Re-elected Commissioner Jeff Harding is sworn in by Mitchell County Register of Deeds Kathy Laws on Monday, Dec. 7. (MNJ photos/Juliana Walker)
The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners meeting looked a bit different on Monday, Dec. 7, in more ways than one.
Two new commissioners, Harley Masters and Brandon Pittman, were sworn in earlier that morning along with re-elected Commissioner Jeff Harding. Pittman and Masters replaced former Chairman Jacob Willis and Danny Burleson.
On the previous board, Willis served as the Chairman and Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff served as the Vice Chairman, so new commissioners had to be elected to those roles.
Commissioner Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff was nominated for the Chairman position by Commissioner Steve Pitman and was unanimously elected to the role.
“I want to say thank you to the board for the confidence you’ve placed in me to serve as Chairman this year,” Matthew “Vern” Grindstaff said. “I promise you, the citizens of Mitchell County, that I will be transparent, fair and deliberate in all my functions as Chairman.”
Additionally, Commissioner Harding nominated Pitman for Vice Chairman and he was unanimously elected to the role.
The board also re-appointed Tim Greene as County Manager, Christy Young as Clerk to the Board, Mavis Parsley as Finance Officer and Lloyd Hise as County Attorney.
However, another big change to the board was the appointment of Dean Grindstaff as the Assistant County Attorney.
Hise said it was time to begin training a new attorney for his position and he plans to leave his role sometime next year.
“He and I will work together and, hopefully some time mid-year or there about, this board will see fit to make him County Attorney,” Hise said. “I’m old and need some time off. I thank you all for all the years. It’s been a good board to work with and I think you’ve got a really great board here.”
Dean Grindstaff, who owns his own firm in Spruce Pine, said he was honored and looks forward to working with the county.
“I will certainly do my best,” Dean Grindstaff said. “It’s an honor to be asked and I really appreciate all of you.”
The meeting also ushered in a change of venue that will continue into the future. Going forward, the meetings will be held upstairs at the Historical Courthouse at 11 North Mitchell Ave. in Bakersville.
The courthouse will allow more people to attend the meetings, accommodate social distancing and provide an audio system so commissioners can be heard.
The audio system is especially important for the new video recordings the county will be making of meetings. Masters has pushed for video recordings and has previously live-streamed the meetings on her personal campaign Facebook page.
The video recordings of meetings will be shared online in some capacity which has yet to be determined, as the county does not have a Facebook page at this time.
Lastly, the board approved its new meeting schedule and will now be meeting twice each month rather than once. Beginning in January, meetings will be held on the first and third Monday of each month.