Judge refuses dismissal in case against commissioners

Martin County Commissioners Emily Biggs, Ronnie Smith and Chair Dempsey Bond were not successful in their attempt to end a lawsuit against them.

The three commissioners are currently defending the lawsuit brought by a Martin County citizens group claiming the three commissioners violated the North Carolina Open Meeting Laws on numerous occasions. The plaintiffs in the case include Laurence Lilley Jr., Walter Whitfield, Mamie Bernadette Rodgers and Brent Roberson, along with Commissioners Skip Gurganus and Joe Ayers.

Judge Jerry R. Tillett was assigned to the case after Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. recused himself in April, realizing he knew one of the individuals involved in the case personally. At the time, Judge Sermons was scheduled to hear a motion brought by the defendant’s attorney, Brian Castro, to dismiss the case. Castro also moved for a summary judgement.

Judge Tillett heard the motion on Monday and dismissed the motion with prejudice, along with the motion for summary judgement.

If the summary judgement motion were granted, the Plaintiffs would be required to pay their own legal fees, plus the legal fees incurred by Martin County and the commissioners.

“During the July 15, 2024, hearing on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, the Court noted that it would dismiss the individual Defendant-Commissioners from the action. The transcript of the proceedings will speak for itself and demonstrate the futility of Plaintiffs’ action,” said Castro.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Michael Tadych had a different view.

“We're glad that Judge Tillett saw fit for this matter to enter the discovery phase and also acknowledged that the plaintiffs should be free to amend their complaint if necessary,” said Tadych. “This is an important case for the good folks of Martin County.”

The defendants were served 46 pages of interrogatories, requests for documents and requests for admissions in the case in February by Tadych.

The suit was filed in September 2023 after citizens voiced repeated concerns and allegations of misconduct on the commissioners’ part regarding decisions allegedly made by the three commissioners behind closed doors.

The focus of the concerns were salary increases for former Martin County Manager James Bennett’s. The closing of Martin General Hospital without any public transparency on the commissioners’ part also prompted the action.

The plaintiffs filed the suit on behalf of the citizen taxpayers. They have no financial gain if they prevail in the suit. They are currently financing their own legal fees.

However, they could sustain financial losses if they lose the case.

In other developments, the investigation that began by the NCSBI is ongoing and has been handed over to the Martin County District Attorney’s office for further action.

Although District Attorney Seth Edwards has not publicly discussed the progress of the investigation, it is ongoing.

“There has been a lot of action on the DA’s part, just no charges have been filed. The matter is still under investigation,” according to Edwards’ Administrative Assistant Brandi Gerard.

A decision on Edwards’ part is anticipated before the upcoming November election.