Ashe Board of Commissioners Elect Officers

By Ron Fitzwater
The Ashe County Board of Commissioners met in regular session Monday, Dec. 1, with a very full agenda

including elections for board chair and vice chair and appointments of county clerk and county attorney.

Prior to the elections, former commissioner Marty Gambill relinquished his seat to Gerald Price. Price is returning to the board following a Republican sweep of commissioner seats in November and was sworn in to office in a ceremony earlier in the day.

Gambill was seated on the board at the beginning of the meeting and passed the post to Price following comments from the sitting commissioners.

"I would like the privilege of thanking Commissioner Marty Gambill and say how much I have appreciated the service he has provided to this board. He has been a pleasure to work with and has provided valuable input and solutions to sticky problems as we moved forward. Commissioner Gambill has been progressive and forward looking as this board has dealt with what we thought was in the best interest of the county," Board Chair Richard Blackburn said.

In his farewell to the board, Gambill said, "It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have worked with the other commissioners and the staff who have all worked for the best interest of Ashe County. On the whole, I have tried to be progressive and make the county the kind of place where people want to live and work and play and have the opportunity to do those things on account of the work we have done. Hopefully the upcoming board will continue to be progressive thinking. I will continue to serve on the planning board and look forward to working with the new board as opportunities may arise."

Keeping with rules of procedure, the board recessed to exchange commissioners and then reconvened for organizational business.

After calling the board to order with Price now seated, Blackburn called for nominations for board chair for the upcoming year. Judy Poe was nominated to lead the majority Republican board and was elected unanimously to the post.

After taking control of the board, newly elected Chairwoman Judy Poe called for nominations for vice-chair. Larry Rhodes was nominated and also elected unanimously.

Following the elections, John Kilby was unanimously appointed to continue as county attorney, as was Ann Clark to continue as county clerk.

Additionally, following a short debate and a failed motion amendment, the board adopted official Rules of Procedure for board meeting conduct.

Several committee appointments were also made with commissioners, for the most part, keeping the postings they already held.

One key posting was the board's representative to the High Country Council of Governments. The representative is normally the chair of the board, however given the fact that Blackburn is the vice-chair of the HCCG and next in line for the chairmanship, Poe declined the position, requesting that Blackburn remain in the seat.

Price, expected to take over Gambill's positions, requested that he not be seated as the non-voting member of the planning board. Traditionally, a non-voting member sits as an advisor to the planning board. With Gambill already on the planning board when he was elected to the board of commissioners, the post was not needed.

To satisfy Price's request Commissioner Gary Barber swapped his posting on the New River Service Authority Board for the planning board. Price will take the NRSAB post following the Dec. 4 meeting.

Price will also take seats on the Arts Council Board, the Ashe Civic Center Board, the Farmland Preservation Advisory Board and the Industrial Facilities and Pollution Board.

With all postings and offices settled, the board moved on to additional business.

Commissioners heard from Sara Wolf, new Director of Ashe Partnership for Children, who presented the organization's annual report.

APC recently decided to close the Creative Food Ventures program at Family Central due to financial issues.
Wolf pointed out to the commissioners that over the past year the organization had provided child care service referrals for 77 parents and guardians, provided 300 children with oral health examinations and treatment, furnished therapy services for 152 children with special needs and served 124 clients at A Safe Home for Everyone [A.S.H.E.] including emergency shelter for 21 women and 15 children and providing 95 clients with crisis counseling as well as many other services.

Dr. Patricia Mitchell presented the Economic and Community Development update.

Mitchell told the board that as things stood by the end of the year the county will have lost over 300 jobs from closings at Catawissa Lumber Company and Leviton facilities' closings. There is, according to Mitchell, some parties interested in some of the available industrial properties left from the closings, but nothing solid as of yet.

Mitchell told the board that over the past year the department had worked diligently for the benefit of the county and was currently looking into several ways to bring new industry to the county while working with area schools to promote industrial careers that could be marketable in the county.

The board also heard from Ann Goss, who is trying to spark interest in the county for the creation of a solar panel manufacturing facility create jobs and put the county on the front lines in creating green industry. Commissioners invited Goss to work with Mitchell and County Manager Dan McMillan to see if the idea is viable.

The board also voted three to two to appoint Henry Doss to replace Della Deal on the Ashe County Planning Board and Earline Barker to serve on the Long Term Care Joint Community Advisory Committee.

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners will next meet on Monday Dec. 15, at 3:30 p.m., in the second floor small courtroom of the Ashe County Courthouse.