Kirkland unanimously appointed as Swain County chairman
Swain County commissioners appointed Jason “Jay” Kirkland on Oct. 28 as board chairman, just shy of the 60-day following the former chairman Kevin Seagle’s resignation.
Commissioner Bobby Jenkins brought forward Kirkland’s nomination, and Commissioner David Loftis immediately seconded the motion.
The vote was swift and unanimous. Including the call to order, prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, the meeting spanned a little over two minutes.
When taken without context, the Oct. 28 nomination process — while potentially raising questions of transparency — appeared smooth and agreeable, but that wasn’t the case with the meeting just one week prior.
The board had first attempted to hold a vote on Oct. 21, after an hour-long public hearing regarding a new animal control ordinance, a short recess and a regular session that included 15 minutes of budget discussion.
Acting Chair Tanner Lawson explained that commissioners solicited applications for three weeks. Then, the board and county Republican Party began considering applicants. The Party offered three non-binding nominees, one of which was current Commissioner Phillip Carson, Sr., who asked to be excused from deliberations.
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After Carson left the room, Loftis, having expressed a strong belief in providing the public with the identities of each applicant, began reading through the 12-name list. With each candidate, Loftis offered an evaluation. Indeed, he knew nearly everyone personally, which isn’t surprising in rural Swain County.
Chairman-elect Jason R. Kirkland, for example, was a “hardworking man” in Loftis’ eyes.
Loftis went on to say that Kirkland “logs for a living, raised in Bryson City all of his life, worked hard … He would probably be one that’d be on my side. He’d agree with me a little bit. Good man. He would do a good job.”
Following Loftis’ announcement, Lawson identified the three Republican Party nominees, then turned to his colleagues for their comments.
Loftis was quick to share his opinion: anyone but Carson.
Swain County commissioners vote to appoint Jason “Jay” Kirkland as board chairman. From YouTube
“He’s been a Republican for three years. He was a lifelong Democrat … People in this county voted him out because they didn’t want him to be chairman,” Loftis said.
Carson was ousted in 2018 after two terms as chairman by fellow Democrat Ben Bushyhead. He ran two years later, losing to both a Democrat and a Republican. In 2022, Carson switched his party registration to Republican, and his candidacy was successful.
Lawson seemed to understand the frustration with appointing Carson, at least at the administrative level, admitting that it wouldn’t solve the problem of a vacant member.
“That’s been my question this entire time. Do we fill a seat to have an open seat, or do we fill a seat to have a full board?” Lawson asked.
The question lingered in the air. Then Commissioner Bobby Jenkins made a motion to appoint Carson as chairman.
“That’s a bunch of bull,” protested Loftis, who has in the past had conflicts with his fellow board members.
Lawson told his coworker to “stay civil,” adding, in a concession to Jenkins, that it might make more sense to appoint an elected commissioner as chairman than give the highest-ranking seat to someone sans election.
The acting chairman then made a second motion for Carson.
“We cannot make [Carson] chairman; it’s an elected position. They call it, you can raise a point of order. That’s what I’m raising, on this garbage truck, is a point of order. He has to resign from being commissioner before he can ever be appointed chairman,” Loftis responded.
In an article announcing Seagle’s resignation in August, The Smoky Mountain News clarified that resignation is not a requirement of the statute governing appointing a current commissioner as chairman. State law only requires that the appointee “be of the same political party as the member being replaced.” Nonetheless, neither the attorney present nor county manager had enough knowledge to definitively challenge Loftis’ statements.
Lawson, citing the need to “do [the appointment] right,” made the decision to table further votes and discussion until Loftis’ point was clarified, ostensibly by the following Tuesday.
The commissioners, however, appointed Jay Kirkland Tuesday, Oct. 28; Loftis’ objection wasn’t even relevant.
“I’m glad it went the way it did,” said Jenkins. “Maybe we can move on and get some business done for the county. I know people are tired of hearing this back and forth. And it’s neat to come to a halt and get some things done.”
As for the concern for transparency potentially raised by the omittance of reasoning for Kirkland’s nomination, Lawson “would say, ‘Have a conversation with us. Give us a call.’
He added that “the other side of it is, we don’t hear from a lot of our community members. We hear from some of them at our board meetings. But when it comes to different things, until it becomes a very contentious item, we don’t hear [from our constituents].”
He urged anyone concerned with county commission proceedings to find their cell phone numbers on the Swain County commissioner webpage.
SMN spoke to Bobby Jenkins, David Loftis and Tanner Lawson about the Kirkland appointment. Phillip Carson, Sr. did not respond to requests for comment.
When asked why the board eventually decided on Kirkland, all three commissioners highlighted his squeaky-clean reputation.
“I’ve known Jason a long time, and he’s always been honest and upright about everything that I’ve ever known to be having any dealings with. And I think he’s just outstanding citizen in the community,” Jenkins said.
“He had to work for what he had. It ain’t been handed to him. And I believe he’s a good, honest man,” said Loftis, echoing his Oct. 21 commentary about the new chairman.
“Nobody’s ever talked bad about him. And for me, he’s a good Christian guy, so I think he’s got good standards that that stick with him as he leads his community, as he leads his business. He’s never really had a turnover, if any turnover, within his business,” Lawson told SMN, adding that Kirkland won’t micromanage other employees; he’ll focus on the problems that matter.
Kirkland had always been at the top of the list in Lawson’s mind. However, while the other two spoke highly of the chairman-elect, neither confirmed Kirkland was their first pick.
“Course [my nomination of Carson] was killed. There was other people that was as well qualified or better qualified, at least as well qualified, but he has — no they don’t have any experience in politics,” said Jenkins.
