Blowing Rock council adopts revised code of conduct with edits; signatures due by end of August

The Blowing Rock Town Council voted July 8 to adopt a revised code of conduct and ethics for elected officials and appointed boards, conditioned on staff incorporating a series of edits discussed during a lengthy redline review.

The draft: Staff presented a 16‑page draft covering ethics, conduct, sanctions, a glossary and implementation steps. "It is a fairly lengthy document, 16 pages in length," a staff presenter said while summarizing the proposed sections and noting that most changes since the draft were grammatical.

Council review and requested edits: Council members and the town attorney proposed multiple targeted changes, including renaming an "appeal protocol" to a "testimony protocol," adding "research and staff time" to the list of prohibited political solicitations, clarifying titles (e.g., "town clerk" instead of "town secretary"), standardizing references to mayor and council across sections, and adding statutory citations to define degrees of kinship where necessary. The council and staff agreed to add implementation language specifying annual acknowledgement and a target timeline for signatures.

Motion and adoption: One councilor moved to adopt the code with the discussed changes; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. Staff recorded the edits to be made and said the final document would be reissued for signature by council and boards; staff suggested August 31 as the target date for board and commission acknowledgements.

What happens next: Staff will incorporate the agreed edits, circulate the final draft to council and board members, and make arrangements for signatures and training as needed. The council approved adoption with the understanding that final signatures and a definitive implementation schedule would follow after staff edits.