Swain County withheld commission chair resignation letter before announcement
Swain County government has been under intense scrutiny of late for a number of unusual resignations.
Swain County government photo
Swain County Commission Chairman Kevin Seagle’s resignation was made public after an Aug. 19 meeting with a letter released by County Manager Lottie Barker — a letter requested by The Smoky Mountain News the previous day that Barker had in her possession but failed to provide.
By the night of Friday, Aug. 15, rumors were swirling that Seagle had or was planning to resign from his post as chair. Over the weekend, SMN attempted to make contact with Seagle, to no avail.
On Monday, Aug. 18, SMN contacted Barker via email around 10 a.m. asking if the rumors were true and made a public records request for any letter of resignation Seagle may have provided. SMN also asked Barker to disclose how she learned of Seagle’s resignation, and when. The next day, Barker replied but didn’t provide any documents or how she learned of Seagle’s resignation.
Barker wrote, “I can tell you that this matter concerning Kevin Seagle will be discussed tonight at our regular session and I can follow up with you tomorrow about it.”
Later that evening, Seagle’s resignation was announced during the regular commission meeting, when interim Chair Tanner Lawson revealed the existence of the letter. Barker sent the letter to various news outlets, including SMN, that night. Seagle’s letter was dated Aug. 15.
On Aug. 22, SMN asked Barker for the email she received from Seagle with the letter attached. Barker didn’t initially provide it — she provided another copy of the letter. A subsequent request for the actual email Barker received from Seagle including the letter showed that Barker had received the email with Seagle’s resignation letter attached at 9:50 a.m. on Aug. 15.
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Seagle simply wrote, “Please see attachment above. Wish you all the best.”
Later on Aug. 22, Barker told SMN she did not provide the letter to SMN “due to awaiting a call from our county attorney to verify if the board had to formally accept it or if just providing it in writing was sufficient.”
The document became a public record the moment it landed in Barker’s inbox because it contained no legally privileged information, thus Barker’s response doesn’t meet legal standards for privacy — or for withholding it.
