By Lee Barnes
lbarnes@salisburypost.com
Members of the Rowan County Commissioners passed a resolution Monday asking one of their own to knock off the free-lancing.
At issue was a Nov. 5 meeting involving area mayors and Commissioner Raymond Coltrain. In a memo to the board, Commissioner Tina Hall said that Coltrain reportedly ran the meeting, “which would imply authorization from the Board of Commissioners.”
Coltrain, said Hall, “left us completely out of the loop.”
“Professional courtesy was not extended to his own board,” she said.
“When you go out, as individuals, you need to make it clear you’re not there in an official capacity,” Hall told the board. “You make it clear that you are not there on behalf of the board.”
Coltrain maintained that he had done nothing wrong. He said the meeting was “volunteer” and “non-binding.”
“I was acting as an individual,” he said. “I clearly stated several times I was acting only as an individual.”
He said it was his duty as a commissioner to “explore issues and concerns and bring them before this board.”
“I will continue to respond to the request of a citizen or group of citizens,” he added. Putting issues on the agenda, he said, “is my responsibility.”
Hall proposed a resolution saying that the board of commissioners “acts collectively ó not as individuals.”
The resolution also said that any commissioner “must be authorized by the full board before acting in any official capacity.”
Coltrain said that even having the resolution on the agenda was “a personal insult.”
Commissioner Jon Barber came to Coltrain’s defense, calling the resolution “absurd” and said that discussing it was “a waste of time.”
The board voted 3-2 in favor of Hall’s resolution.
Coltrain, like all the members of the board except for Chad Mitchell, is serving his first term.