From the Asheville Citizen-Times (1/24/12): The Town of Black Mountain Board of Aldermen will meet at 2 p.m. Friday in a "special call meeting" that may address some recent missteps and an ongoing dispute between elected officials and former town manager, Marcy Onieal.
Last week, Alderman Carlos Showers questioned Black Mountain Mayor Carl Bartlett’s authority to hire attorney Louis Bissette, of McGuire, Wood, and Bissette law firm, to represent the Town.
When asked by the Town to clarify the matter, Frayda Bluestein, of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, said state law requires aldermen to vote in open session to give the mayor the authority to hire outside counsel, which was never done.
Asked about the issue on Friday, Bartlett said, “I was given the go-ahead in closed session… Should we have voted on that in open session? We probably should have, and that will be corrected.”
Bartlett said he turned to Bissette after town attorney Ron Sneed said he could not provide advice to the Town regarding Onieal because of potential conflicts of interest. Sneed confirmed he recused himself because he worked with Oneial closely for three years on Town business and did other legal work for her.