Gibson Mayor Archie Herring swears in Randy Pearson to the Commissioners Board. Pearson will finish the term held by Adam Liles, who resigned.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Laurinburg Exchange
Gibson Mayor Archie Herring swears in Elizabeth Anderson as Gibson’s Town Clerk. Anderson takes the place of Peggy Smith, who resigned.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Laurinburg Exchange
GIBSON — A not-so-new face is returning to the Gibson Board of Commissioners after the departure of Commissioner Adam Liles.
Randy Pearson was sworn in Thursday by Mayor Archie Herring, following a nomination by Commissioner Ronnie Hudson and a 3-1 vote. The vote came after the board officially accepted the resignation of Liles, who, according to Herring, notified the board back in February.
Herring noted the cause was that Liles had “moved out of town.”
“The good of the town, that’s what he always looked after. We’ll miss him. I will say that. He has done an outstanding job for the town,” Herring said.
Despite her ‘yes’ vote, Commissioner Marjorie Whitlock, and the sole “no” vote Eric Stubbs expressed their displeasure not with the nominee, but with the process of selecting a nominee.
“I would rather have seen us see if there were any people in the community who would like to put their name forward to be on the council … We really need some diversity on the council,” Whitlock said.
Stubbs said the board should “see if people are even interested in it before you start appointing people.”
“I think we need to be fair about it,” he said.
Hudson said there isn’t much interest in the town in serving on the governing board.
“As it is we can’t get nobody to run for office … That’s a two-way sword there,” Hudson said.
With about two dozen people in attendance at the Gibson meeting, Herring took it upon himself to ask if there was anyone interested in the seat. No one raised their hand, including Pearson.
When asked if he was interested in returning to the board, Pearson said he would consider it but he did not want to be “embroiled in controversy.”
Despite his vote, Stubbs welcomed Pearson to the board.
“I have no problem with Mr. Pearson. He’s a good guy,” Stubbs said.
Another no-so-new face will be taking on the reigns as the town’s clerk. Elizabeth Gilmore, who has been assisting the town’s clerk Peggy Smith, again officially took on the role following Smith’s resignation. Smith officially resigned on Thursday, although she threatened to do so during the February meeting because of what she said was a “hostile” working environment.
Anderson, who previously served as clerk, was sworn into the role and given a $16 raise.
“If it wasn’t for her, I’m being honest, I would not know what we would do … If you just walk in the office and see what she goes through,” Herring said.
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at tsinclair@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com or 910-506-3169.