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Residents press Jackson County on library meeting rooms, school investment and teacher pay
Summary
Multiple residents urged the county to preserve free public meeting space in libraries, commit to equitable school project completion and address teacher retention with countywide pay supplements. Officials tabled a library room policy for additional review.
Several residents used the meeting's public-comment period to press the Jackson County Board of Commissioners on access to library meeting spaces, the scope of school-bond projects and teacher pay.
Jason Kamenker, executive director of Friends of Panther Town, told commissioners his nonprofit relies on library conference rooms and auditoriums in Cashiers and Sylva for board meetings, youth programs and trainings, and asked the county to "strongly consider maintaining existing use policies and not damage our ability to operate as a public service at no cost to Jackson's residents and visitors." Kamenker said Friends of Panther Town serves roughly 75,000 visitors a year to Panther Town and depends on free library space for programming.
Antoinette McQuott asked whether a proposed immunization policy on the agenda would limit public groups' ability to reserve library rooms, citing a long list of community organizations that use the facilities (AARP tax volunteers, dogwood crafters, veterans groups and others). Commissioners later tabled the library room utilization policy for a work session to allow more time for review and revision.
Kendra Presley, a Cashiers-area resident, argued that the Cashiers, Hamburg and Mountain townships generate the majority of the county's taxable value but have not received proportional capital investment; Presley urged the board to include equitable completion of the Blue Ridge School project in any bond referendum. Reagan Bunch, a former Blue Ridge Early College middle-school teacher, described leaving the classroom because teaching pay (she cited $44,000 with county supplement) did not cover the local cost of living and called for a countywide, experience-based supplement to retain veteran teachers and first responders.
The board did not take immediate action on the school and teacher-pay requests at the meeting; commissioners and staff noted the items as part of ongoing budget deliberations.
