Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / May 20, 1993, edition 1 / Page 2
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Proposed Budget Would Cut Departments, Raise Tax Rate 10 Percent (Continued From Page 1-A) Assistant Mary Lou Cumbcc and Jones were his administrative assis- Animal Control Clerk Lcafonda tant, Rcncc Robinson, and Spccial Lee. Projects Coordinator Kelly Fields. . the vacant nositions delet The department's 15 parks maintc- . A?t?gK, . ^ . c ? cd in the budget plun are a soil sci nance workers were transferred to a . _ . ,. . . enust in the health department, two new;pounds maintenance= division. , opcralors \n opcrauonal The budget calls for .he ehm.na- ^vices, two bu.lding and grounds mi ni ^ maintenance assistants, two register S50.000JOlder Adults uavel pro- dccds ilions an agricJlural gram. The Clean County Committee , ? & . , , extension agent and a tclccommuni would be moved to the engineering . in ^ 91, ccntcr department under Recycling Coord- cauons ?" inc y 11 center. inator Mary McCarley. In presenting his budget message Four other recreation employees to the commissioners, Harvey issued would be moved "under the direct "a spccial note of thanks" to and deliberate protection of the Emergency Services Director Doug county manager's office, forming a LcdgcU, Operation Services Director Light Human Services Division." Darry Somersett, County Engineer Other positions eliminated in Robert Tucker and Director of Fiscal Harvey's budget include those of Operations Lithia Hahn "for signifi cafctcria workers Mary Vamam and cant involvement in the entire bud Sandra Dennis, 4-H Program get development process." Major Restructuring grounds maintenance, public utilities In a major restructuring of county and building maintenance along government, Harvey's budget pro- with his former duties as head of poses that he and the other four di- building inspections and recycling. rectors be appointed to head five ? ?- , , , r?. new county departments with added As director of an expanded^ rowers and responsibilities opcrauons departmeni, Hahn would Harvey would become the direc- ovcrscc a cafclc"a d,v,S,?": ? of pining and dCvc,opmcn, overseeing divisions of community <t-7 8?Q 7-,n9-n development and public housing, ' t0>3u^zu. land records management, economic No across-the-board pay hike is development and planning. proposed for county employees. Lcdgctt would head all emer- u Education Increases gcncy services, with authority over Ha?7 s b(rud?et Kmcssagc Logan, Freeman and all operations P?*? no dc!a,ls of wh,ch rccom" at die 911 communications center. sP?d,n8 ;"crcascs con* tnbutcd to the need for a tax in Somerseu would retain the tide of crease. He later indicated that a sig opcrational services director with nificant hike in the board of cduca the responsibility of running the tion budget led to the overall in maintcnancc garage, a proposed crease in spending. county motor pool, the solid waste Capital Spending management division and the sign The budget calls for SI.5 million shop. Utilities Director Jerry Webb in proposed capital improvements would work under Somerset! as including a SI million reserve for chief of public utilities with a reduc- closing the landfill, S180.000 for a tion in pay grade. new landfill compactor, S100,00 for County Engineer Tucker's depart- a fiber optic network at the govern ment would include housekeeping, ment complex and S 100,000 for im provcmcnts to public buildings rc- month. Harvey said nc win ask the quired by the Americans with board to consider increasing Bruns Disabilities Act. wick County's surcharge to $1.50 a Alternative Revenues month. Harvey told the board tax increase g a "relatively slight" increase could be avoided by adopung a of aboul $1 85 in momhly wa(cr package of alternative revenue ratcs the county could anticipate an sources including solid waste up- additional SI million in revenue, ping fees, an increase in the tele- "including paying off one-fifth of phone surcharge for 911 service, a Qur dcb, xryfice? in a sin |c slight increase in water charges Harvcy ^ and an ambulance service fee sched ule that would be collected both by While offering no specific rate county EMS and volunteer rescue per-ton proposal for landfill tipping squads. fees, Harvey estimated that six In a preliminary study of possible months of such charges could be an ambulancc fees, Harvey said he may ticipated to provide an additional suggest a charge of SI25 for each $1.2 million in revenue. basic life support call and SI75 for Workshops, Hearing Set advanced life support service. The county board will hold public Additional fees of $175 to $200 workshops on the budget May 24, might be charged for ambulance 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. in the commis transport. sioncrs chambers. A public hearing The county currently imposes a has been scheduled for Thursday. 50-ccnt surcharge on each telephone May 27, at 7 p.m. in the public as number for 911 service, which scmbly room and the county corn Harvey said is one of the lowest in plcx in Bolivia. the state. In a state-sponsored sur- A copy of the proposed budget is vey, 31 of 63 responding counties available for public inspection at the reported fees of more than a dollar a county administration office. Library Board Volunteers Say Motive Is Political Or Personal BY LYNN CARLSON "Somebody's mad at somebody, and it might just be me." That was the reaction of the Brunswick County Library Board of Trustees' chairman to news that the panel is targeted for extinction in the county's budget proposal. Chairman Gene Pinkerton, a for mer county commissioner, said he is at a loss for motives other than the personal or political, since the trustees arc volunteers who receive no stipend for their service. "We're not costing them any money," said Trustee Edith Tillman, who said she has spent the past five years "trying to get a library for the children of Lcland." "We've not caused them any trou ble either," added Trustee Margaret Harper of South port. The budget proposed by Interim County Manager John Harvey on Monday recommends dissolving the library board "in relation to a depart ment otherwise directly under the county" and suggests the trustees would better serve the county "by undertaking countywide expansion of membership of Friends of the Library as a support group, and by seeking endorsements and legacies from our many well-to-do users of the system to further develop it." Learning of the recommendation just as they adjourned their May meeting Monday night, the trustees expressed surprise and disappoint ment. If the board is dissolved, the action will become official just prior to the trustees' target date for start ing construction on new library branches on Oak Island and in Lcland. (See related story.) "Everybody in this county who reads a book will have something to say about this," said Trustee Marie Harrison of Shallotte. "I hope we're allowed to follow through on what we've promised the people of Brunswick County," Trustee Ann Hines of Yaupon Beach said. Harvey's budget letter to the county commissioners states "funds are continued as appropriated for the libraries," referring to the two new libraries and renovations to the Southport and Shallotte branches currently scheduled for the first half of 1994. "Brunswick County is in bad enough shape educationally without trying to dissolve library boards," said Pinkerton, who called the rec ommendation "unreal, with all the work we've been doing" and added that all the trustees' duties would fall on Chief Librarian Maurice Tate if the board is dissolved. But Harvey, interviewed by the Beacon on Tuesday, said it was a "possible conflict" for Tate that caused him to make the recommen dation. Tate must answer to both the trustees and the county manager, Harvey said, adding that Tate told him "getting her out from under that would be the best thing that could happen." He said Tate was consulted on the matter and said "they (the trustees) get in her hair." However, at the trustees' Monday meeting, Tate gave no indication she favors the recommendation or was party to it. "This must be a personal thing of some kind," Pinkerton told the trustees Monday night, later adding, "in all fairness to politics, (Harvey) might have been told to do this." It was on Pinkerton's motion last June that the former all-Republican county board appointed the library trustees and appropriated SI.5 mil lion for the library construction pro jects. The library board was established under state statute as an ongoing ad visory board designed to function in the same fashion as a board of health or social services, Pinkerton said. County Commissioners' Chair man Don Warren told the Beacon that Harvey's recommendation for the library board needs to be stud ied, and contended that the board of trustees was established as "a com mittee." Pinkerton did not seek re-election this past November.. Manager Candidates Interviewed (Continued From Page 1-A) most recendy as budget officer. Hargett is also the planning commit tee chairman for Wilmington's Downtown Area Revitalization Effort. Citing his experience in three "painful" reductions in the city's work force, Hargett said he had "learned how to do more with less" and to find "innovative ways to con tinue services with fewer resources by improving productivity." Hargett described the county manager's relation to the commis sioners as that of "a CEO and a board of directors." He said he pre ferred a "team approach" to man agement Warren told each of the candi dates that he expects the board to complete its interviews within 30 days. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BRUNSWICK&fcACON POST OFFICE BOX 2558 SHALLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 28459 NOTICE: Reliable or consistent delivery cannot be guaranteed since this newspaper must rely on the U.S. Postal Service for delivery. We can only guarantee that your newspaper will b& submitted to the post office in Shallotte on Wednesday of the week of publication, in time for dispatch to out-of-town addresses that day. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: Sr. Citizen In Brunswick County 06.30 ?5.30 N.C. Sales Tax .38 .32 Postage Charge 3.68 3.68 TOTAL 10.36 9.30 Elsewhere in North Carolina ?6.30 N.C. Sales Tax .38 Postage Charge 8.18 TOTAL 14.86 Outside North Carolina U6.30 05.30 Postage Charge 9.65 9.65 TOTAL 15.95 14.95 Complete And Return To Above Address Name Address City, State Zip I Rationale Given For Budget Recommendations (Continued From Page 1-A) ilege of deciding who his secretary One of the significant changes should be." recommended in Harvey's budget is Insisting that the county's recre the elimination of the Brunswick ational services "need to be taken in County Parks and Recreation an absolutely different direction," Department along with its director, Harvey said, "I look what I consider Bobby "BJ." Jones, and two mem- to be the people providing the core bers of his staff. programs of recreation," and elimi Jones was one of several people natcd the rest. rumored to be on a "hit list" of "I saw no place for three positions county employees that would be re- in Parks and Recreation and he moved after a three-member Dem- (Jones) was one of them," Harvey ocratic Party majority look control said. "Also the one who figured out of the board of commissioners last how to spend 550,000 on older December. Also high on the list was adults travel and the one who docs Clerk to the Board Kelly Barefoot, belly dancing at a Greek restaurant whose two protected positions have in Wilmington. The other was that been deleted in Harvey's proposed blonde gal over there." budget. In the budget message, Harvey Harvey said that despite Bare- criticized the department's oversight foot's experience as secretary to for- of local community buildings, mer County Manager/Attorney "I found at one such building ihc David Clegg, she was not placed in parks and recreation department had his newly proposed position of sec- reserved all five wceknights for aer retary to the county manager, "so the obics so there could be no other use, new manager will have the full priv- and also given year-long commit mcnts to other strictly private inter- fire marshal position. It struck me ests, some operating at profit," he that Mrs. Freeman has all the cre said. dcntials to be emergency manage "That's not true," said Parks and mcnt coordinator and that on two Recreation Administrative Assistant major events when he was...whercv Rcnec Robinson. er, she handled it admirably. She acknowledged that communi- "Since he issued a complaint of ty buildings often were "booked up long hours and said he needed relief, with reservations a year in advance," I granted him relief," Harvey said. tS Th&tS'SSMcdical "lumcd away numerous requests." Scrviccs ^8C'? } ^ new rcsponsibihues would be in the Insisting that "there arc no demo- proposed new position of Emergen tions in this budget," Harvey disput- cy Scrviccs Director, Harvey an ed that description of his proposal to swered, "To be the boss of Cecil." make Emergency Management Dir- Harvey also said that a previously cctor Cecil Logan the county fire approved position of soil scientist marshal while naming his former as- for the health department was dclct sismnt, Brenda Freeman to the post ed from the budget bccause a similar of emergency management coordi- position already exists in the engi nator. ncering department. When asked "In Cecil's budget message he why the department had made the complained of working 80 hours a request, Harvey responded, "Bc week and asked for some relief," cause they don't know what they're Harvey said. "He also asked for a doing." Library Board Tables Shallotte Branch Closing BY LYNN CARLSON The Brunswick County Library Board of Trustees agreed Monday to table until October action on whether to close the West Bruns wick branch library in Shallotte while it is being renovated. Extensive work on the library is scheduled to begin in January and last until July. On advice of its archi tect, the library board recommended the library be closed while the work is in progress. However, citizens have complained to some trustees, and both the Sunset Beach and Calabash town boarcs have asked that some temporary library be es tablished during that time. Chief Librarian Maurice Tate was asked by Board Chairman Gene Pinkerton to prepare a feasibility study determining the cost of mov ing the library to temporary quarters during the renovations and to pre sent it on Oct. 18. Pinkerton said the issue "has got ten way out of hand" and asked the board to consider not renovating the library at all, or scaling back the plans to eliminate the need for tern porary closure. Frazier of Winnabow. "I know this may sound harsh, bui "There will be two beautiful li I mean for it to," Pinkcrton said, braries open (in Leland and on Oak "It's premature to make this so much Island) before we even start rcnovat of an issue. The work is not schcd- ing there, for just a few minutes' dri ulcd to begin until 1994, and the vc, still within our own county. Let's budget has not been approved for look at the positive sides," Pinkerton fiscal year '94. We're talking said. He then moved to officially S40.000 to 550,000 to operate in an- table the matter until October, and other location for six or seven the motion was carried unanimously, months and then move back. I've Pinkcrton said the board would not seen that in the budget." still be willing to hear citizens' com Pinkcrton said the board had mcnts on the matter. A delegation of agreed to "treat all the libraries the Shallottc-area residents, listed on the same," but had never discussed agenda as planning to address the li opening a temporary Southport li- brary board at the meeting, did not brary during that branch's renova- appear. Trustee Marie Harrison of tion period. Shallotte said she believes the group Citizens of Southwest Brunswick intends to attend the June meeting. County have complained that. In other business. Trustee Don though the nearby new Oak Island Eggert, chair of the board's building library branch is scheduled to be committee, announced that bids will open by the time the Southport li- be opened March 25 for the new brary closes, there will be no library Leland and Oak Island branches, in proximity to the Shallotte branch The bid-opening will take place at 3 during its scheduled closure. p.m. in the county commissioners' "I'd be willing for us to scale chambers. If the bids are acceptable, back operation to keep it open. I'm and the county commissioners in favor of letting them have what award a construction contract in they want," said Trustee Ralph June, ground could be broken in ear ly July, he added. The trustees decided to schedule cornerstone ccrcmonies rather than groundbrcakings for both facilities. The trustees also: ?agreed to ask the county com missioners to declare 1,500 volumes chosen by Tate as surplus property to be sold in the Friends of the Library annual book sale. All the books chosen are either worn out, outdated or unused for years, Tate said. ?agreed to recommend Trustee Edith Tillman of Leland for reap pointment by the county commis sioners. Tillman is one of three trustees serving one-year terms which expire at the end of June. Trustees John Jacobs of Southport and Pearl Stanley of Shallotte, who were both absent, will be asked if they wish to seek reappointment. All three appointments would be for three-year terms. The board's discussion took place prior to its learning of a proposal to dissolve it under the county's new budget, which will become effective July 1. (See related story.) Former Inspectors Charging Unjust Termination (Continued From Page 1-A) sucr!, min8 as a trans,er w Po tion in county government under spcctor's license, Clegg said. After his administration. He said that failing the exam, Benton was of- whenever there was a position open fered another position "at a salary ing, "everyone in the community commensurate with that position." was given an opportunity to apply." He refused to apply for the position. Ingram applied for the new position, "Mr. Benton terminated himself," was hired and worked six months as Clegg said. a probationary employee, he said. Ingram's lawsuit acknowledges Clegg would not comment when that he was hired OcL 19, 1987, as asked if any disciplinary warnings chief building inspector on a "proba- had been placed in Ingram's person tionary" basis. He was later ad- nel file. vanced to the job position of build- Ingram was one of six employees ing inspections director at an annual who were asked to take a lie detec salary of $27,838, according to the tor test in a 1989 sheriff's depart - lawsuit. ment investigation after $225 was Then the suit claims that "some or found missing from a building in all members of the Brunswick spection department cash box. The County Commissioners wanted one polygraph examinations were deem Julius 'Buddy' Lewis to receive ed "inconclusive." (Ingram's) job as building inspcc- In February, 1990, Ingram was tions director. For these reasons, the suspended from his position for job position of purchasing agent was what officials at the time called a created and (Ingram) was advised to personal conduct problem. apply for this job." Benton's suit alleges that he Ingram sought the position and "agreed to transfer from his former was hired as the county purchasing position of building inspector into agent on Nov. 13, 1989. When he the department of building and was fired by Clegg six months later, grounds on the condition that he Ingram's suit claims he received "no continue to be paid the same salary notice or wamings...of alleged work as in his former position." It states performance deficiencies." that after working in the new job at In contrast with Clegg's opinion, his old salary for four months, Ingram's lawsuit asserts that when Benton's job was reclassified, result he applied for and accepted the new ing in a pay cut from $17,906 to job, the change was "a transfer pre- $14,734 per year. serving (Ingram's) appointment sta- The suit makes no mention of tus as a permanent rather than a pro- Benton being employed as building bationary employee." inspector on the condition that he But Clegg said there was "no obtain a North Carolina building in spector's license. The suit claims that Benton protested his salary reduction before the board of commissioners on Nov. 20, 1989, and was issued an ultima tum "to keep his last position at the salary then offered or to have his employment terminated." It asserts that the county failed to follow the employee grievance procedure by not referring the appeal to the advi sory personnel board. Benton's lawsuit demands that he be re-hired "at a salary no less than SI7,906," plus any additional com pensation or raises received since July 1, 1989. It seeks "all lost com pensation" resulting from his dis missal, plus attorney fees and puni tive damages from the county in ex cess of 510,000. Ingram's suit also asks that he be reinstated and awarded back pay, lost benefits, punitive damages and attorney fees. Both suits demand ju ry trials. Brunswick County is currently being sued in federaJ court by for mer County Clerk Rcgina Alex ander, who claims she was fired be cause of racial and political discrim ination, and in state courts by Velma Babson, a former animal control of ficer who was fired for alleged disci plinary problems. Interim County Manager John Harvey recently created a new posi tion without budget funding and hired former Landfill Director Leo Hewett for the job shortly after he was fired. Harvey gave Hewett the job without advertising the vacancy and without authorization from the county commissioners in apparent violation of state statute and the county personnel policy. It is believed that the position was created in response to a threatened lawsuit from Hewett Although the board took no action against Harvey, the commissioners voted unanimously to prohibit him from creating positions without au thorization. THE BRUNSWICKfeftACON Established Nov. 1,1962 Telephone 754-6890 Published Every Thursday At 4709 Main Street Shallot te, N.C. 28459 SUBSCRIPTION RATES IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY One Year $10.36 Six Months S5.55 ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA One Year $14.86 Six Months $7.90 ELSEWHERE IN U.S.A. One Year $15.95 Six Months $8.35 Second class postage paid at Shallotte, N.C. 28459. USPS 777 780. Postmaster, send address changes to: P.O. Box 2558, Shallotte, N.C. 28459-2558
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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May 20, 1993, edition 1
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