The Buncombe County Commissioners’ meeting ran extra long tonight. Commissioner Holly Jones wished to make some amendments to the county’s personnel manual. Bill Stanley acknowledged the presence of cameras during campaign season, but asked anyway why she did not sent her questions to staff when they asked for input.
At the top of Jones’ list was a request to add language to add to the protected classes enumerated in the document. A contingency from the particular class, which wished to have two separate designations, was present for public comment. Frequent public commentator Don Yelton made the most sense when he said people are people. He supported people’s right to [colorful language deleted] as long as they don’t force him to look at it, pay for it, or approve of it. The enumeration, which Joe Belcher said could never be complete, only divided.
The commissioners took time out for a closed session. Counsel said changing the language could set the county up for repercussions. Advocates for the change started dropping General Statute numbers and hinting there could be repercussions for not adding the special class. Following the closed-door confab, the commissioners didn’t have enough votes to adopt or trash the employee handbook, so it will be subject to a second reading.
