January Commission Meeting 2026

The big news this month was that Joe Carr decided he could appear, sans mustache, at a commission meeting, his first since his arrest in October for sexual battery. Drinking a Monster energy drink, he made no comments during the meeting, which took place on the evening of his disposition hearing in court in Asheville, where he waived his right to assigned counsel because he had hired Doug Edwards as his lawyer. His next court date is March 19, 9am, in Bumcombe District Court.

Rezoning had been deferred from last week and had only one case, which rezoned 22 feet on the back of a property on Weaver Pike in Bristol.

This month's meeting was primarily made up of presentations. Clay Walker presented from NETWORKS, the industrial recruitment for the county. Alicia Phelps presented a quarterly report from NETTA, the tourism association, focusing primarily on their online engagements. She stated that tourism added nearly $15 million to the county's sales tax receipts last year. Sullivan County Director of Schools Chuck Carter will be presenting a monthly report. This month, his focus was on students' direct preparation for obtaining a job.

There was a single item on the consent agenda, the 4-month moratorium on data centers. The single item on the regular agenda was the quarterly disbursement of the occupancy tax collected, which also passed unanimously.

During announcements, Commissioner Glover said that in February, MBI, JA Street, and the Sheriff would provide an update on what has been happening with the new jail.

January Commission Work Session 2026

There's not much to report on this work session as not much work was done. There was only one item on the agenda: a 4-month moratorium on crypto and data mining facilities. There wasn't much discussion as this has been covered during at least three different meetings. It was placed on the consent calendar.

During announcements, Commissioner Glover took the floor to express concerns about the reassessment that occurred last year. The Kingsport Times-News covered this discussion in depth here. What struck me about this discussion was the lack of looking for solutions. Appraisals went up; property taxes went up; and the county could barely make its budget. So, either the tax burden must be shifted, or the budget must be cut (and by a lot to make any difference). A great deal of the budget is non-discretionary -- you can't not pay for the jail, or the sheriffs; to not pay for emergency services or road maintenance or for snow removal would be extremely short-sighted; education and the facilities in which to conduct education are vital for the future. Commissioner Vanover did remind folks of the funds to assist the elderly and poor and suggested that perhaps those funds could be increased. Commissioner King said that many people had had their assessments significantly reduced by appealing. Both Glover and Vanover said that the assessments came from outside the county (that is, someone in the state government) and I do not know how that works. Everyone was careful to not put the blame on the Sullivan County Assessor's office. I hope there will be follow-up to this discussion but honestly, I doubt there will be. I've heard Commissioner Glover say many times, "We need to look into this," but I've not seen follow-up to that yet.

I continue to be a bit shocked at the various Commissioners' lack of familiarity with Robert's Rules, and of basic county business. Make no mistake, one reason I am here is to learn how this body and this county work and I have been impressed by the professional way the meetings are run. But when a Commissioner doesn't know to request that their agenda item be placed on the regular calendar, on first reading, or on consent, well, what does that say about their preparation?

I also noted that quorum was barely made, with 9 absences. I tried to note who was absent: Commissioners Akard, Carr, Cole, Crawford, Cross, Hayes, McMurry, Stidham and one other were not present. There was a meeting of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) with a legislative preview held in Jonesborough conflicting with this Commission meeting. AFP is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers and is a right-wing libertarian political group.