Scotty Medford Ellis was charged Sunday when a police officer received a call about drug activity in the parking lot of Ingles on Barber Boulevard

Scotty Medford Ellis resigned Thursday after police over the weekend cited her with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.Ellis, who served as executive director of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority since 1995, said her resignation would take effect Nov. 1. She declined to comment on the pending charges.“I am proud, as a native of Haywood County, to have helped make people throughout the Southeast aware of its beauty as a top vacation destination,” Ellis said. “I certainly hope the progress we have made over the last 13 year continues.”
Ellis was charged Sunday when a police officer received a call about drug activity in the parking lot of Ingles on Barber Boulevard. A witness called police after reportedly seeing a woman in a BMW put marijuana in a black bag before going into the store, according to a Police Department arrest report.The report states that the officer approached the woman, later determined to be Ellis, when she came out of the store and asked if he could search the black bag in her front seat. Ellis told the officer she would rather he not before relenting and handing him the bag. The officer opened the bag and found deodorizing spray and zip-closure plastic bags containing 1/2 ounce of marijuana, 1 gram of hashish and a glass pipe, according to the report.The officer gave Ellis a citation for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.These charges come less than two months after Ellis pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor drug charges stemming from a Dec. 30 traffic stop. In that case a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper stopped Ellis for speeding and reported smelling marijuana. Ellis told police there was a small bag of marijuana in the front passenger seat and officers also discovered a glass pipe in the bag, according to a police report.
The TDA gets hotel occupancy taxes to fund tourism promotion.Ellis said she did not immediately know what she would do for work, but said she plans to “pursue other opportunities.”