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VOL 35, NO. 12
| Editorially Speaking
No Place For Politics
1) By Carolyn Yuziuk
Politicians controlled Yancey County's appointive offi
[/ ces for many years and the old guard won't give up with
l) out a fight. Two men who hold the important positions
of Yancey Comity Superintendent of Schools and Yancey
II County Social Services Director have been finding that out
) ever since being appointed to their present jobs. The men
( are well qualified, experienced in their special fields and
I have been performing their work in an efficient and capa
) ble manner, but only time will tell if Yancey County has
v progressed to the point where these attributes are the ones
/ that count here.
I) The 2-year term for our Superintendent of Schools is
[( almost up and the question now is whether or not Landrum
»/ Wilson's contract will be renewed. This question will be
answered within the next two weeks. Clearly the attempt
[( two years ago by a few courageous individuals to keep Po
l) litics out of the school system by appointing an impartial
L\ out-of-county man for this job has paid off handsomely.
!( Wilson's record of service and accomplishment is an im
l) pressive one. His comprehensive grasp of assistance avail
i( able to Yancey County has brought our school system nu
-7 merous benefits--mostly funded by the Federal or State
|] Governments. And he has performed his duties without
( favoritism or prejudice.
7 We would like to know that our Board of pri
i] mary concern is for the welfare of the children of Yancey
( County by seeing them reappoint Wilson so that h e can
y continue projects he has already started and put into ef
\ feet programs he has been working toward for the past two
/ years. In short —let him carry on a job well begun. We
) view this coming appointment with far more than casual
V interest, as die future of the educational system in T&ncey
/ County is at stake.
) Also a matter of imminent concern is the forthcoming
l selection of a man to replace I. E. Clevenger who recent-
I ly resigned from the School Board. The selection should
) certainly not be politically motivated. The person ap
l pointed by the remaining members of the School Board
) should not be a political figure, but a man who is com -
) pletely non-partisan, interested only in the betterment of
the School S-ystem in Yancey County.
' An attack was leveled against the Yancey County So
| cial Services Director last Friday that points to the part
Politics still plays in our appointive offices. At a meeting
of the State Personnel Board in Raleigh, a lawyer from
Burnsville told the board that Randall Peacock is not suit
ed for his job as Yancey's Welfare Director. —the reason
cited being that Peacock doesn't know how many town
ships there are in Yancey County. The lawyer, Bill Atkins,
was representing Bayard T. Howell, a former caseworker
in the department who, having lost his job because h e
was "not capable of doing the abstract work',' according to
Peacock, was appealing to the Board to get his job back.
Brought all the way to Raleigh to testify in behalf ofHow
ell was not a member of the Social Services Department,
but the Yancey County Democratic Party Chairman, Ed
Wilson, whose authority in this matter apparentlystemmad
from the fact that he and Howell had worked together pre
viously in the county school system.
It is the view of The Yancey Record that political in
tervention and favoritism have no place in eitherthe Yan
cey County School System or Social Services Department.
A person's qualifications, experience, competence and /
record of achievement should be the standards by which
they should be judged. The people of Yancey County (
, should keep abreast of the facts and make themsehe heard /
in situations which affect their future and that of their \
children in such a direct and personal way. (|
THURSDAY, MARCH 25,1971
Yancey School Bus in Traffic Accident;
Citation Lists Five Safety Defects
As a result of a traffic
accident involving a Yancey
County school bus, a case came
up in court last Friday on viiich
the citation listed five s a fety
defects in the vehicle. The
bus had no emergency brake;,
no horn, no turn signals, no
brake light, and no tail light.
Judge J. E. Holshouser,who
was holding court, remarked
that the case seemed to indi -
cate a bad situation, particu -
larly in view of testimony in
dicating that this was not jui
isolated case of a defect ive
school bus transporting child -
I. E. Clevenger Resigns-
Citizens Send Petition
I. E. Clevenger of Burnsville
has resigned from the problem
plagued Yancey County Board
of Education. Immediately on
learning of this event a num
ber of concerned citizens star
ted circulating a letter to
Representative Ernest Messer
Tournament Set
The Yancey County Jaycee
Basketball Tournament will
be held March 25th and 27th
The four teams include East
Yancey Shell, Mitchell Coun
ty all stars, Brevard, and Cane
River all stars.
The Basketball Tournament
starts at 7:00 Thursday night
with a game between Brevard
and Mitchell County all stars.
The second game, 8:30 p. m n
will be East Yancey Shell vs.
Cane River all stars.
Saturday night a consola -
tion game between the losers
of Thursday's game will play
at 7:00 p. m. The Champion
ship Game between the win -
ners of Thursday's game will
play at 8:30.
Admission is .50 and . 75,
Come on out and support your
favorite team.
To Visit Here
Tom L Mallonee, 11th Con
gressional District Assistant to
Congressman Roy A. Taylor,
is now making scheduled visits
to the county seats and other
sections of the counties.
On Thursday, April 8, he
will be at the Yancey County
Courthouse, Burnsville, from
1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
ren. He stated that a court
order might be appropriate re
lative to the inspection of bus
ses, and suggested to Solicitor
Clyde Roberts that if further
investigation substantiated the
apparent lax maintenance of
Yancey County busses, the So
licitor should draw up a peti -
tion for a court order directing
full inspection of the vehicles.
The Yancey Record has
le amed that Solicitor Clyde
Roberts is preparing such an
order for the Judge's signature.
The case before Judge Hob
asking that any one of thr e e
suggested citizens be consider
ed for appointment to fill this
vacancy. They are Carroll
Angel, or Dr. Garland Wamp>-
ler, or Bill Hess. In less than
three days more than 450 per -
sons from throughout the coun
ty signed the letters and they
have been forwarded to Mr.
Messer.
There is some confusion
about the method or procedure
of selecting a person to fill the
vacancy, that is,whether the
Board itself will select the pier
son, or the General Assembly,
or the County Democratic Exe
cutive Committee recommen
ding to the State Board of Edu
cation. Peiiiaps the best ex
pression of opinion on this
problem was that stated by one
interested citizen who said: " I
don't care 'vho does the choos
ing so long as the person cho
sen has the ability to help us
get out of this school mess in
Yancey County".
Stout Drive
The Boy Scouts plan to con
tinue their paper and coat
hanger drive. Anyone vdio has
old newspapers, magazines or
coathangers that they would
like to give the Scouts, please
bring them to Mr, Forest Me -
Call's home on Robertson St.
Mr. McCall lives in the 2nd
house on the left behind . the
Mt. Mitchell Motel.
The Scouts will make house
to horse pack-ups on April 17.
The pick-ups will be made on
telephone requests only. Call
682-2916.
ho user was "nolle prossed'Jsince
the Solicitor did not believe
that the driver, who happened
to be a substitute, could be
held liable for the bus
particularly since the driver
stated that file defects had been
reported to the school principal.
The North Carolina school
laws specifically spell outstrrt
inspection requirements for
busses, and equally strict re
quirements that use of defec -
tive biases be discontinued un
til the defects are remedied.
The Yancey Record's efforts
to get at the facts regarding the
safety of the county's busses
have disclosed the following
facts:
The school laws relative to
bus inspection, and the makiig
of written reports of such in
spections, have not been fully
complied with.
Highway pst»Vm«n have
expressed themselves as un
happy about what they consi
der lax maintenance of the
busses. Parents of boys and
girls who drive the busses have
similarly expressed concern.
All those familiar with the
bus maintenance problem re
cognize that it is a tough job,
three factors contributing to
the problem —the county's
rough roads, the rough treat
ment of biases by some of the
boy drivers, and a recurrent
amount of wilful damage in
flicted on busses by vandals.
(An editorial relative to
school bus maintenance ap -
pears elsewhere in this issue
of the Yancey Record.)
★
Action Taken
Sgt. Ferguson has informed
School Superintendent Wilson
that Highway Patrolmen will
inspect school busses on the
highway as any other vehicle.
If found mechanically unsafe
busses will be ordered out of
service on the spot.
Wilson met with the school
principals and informed them
of this action.
Proper forms to report me
chanical defects, repairs and
responsibility will be institu -
ted Wednesday morning.
Mr. Frank Harmon, Bus
Transportation Office,will be
in Yancey County Tuesday
morning to assist in meeting
the requirements of G.S, 115—
187.
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