By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
Republican Kirk Smith has resigned as chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners – and in the process accused some fellow commissioners and county staff of conspiring to remove him from the position.
Vice Chair Dr. Andre Knecht, also a Republican, is next in line procedurally, but the full board hasn’t yet taken formal action to name him – or anyone else – as Smith’s successor.
“To avoid embarrassing the Board members, who worked behind the scenes colluding to change the Rules and Procedures of the Lee County Board of Commissioners and as my ‘vote of no confidence,’ effective immediately, I will step down as Chairman, to preclude a vote of those who plotted with staff to revise our rules,” Smith wrote in the letter, which he submitted to to County Attorney Whitney Parrish and the board’s other six members on Thursday.
The Rant was unable Thursday night to reach other commissioners or county staff to learn what steps will be taken to provide leadership until the board meets next on Monday. Commissioners are expected to discuss the situation and decide who will serve as chair until the next election of officers at the board’s organizational meeting in December.
Smith’s resignation follows a recent discussion by the board about changing their rules of procedure that appeared to be leading toward a vote to remove him.
In the letter, Smith said he will continue representing District 2 and listed the committees and boards he will remain on as required by state law, including the Central Pines Rural Planning Organization. He also noted that he will continue service on the Fire Advisory Board, the Local Emergency Planning Committee, and the Lee County 250th Anniversary Committee. Smith is up for re-election in 2026 and has no opponent.
Smith has been a polarizing figure in Lee County politics for more than 25 years – first as a prolific writer of letters to the editor and later as a four term commissioner. He was first elected chair in 2020. Over the years, both as a private citizen and an elected official, he has made divisive public statements on a wide range of issues, including advocating peanut butter and jelly lunches for low income public school students, voting against scholarship opportunities at Central Carolina Community College, making false claims about other elected officials and blaming staff, asserting that Nazi organizations were dominated by “the virtuous macho gay male,” attacking the service of a combat wounded veteran, calling the media an “enemy of the people,” criticizing CCCC student athletes for linking arms during the national anthem, and dismissing the COVID 19 pandemic – which killed 1.1 million Americans – as “political hype.”
But Smith’s recent treatment of an environmental attorney from the Southern Environmental Law Group in Chapel Hill, Brooks Rainey, at a meeting of the commissioners on March 16 may have been what sparked his colleagues action to potentially oust him.
As Ms. Rainey attempted to speak on the legal implications of having a data center in the community, Smith’s questioning turned to talking points that had nothing to do with the Deep River Data proposal.
“Do you believe humans are the cause of global warming?” he asked. “Do you know what started and ended the last Ice Age of 10,000 years ago? What is the number one pollutant in the atmosphere today?”
The board’s next scheduled meeting is scheduled for Monday at the new Lee County Public Library, and decisions about new leadership will now join an already crowded agenda.
Yesssssss!
Thank goodness! Somebody please run against him in ‘26!
Ballots might be printed, but a write in nominee could be an option
Don’t let Kirk get out that easy! Please go ahead and remove him completely of all duties and abilities to vote on any issues in Lee County! He is like Cancer to this County ! All commissioners should put what the majority of the people want and don’t want first and leave out what political party they support in decisions. PEOPLE BEFORE POLITICS!!
This will actually be my first time ever commenting on a Rant article because, quite frankly, I usually do not consider it worth the effort. The publication has long appeared more interested in pushing a political narrative and attacking conservatives than practicing balanced, professional journalism.
That said, this article crossed a line that deserves to be called out publicly.
A legitimate news organization reports facts, separates commentary from reporting, provides balance, and allows readers to form their own conclusions. This article instead reads like a political opinion piece disguised as straight news coverage.
Rather than focusing primarily on the actual story, a chairman’s resignation and questions surrounding procedural changes inside county government, the article spends enormous effort compiling years of unrelated controversy, loaded language, selective grievances, and emotional framing clearly designed to damage one individual personally and politically.
Words such as “polarizing,” “divisive,” and “false claims” are presented as factual conclusions without documentation, sourcing, or meaningful counterbalance. The inclusion of emotionally charged national COVID statistics in a local governance story further demonstrates that the goal was not objective reporting, but narrative shaping.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics specifically calls on journalists to distinguish news from commentary, avoid loaded framing, provide context, and present information fairly and accurately. This article failed that standard.
Whether someone agrees with Kirk Smith politically is not really the point. There is still such a thing as human decency.
Public service is not easy. Those of us who have served in uniform or in elected office understand the weight leadership carries and the toll it can take on families, friendships, reputations, and personal lives. People will have their opinions about Kirk, as they do all public figures, but reducing a man’s entire life and years of public service to a list of controversies says more about today’s political culture and media environment than it does about the individual being targeted.
None of us are defined by a single headline, a single meeting, or a single chapter in life.
I am praying for Kirk and his family, and I thank him for his years of service to Lee County.
Sherry Lynn Womack, Lt. Col., U.S. Army (Ret.)
What poorly written article! While many are not happy with the recent services of Kirk Smith, I would think issues like rising property taxes, poor management of unchecked local development and horrible infrastructure are better complaints than the idiotic he be a racist argument. Anyone who actually knows Smith should know that is definitely not the case. The Rant is a bias one sided piece of trash that definitely does not come anywhere close to representing the values or opinions of the citizens of Lee County, no matter how much filth and degeneracy from outsiders they promote.
Hmmmm. Interesting that you don’t appear to have used your real name, unless you are named after Sheriff Rosco (no “e”) P. Coltrane, the character from Dukes of Hazard tv show, in which the starring Duke characters drive around in a car with a Confederate flag on it. To be fair, the sheriff himself did not spout any racist nonsense, but surely if you are going to make such remarks at least use your real name.
It’s also interesting that Womack and Coltrane read The Rant. Why?