Edwards named chair, Taylor is vice chair of county commission

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners elected new leadership at its first meeting in December, held Monday night.

The meeting marked the first to be attended by two newly elected commissioners, Democrat Graylen Blevins and Republican Sandy Carter. Newcomers Blevins and Carter replaced two incumbent Democrats, Ken Richardson and Charity Gambill, on the board.

Former vice chair and senior board member Republican Eldon Edwards was selected by a unanimous vote of his peers to be the board's chair, while fellow Republican J. Warren Taylor was named vice chair of the board. Both appointments came on motions by Carter, both of which were seconded by Commissioner Patrick Woodie.

Richardson had been the board's chairman prior to the end of his term in office.

After being appointed as the chair, Edwards offered his thanks to the other commissioners for putting their faith and trust in him.

"We're putting it in very capable hands," said Woodie.

"We are very fortunate to have you as our senior member on the board and as our chairman," said Taylor to Edwards. "We appreciate your leadership."

After appointing new leadership, the board entered into a lengthy discussion on the board's procedures, meeting times and other items. As for the meeting time, Carter suggested moving the second meeting of the month back to 10 a.m., as it was prior to the term of Gambill, who needed the later time to accommodate her work schedule. Carter said that move might help give the public as much access as possible. However, Blevins disagreed, "To be work force friendly, it might be better to go with the 3:30 time," said Blevins, noting that it is difficult for some working people to get off from their jobs and attend early commissioners' meetings.

Taylor also favored leaving the meeting times, noting that he will be teaching a class at Wilkes Community College that will begin at 12:30 p.m., a possible conflict with the earlier time if meetings turned out to be lengthy as they sometimes do.

After discussion began on possibly moving both meetings into the evening, Adams noted that the second meeting needs to be held prior to 5 p.m. to give the commission access to county employees before they leave work.

"If we have any general business involving county employees, we try to get them on the daytime schedule," said Adams.

The commission is planning to vote on the complete slate of operating criteria at their next meeting, which has been set for Dec. 16 at 3:30 p.m.

Following the discussion on meeting times, the board entered into a lengthy discussion of board policy, using a manual by the Institute for Government as a guide. Numerous items were reviewed, including procedures for open meetings, closed sessions, board organization and other regulations, mostly with only brief discussion.

One change was made to the board's agenda. The commission agreed to insert a time for public comment at the end of each meeting. That time could be used for those in attendance to ask questions of the board or comment on items discussed during the meeting.

Those wishing to discuss a particular item that may or may not be on the agenda will still need to call the county manager by Wednesday of the week prior to the meeting. Adams said that those coming in with issues usually speak to him first and then are placed on the agenda of the next meeting if he cannot satisfy their problem.

After some general discussion by the board, Adams further noted that the board may want to call a special meeting if a number of people are in the audience to discuss a topic. However, the board generally allows a public hearing for most controversial topics it handles.

In other action, the board also approved retaining Ed Woltz of Mount Airy as the county attorney for another year. Woodie said of Woltz, "Ed has been a true pleasure to work with."

The board also approved retaining a $25,000 bond for Sheriff Mike Caudill, as well as bonds for other elected officials. The sheriff's bond cost was slightly over $100 per year.

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