Swain County Board votes to end contract and appoint interim county manager
May 26, 2026 | Swain County, North Carolina
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The Swain County Board of Commissioners voted during a May 26 special session to terminate an employee contract and to install an interim county manager.
On the termination, a commissioner moved and the board approved the motion by a voice/hand vote the chair recorded as "three to two." Minutes and the transcript identify the contract as being ended at the request of the employee; the transcript uses the name form "Lahi" (or similar spelling) in the discussion. No further personnel details or the names of the motion authors were recorded in the transcript.
Minutes show the board then voted to accept an interim county manager agreement for Thomas Anderson Deals; the recorded vote in the transcript was noted as "41," which the chair and others used in conversation and which the board treated as a four–to–one vote. Immediately after the vote the board adjourned the special-session portion and finance officer Miss Calli administered the oath. In repeating the oath, the interim manager identified himself in the transcript as "I Thomas Anderson Deals" and swore to support the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions and to "faithfully discharge the duties of my office as Swain County interim county manager." Thomas Anderson Deals then addressed the board: "I'm going to do this job the very best that I can possibly do it. … My job is to take the direction that y'all give and give it legs."
The board returned directly to a budget work session after the oath. The transcript records no formal motion to confirm or to provide a contract length for the interim manager beyond acceptance of the interim agreement, and it does not record the motion makers or individual commissioner votes by name.
What happens next: The board moved on to a scheduled budget work session and agreed to additional budget-review meetings to meet upcoming public-notice requirements for the 2026–27 budget.
Action details: The transcript records two formal actions during the special-session portion—termination of the contract (carried, 3–2) and acceptance of the interim manager agreement (carried, recorded as 4–1). The transcript does not list motion makers, seconds by name, or named roll-call votes.
On the termination, a commissioner moved and the board approved the motion by a voice/hand vote the chair recorded as "three to two." Minutes and the transcript identify the contract as being ended at the request of the employee; the transcript uses the name form "Lahi" (or similar spelling) in the discussion. No further personnel details or the names of the motion authors were recorded in the transcript.
Minutes show the board then voted to accept an interim county manager agreement for Thomas Anderson Deals; the recorded vote in the transcript was noted as "41," which the chair and others used in conversation and which the board treated as a four–to–one vote. Immediately after the vote the board adjourned the special-session portion and finance officer Miss Calli administered the oath. In repeating the oath, the interim manager identified himself in the transcript as "I Thomas Anderson Deals" and swore to support the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions and to "faithfully discharge the duties of my office as Swain County interim county manager." Thomas Anderson Deals then addressed the board: "I'm going to do this job the very best that I can possibly do it. … My job is to take the direction that y'all give and give it legs."
The board returned directly to a budget work session after the oath. The transcript records no formal motion to confirm or to provide a contract length for the interim manager beyond acceptance of the interim agreement, and it does not record the motion makers or individual commissioner votes by name.
What happens next: The board moved on to a scheduled budget work session and agreed to additional budget-review meetings to meet upcoming public-notice requirements for the 2026–27 budget.
Action details: The transcript records two formal actions during the special-session portion—termination of the contract (carried, 3–2) and acceptance of the interim manager agreement (carried, recorded as 4–1). The transcript does not list motion makers, seconds by name, or named roll-call votes.
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