Jackson TDA board seat remains vacant
Jackson County commissioners chose to delay an appointment to the county’s Tourism Development Authority Board for the third month in a row, leaving a board that has had difficulty filling seats in the past one member down when there are multiple applicants that have been vetted and are ready to serve.
At the Feb. 4 meeting of the County Commission, the board received two recommendations from the JCTDA for prospective board members — Dale Collins of Tuckaseegee Fly Shop in Sylva and Cathy Busick, a member of the Appalachian Womens Museum Board.
According to Executive Director Nick Breedlove, Collins has served a term on the JCTDA board but has set out the requisite year required before serving again.
Chairman Mark Letson sought a motion to approve one of the two candidates, but commissioners did not bite. Commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper asked why a third candidate, John Faulk, had not been vetted by the TDA. Letson said that while both Busick and Collins had applied to be members of the TDA board, Faulk had not.
The normal process to become a member of the TDA board is that the TDA seeks out nominations, vets any candidates who respond with interest, and then recommends those candidates to the county commission for selection. Both Busick and Collins went through that process.
Rather than selecting from the two candidates presented at the Feb. 4 meeting, the board decided to delay the appointment until the Feb. 18 meeting so that Faulk could be vetted by the TDA and added to the pool of candidates from which they can select an appointee.
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This came after the county commission refused to appoint the last recommendation for the vacancy that came from the TDA, Bernadette Peters. Commissioner John Smith claimed there was a conflict of interest because Peters worked for the Main Street Sylva Association, even after Chairman Letson said he had confirmed there was no conflict of interest.
“I spoke with Mr. Breedlove after our last meeting regarding how they came to Peters being on the Tourism Development Authority, and she’s gone through an extensive amount of vetting, background checks and conflict of interest,” Letson said during a December meeting. “Peters serves more as an economic developer, not necessarily tourism development. So, if there are no objections, I do recommend Peters to be on the TDA.”
The board did not appoint Peters in December, did not address the vacancy at its January meetings, and decided not to approve the two recommendations brought forth at the Feb. 4 meeting. The vacancy will come before the board again at its Feb. 18 meeting.
