Buncombe County elections board votes to request personnel report from county HR

The Buncombe County Board of Elections on Feb. 3 voted to request a personnel report from Buncombe County Human Resources that would list permanent elections‑office staff, job classifications and salaries.

The motion, moved and seconded during the meeting, passed by a tally reported by the chair as three in favor, one opposed and one abstention. The board agreed the HR report requested should be shared with all board members.

Board discussion beforehand focused on two competing priorities: ensuring transparency about the elections office’s budget and avoiding undue micromanagement of the director’s personnel decisions. One member said the board needed the detailed figures to prepare for budget planning; others cautioned that direct involvement in personnel administration would exceed the board’s role and could impede the director’s authority as laid out in the county MOU.

Board members debated process as well as content. Some argued that individual members could use the public records portal to obtain information, while others said requests made in open board business — routed through the chair or formal motion — ensure that information is developed and distributed as a board action rather than for individual purposes. The board discussed that certain budget details are visible through the county budget portal, but that the specific future permanent‑staff numbers requested were not available there in the form the member wanted.

The motion asks Buncombe County HR to prepare a personnel report with permanent‑staff names (where allowable), job classifications and salary ranges for the elections office and to provide that report to the elections board. After the vote, the board chair said the request would be acted on and the report circulated to the full board.

The board did not adopt any changes to county HR policy or staffing decisions; it requested information to inform future budget conversations. The board also discussed pursuing clarification from the state board if there remained an open question about the board’s statutory access to requested material.

Next steps: staff will coordinate with county HR to produce the requested report and share it with the board; the item was otherwise tabled for further consideration of process details at a later meeting.