Commission balks at two of Mayor’s appointments
The Anderson County commission and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank are currently at odds on an issue: who should serve on the county conservation board? There is currently one vacancy on the county conservation board, the five-member committee that oversees the county’s parks and recreation.
For now, the opening on the conservation board will remain vacant until county officials come to an agreement on who is the right fit for the job.
An apparent power struggle between commission and mayor took place at this month’s commission meeting as officials discussed how the appointment process works.
In a unanimous vote at the Anderson County Commissioner’s meeting on Monday, May 15, commission voted not to confirm the mayor’s request to temporarily place two of her appointees on the board.
According to Frank, the appointments would be temporary until the litigation that the conservation board is currently under is complete.
Frank made the recommendation to appoint Richard Burroughs, her chief of staff, and Leean Tupper, her assistant, to the board.
Frank’s appointment of the two board members is a change in the way the county has selected members to serve on the conservation board. For years, the county commission’s nominating committee has made these appointments, but officials were recently apprised that state law places the appointing responsibility on the county mayor instead of a county commission committee. However, county commission has the authority to confirm the mayor’s appointments to the board.
In other words, the mayor’s responsibility is to make appointments regarding who will serve on the board and the commission’s responsibility, according to county officials, is to confirm — or in this case, deny — the mayor’s selection.
Two citizens interested in serving on the conservation board turned in applications earlier this year, but those applicants were summarily rejected by Frank. She stated her reason for rejecting the applications from the two citizens is because she does not want to expose public citizens to a liability in a lawsuit that has been filed against the conservation board.
Details of the lawsuit were not discussed during the meeting.
According to Commissioner Phil Warfield (Dist. 3), the two citizens whose applications were rejected by Frank, but were forwarded to the commission’s nominating committee, approved in that committee, and then forwarded and approved by the full board of county commission.
Frank argued the appointments made by the nominating committee and county commission were invalid because they go against Tennessee law. “Those were appointments by the conservation board. The mayor has the appointment power,” she remarked.
In an email interview last week, Frank was asked a follow-up question inquiring what prompted her to do some research on the appointment process. She said she asked two years ago for a review of the boards and commissions for a compliance check, but according to Frank, that review never took place.
“However, in June [2016], an employee of the conservation board watched me introduce myself to a member of the board, indicating to the employee that I did not know the member. The employee was confused because the bylaws as the employee understood them was that the mayor appoints and commission confirms,” stated Frank.
The conservation board employee then sent Frank a copy of the bylaws, and Frank did some digging for answers, asking the county law director and County Technical Assitance Service for information.
“On Aug. 7, I finally received an opinion from Mr. Yeager, however, it contained an error and I requested a correction on Aug. 12. On Sept. 20, I received the revised opinion from Yeager and I distributed it to the Conservation Board. That opinion stated the mayor appoints and the commission confirms. During the extensive waiting period for an answer from the law director, Mr. Warfield changed the bylaws to read that the mayor does not appoint and he took those to commission where they were voted on. However, those changes were not in compliance with the law so I am unsure if he changed those back, or if the Conservation Board was just considering that without effect as they are not in compliance,” continued Frank.
Warfield responded at the commission meeting by pointing out that the advertisements notifying the public of the vacant position never went out to the media.
“Unless I missed it, it was never in the media, in the Clinton or the Oak Ridge papers, to accept applications for the conservation board,” said Warfield.
Commissioners additionally expressed concerns about Frank’s decision to appoint two of her staff members, and pointed out that it could create a potential conflict of interest because Burroughs and Tupper report directly to Frank.
“Mayor, isn’t Leeann Tupper and Richard Burroughs your direct employees? Do you not see this as being a potential conflict?” inquired Commissioner Theresa Scott (Dist. 7).
Frank said she did not perceive it as being a potential conflict.
The appointments “will have the benefit of promoting a good working relationship between the mayor’s office and the conservation board,” stated Frank.
In Frank’s emailed response to an interview, she further explained her decision behind appointing Burroughs and Tupper. She reiterated in her response that she did not want to put any citizen in the middle of “what may be a lawsuit,” but said Warfield pressed that appointments be made, because he explained that “he still needed a quorum.”
Said Frank, “I spoke with Mr. Burroughs and Ms. Tupper about filling those positions on an interim basis until the lawsuit was concluded or settled and they were willing to do so. I believe this was a responsible move.”
She also said with these appointments she could be more closely involved with the county’s parks.
“There’s something that doesn’t feel right about that, that they’re under your direct employment and you’re their supervisor and you’re approving them to serve on the conservation board. It would seem to me that they would be obligated to your wishes and decisions for the conservation board and I’m not comfortable with that,” said Commissioner Jerry Creasey (Dist. 7), who explained the reason he would not vote to confirm the mayor’s appointments to the board.
Warfield made the motion not to confirm Frank’s appointments. He serves on the conservation board as the commission representative and board chairman. According to Warfield, the four-member board still has enough members to have a quorum, and that even with three members present they could still have a quorum.
The Courier News also contacted Warfield with questions on the appointment process last week, but as of Tuesday, May 23, he has not responded to questions.