Town approves policy for elected officials to call into special meetings

COLUMBUS — Columbus Mayor Eric McIntyre broke a tie vote last week in favor of creating a policy to allow elected officials to participate at specially called meetings remotely.

The vote was split between council members Margaret Metcalf and Mark Phillips voting against the policy and council members Robert Williamson and Richard Hall voting in favor.

The issue came up earlier in the year, when Williamson was out of town during a budget workshop and participated in the meeting over the phone. He was counted as absent in the official minutes of the meeting because the town did not have a policy.

The issue has come up during meetings for months, with the final draft being presented last week.

The policy is only for specially called meetings, not regularly scheduled monthly meetings, and the person who is not at the meeting can participate but will not be allowed to vote on any issue.

“I don’t see any reason why we need this,” Metcalf said. “We can’t vote. You can’t participate in closed session, so it’s no different than what it is right now.”

McIntyre said the only thing the policy is allowing is that it gives the person who may be out of town the opportunity to be a part of the meeting.

“I don’t have a problem with it the way it is written,” McIntyre said.

Phillips, though, said he still has issues with it because the North Carolina General Assembly has not come out in favor or against the idea of allowing remote participation. Phillips said he cannot get past the potential legal ramifications of allowing it.

“I can’t get on board until the General Assembly says ‘go for it’ and there’s no legal challenges,” Phillips said.

Williamson said the town has discussed the policy the last seven meetings and asked attorney Lora Baker to look into legal issues. He said the legal issues dealt with a quorum and the town’s policy addresses that issue.

Williamson said council members represent the people who voted for them and, even though they cannot vote remotely, they can carry the information back to the people they represent.

“It keeps us informed,” Williamson said. “It helps us keep our residents informed.”