Residents urge Carroll County supervisors to remove two recreation committee members over field and scheduling problems

Milway, a resident who addressed the Carroll County Board of Supervisors during citizen's time on March 18, 2026, asked why two people were taken aside during a recent closed session and said those individuals should be removed from decisions concerning youth programs. "Why the 2 individuals were pulled to the back during closed session when anything that was stated could have been stated out in public for the recording to hear," Milway said.

Horton, a resident and the meeting's second speaker during citizen's time, thanked the board for attempting to place the Dixie program under the recreation department but urged the board to remove Travis Austin and another individual who was recorded in the transcript alternately as Ronnie Mankins and Ronnie Macon. Horton said field conditions and scheduling have harmed the county's girls' programs: "The rec department field is not prepared, and the Hillsville Elementary School field is unusable due to flooding, missing bases, and having been ripped out," Horton said. She added that fields are often prioritized for soccer, volunteer coaches are told to fix the fields themselves, and many girls have left to play in neighboring counties because programs there are better.

Horton said she hopes "Kirk and his team can improve the situation," but argued the problems will continue if the two committee members remain. The speakers requested that the board consider removing the named individuals from the recreation and Dixie committees; the board did not record any formal action removing them during the meeting.

The comments occurred during the meeting's public-comment period; the board subsequently discussed recreation and later approved a separate motion to delay the effective date of a prior rule change affecting baseball and softball until after this season (see related article).