Some Saluda residents took town council to task last week over a special called meeting that was to take place at the city attorney’s office in Tryon last Wednesday.

Saluda Commissioners met for their regular monthly meeting last Monday, March 9 and heard from a few residents over a notice posted on the city’s police department door. No other notice was given and residents referred to the meeting as illegal because it wasn’t properly notified.

The notice said commissioners would meet to discuss personnel at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 at the office of attorney Bailey Nager in Tryon.

Ellen Rogers said she hopes commissioners are familiar with the open meetings law.

“One, if it’s a public meeting, the public needs to be able to attend,” said Rogers.

She said the meeting was being held at an irregular time in the afternoon and in the attorney’s office in another town.

Rogers said a special meeting needs to be posted on the city’s bulletin board, on the door of the regular meeting room (Saluda Library) and needs to be posted on the website, and it’s not.

“There are a lot of violations happening of the open meetings law,” Rogers aid. “This is so blatant.”

She also said she wasn’t sure how Nager was letting the city get away with it and the city is near getting sued in so many ways.

Nager said he agreed if proper notice was not given commissioners shouldn’t have the meeting. But he also said it is perfectly permissible for the city to have a meeting at a location of their choice.

Rogers then asked who called the meeting.

Mayor Fred Baisden said he spoke to commissioners individually and told the city clerk to post the meeting. Baisden said the time of 4:30 p.m. was when all the commissioners could meet.

Baisden then asked if the city should postpone the meeting.

People from the audience asked why, since commissioners were meeting Monday night, they didn’t simply go into closed session after the regular meeting so the city didn’t have to pay commissioners and the attorney for their extra time.

Rogers asked why commissioners were planning on “running down the mountain for a personnel issue.” She said she thinks everyone knows the city is trying to fire a man who works so hard, not indicating which employee she was referring.

Baisden said the library meeting room is not very private. He said anyone could sit in the lobby area and hear everything that is being said.

Resident Sharon Hipp also spoke on the meeting and said she doesn’t like the idea of it.

“I think it’s sneaky,” Hipp said.

Hipp said commissioners had a town hall meeting last year to hear what residents wanted and she hasn’t seen anything from that meeting enacted.

Hipp said holding a meeting at the attorney’s office is difficult for residents to get to and none of the residents knew about the meeting.

“You guys work for us,” Hipp said. “We trust you to do your job.”

Dotty Eargle said she agreed with Rogers and Hipp that the meeting called is illegal. Eargle also said Saluda has never called a meeting in another town.

According to N.C. General Statute 143-318.12, if a public body has any other meeting than its regularly scheduled meeting, except an emergency meeting, the public body shall cause written notice of the meeting stating its purpose to be posted on the principal bulletin board of the public body or, if the public body has no such bulletin board, at the door of its usual meeting room; and to be mailed, emailed or delivered to each newspaper, wire service, radio station and television station that has filed a written request for notice with the clerk or secretary of the public body or with some other person designated by the public body. The public body shall also cause notice to be mailed, emailed or delivered to any person, in addition to the representative of the media, who has filed a written request with the clerk, according to the statute.

“This notice shall be posted and mailed, emailed, or delivered at least 48 hours before the time of the meeting. The notice required to be posted on the principal bulletin board or at the door of its usual meeting room shall be posted on the door of the building or on the building in an area accessible to the public if the building containing the principal bulletin board or usual meeting room is closed to the public continuously for 48 hours before the time of the meeting,” says N.C. General Statute 143-318.12.

The statute adds that if the public body has a website, notices of meetings shall be posted there as well.

Baisden also said the city should just postpone the meeting until a later date. Nager then said commissioners could add it to the end of the agenda Monday night, which is permissible per state statutes for a closed session. Commissioners agreed to hold the closed session to discuss personnel to the end of Monday’s meeting.

Upon coming back to open session, commissioners made no decisions and adjourned the meeting, according to Baisden.