Haywood County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mark Swainger is the 18h recipient of the William C. Lassiter First Amendment Award from the North Carolina Press Association.

Swanger was nominated by The Smoky Mountain News and was presented the award July 22 at the Grove Park Inn during the NCPA’s summer convention in Asheville.

Swanger became a county commissioner three years ago and since then has introduced and won support for a number of open government measures. Among them are:

• Videotaping and airing county commissioners meetings on local cable channels, and placing a videotape of each meeting in local libraries for residents without access to cable.

• Placing every item for discussion on meeting agendas — even controversial ones. The policy further stated that no item would be discussed or voted on unless it appeared on the agenda.

• Enacting a practice of delaying votes on controversial issues until the public had a chance to have input.

• Changing the county commission meeting times from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at least once a month to make them more accessible to the public.

• Making public minutes of closed sessions.

• Changing the county manager’s job description to specifically direct the manager to adhere to the letter and intent of the N.C. Open Meetings and Public Records Laws.

• Enacting a policy of making all email correspondence among commissioners public.

Swanger, a native of Brevard, graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., and worked for 32 years with the FBI.

“Open and transparent government is not just good public policy; it can also be good politics,” Swanger told the press association membership during the awards ceremony. “I believe voters are more inclined to have patience with an official they trust. They are more likely to accept a decision contrary to their view if they know the process was righteous.”

Before becoming a county commissioner, Swanger was twice elected as chairman of the Haywood County School Board. He was elected as a county commissioner in 2002 and became chairman in 2004. Swanger also is the co-chair of the Haywood County Economic Development Commission

He and his wife, Sue, have two children and two grandchildren.

The William Lassiter Award is an annual recognition of citizens who have demonstrated extra commitment to open government and First Amendment rights. It was instituted in 1988 in honor of William C. Lassiter, general counsel to the N.C. Press Association, who died in 1998. Lassiter represented NCPA for nearly 50 years.