A New Bern alderman has raised concerns about the recent appointment of two housing authority board members that were made outside of a regularly scheduled, open meeting.
During the new business portion of their Feb. 14 meeting, Ward 1 Alderman Rick Prill told the board he was concerned about Mayor Jeffrey Odham’s appointment of two residents to the New Bern Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Odham recently appointed former New Bern mayor Dana Outlaw and former Ward 1 alderman Sabrina Bengel to fill vacant housing authority seats.
Bengel’s term expires on Dec.1, 2027, while Outlaw’s runs through Dec. 21, 2024.
Prill noted that under the rules of procedure approved by the board of aldermen in January 2018, the board “may consider and may make appointments to other bodies, including its own committees, if any, only in open session.”
“So, we have a rule since 2018 that is very specific that the board, and the mayor is a member of this board, is to only make appointments during an open session,” Prill said. “So that procedure was not followed in the mayor’s appointment of the two most recent members appointed to the housing authority.”
City Attorney Scott Davis clarified that Rule 25 under the city’s rules of procedures applies to decisions which require a majority vote from the board of aldermen. Under existing state law, however, mayors are granted the right to make unilateral appointments to housing authorities without the consent of the governing board.
N.C. General Statute 157-5, section (a) states: “An authority shall consist of not less than five nor more than eleven commissioners appointed by the mayor.”
Section (d) notes that the mayor “shall file with the city clerk a certificate of the appointment or reappointment of any commissioner and such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the due and proper appointment of such commissioner.”
“The state statute gives him that authority,” Davis said. “I’m not convinced the board can make him do that in an open meeting if the board demanded it…he’s free to do anything he likes.”
Prill responded that although the mayor was within his right to make the appointments outside of open session, he felt doing so went against the board’s pledge to be transparent in their actions.
“I would urge the mayor as well as any future mayors to simply make appointments during a public meeting. I’m not asking much,” Prill said.
When Prill asked for comments from other board members, Odham commented, “I think our attorney has basically said it’s not a board decision so you all can state your opinion on whatever you’d like to. You’re more than welcome to do that, it’s a free country. But until you want to try to make a motion to put that rule into place that the board can vote on it and then the attorney can research and find if it’s legal or not.”
Prill said he felt the city statute was “wide open to interpretation” and may need to be corrected but made no motion to do so.
“You can’t stop him, it’s already automatically done,” responded Alderman Johnnie Ray Kinsey.
Alderwoman Barbara Best said she had no problem with the way that the housing authority appointments are made but said she would like to be able to present citizens’ names to the mayor for consideration.
Davis said he was unaware of a state board that had challenged a mayor’s power to make housing authority appointments in the past.
“I don’t know what would stop him from exercising his authority…I don’t know how you would stop him if he said, ‘I’m going to do it this way,”’ Davis told the board.
The appointment of Bengel and Outlaw to the New Bern Housing Authority Board of Commissioners drew attention last month. During the staff comments portion of the board’s Jan. 17 meeting, Executive Director Tiffany Askew said she felt “very threatened and uncomfortable” in the presence of newly appointed commissioner Bengel and requested that Bengel only communicate with her in the presence of two other commissioners.
“I would just like that it be publicly known, and I would just ask for that to be respectively given to me to have her communicate with me in the presence of others,” Askew told the board.
When Askew attempted to clarify her request during the meeting she was cut short by other commissioners before the board went into a closed session and returned without further comment on the matter.
When contacted after the meeting and given a chance to explain her comments about Bengel, Askew said she didn’t want to discuss the issue.
New Bern Now reached out to Prill by email for his reaction following the board of aldermen’s Feb. 14 meeting.
“In my mind, the mayor’s appointments outside of a public meeting goes to the heart of the transparency issue and makes not only himself look bad but the board as well,” he commented.
Prill said, however, that he didn’t expect to pursue the matter at future board meetings.
“I’ve raised this issue twice with the board and in both instances, they seem to be inclined to agree with the city attorney’s position,” he noted, “so I don’t foresee this matter going any further.”
By Todd Wetherington, Co-Editor. Question and comments? Send an email.