The Town of Highlands Board of Commissioners got the ball rolling toward hiring a new town attorney on Friday afternoon.
The board convened for a specially called meeting to go over the hiring process for the attorney position. Former town attorney Jay Coward resigned on Jan. 26 following more than nine years of service to the board.
Coward has agreed to stay on as a legal consultant for the town until a new town attorney can be hired.
“There are two positions that the board is responsible for hiring – town manager and town attorney,” town manager Josh Ward said. “All other town positions can be hired by myself or our department heads, but choosing an attorney is a function of the commissioners and must be approved by vote.”
Ward presented the board with a job vacancy posting and a questionnaire that would be attached for potential applicants to fill out and submit.
“I spoke with Macon County Manager Derek Roland, because the county recently went through this same process and he sent me their questionnaire,” Ward said. “I used some of the same questions, deleted some that were Macon County specific, and then added some specific to Highlands and our needs.”
Among the topics the board was asked to consider was the necessity of an attorney appearing in Highlands in-person for meetings. The board came to the consensus that the attorney does need to be at the monthly commissioners and zoning board meetings in-person.
Coward, a Jackson County resident, was routinely available for meetings – even specially called meetings on short notice.
“With all that is going on with short term rentals and potential zoning questions, I do feel like the attorney should be at those meetings and not just on Zoom or via the internet,” commissioner Amy Patterson said. “We don’t necessarily need to have someone in Highlands every day, but twice a month for those two meetings doesn’t seem like too much to ask.”
Ward noted that the board could choose an attorney from a large firm that specializes in local government law, which may give the town access to more legal resources. He added that he had spoken to representatives from Poyner Spruill, who are representing the town in legal matters related to the short-term rental ordinance the town passed in 2022.
“They indicated that they would have some level of interest in our open position,” Ward said. “Now we didn’t get into anything concrete, I just asked if they would have someone who might be interested and they said yes.”
While the idea of hiring a new attorney from a large firm drew general approval from the board, the consensus was that the town needs to have a single point of contact for legal matters.
“We want to know who we are supposed to talk to, not just get whoever answers the phone that day,” mayor Patrick Taylor said. “Having a single dedicated attorney is important, not multiple representatives from a firm.”
Commissioner Buz Dotson added that all interviews need to be conducted in-person in Highlands so prospective candidates can see the town and get a feel for the area.
“Highlands is a unique place, in terms of geography and logistics especially,” Dotson said. “We don’t want to get into a situation where we hire somebody after a Zoom meeting and they come here for the first time and regret taking the job because they didn’t fully understand where we are and what it means to travel here.”
The board instructed Ward to post the town attorney job online and reach out to any interested parties operating within the state of North Carolina.