City launches Historic Commission investigation
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on August 22, 2018 5:50 AM
City of Goldsboro attorney Ron Lawrence will investigate the conduct of the Historic District Commission after its chairman publicly chastised a fellow member of the board.
The Goldsboro City Council directed its attorney to conduct the investigation after Councilman Antonio Williams, during its Monday work session, played a tape recording of the commission's most recent meeting. In the recording, Historic District Chairman Zach Lilly can be heard chastising commission member Ravonda Jacobs for voicing complaints to the city council in mid-July.
Jacobs called on the council to open an investigation into not only Lilly, but the entire commission in order to determine if the group is operating ethically. Jacobs said Lilly has "an agenda" of his own -- a claim which Lilly challenged in the recording, urging Jacobs to bring proof to the district authorities and have him "put in handcuffs."
The investigation is planned to include the conduct of all members of the commission, City Manager Scott Stevens said Tuesday.
Lawrence, who attends each Historic District Commission meeting, will be tasked with reviewing previous meeting records, including taped recordings and meeting minutes in an effort to determine if commission members have done anything illegal, Mayor Chuck Allen said.
Stevens said that Lawrence's investigation will begin "sooner rather than later" once the attorney is back from vacation. Lawrence not available to comment Tuesday.
During the council's Monday meeting, which became contentious at points, Councilman Bevan Foster made the motion to remove Lilly from the Historic District Commission. The motion failed with a 2-5 vote. Foster and Williams, the council's representative on the Historic District Commission, voted in favor of removing Lilly. Allen and Councilmen David Ham, Mark Stevens, Gene Aycock and Bill Broadaway voted in opposition.
Allen said he wants to give the commission a chance to work itself out. He said the commission should either remove Lilly as chairman or Lilly should step down of his own accord.
One way or another, Allen said, the historic commission will come to order.
"Frankly, right now it's a dysfunctional board with a lot of personal agendas, and I think the opinion of the majority of the council is that we are not going to allow it to continue that way," Allen said Tuesday. "We want to give the board a chance to police itself, but if that does not work, then the council will have to take further action."
Allen said he is open to doing whatever is necessary to make sure the board runs smoothly, including removing Lilly, if Lawrence's findings prove that to be necessary.
The Historic District Commission is one of a collection of boards with members appointed by the city council. The council has the authority to appoint and remove members.
During Monday's meeting, Lilly apologized for raising his voice. Lilly said he "welcomes the investigation" and is willing to "assist city council or the city attorney however they see necessary."
Williams, whose residency Lilly challenged in June, compared the council's action on his residency -- an issue sparked by an anonymous letter -- to what he considered its lack of action on Lilly. He said he considered it a double standard that the council would so quickly consider removing him from his seat and not take the same stance toward Lilly.
The council eventually turned the case over to the Wayne County Board of Elections, which declined to pursue Lilly's residency challenge due to a lack of evidence needed to investigate Williams' residency.
Williams was not available for comment Tuesday.