Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Okay. Good afternoon. We will call to order the January 20th 26 meeting of the Hwood County Board of Commissioners. This is a regular meeting on Tuesday because yesterday was a holiday. Our first order of business will be our uh pledge of allegiance and then I'll ask our sheriff to come forward for the invocation. So if everyone please stand for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all for all.

Please have a seat. Psalms 133 verse1 says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity." Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the Martin Luther King breakfast. It was more than just a celebration. It was also somewhat of a church service. And this verse of scripture came to mind for me to share with you today because yesterday I saw on display in Hwood County from communities across Haywood County a call for unity, a call for coming together. And specifically the comment we will survive was made. Unity and survival go together. What we have in Hwood County is very special because we are unified. We don't always agree. We don't always think the same things or do things in the same way, but when it counts, we come together. And yesterday was a great display of that. And of course, we saw that during the flood as well. And there are multiple examples I could give. So my prayer tonight will center on our focus to keep that unity and keep what is so special about Hwood County and that's coming together and staying together even in these times when things seem to be so divided. I would invite you to join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to gather and speak on behalf of the people that have elected us to do a job on their behalf. I pray Lord that you would keep us of one mind to serve the people of this county with strength and honor and dignity that you instill upon each and every one of us a desire, willingness, and a commitment to follow that which you've called us to do. serve a cause

which is much greater than ourselves. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray. Amen. Thank you, Sheriff.

Okay, we don't have a public hearing today. So, the next order of business will be public comment session and I have actually three people to sign up to speak. I'm going to take these as I've received them. Our first person to speak would be Howard Neper. And please let limit your count comments to three minutes. And just remember, no campaign speeches. So, [cough] welcome. Good evening, commissioners. I'm coming here today to express my uh my feelings about something that I I feel it's important. I don't think I think it's important not to forget sometimes what may have happened in the past, and that's to make sure it doesn't happen again. So, I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, but what happened in 2024 could have resulted in much worse for Haywood County with the problem with the Helen situation where we had four commissioners that were uh having post against them that could have caused injury and the mental anguish what they went through alone was bad. But there's more than just that. When we had the grandstanding about all of that, if it would have went through and they would have circumvented the law, which they couldn't do, there could have been a lawsuit against us, one of the commissioners, Miss Best, pointed it out that a county next door that circumvented the law got sued for 40 million. On top of that, it's my personal feeling that we may have lost the commissioner over all of the drama. And then worse is that Raleigh watched the whole thing and when our general assembly looks at it, if they would have believed that the all of the commissioners wanted to circumvent the

law, they could have stopped the funding and they better believe they couldn't because they the federal government does it all the time. But thank God for Mr. P that he did uh address the commission to make it clear that they couldn't circumvent. They knew they couldn't. And because of that, that signaled Raleigh that the commission wasn't going to circumvent the law. So all I'm saying is that uh I don't think that uh any commissioner that may have done this just wasn't maybe thinking it through and that in the future it's important not to have any sideh shows or anything like that. Uh nobody wants to have commissioners set out there to be injured. We don't want any Raleigh to of course cut back funding if they think a a commissioner board is going to circumvent the law which they couldn't do. and and and really uh the lawsuit could have happened and really nobody was going to be out of housing anyway. The whole thing was ridiculous because Haywood County and the sheriff's department and everybody involved wasn't letting anybody be out there without housing. So, I just want to express that if if uh if if anybody is listening to this and can learn from this and wants to do better, don't do it again. stay as a as a board together and don't grandstand about anything because that's not the way to go. And I just I'm here to just make sure it doesn't happen again. And I really do that from the bottom of my heart. I know all five commissioners work hard. All five. And I know that all five care about the county because I know all five of them. And they don't know me, but I know them by what I read and what I study. And that's all I have to say. And I say this from sinceress. nothing against any of you. Just just remember no grandstanding on the side. We're lucky we got out of it and um [clears throat] that's about it. Thank you very much. As thank you for giving me the time. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Our next person will sign up to speak is Sher Morgan.

Welcome. Hi there. My name is Sheri Morgan. I put a lot of thought in what I wanted to say today. I want to begin by stating clearly that Commissioner Terry Ramy's taxes are paid and he's in good standing with the Hwood County Tax Office. Anyone can call the tax office and that's the answer you'll get. He has paid his real estate taxes in Hwood County for more than 50 years on time. In the record business or any business that has equipment, every single piece of equipment is taxed. Disputes over valvaluations happen, especially when a truck that costs $16,000 is valued at $69,000, which was totally written off by the tax office. Haywood County doesn't have an abatement process like other counties, which makes writtenoff disputes over 10 years totally disappear. They should because every person who has a reasonable dispute could get slandered and ostracized like all four of you did to Commissioner Remy starting the day he was elected for nothing he's done wrong. You conspired behind his back, forming an illegal quorum with Corey from Smoky Mountain News just to publicly shame a fellow commissioner for having to enter into a lawful payment plan with interest on $2,000 he genu genuinely did not have at the time. Are you going to bully every person who wins an election who isn't in the same income tax bracket as you? Commissioner Eninsley, you wrote to Corey at the Smoky Mountain News. Quote, "This response is from the four commissioners, Brandon, Tommy, Jennifer, and me. All are in agreement. We'll let the public decide if that constitutes a quorum. In Hwood County, if you're 65 years or o over and have a household income less than 38,800, you can cut your taxes in half." Terry

Remy could have chosen that program seven years ago, but he chose to pay his taxes in full. A state loophole being used for years by commissioners Ensley Best and Long defers your taxes indefinitely. Did you know if you have 10 or more acres, you can get a receipt for as little as $1,000 a year for having someone cut your hay and not pay your taxes? Commissioner Ensley, you told the Smoky Mountain News that elected officials should set an example by paying their taxes promptly. However, I contacted the tax office at 11:30 today. I was told your real estate taxes for last year have not been fully paid. You also stated that if voters had lost trust in Terry Ramy, they could ask for his resignation. Commissioner Long told me he did not agree with that statement and it was made by you alone. Commissioner Eninsley, I would state for the I would like to state for the record it's time for this to end. Thank you.

Okay. Okay, the next person signed up to speak is Evelyn Colman. Welcome, Miss Colman. Thank you.

Okay. Concerning a recent issue with an animal abuse investigation by animal services, let us first visit the history of animal control in the county. My history with animal welfare in Hwood County goes back to the early 1960s when Hwood's um animal shelter was an old barn with no cages at which an untrained warden opened the door and threw in the animals. If they survived, the warden electrocuted them within three days. Heywood County Humane Association formed in 1956 to alleviate animal welfare deficiencies. That group ensured that the county stopped electrocution, opened a better shelter, and added an animal control officer. We asked for the establishment of an animal control ordinance. I served on that original committee that drafted a rudimentary ordinance ordinance as well as on the committee that drafted the vicious and dangerous animal upgrades to that ordinance. As the only surviving member of the Old Humane Association and one of two surviving founders of the succeeding Haywood Animal Welfare Association, I can say that Haywood with proddding from animal welfare organizations and with the foresight of commissioners uh such as yourselves has made tremendous progress with a working animal control ordinance, a modern shelter, and an entire staff of animal control personnel and veterinary support. We are proud of the progress Hwood has made over the past half century. Commissioners should be pleased with the job you have done to see that Hwood is ahead of other counties regarding animal welfare issues. Haywood, however, needs to revisit upgrades to the ordinance and investigation protocols regarding animal cruelty. The recent case with little Zoey, and I don't know, I know Kevin is

aware of it. I'm not sure if anybody else is uh the animal whose injuries, death, and insufficient investigation of her dire situation has inspired a movement to revisit animal investigative procedures so that this type of situation does not occur again. So, I'm requesting that the commissioners appoint appropriate individuals to the animal control services ordinance committee. I don't even know if it still exists or not. To examine and refine animal cruelty investigation, investigative procedures and protocols, as well as any other appropriate concerns that will serve to improve the situation for animals in Haywood County. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Copman. Okay, that's all I have signed up to speak. We'll move on to constituent concerns. I have a few. Uh there will be two public hearings at the regular board meeting on February 2nd. A public hearing to receive public input regarding the Southwestern Commission. Well, I'm sorry. Regarding the Southwestern North Carolina Home Consortium's 2021 and 2022 annual action plan amendments, which were developed in accordance with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements, or HUD, the proposed annual action plans can be reviewed on the Southwestern Commission's website. Next, uh, we have another public hearing to receive public comment concerning proposed amendments to the full county of Haywood, North Carolina, Code of Ordinances in advance of reprinting and recodification by American Legal Publishing. With one exception, the proposed amendments will not be adopted at the following February 16th regular commissioning meetings, but will be subject to a vote to move forward in the recottification process. Sorry. Then will be subject to public hearing and adoption and open session upon return from the publishing company. I think I lost my place. The exception is chapter 150 building regulations with which will be subject to a vote to adopt on at uh the February 16th, 2026 regular commissioners meeting. Notice of this public hearing will run in the mountaineer January 21st and January 28th. During that time, the proposed amendments will be available for public inspection on the Haywood County website

during business hours in the office of the clerk of board. Okay. So, and also I had I've had some people call me and I wanted to reiterate about campaign signs. I guess we've seen those out on the road. So, general statute 13632 section B as in dog sign placement. The permentee must obtain must obtain permission of any property owner of a residence, business or religious institution fronting the highway where a sign would be erected. signs must be placed in accordance with the following. And then it lists those uh six uh requirements, but you must obtain permission from any property owner. If you put a sign on a public rideway, if that's next to somebody's house, business, or what they just said, a church, you need to get permission from those businesses or individuals that do that. And when I ride up and down the road, and Brandon will tell you, one of my pet peeves is people who just poke signs wherever they think they can can set them. And I told the person that called me, I said, "Uh, they were afraid to remove them." And I said, "No, you can treat it as trash." And you can correct me if I'm wrong, Frank. Uh, you can treat that as trash, uh, if they've put something on your property that you didn't have permission or in front of your property if you don't have permission. So, uh, I know when Brandon

and I put up our signs, we we usually go together uh, and put up signs. We always make sure that that property owner has given us permission to do that. And if you see one of my signs, that's that's because the property owner gave me permission to put it there. I just didn't poke it in somewhere. So now, you can put them in the roads. Uh I've seen some out in the traffic circles and what have you at the uh interchanges off I40. Of course, that's fine because that's on public right away. But a property owner should not be afraid to remove a sign if they if it's been placed without their permission. And that's what I told that person to do is to remove the sign that they were in their right to do that. So just if you're a candidate out there, make sure that you're following the statute which says uh that you got to have permission from that person. So uh did you want to add anything Brandon on that? Okay. So, I just wanted to bring that forward because like I say, I've gotten a few phone calls from folks and uh and they're uh they're you know, they're hesitant to pick them up, but I told them, "Hey, you're every right in the world to do that."

It's in the the packet when you sign up. That's right. They give you the signed statute and everything's in the packet. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's exactly right. Um does anybody have anything else that they wanted to bring up, Tom? Yeah, I've got one thing here. Brian, did you get the letter from the gentleman about uh Mr. Orman uh Mr. Orman 42 Janet Lane about some unfinished Helen stuff? [clears throat] Okay, I did not, but I'd like to take a look at it.

Okay, we'll we'll give it to you. I think everybody got one. You and Frank probably need to see it. Follow up on the Helen deal. And uh I guess in reference to your sign comments, if anybody's a candidate out there, if the weatherman hits his forecast, I think everybody's going to wish they didn't have any signs out when the road plows get through with it. If uh if if it if it hits like everybody says, uh I'm just hoping for a line weatherman. You know, they've been hitting it too. They've been these weather men, they've been getting better over the years. Bob Cowwell used to say uh when I when I was small, look out, he said, "Look out the window and what you've got is what you've got." And that was his weather report. But uh I I'm just hoping that we've uh we've got some lying weathermen and we don't get the uh forecasted uh precipitation this weekend because everybody's got signs out going to wish they didn't. So [laughter] that's all I had, Mr. Chairman. Anybody else got anything? Uh, I will say on the property taxes, Miss Morgan, that I do owe $1567. I appreciate you pointing that out to me. And just know that'll be paid tomorrow. I won't have to be poked or anything else. I didn't realize that. But as most people, well, as a lot of people know, I own lots of property in the county. And that particular property was one that I had uh I had sold and it was a remainder. And last year they sent it to the wrong address and evidently they did that again because I haven't received it. Uh and I had told them to change that. So I'll make sure that uh that it gets changed. So and it will be paid tomorrow morning bright and early paid tonight. Actually I can do that online. I might do it right now for you, Miss Miss Morgan. But uh as far as taxes go um the county can only collect taxes

back for 10 years. is we can only enforce getting the taxes, right, Frank? If you owe taxes before that, the county can't get them or go after them. So, it's up to the person to pay those if they're over 10 years old. But I can tell you one thing, I don't have any over 10 years old. And I pay my taxes when they're due. And I paid over $10,000 in taxes this year in property taxes. So, if I forgot one, it it that could happen. And it has. I should have probably checked it, but I thought I had them all paid. But we'll get that address changed. I had moved a couple years ago and last year they didn't get paid and I called Sebastian and he told me about it and I paid it right away. So, but it's lot Y4 right off Yates Cove Road. I know exactly where it is. Okay. Does anybody else have anything? Okay. If you'll look in all that I own, you'll see 0000. Actually, I got 17 pages. I didn't know there was that many. 19. Yeah, there's 21 pages of p of taxes.

I'll weigh in on that, too, just to let you know that that's not a loophole um that you mentioned in reference to mine, Commissioner Longs, Commissioner Eninsley. Um that is an agricultural deferment. Um we run cattle on our property and it's not a deferment just based on somebody cutting hay. So we we do cut for other people and if they choose I guess to get a deferment but that's not a loophole that I'm taking advantage of. Welcome to come visit the farm if you'd like to.

Yeah, same here. Okay, anybody else got anything they want to add? Okay, next order of business will be administrative agency reports and presentations. In the sheriff's office, we have our sheriff, Bill Wilkkey, here today to give us a status report. Appreciate you coming out on a cold night, Bill.

All right. Thank you. I've received several questions over the last few weeks [clears throat] about our equipment status as it relates to expenditures and budget line items and such. And so I thought it would be best to maybe share what we have done and how far we've come in the last three years and and where we stand presently. So with that, here we go. I don't know that you can read that from here. uh shortly after taking office, we had found that over 75% of our soft body armor was expired. And so that that folks understand what this means. Body armor, soft body armor only has a life of five years. And the reason for that is because the Kevlar layers rub over time. They get creased, they get sweaty, um they're exposed to obviously different conditions, and they break down over time. Um the vests that we currently have are level 3A. That is a little bit thicker than the two level two that we uh came into. And besides being expired, um they did not protect against uh some handgun rounds that we may encounter on the street. So with all that, we wound up replacing 100% of the vests, moved it to a level 3A armor. And I'll I'll give you a very quick story. Some of you may remember back on July 3rd of 2023, a law enforcement officer stopped to assist an individual just on 26 near the airport road exit. Um it appeared that individual was broken down and needed some help and that individual was shot the trooper with a 44 Magnum Desert Eagle pistol. That trooper was wearing um level 3A armor that was within date. It effectively stopped the bullet. had he'd had two level two armor, the likelihood of it stopping the bullet um would have been much less. And so

shortly after we got level 3A, I I heard particularly from our deputies how grateful and thankful they were that um we got the new improved uh increased level of 3A. So very quickly what the the difference between the twos and and the threes and the 3A's u are really uh defined by the National Institutes of Justice which is a suborganization of the federal department of justice and they lay out standards for the construction of these vests um and what standards they need to meet. They can't be made in China. They have to be assembled in a particular faction. And so we were made uh we made sure that when we looked at different vendors to ensure that we were getting um a uh the best possible protection for our deputies, we stuck to that standard and only talk with vendors that uh adhere to that standard. We wound up going with the point blank that came from Reed's Uniform in Asheville. Um and that's it. So we're we're coming up on having to do a 100% replacement. We're going to start that planning in 2026. Um, when I took office, a lot of things were being handled by Excel spreadsheets. It's just the way we had done it for years. And the problem with that is unless you manually go in, pull it up, and you go down each line item, it's difficult to tell what vest expires, what certification expires, and those things that relate to a particular officer's equipment. Um, I'm going to talk a little bit about this in the next couple of slides. Um, but we were able to get grant funded through the North Carolina Association of Chiefs Police a software program known as Essential Personnel. None of this is on the slide, but um, essential personnel tracks every employee, every piece of equipment, every certification, anytime any piece of equipment is due to expire. So, we get notifications well in advance so that we can plan both from a budget perspective and an administrative perspective as to what we needed to supply our deputies. So we know in advance and these types of things don't

happen uh in the future again. So and again that was grant funded by the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police and we just got approved for that grant again this year. Uh one side note about that is it also tracks um deputy wellness and we are required to do that under state uh state bill 300 which relates to officer involved uses of force. The state requires us to report several of those. And so essential personnel goes well beyond just the administrative tracking of equipment and certifications, but also deputy wellness. It's an it's a a very um very popular and wellused program that replaced the old way of doing spreadsheets or what we had what we called the the sheriff's pack in uh Southern Software. But anyway, next slide. We've also um done rifle plates. You know, we we plan for the worst and pray for the best, as we say. We always plan for what we call the day of days. That day of days is when something really bad happens and we have to go to our schools or one of our schools or we have to do something that involves deadly force, uh potentially involving firearms, something bad, the day of days is what we call it. So, what we wanted to do is ensure that our deputies had enough equipment to respond to those situations. And while it's not everyday wear, but we also have level three uh helmet armor and we have rifle plates. So while the soft body armor stops most pistol rounds, it will not stop most rifle rounds. And so what this does is it provides an added level of protection if we know we're going to perhaps an active shooter. We have to respond. Every one of our deputies who can respond has this in the trunk of their car and can put it on for an added level of protection. This is a this is a key component that we've learned from several active shooter situations that have occurred across the country. And so we want to be sure that we're able to meet those threats and protect our deputies as we do.

And did we have that before, Bill? No, sir. Okay.

Well, let me let me back up. There there were some they were here and now not everybody had them. I'll say that. And these also have a 10-year expiration. Um, and these are these are hard, which is why they they have a longer life. But there were some and I think some of our SWAT team had some of these. Um, to my recollection, not everybody did, but we decided run across the board, make sure everybody had it because the likelihood of us being able to stand up the SWAT team and get them to an active shooter before the event is over is very small. We wanted to make sure that we could get where we needed to get with the right equipment as soon as possible. And that means making sure that our our deputies, our patrol deputies have that. So, and again, it's in their cars. So, if we have to, god forbid, call folks from home, they've got it right there and can get where they need to get. Um, another thing I get a lot of questions on are the Motorola body cams. When I took office, um, these had already been purchased by the previous administration, just had not been deployed. There's a little bit of uh of an administrative workload that goes with deploying these because you have to set up your digital space um to to secure all of that video and you have to make sure protocols to access it are fall within the you know statutory guidelines for for protecting chain of evidence. There are a number of things about that. It's not like here's your body cam, we'll get you the video if you ever need it. It's also that video is also very uh very closely restricted by by statute and it takes a resident spear courts judges order to release those body cam videos under certain situations [snorts] uh or under most situations. Um this is going to prove crucial in some of the incidents that you've seen in the news and it's it it contains and will reveal details um that will quite frankly counter the narrative that you see out there on social media and some other things. and I'm very looking forward to that day, uh, frankly. But we just now changed out in October of 2025 and deployed an updated version of that. It's the V700 body camera and and

basically it's field swappable. Uh, it's got better definition and there are a number of of things about it which are improved. The other thing to mention about this is our detention officers also have these. Um so any interaction or use of force that our detentions detention um uh officers have have body cam available most of the time. There's the occasion where a battery's dead. There's the occasion where somebody forgets to turn it on. We haven't run into that yet, but there is a possibility and that is by far the exception, not the rule. Uh but these are also crucial when we have an event in the jail, which is few and far between, but vital when we need it. Uh, another one I get questions on quite often are the the tasers. When we we took office, we had a couple of the old models. Some of them, one of them was unsupported. It was actually the original taser model. You couldn't get cartridges or batteries for it. And the the holdup here really was the training for it. In order to be qualified to carry a taser, you have to be reertified every year. And it's an eight-hour class. And you can imagine that trying to send someone to a class, meet these qualifications to get taser certified um and keep that certification is extensive. So over the course of time um we wound up getting our own instructor and our instructor has now held regular classes and we've got 42 deputies and 31 detention officers certified um and issued taser 7 devices. And this is one of the latest. It's actually a newer model, but it's just not cost effective for us to transition to that one. This one is well supported and will be for years in the future. There's some things about a taser that that um are misconceptions. Frankly, it is a less than lethal force um tool. It's one tool of many. And some folks will make a statement or see something, oh, you didn't have to shoot

someone. You should have used your taser. So there are many scenarios and situations in which a taser really helps us prevent the use of deadly force. But the presence of a taser does not require us to use it. And in some circumstances, deadly force unfortunately is required prior to the deployment of a taser which may in the officer's mind be deemed uneffective at that time. Now, ultimately courts make those decisions, but I I can tell you that there are occasions when immediately you have to go to deadly force, and they're not things that we like to think about, and we always hope and pray we can use something that is non-lethal. And the Taser 7 really is a great tool for that. Um, but just keep in mind, it is is it is a tool. If you think about it like a, you know, a toolbox in the back of your truck. I mean, I carry all kinds of things back there. you know, if I need a screwdriver, I've got three to choose from and I'll pick the right one or, you know, and it applies to any any vocation. It's kind of the same thing. So, you've got, you know, handcuffs, taser, firearm, all of these things. Um, and all of them are tools for uh a potential scenario. So, there's a brief timeline there for you that talks about that. I've also gotten plenty of questions on the patrol vehicle upfit highlights. So there's essentially one budget line item to my understanding for all the upfits and the upfit includes all of the things that we want to see on a uh a patrol vehicle. Understand that Dodge is not making the Charger anymore after this year. So the only real option for us is Ford. They have police responder pickup trucks and they have what used to be the Ford Explorer which is now called the police responder I believe as well. Um, check me on that one. I I I'm not sure. Essentially, it is a pursuit rated Explorer. Not only did the price of

those vehicles go up beyond the Charger, but of course you need new console. You need things that fit that vehicle, a different type of cage. And so all of this um is required. You can't take it out of a Dodge and put it into a Ford, unfortunately. Um, but in doing that, we've got push bumpers or what we've referred to in the past as as pit bumpers. Of course, all the things you see there and more are included in that in that upfit cost and all of it is essential um law enforcement equipment because it everything is centered on the safety of our deputies. So um moving along, we have a drone program that we've started. All every one of these drones have been um give me one second here. Funded each one of them has been in fact um uh funded from a grant. The first from Walmart, um the second from a local citizen who made a sizable contribution and and of course uh the third came from the Department of Agriculture. The the thing about a drone is they also have infrared and some of you may be familiar firefighters have a handheld infrared device that detects heat. It's actually thermal and they can look, you know, into the woods at night where there isn't light, detect heat and perhaps, you know, try to find someone or something that's emitting emitting a heat signature while our drones can do just that. um as well from above. And so we have a program that uh we are are bringing online to get more licensed pilots so that we can properly employ those to find lost folks, get to places that we, you know, ordinarily might take us more time to get to um and more quickly and efficiently locate missing individuals. So, we provide uh countywide support and we can assist other agencies uh or any

division within our own. And so, you see some of the details there. Last but not least is the Lenco uh Bearcat. Uh I listed the funding sources here. It was purchased prior to uh my taking office and since then we've deployed it. Um it was a refurbished model. So, we got it. We had some we found some things that needed to to get fixed and corrected on it and we had that taken care of and of course we we have uh used it for a number of things to include parades, several law enforcement callouts. It's you know it kind of sticks out so people see it. Um it's important to understand and I and I I see this from time to time. People call it a tank. This is not an assault vehicle. This is a defensive vehicle. This pro provides protection for our deputies or in some cases provides us with the ability to get citizens or anybody out of a difficult situation, potentially an active shooter situation with better protection. Um, it is a defensive vehicle. The the the cupula at the top or the turret, you know, folks, oh, is that that's was that where you mount a gun? And that's actually the place where we would fly a drone from. We we can deploy a drone from this. And of course, you want that type of protection given the kind of environment. Yes, you could shoot from it. I'm not saying you can't, but that would not be preferred. It's to provide additional protection for anybody that's observing, flying a drone, needs to get higher and look down on a situation. That's what that is for. So, I think that's it. Um, and certainly I'm open to questions if you have any. Bill, I see periodically where law enforcement guys [clears throat] practice on each other with those tasers. Has any of your guys ever volunteered to get out? We I'm going to be honest with you, nobody volunteers for that.

It's a requirement for our training. And uh so Oh. Oh, it's a requirement. Okay. Yes, sir. You You need to know what it feels like before you deliver it. And so anybody that that has issued a taser

h um we call it ride the lightning. You have to ride the lightning because it hurts. I'm telling you. But the good thing it doesn't cause permanent damage and it incapacitates an individual and you also get pain compliance from that. Now it's you can't use it in every situation. You don't it's electric so you don't want to do it around anything flammable. And again it's it's a tool but I require we require the training requires that someone experience it so that you see you understand what it's like. And so during every ca every class uh we ask you know someone who has not experienced that to do it. I promise you it's not fun. Maybe we could have a drawing you know between us and somebody you know whoever drew the short straw. I'm happy to do that actually. Uh

we'll include the county attorney. Uh that's right. Uh I'm I'm I'm about that the way Richard Daly was about voting in Chicago and that is I don't care how you vote. I just want to count the votes. [laughter] So what about another question on a serious note? Do you do you carry the uh I guess is it mustard gas uh can pepper spray? No, we have pepper spray. Yeah. Summer issued. We have that in that's more prominent in our detention facility. Okay, that's the same thing to to that's another avenue to de deescalate a situation.

It is, but I think if I recall the statistics, 10% of the population doesn't affect if you can imagine that. And so in the course of my 30-year career in law enforcement, I actually had that happen once. And it's so again, it's it's just a tool. But yes, um anything that we can do that's that's non-lethal that we can we we we issue. So that's there. Sheriff, you you um outlined these things as you said, essential for the safety of our of our deputies. Yes, ma'am.

Is there um is there a standard that sheriffs or law enforcement departments would go by to establish what their department or their office would need for their deputies or their law enforcement officers? I I think it's or is it individual judgment based on administration?

Both. Uh, and I know that's not a specific answer. I really can't give you one. I mean, the one thing that I've learned as sheriff in communicating with other sheriffs within the association, there's a 100 counties in North Carolina and 100 sheriffs, and you're not going to find one that does things the same way as the next um, identically. And so, I I rely on a lot of them for um, information and background and what works and what doesn't. But there there are a lot of things in some counties that I I I I won't entertain here. Um, I'll leave that hit there, but and there are some things that are that really fit our community that wouldn't others. And so it's community dependent, budget dependent, skill set dependent. You know, you you have to have a a management team that and and we've got one. I I I can't say enough about our our our logistics captain who sees these things and and and can anticipate issues. He's almost solely responsible for essential personnel. central personnel is. I I can't I can't tell you how important that tool is because not only are we meeting statutory requirements for reporting use of force incidents and tracking those, but we'll know before a vest expires, before someone's taser certification expires. And then so that way we know, okay, well, we need a class and we got to have at least 10 people in it. We'll get an instructor scheduled for that, our instructor scheduled for that. And that way we don't we don't run the risk of getting behind because we're doing things with spreadsheets or an outdated software program that's um you know difficult to track. So me effort is modernization. If we if we modernize things it's and I hate to use this term but you know because it's so worn out but it's working smarter not harder. ha have a have a way and a management system in place so that you don't have to spend the manh hours to go back and look and examine and you know do the what we used to call in the army the stubby pencil work where you added you added things up and you know you'd write it with a pencil. A lot of that was going on and no fault to any of anybody. It's just a different

perspective as we're moving into the future um on how to man because there's more and more all the time. laws change, equipment changes, people change, certifications change, you know, and you've got to stay on top of these things because we can very quickly fall behind if we're not. And the and again, the good thing about essential personnel is it tracks a lot of that stuff for us. So, and so a lot of these um or some of these devices or methods that you use were were grant funded, correct? Yes, most of them. Yes, ma'am.

Yeah. I'd have to go back and look at the the taser piece. The cameras were there when I got there and there was a I believe the contract was signed. I'd have to check when before I got there, just not deployed um as a grant funded program. I can't answer that question, but the Bearcat was the drones have been

Yes, ma'am. The drones have been the Bearecat came from drug seizure funds. I think the county only pro I say only but the county uh the budget sheriff's office budget at some point in time the expenditure was only $12,000 out of what you see up there. So asset forfeite funds uh donation and of course the DPS grant for 80 almost 85,000 there. So you know we try to be very uh resourceful in finding grants. One of the other things I didn't I didn't want to get too many slides up there, but we most recently got a Polaris um side by side that was grant funded by Firehouse Subs. Um we can't thank them enough for that. We actually have a a litter that we put on the back of that. So, if there's a place that we can get to with that, but can't get a truck and we have to extract someone that's hurt, you know, a hiker or something of that nature, we can utilize that. EMS could utilize it. Anybody that needs it, it's there. Um, and that's I mean that's a new thing and you know you'll see that from time to time. So there's a lot of um a lot of things most everything we try to do we try to resource with grants or something that doesn't you know weigh on the taxpayer bill. I know I probably speak for the whole board [clears throat] when I say this but we're strong on public safety and uh we appreciate the work your department's done. and we've seen the numbers go down and we we've worked with every sheriff that I that I've been here under and whoever is going to be the next sheriff, if we're sitting here, uh we're going to back the blue and uh so you've got my vow on that and uh we we've we've stood behind you and I appreciate you working with the county manager and Kristen, our finance director, when it comes budget time and sitting down and uh you know, crunching the numbers and and making sure your guys are safe and they're fully equipped

and uh so that's that's all we can do and uh have a fully equipped staff and and uh is there anything that anything that you need from us or is there any

Yeah, if you could have Mr. Bryant. [laughter] No, I what I'll say you know the the credit to the budget piece really goes to my staff because there you know they're really the budget analysts. I've got three, well there's more than three, but three main ones that that take a look at things, pour over things, come up with ideas to resource, you know, uh, additional equipment. Um, and and of course working with M Mr. Morhead. He's been been awesome to work with in terms of, you know, any any line item transfers that may be necessary. And they're I think they're relatively rare, but, you know, just just trying to get it get done. uh you know we weren't obviously planning on the vest piece my my first year in office on on paying for all that and so I honestly don't recall how we there we came up with a way to pay for it. We had to there was not an option and of course with a new staff and Mr. Morhead we sat down worked it out and figured out how to do that. So um but no I I just I appreciate the cooperation and I don't want to be clear I and I say this to my deputies and citizens every time I run into them. Our entire board is very supportive of us and if nobody's heard me say that, I want to make sure that they hear me say it now. Um because I can come to any one of you at any time to discuss any concern and you've always been open and welcome to that. Fortunately, it's really not been necessary. um because I know that the support's there and and we're getting it done and things are getting done and you you know the result of all this is public safety and I just I I mean I have to tell you we I looked at the numbers again today our first two years in office we saw an over 40% decrease in total arson related thefts that's it's almost unheard of. we had a a much larger drop in burglaries. Um where we are seeing some real substantial moving some substantial numbers. Um ironically some of our drug

arrests lately have gone down which is a good thing because it's we have to work harder to get less because they're going around Heywood County. Our total amount of seizures within our first two year were immense. uh far more than what they had been in the past, but we were getting that through fewer arrests because we were we were hitting the traffickers. But it's having a downtrace effect and that's what you're seeing in our total lararseny and the reduction in total lararsenies. We're also seeing a 17% reduction in the time it takes for us to get to calls for service. All these things have second and third order effects. when you're taking care of the deputies and you're, you know, you're hitting the big items. You're hitting the traffickers, the downflow, uh, of drugs and the crimes that are associated with drugs are a big part of that. I'd like to think hopefully also, you know, you don't really know and there's there's no way to really get your arms around it, but we, you know, our re reintegration program I I we've gotten over 20 folks that have got off the hamster wheel in jail and gone to different states and to start a new lifestyle. And part of the addiction piece, part of attacking the drug problem is taking the people who are not traffickers, whose accountability has been met through the court system and getting them away from the lifestyle that continues to keep them trapped in that cycle of abuse and all the things that go with abuse of of drugs of elicit drugs. And so it's a very small number in uh when in context, but um of late I've received some voicemail messages and asked our programs manager to to to send me some some documentation on things. Um and I've been getting some voicemails from folks that had moved to the other side of the state, out of state that thanked us for what we were doing in the jail. And those aren't things that, you know, you can really put on a flag and wave around and really wouldn't be appropriate to do that. But those I want folks to know that that's

been successful and it's only successful when you're working at both ends of it. And there's a you know there's a human compassion element, a human dignity element that we we have to work to preserve at at every turn. And while we we prepare for the worst, we pray for the best. and somewhere in between you're seeing all these improvements in the numbers and and I'm very pleased with the staff and where we are. Um our our roster has been stabilized over the last year and a half. We currently have three vacancies. Um uh it is my belief that morale is high based on most of the folks that I talked to out there and what I hear in the community and that's another reason they're getting it done. So all this is part of it and um it would not be possible without the support of of every one of you. So thank you for that. You know, it we'd be remiss without mentioning [clears throat] this war on drugs, closing the southern border, the war on drug traffickers. It has an effect across the whole country. And I I studied these numbers. And just a few months ago, we were averaging about 280 some Americans every single day dying of opioid or fentanyl overdose. That number's down 77 American lives every single day. 7 days a week you're looking you know plus 500 500 plus people American people the supply is going down the fentanyl is not coming in unabated and you know you're talking about more than 2727 airplane crashes every week with no survivors that's the real story is the supply is dwindling we're you know we're saving 500 American lives a week just because of those factors stronger law enforcement, stiffer laws, stiffer penalties, and it's working to save lives. And you know, we never hear that narrative. That's never highlighted in the in the evening news. That's never

a topic. But we're talking about two 7, you know, if you had two 727 737s crash every week, you would hear about that. Sure. But we're saving those lives. I mean, you can fact check me on that. I checked the numbers just a week or two ago and it's it's it's it's it's phenomenal in the last year how many American lives are being saved by joint efforts from the federal, state, and the local level to to save lives. And so that needs to be discussed, that needs to be talked about, and and it we're saving American lives.

We are. And one follow-up comment I'd have to that is, you know, cartels don't give up and they're smart. And what we're seeing now is our northern border is very porous. And while you're not seeing as much come across, a lot of the intelligence that we're gathering on a nationwide basis is a lot of it's coming from up north. Now, um, as well, that has a lot to do with human trafficking and some other things. And so while we've gotten a lot of successes to to the point that you're making, Commissioner, we we we can we can't declare victory because they're going to find a way to get it to market and we have to keep battling it. And and our our local every aspect, every level of the drug trafficking piece is critical, local, state, and federal. and working together with those those agencies. We were uh and I think I've mentioned this pre previously, we were recently uh recognized on the Senate floor by Senator Ted Bud for our work with three other surrounding counties, other agencies, the DEA. Um we weren't actually the lead agency. We were supporting uh Henderson County, but we all worked together and there was a very significant regional uh trafficking operation that was taken down. But wherever there's a market, there's somebody that's going to try to sell it. the money is such a big draw and it's you know they call it a war. Um it's you just have to keep after it. You have to keep going and we can't afford to to think well it's it's solved. Um but yes, I am very grateful for the efforts to stop that from coming across southern border and in other ways. So

just add to what Commissioner Long said, I agree with him. You know, no matter who's standing in that position now or in the future, uh I'm always going to back the blue, too. And I want that to be on record. I'll always feel that way and always will be that way. So it don't matter if you got a R, a D, or who you are. You know, we're going to back you guys. and uh we've worked with several different sheriffs and I think that we've always put that as a priority the whole board and uh something I'm proud of and stand behind of. So, thank you for the report. I did want to add um you touched on the drone uh package and I know that was grant funded as well. I think Walmart bought some of those. Is that correct?

Yeah, Walmart did. We had a citizen who wished to remain anonymous make a donation. And then the ne the last one was hold on just a second. I got it in here.

Well, there it is up there, right? Um, Department of Agriculture. So that that is a very important tool to have in your toolbox as you said uh from a safety standpoint and just from a technology standpoint to have those things available uh no matter what the situation is. You know, I wish they had those back in the day when when I was patrolling a little bit more. Uh because it is a a huge advantage that that that we have. And I don't know if you want to touch on any of that, but I think that is one important tool that that we have.

The great thing about it is I mean, you can fly it into a house. If you have an open door through a window, you can pull it up to a window and see what's going on inside. we had something like that occur in Wesville. Um I guess it was my first year in office um where we actually flew a drone up and determined where the individual was inside which of course really helps your planning if you ever have to make an entry to you know a structure. So very uh very important. you know, something you said and I've heard you kick around this statistic a couple of times over the last, you know, year or so, but um everybody knows I've said it many times. I was an insurance agent for a long time with North Carolina Farm Bureau. And one of the things that um I think is real important in in law enforcement is uh what I used to call homeowner insurance crimes. Most people, you know, they have a deductible of $1,000 on their homeowners policy. And so someone steals their lawnmower, their chainsaw, their drills, they take it to the pawn store and pawn it. Typically, the value of those items is less than $1,000. So insurance is not going to pay. So the homeowner or the individual that owns those items is really out the money. And so the greater majority of everybody in this room is not really a drug addict. You know, we're we're probably not we're not probably not hustling drugs on the side. But the fact that we are lessening our exposure to having our lawnmower, our weed eater, our chainsaw stolen is where law enforcement, the deputies, the men and women that do it every day are that's where for us as citizens, I think the job of the sheriff's office is very important because that's the stuff that impacts all of us. I mean, we're not none of us are worried about getting d, you know, busted for selling drugs.

We are worried about who's stealing our lawn mower. And that's that's the number that I I was quoting the over 40% are total arsonies. I mean there everything from it is it I I I was quite shocked at that number. But the detectives will also tell you they're not getting you know two and three reports for stolen lawnmowers and weed eaters every day and they can actually go out and you know work on things and and solving crimes that that have got some

the connection with reducing the drugs is that it is lessening the impact to the resident. that's losing those. That's the connection I'm trying to make is that that's how it affects all of us is that it's reducing those sorry [clears throat] those things that would be out of pocket for us. Yes, ma'am. Well, that's what we're after. Yeah. Thanks for what you do.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you all for your support and uh just know that uh we know it, we feel it, we see it every day and uh we're very grateful for it. So, good. All right. Thank you, Sheriff. I'm glad I'm glad you guys are out there. Okay. Uh, one thing uh I forgot to mention and uh Sherry, I've paid my taxes now, so I appreciate you bringing that to my attention. You can pay them online. So, I I did that. So, we're all caught up. Okay. Uh but um I had a email this week from a lady and uh I just wanted to let everybody know you can pay your taxes. You can either walk into the tax office and pay them or we have a a metal box outside that you can drop your payment into if you don't want to pay for a stamp or or risk it getting lost or not lost in the mail or just delayed in the mail or both. a few years ago. It's during COVID, I guess. I don't know why the post office got behind, but anyway, they got behind and I had mailed my tax payment in. I kept looking for it to clear clear and clear and finally it was like five or six days past the deadline and I knew it would, you know, whenever they got it, it would be postmarked, but um so it took a while, you know, for them to get that. So, if you want to uh save a stamp and if you're in town, just drop it in the mailbox or it's I guess it's a what is that uh Brian? The the box that we pay our taxes in.

We just call it a a metal drop box. Did we put that there when you were here? We we we put that in when uh CO happened and we were trying to limit access to the building and uh it it's worked splendidly. I believe it was about $1,200 and it's it's it's been a great resource

and I you know that in fact I was uh I had I remember seeing it out there and and it was the deadline was getting close and I had dropped off a check and I just dropped it in that box and you don't you know you can do it 24/7. You don't have to wait for them to be open uh to do it and they're going to get it the next business day. They're going to process it. So if anybody out there wants to, you know, is worried about the mail and used to I never got mail lost, but I tell you anymore I it it's just u occasionally it never gets there and stuff. So I don't know not sure what happened. No cash in the dropbox just to reinforce that. That's right.

While while we're discussing that, what is the has the delinquent tax list payment list been published yet or what is the date? What is the date on that? He'll be here time and say that. It's usually first or second weekend in March, I believe, before the the the cut off before publishing, but uh Sebastian will be on the next uh couple meetings, I'm sure, to discuss that. Mike,

he he has to give a report February 1st by statute. So, and he'll be here to do that. Okay. So, uh, but anyway, I just want to let everybody know that you have several ways to pay and, uh, and it's it's easy, uh, if you will, and you can look online and pay like I just did a minute ago. So, don't owe anymore. Okay, discussion adjustment to the agenda. I don't have anything. Does anybody else? Okay, we'll move on to the consent agenda. Does anyone have any questions on those five items on the consent agenda? Okay. He hearing none. I'll entertain a motion we approve the consent agenda.

Make a motion we approve the consent agenda. Second. Okay. Terry second. Okay. Uh any other discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. Anyone opposed? Okay. We [clears throat] do not have any regular agenda items. [snorts] And the last order of business is appointments. I have two or we have two. uh request approval of the appointment of Casease Brown to the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Board to represent the town of Clyde. And I guess they sent a letter, Town of Clyde did, [clears throat] and asked for this appointment back in in November of of last year uh asking that uh Mr. Brown service Clyde's U TDA representative.

Okay. Okay. Uh, can we have a motion for item one of that? I make the motion. Okay. Okay. All in favor say I. I. Okay. It's unanimous. Okay. Two is to request approval of one appointment by vote to fill one vacancy designated for an individual representing accommodations for 20 units or more to the Hwood County Tourism Board. We don't have uh the individual was supposed to have came for the interview today.

Well, I'm not prepared to vote because the person didn't show up for the job interview. So, I think we should uh maybe I should have asked for an adjustment to the agenda earlier, but uh we don't know if this person's even still Yes, I think that's Yeah, that'd be very appropriate. I didn't see that option down there. Thank you, Haven. She was prepared. Is that what y'all want to do? Yeah, I think so. Well, I mean, we're doing ballots. Does anybody have a problem with that?

Okay. Anybody have a problem with reposting? No. Okay. Well, yeah, that's what we'll do then, Frank. [clears throat] Frank, you need to count those. They've taken that job away from me. I don't know why. [laughter]

Now we know it's done right. I know. I had to sign it. Thank you, H. Okay. Do we need to vote on that, Haven? Yeah. I guess Yeah, we did. Okay. by consensus, we're going to repost that. Okay. Does anybody have anything further? We don't have a close session or anything. So, I'll entertain a motion we adjourn. So, move. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Okay, we're ajourned. All in favor? I. Everybody be safe. All in favor?