John Shearl

Shearl makes a motion to pause the FHS project indefinitely. Motion fails 3-2. Shearl votes against proceeding with construction documents for FHS, which required a $1.6M appropriation from fund balance. Motion passed 3 to 2.

Shearl presents a pitch to make the School Board partisan, with no public input or discussion with the School Board.

Shearl votes with Higdon to send a request to the legislature to re-map the Highlands district without public input or any previous board discussion. Passed 3-2. Antoine voted with them.

Shearl calls for the Country Manager's resignation with no cause.

Commissioner Shearl stated he would like to address the board and the citizens regarding last month's meeting and read a prepared statement. In his statement he said he does not want conflict to define Macon County; that he had misspoken about the budget increase under the management of Mr. Roland and meant to point out that the fund balance has increased but that the media twisted the narrative; he is not against any county employees, appreciates their work, but that no one is special because of where they work; he will always be grateful to county employees, but is against over staffing; strongly supports capital improvements when we can afford them; taxpayers are the source of income for Macon County and the county employees; and, will always fight for limited government. Commissioner Shearl said he had suggested that Mr. Roland not bring forward the ARPA funding for county employee bonuses until the board had more opportunity to discuss the issue. He said he spent five hours on December 4, 2023, with the Maintenance Director reviewing properties that ARPA funds could have paid for. Commissioner Shearl ended by sharing that he encourages anyone to reach out to him to discuss any of these topics and said he did not ask for the County Manager's resignation based on ARPA funds

Board of Education Chair Jim Breedlove said he is proud of his board for the position they have taken and introduced board member Deidre Breeden to share some thoughts. Ms. Breeden said she has heard both sides of this issue and believes there are good intentions from both sides. She stated that the issue of concern is that this item appeared on the November 14, 2023, agenda, while none of the real-time issues have appeared on the agenda, such as those involving the Nantahala sewer or the Macon Middle School track. 

Ms. Breeden shared that she feels this issue has received more discussion between the two boards, but none of the issues she wants addressed have ever received that much time. Board of Education member Hilary Wilkes said she feels the bullet points of the resolution she read earlier are a great summation of the Board of Education's thoughts and feelings. She said she feels the two boards work very well together and requested that the proposed resolution be removed from their consideration. Commissioner Antoine said in the spirit of unity, he is a big advocate of forgetting to talk about things. He said that in the previous meeting, he had said that he felt that the Board of Education needed to be in the conversation and is supporting their position after hearing their resolution. 

Commissioner Antoine made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Young, to squash Item 14C, which had been tabled from the November meeting. Commissioner Shearl said it sounds like the Board of Education feels this is a direct attack on its five members. He says it sounds like this is a much bigger issue than in Macon County since 53 percent of NC counties have adopted partisan elections for school boards. 

Commissioner Shearl said policies are handed down from beyond the local level, and the Macon County Board of Education has very little control. Mr. Breedlove said he disagrees and said the Board of Education is not concerned about state or national politics; their goal is what is in the best interest of Macon County students, period. Mr. Roland clarified that the motion was to terminate Item 14C, Discussion and Consideration of Resolution Supporting the Identification of Party Affiliation for Candidates for Macon County Board of Education, as tabled from the November 14, 2023, meeting. The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner Antoine, Commissioner Higdon, Commissioner Shields, and Commissioner Young voting in favor, and Commissioner Shearl opposed 

Shearl and Higdon oppose moving forward with the design for the Macon Middle School Track replacement. Motion passes 3-2

Shearl asks for the FHS project to be included on the November 2024 ballot. Motion fails 3-2. (Again, trying to delay the project, stop the momentum)

Shearl votes no on the geotechnical work needed for the FHS project to move forward. “Said he keeps getting calls from people wanting to see the project put on a referendum”. Motion passes 3-1 with Shearl opposing.

Shearl and Higdon vote against entering a construction contract for summer work needed to move the FHS project forward with Carrol Daniel. Motion passes 3-2 Shearl and Higdon vote against the contract with LS3P for summer work needed at FHS. Motion passes 3-2. Commissioner Shearl states, “wants the record to reflect he does not support the project budget.”

Commissioner Shearl said, “he agrees with doing away with the community funding pool. $75,000 annually, voted on by an appointed board through an application process. Small grants are awarded to organizations such as REACH and Read to Me, allowing them to leverage thousands of dollars in state and federal funding. Without this, the county would have to fill this public need.

Shearl votes with Higdon to eliminate the Community Funding Pool. Motion fails 3-2. Shearl votes against the budget, which included an increase in coaching stipends, the first operational increase to education funding in 5 years, an increase to public education capital funding, cost-of-living adjustments for county and school personnel, maintained the lowest tax rate in the state, and a healthy fund balance with an AA+ credit rating

Voted against appropriating $137,624,444 to fund the FHS project. Voted in favor of $8.5M Highlands School project (to save face because he knew it was passing)

Voted against a $200,000 appropriation to the Macon County Public School system to continue providing free lunches to FHS and Highlands School students. Motion passes 3-2 Leading the charge against the Highlands District on the Board .