ONLY ON 3: Barfield too busy ironing shirt to talk about commission imploding

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — With one commissioner accusing another of holding secret meetings and stealing his notes and the other questioning his accuser’s mental status, the New Hanover County Commission clearly has some issues to work out.

We wanted to talk with Commission Chair Jonathan Barfield about what’s going on and what can be done to smooth things over, as well as his on-going battles with the New Hanover County Board of Education. But Barfield said he was too busy. He said he was unavailable because he had several meetings and had “to iron a shirt.” When we asked if we could e-mail him some questions to get some sort of response, he said, “I’d rather not e-mail. The e-mails go everywhere.” We even offered to meet him before this afternoon’s Agenda Briefing, but he said he could not talk until tomorrow.

This is just the latest example of Barfield avoiding our questions. Several times in the last couple of months he’s told us he just doesn’t have time to talk. We’ve given him ample opportunity. That’s our job.

Tonight on WWAY NewsChannel 3 you’ll see the other side of issues involving him as the leader of county government that he refuses to respond to in a timely manner.