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KJtIG&JIAOUNTAIW
MIRROB-HEIALD
15
i NO. 31
~(leveland County's Mitdern ^\eu'sweekly
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA 28086 THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1975
Meeting Set Tuesday
To Discuss Demotion
By tom Me IN tyre
Editor, Mirror-Herald
three hours in a dosed per-
llession Monday night for commis-
■s to decide a ruling from the attor-
eneral and a ^ecial meeting is
d before a decision can be reached
demotion and pay cut of city police
• Tommy King.
ix-year veto’an of the Kings
ain Police department, King was
edfrom sergeant to patrolman and
ekly pay cut $15 by Chief William
foDowing a report from Capt. J. D.
;t that King had taken gasoline
;ity pumps without authorization,
day ni^t King, members of his
(and supporters appeared befwe
mmissioners to present a petition
ning about 225-250 names asking
Beer be restored to rank and pay.
Beer’s brother, Jimmy King, p-e-
I Mayor John H. Moss with the
n.
icond petition with an undisdosed
s of signatures was presented to
ayor by Gary Parker of Second St.
jetition urged Officer King’s im-
te dismissal from the police force,
r left the meeting immediately
resenting die petitim without
; comment.
wing the three-hour dosed door
Mayor Moss told the large group
FftTOco-"’ • > 'xd reme .ned at
ill that the •,«-;..iissione:rs had
ed a posit;® that no decision
ereached toai^t because of legal
, »
“legal matter” was interpretation
city code pc-iaining to the depart
i’s aufconty to demote eme of
ipartment employes.
Attorney Jack \A'Mte told the per-
daudience “the city code says one
but the stats lav/ might say
:r, I have been asked to write the
ley general in Raleigh for a ruling
Inother special board meeting will
★★★★★
The commissioners will meet in special
sessionTues., Aug. 19 at 7:30 p. m. at city
hall for further action on the demotion
and pay cut of KMPD Officer Tommy
King.
★★★★★
be called before a decision can be an
nounced.”
White said the real question is whether
or not th e chief of police has the autho rity
to demote an officer. “Chief Roper
contends he does have the right to take
the action he did,” White added. Then he
suggested “in all fairness, I think both
Roper and King should be in on the per
sonnel session prior to this special called
meeting.”
The city code outlining where authority
lies comes under Article Five, Employe
Position Classification and Pay Plan.
Section 2-90. Suspension.
An employe may be suspended without
pay for not more than one week by a
department head for misconduct on the
job. Such suspension shall be reported to
the mayw ....
Officer King was suspended for two
days without pay, according to Chief
Roper.
Section 2-91. Dismissal or demotion.
An employe may be dismissed by a
»dt.!i;artnj •'.tal supervisor without notice
for gros;. negligence, disloyalty, or de
fects in character that bring discredit
upon the city. An employe may be
demoted or dismissed by the mayor on
recommendation of the department head
for negligence or failure to do work up to
the standard of the classification held.
The mayor shall rqtort every such
demotion or dismissal to the board of
commissioners at the next meeting
following the action.
TTiis section of the city codes gives
departmental heads authority to dismiss,
but fails to state whether or not the
departmental head has the authority to
demote an employe. The code does state
the mayor has the authority to dismiss or
demote. However, Chief Roper says he
was told by the mayor and com
missioners to handle the situation
himself.
After the first petition was given the
mayor Joe King, another brother of
Tommy King, told the commissioners
“We want to know something tonight.
Thishas been going on for two weeks and
you should know something by now.”
The commissioners declined to discuss
the situation in an open meeting and
Commissioner Corbet Nicholson
motioned f® a discussion in executive
session “toni^t with Chief Roper and
Tommy (King).”
Jimmy King, acting as spokesman for
the petitioners, told the board “You’ve
had plenty of time to make a decision.
We’d like to see Sgt. King get back
everything and be reconciled for
everything that has been done to him.”
David King, a third brother to officer
King, said, “This thing has brought
disgrace on the whole King family and it
was done to discredit Tommy. He’s one of
the finest officers this city has. He has a
degree in police science and has been to
school more than any of the other
policemen.”
At the conclusion of the meeting
Tommy King told the cranmissioners
that he has not been told what his status
is with the police department. “I read in
the newspaper where I was to report
back to work today (Monday) to work
under Lt. Bob Hayes’ command. I
haven’t beai told by anybody what I’m
supposed to do. I read it in the
newspaper. Am I still a police officer?
Am I getting paid?”
(Please Turn To Page 4A)
Two File For
School Board
■'X-:
JAMESR. BRACKETT
One Day He Could
Save Your Life,
Two more candidates for the
Kings Mountain Board of
Education announced inten
tions to file in the coming
county-wide election.
The seats now held by
George Mauney, chairman,
and James E. Herndon Jr.,
are open for election this year.
To date, neither Mauney nor
Herndon has announced their
plans concerning re-election
campaigns.
The two candidates an
nouncing this week are
Charles F. Mauney and Kyle
Smith. Last week Herman
Greene of Kings Mountain was
the first school board candi
date to announce.
-oOo-
Mauney isthe sonofMr. and
Mrs. Carl F. Mauney and is a
Kings Mountain native He
graduated from KM high,
attended Davidson College for
two years and graduated from
North Carolina State Univer
sity with a BS degree in textile
chemistry and a BS degree in
textiles.
He is married to the former
Lynne Wagner of Statesville
and has four children, Mary
Kathlynn, 16, Carla Elizabeth,
14, Dartha Leigh, 12, and
Stephen Andrew, 6. All four
will be students in the KM
school system this year.
The Mauneys are members
of St. Matthew’s Lutheran
Church, where Mauney is a
Sunday School teacher and
serves on the church counsel.
He is a member and past
president of the KM Rotary
Club, a director of the KM
Country Club, past president
of the Catawba Valley Hosiery
Association, former chapter
chairman and blood chair
man for the American Red
Cross, past chairman of the
KM United Fund, served as
co-chairman of the KM Cen-
tainial Commission, serves on
(Please Turn To Page 8A)
5t 4 is from Asheville and has been a
resident since 1960.
ixjf " “ in 1966 at Duplex International as a
lespilo ^nackett joined the Kings Mountain
«ninoan*H*u*^“because a friend talked me into
sortoflike helping other people.”
as about the rescue squad was that it
»st DPnnf “But there is more to it that
the never regretted
nbout 20 hours a week with the
i”'®? unite Standard and Advanced First Aid,
iierine hie u training and state courses fur-
^i'i- Since 1971 Brackett has
As7“l“®‘'o«rs in classrooms.
'®'‘''aries ^ driver he has assisted in the
in th infant’s home,
"'i'ii'w at th^ ^*nbulance en route to the hospital and
iiTived, ^ nnspital about the time the ambulance
SITTING AND WAITING — This {dioto was snapped toward
the end of a three-hour wait for commissioners to end a closed
personnel discussion during Monday night’s board meeting.
Seated with head in hand is KIVVD Officer Tommy King, who
was demoted from sergeant to patrolman last wed( when a
Photo By Twn McIntyre.
fellow officer reported King’s taking city gasoline without
authority. Several members of King’s family and friends pre
sented a petition to the board to have King reinstated. Above,
they were waiting for an answer.
CHARLES MAUNEY
KYLESMITH
1975-76
KM School
Schedule
School bells wiD ring for
4,300 Kings Mountain district
pupils Aug. 26 for Orientation
Day and first day of school of
the Fall term is Aug. 27.
Teacher work days in the
eight plants of the system for
the 216 faculty members are
Monday through Friday, Aug.
1&-25.
Supt. Donald Jones said that
faculties are complete and
finishing touches building im
prove mentsare being made or
underway.
At Grover, a new five-class-
room buUding is being readied
for students utilizing the open
classroom concept plus a
learning center, hi addition
cafeteria facilities are being
renovated with addition of a
walk-in freezer, new offices
and kitchen
Eleven new classrooms, a
new cafeteria and a media
center are under construction
at Bethware and, although in
the early stages, should be
completed early in the year,
said Jones.
Central School has been air-
conditioned, paneled, painted
and carpeted plus a new elec
trical system has been in
stalled.
An addition to the faculties
this year will be a reading
instructor to serve Cenfral
school students, utilizing the
new reading lab there. Two
reading teachers will be added
in grades one through five at
the other schools to work with
13 reading aides.
Supt. Jones said the Kings
Mountain School Calendar for
1975-76 is as follows:
Aug. 18-25 — Teacher Work
Days.
Aug. 26 — Orientation Day.
Aug. 27 — First Day of 180
School Days.
Sept. 1 — Labor Day Holi
day.
Oct. 10 — District 2 NCAE
Meeting - Kings Mountain.
Oct. 31 — 1st Evaluation
Day
Nov. 27-28 — Thanksgiving
Holidays
Dec. 19 — Last Day for
Students-Christmas Holidays.
Dec. 22-Jaa 1 — Teacher
Annual Leave and Holidays
Jan. 2 — Teacher Work Day
Jan. 5 — Students Return —
Christmas Break '
Jan. 22-23 — Mid-Term
Evaluation
March 25 — Last Day for
Students — Spring Break
March 26 — 3rd Evaluation
Day
March 29-April 2 — Spring
Break
April 5 — Students Return —
Spring Break
April 16-19 — Easter
Holidays
May 23 — Baccalaureate
May 28 — Graduation
June 7 — 179th Student Day
June 8 — Final Evaluation
Day
June 9—180th School Day
June 10-11 — Teacher Work
Days
June 14 — Teacher Annual
Leave Day
RAY CLINE
REV. HOWARD SHIPP
JERRY MULLIN AX
Cline, Shipp, Mullinax,
In City Board Race
There were three more
splashes made in local politi
cal waters this week wi& the
announcements of candi
dacies of one incumbent
commissioner and two new
comers.
District One Commissioner
Ray Cline is seeking his eighth
consecutive term in office in
the coming Oct. 7 municipal
election. Rev. Howard Shifp,
who ran and was defeated four
years ago here, will seek to
unseat incumbent James E.
Amos, commissioner of dis
trict five. Jerry Mullinax, a
first time candidate, is after
the district two commissioner
seat.
Thus far iiKumbent com
missioners Lloyd Davis, dis
trict two, and Don McAbee,
district four, have not an
nounced their campaign
plans. Mayor Jdin H. Moss
also has not made known his'
plans. However, it is expected
all three will be in this munici
pal race before the filing
deadline.
Candidate filing actually
does not begin until Fri., Aug.
15and runs through Fri., Sept.
5. The fees are $10 for mayor,
$5 for commissioner.
In past weeks incumbent
commissioners James Amos,
district five, M. C. Pruette,
district six, and Corbet
Nicholson, district three, have
announced re-election plans.
To date Pruette has only one
opponent for the district six
seat, Fred Wright Jr. It was
erroneously reported last
week that Wright was a
candidatein district five. Rev.
Shipp at present is Com
missioner Amos’ only op
ponent.
With Qine’s announcement
today, the number of candi
dates on district one are two.
Hugh A. Logan Jr. is the
contender.
Former commissioner
Norman King is the lone
candidate in district four at
this point and Commissioner
Nicholson alone has an
nounced for district three.
RAY CLINE
Ray Cline is completing his
seventh consecutive term on
the Kings Mountain Board of
Commissioners.
A Lincoln County native,
Cline graduated from schools
there and came to Kir^s
Mountain 1933 as an employe
of the old Bonnie Mill. He later
went to work for Mauney
Mills, then finally to Mauney
Hosiery. He retired from there
in 1973.
The commissioner served in
the U. S. Navy in 1944-45 and is
BULLETIN
Officer Tommy King was dismissed
from the Kings Mountain Police
Force at 3 p.m. Wednesday by
Chief William Roper.
The Chief said Roper was dismissed
in view of previous numerous
complaints, personnel problems,
and insuborination.
a past commander of the local
American Legioa He is also a
member of the local VFW and
the Shelby Moose Lodge. He
has held several offices in both
of the latter organizations.
Cline is married to the
former Elizabeth Huffstickler
of Kings Mountain and is the
father of six children, three
daughters, allof whom reside
in Kings Mountain, and three
sons, one in Virginia, the
second in Gastonia and the
third in Marietta, Ga.
The Clines are members of
St. Matthew’s Lutheran
Church, where the com
missioner has served as Sun
day School secretary and
(Please 'Turn To Page 3A)
For Your
Information
Attention: Senior Citizens!
Aug. 28 from 11 a. until 1 p.
m. special programs and a
luncheon is planned for you in
the Mountaineer Room at the
Kings Mountain Community
Center.
Rev. Kenneth George,
coordinator of the city’s aging
program, said this is the first
of many such programs for
the city’s senior citizens.
The program includes spe
cial entertainment and a free
luncheon.
If any senior citizen needs
transportation to the com
munity center, call 739-4511,
-oOo-
A dutch lundieon is planned
by the Kings Mountain Bicen
tennial Commission Fri., Aug.
15 at noon at the Royal Villa.
All commission members
are urged to attend to preview
a special film entitled “The
Bicentennial: Putting It All
Together,”
Bicentainial co-chairper
sons Pat Plonk and Howard
Jackson have called the
meeting.
(Please Turn To Page 5A)