BY JUNIOUS SMITH III
Staff Writer
Lenoir County Commissioner chairman Reuben Davis is relinquishing his position.
Davis made the announcement at Monday’s county commissioner meeting, but will stay on the board, saying other responsibilities have made it difficult for him to keep the title.
“I don’t believe I’m able to give the chairman job what it requires,” Davis said. “I have to do what’s in the best interest for Lenoir County."
Lenoir County Attorney Robert Griffin will make the decision on who will take over Davis’ chairman position at the next meeting.
Also, the commissioners unanimously agreed to a policy allowing residents of Lenoir County to apply for vacancies on the advisory boards and commissions, including a spot on the Highway 70 Corridor Commission board.
Commissioner Eric Rouse said the commissioners will not endorse anyone, but interested citizens may call the county office or come to the courthouse for an application.
"It goes back to the discussion we had in the last meeting," Rouse said. "We want everyone to have an opportunity to be represented in the government here. It's good to have this plan going forward with a set of procedures to give everyone a chance."
Rouse said there has been plenty of interest from the citizens.
"We've already have a bunch of applications," Rouse said. "We're just trying to represent the people how they want to be represented."
Commissioner Linda Rouse Sutton said the board wanted to initiate the policy now instead of waiting until early next year.
“We decided to put this policy into play now to speed up the process and allow the citizens to create their applications,” Sutton said.
The next county commissioner meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 2 at 9 a.m.
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.
