At a recent public hearing, people said out-of-the-ordinary things about appointments to the Boone Extra Territorial Jurisdiction board. The process was described both as wanting in diversity and representing the town’s interests too much. To serve, a person must be “qualified,” but nobody knows what that means. People in the ETJ don’t like the fact that applicants must tell to what percent they are satisfied with the ETJ plans.
According to Phil Templeton:
“We had a little Indian lady serve on one of these boards,” he said. “She didn’t seem to know why she was there or where she was going. If you wanted diversity, maybe that’s the reason for that, but we need to apply some common sense.”
According to Wayne Greene:
“The idea that you have to agree with the town’s plans in order to serve on the board is not only objectionable; it’s ludicrous,” he said. He said the idea of an ETJ at all is an example of “regulation without representation,” saying that people who believed that in the Civil War were called “scallywags and carpet baggers.” “Now it seems like the people who like those ideas are called the League of Municipalities,” he said.
According to County Commissioner Vince Gable:
All the applicants the town submitted were Appalachian State University professors. “I am not so sure it takes a doctorate of education to serve,” he said. “I’d like blue collar people on there, the people who are having the problems.”
