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Rather interesting things continue to happen in Cherokee County politics, the latest being a commissioner-elect who – just a day before he was scheduled to be sworn into office – declined the position due to having a conflict of interest as a county employee. And, to be clear, this unfortunate situation was not Justin Hyde’s fault.
Ten years ago, the county was faced with a similar situation. After Cal Stiles went from being an at-large commissioner to earning a four-year seat representing District 1, the Cherokee County Republican Party Executive Committee was tasked with appointing a replacement to fill the final two years of Stiles’ at-large position.
Since the county was moving from three to five districts, District 5 needed a representative. The GOP picked Roy Dickey, who was then the county’s maintenance supervisor. After being re-elected, Dickey served six years on the board, even though there was an obvious conflict of interest – as a commissioner, Dickey was the boss of County Manager Randy Wiggins; however, as a county employee, Wiggins was Dickey’s supervisor.
Thankfully, Dickey and Wiggins are both good men who were able to make what could have been a mighty awkward relationship work. Still, as the Cherokee Scout wrote at the time, plenty could have gone wrong if other people were in similar positions.
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And if you think that situation was a conflict of interest, consider the curious case of Ernest Jones, who was both a Cherokee County commissioner (on three-member board then) as well as the county manager in the early to mid-2000s. Very few people are capable of being their own boss and performing equally well at both positions.
Due to those precedents, there was no reason for Hyde to think he wouldn’t be eligible to become a commissioner. Then again, the county’s attorney at the time Dickey was appointed (Scott Lindsay) was later fired as a result of multiple lawsuits against the Department of Social Services, and the new county attorney (Darryl Brown) pays a whole lot closer attention to details.
The legal details show Hyde could
only make so much money annually working with the county (pay and benefits with a combined value of less than $60,000) or the board would need to approve an exception for him – and even then he would still likely have to recuse himself when voting on many county funding matters. Of course, all of that would have been great information to share with Hyde when he first filed to run for office in December 2023, or even before the April 2024 primary, as opposed to around or after the November general election.
That brings us to today, with the county’s Republican Party Executive Committee again tasked with naming a commissioner, this time in District 2. The fact that this person will serve
four years without facing any voters is a disservice to democracy; the appointed person should only serve two years, until the next countywide election, when someone could be voted in for the next two years at no extra cost and we’d be back on a four-year schedule.
Even worse than that is the process. When Dickey was appointed, the public had no idea who was under consideration and what was going on behind the scenes until his name was given. It took four months for folks to file and campaign in the primary – at a considerable expense of time and money – but that selection was done in less than 30 days, and without a bumper sticker to be found.
The Executive Committee would set a great precedent if they open this process to the public. Letting local residents know who’s interested in being a commissioner, plus allowing them to observe interviews and share feedback, would make this feel not just like the decision of a few people, but of the many.
For the voters who selected Hyde, the only thing worse than not having him in office would be not having any say whatsoever in who is.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on X @daviddBstroh.