The Ronda Town Commissioners on Tuesday night approved a motion stating intent to voluntarily start a process for dissolving Ronda as a town.
Commissioners Matthew Foster, Chris Nelson and Helen Porter voted for, while Commissioner Bobby Munsey voted against the motion.
Munsey said he will seek reversal of the action after the election in November.
Four of five Ronda commissioner seats and the position of mayor are on the ballot due to a state law applying to people appointed to vacant town board seats.
People running for the five seats are uncontested, including two commissioner candidates currently not on the board. Munsey holds the one seat not on the ballot this year. Ronda Commissioner Kevin Reece wasn’t present for the meeting on Tuesday due to sickness.
Commissioners on August 11 approved a resolution asking the N.C. General Assembly to authorize an advisory referendum in Ronda on dissolving the financially troubled town.
In an August 24 letter urging the Ronda board to start the process of voluntary dissolution, legislators representing Wilkes (Sen. Eddie Settle. Rep. Dan Kiger and Rep. Blair Eddins) said seeking General Assembly authorization of a referendum wasn’t feasible since November 2027 was the soonest it could occur and the town didn’t have enough funds to operate until then.
Kendra Boyle, director of the Fiscal Management Section at the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, outlined the process of voluntary dissolution during the Aug. 11 Ronda board meeting. Boyle said the board must then hold at least two public hearings on dissolution; develop an action plan for distributing all town assets and liabilities and secure N.C. Local Government approval of the plan; present the plan to the public; and hold a public hearing on whether to dissolve the town in accordance with the action plan.
Passage of the resolution stating intent to voluntarily dissolve is followed by a 45-day period in which a referendum on dissolution can be authorized if 25% of signatures of registered voters seeking this is obtained on a petition.
If the majority of voters don’t approve dissolution in the referendum or it isn’t held, the action plan for dissolving is implemented started June 30.
Story: Wilkes Journal Patriot