20 Sullivan commissioners miss 78 meetings over 13 months

BLOUNTVILLE — It's 6 p.m. on the second or third Thursday of the month. Do you know where your Sullivan County commissioner is? Is he or she in a scheduled meeting of the 24-member commission? In October, the full 24-member Sullivan County Commission is scheduled to meet twice, once Thursday, Oct. 8, for a rezoning meeting and work session and again Thursday, Oct. 15, for the regular voting meeting. However, if the past is any indication, one or more members will be absent from both meetings. Over the last 13 months, September 2025 through September 2026, the commission never met in official session with all members in attendance. This includes the 2022-26 commission that ended its tenure Aug. 31 and the 2026-30 commission that took over Sept. 1, with 12 newly elected members joining 12 reelected incumbents, although three of the newly elected commissioners are former commissioners. The best the commission managed during that period was a few times with 23 present and one absent. All told, records indicate a total of 20 commissioners missed a combined total of 78 meetings over the 13 months. That would represent more than $70,000 if commissioners' pay was docked for not attending commission meetings, not including committee meetings attendance, since commissioners are paid more than $900 a month. For a rundown of which commissioners missed, see the sidebar to this article. The group in recent months has discussed controversial matters, including zoning restrictions on data centers and basically banning all Flock Safety license-plate recognition cameras, including those inside the cities and used by businesses or individuals if and when the federal and/or state governments allow that. Two Flock resolutions, sponsored by Joe Carr, are on the October agenda left over from September, and Carr indicated recently another Flock proposal could be coming. The earlier meeting in the month includes rezoning request votes, too, if there are any. The body at its first regular meeting of the new commission's four-year term also voted to table a resolution to downsize the commission from 24 to 14 members come 2030, as proposed by returning incumbent Hunter Locke. Of 24 current members, all but one attended. That's the best attendance the commission at official meetings has ever had. Four June meetings including or focused on the 2026-27 budget also didn't draw a full slate of commissioners. All told, but not counting committee meetings, the full commission had 26 meetings during that 13-month period: 13 regular meetings, 11 work/rezoning sessions and two called June meetings, both concerning 2026-27 budget matters. However, even at unofficial events, including the public Sept. 1 swearing in ceremony where one commissioner did not attend and another arrived almost at the end, not everybody was there. This attendance history has been a sore spot for a former office holder and drawn comments from the county mayor and a state county commissioner's association member. FORMER COMMISSIONER'S LAMENT "You should develop an attendance policy and a method to enforce it," former County Commissioner and former Kingsport Mayor Pat Shull said during public comment at the Sept. 17 commission meeting. Shull said he found the following in public records of commissioners' attendance during a 30-month period that ended in July 2026, totaling 64 meetings not including committee meetings: 10 commissioners attended less than 80% of meetings, only nine attended at least 90% of meetings and that "notably" new Mayor Zane Vanover, a former commissioner the past four years, attended all meetings. The Times News review of attendance didn't go back 30 months from July, but did go back 13 months from September. During that time, the highest attendance of 23 present and one absent, occurred at the April 16 regular meeting, the Sept 17 regular meeting and the Sept. 10 work session/rezoning session. The worst attended meetings were rezoning/work sessions Nov. 13, 2025, March 14 and June 11, all with 19 present and five absent. The commission had a vacancy for a time, Oct. 16 and Nov. 13 and 20, after the resignation of Matt Slagle, who became a Bristol, Tennessee city councilman in 2025 and this year was tapped as city manager, but he was replaced Dec. 11 by Barry Hopper. CURRENT COMMISSIONER, MAYOR COMMENT "I think the new ones that we have are going to be pretty engaged," said Commissioner Carr of Kingsport, who records show missed five commission meetings during the 13 months. "Some people skip the work sessions. Most people try to make the (regular) commission meetings." Former commissioner and new county Mayor Vanover of Kingsport, who according to records didn't miss any commission meetings during that period, said Montgomery County northwest of Nashville pays its commissioners based on meeting attendance. "I think that's a good idea," Vanover said, adding that he's looking into what the state might allow or recommend. TENNESSEE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ASSOCIATION COMMENT Charlie Curtis, executive director of the Tennessee County Commissioners Association and a former White County commissioner, mayor and state House member, said state law allows three ways for counties to pay commissioners: a salary, being paid solely based on meeting attendance and a combination of the two. He recalled lobbying for the association to get the law changed for the mixed option. He said one thing he'd recommend is if commissioners are paid based on committee meeting attendance that pay be only for commissioners who are members of that committee. "I don't think it's wise to put in a pure salary because I believe you need an impetus to attend meetings," Curtis said. On the other hand, he said being a commissioner is more than just attending meetings since the position is "24 hours a day, seven days a week."