Trio wins 2008 Lassiter Award from NCPA

Three citizens sue Jackson County for Open Meetings violation and win

Three Sylva-area residents took their case to court after Jackson County’s commissioners violated the public meetings law by deciding in secret session to fire one of the three from the Airport Authority.

Tom McClure	Jim Rowell	Eldridge Painter

Fired authority member Tom McClure and fellow authority members Jim Rowell and Eldridge Painter invested more than $50,000 of their own money in legal fees in a three-year battle.

The very same law those commissioners broke helped win the day for the three honorees -- from the first injunction in superior court all the way to a federal judge’s ruling this year awarding legal fees to the three.

The smoking gun, as it turns out, was a copy of the minutes the commissioners kept from their closed meetings, held in January 2005.

The minutes proved the commissioners denied Tom McClure due process and that the commission denied the public its right to know when commissioners voted behind closed doors to remove McClure as part of a complex effort to transfer Economic Development Commission activities back to Jackson County’s control.

The three Lassister Award winners -- appalled by the secret vote that also took a toll on McClure’s reputation in the community – sued and, a few months later, won reinstatement pending the final outcome of the lawsuit.

Just this past February, a federal court judge awarded the entire $50,000 in legal fees to them. At a time when judges rarely do this – despite the fact that our law allows it – and at a time when we are fighting for legislation to make such awards of legal fees automatic – this is truly the happiest of endings.

Aside from the time and effort, McClure, Painter, and Rowell invested in the three- ear battle, there is still slightly more than $11,000 in legal fees that were incurred and that were not provided for in the judgment.

Rowell said the trio has established a fund to help retire the debt and finally bring the matter to a close.  Donations can be made to the Open Government Defense Fund, P.O. Box 261, Cullowhee, NC 28723.

The Lassiter Award is one of the most important the NCPA gives every year. It is named in honor of William C. Lassiter, who was the general counsel to the NCPA for nearly 50 years. This award honors NON-journalists who demonstrate extra strong commitment to open government and the defense of the First Amendment. The award was presented during NCPA's Summer Convention in Asheville on July 18.

The three men were nominated by Lynn Hotaling of the Sylva Herald and Ruralite.