Staff report
A community volunteer has been selected to fill the fifth seat on the Rowan County Board of Social Services.
Superior Court Judge John L. Holshouser Jr. selected Ruth Chaparro Kennerly, 35, of Mill Wheel Drive.
She will fill the seat vacated by Dr. Nilous Avery who had served two terms, the maximum allowed by law.
The Social Services Board had deadlocked in an effort to fill the the seat. Two members favored Kennerly while the other two supported Jeanette Morris Clark, a media assistant in the Rowan-Salisbury Schools.
In the event of a tie, state law requires the resident Superior Court judge to fill the vacancy.
In a letter to Sandra Wilkes, Social Services director, Holshouser noted that Clark, a volunteer at Southeast Middle School has impeccable credentials. “… I am hopeful that she will maintain an interest in other public positions which might become available to her,” Holshouser wrote.
Kennerly has served on the board and volunteered for Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Rowan County United Way, Relay for Life and the March of Dimes.
Other members of the board include Carl Ford, chairman of the the Rowan County Board of Commissioners; Jim Sides, a former commissioner; John Blair and Lillian Morgan.