discussion – passed a March 21 resolution asking Haire to file the bill.
When asked via e-mail how Judge Payne’s ruling reinstating Tom McClure as Authority chairman would affect that bill, Haire replied that he didn’t know what Judge Payne’s ruling was and that he understood commissioners were to discuss the matter April 18.
McClure said this week that Haire’s bill is apparently “sitting in committee,” but that Judge Payne’s ruling means the Airport Authority can go on record as opposing the bill, which McClure said was done with no consultation or input from the public.
“The airport belongs to the Airport Authority,” McClure said. “The county gave it to the Authority back in 1996.”
The Airport Authority has not met since Judge Payne handed down his ruling. McClure said Monday he is tentatively planning to schedule a meeting next week.
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