ALBEMARLE — At its Oct. 17 meeting, the Stanly County Board of Commissioners voted to fill three expired seats for the county’s Consolidated Health & Human Services Board. Applicants Diane Robinson, Amy Furr, and Teresa Lanier each received four-year terms on the board.
With a 4-2 vote, Robinson was reappointed for a new four-year term to her previous interim seat on the board that expired earlier this month. Robinson received votes from Commissioners Mike Barbee, Scott Efird, Bill Lawhon, and Vice Chairman Zach Almond, while Chairman Tommy Jordan and Commissioner Peter Ascuitto voted for Furr.
Furr was then appointed to the seat formerly held by Nancy Smoak following a 6-0 board vote; no other candidates were nominated to that position.
For the expired seat that was vacated by Elizabeth Teal, applicants Shawanna Long and Teresa Lanier were both nominated prior to the vote; Lanier won the vote with a 4-2 margin. She received votes from Commissioners Mike Barbee, Scott Efird, Bill Lawhon, and Vice Chairman Zach Almond, while Long received votes from Chairman Tommy Jordan and Commissioner Peter Ascuitto.
Jordan addressed the room following the three rounds of voting: “These boards are important…Thank you, guys, for your votes tonight. Congratulations to those three that are Diane Robinson, Amy Furr, and Teresa Lanier, our three new appointees for the consolidated board of health.”
Before the appointments and nominations were made, Stanly County Health Director David Jenkins had presented the recommendations from the CHHS board that differed from how the commissioners ultimately voted. They consisted of the reappointment of Robinson and Smoak as well as the appointment of Long — only Robinson was granted a seat out of the three recommendations.
Commissioner-elect Patty Crump also addressed the commissioners before the voting began, stating her concerns with what she observed as a lapse in the application-vetting process at the most recent CHHS meeting.
“I did want you to be completely aware that no one on the health board except possibly (Chairperson) Jann Lowder had read any of the applications when they made the recommendations to you, and that’s a shame. And I hope that moving forward, the board will take that role much more seriously,” Crump said.
Jordan agreed with Crump’s concerns about the application process, adding that he views the increased applicant pool as a step in the right direction.
“I’ve worked very hard these last few years to get people to put their names in, and we’re starting to see the results. Now we’re starting to get four or five and six and eight names where we used to get one, so I do like that,” he said. “That is a good thing, and you’re right — it is this board’s job to dig into that, and it should also be the nominating board’s job as well.”
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners will hold its next regularly-scheduled meeting on November 7 at 6 pm.