({gl/IGION
/lount Zion:
big changes
Sre going on
EDITORIAI^
PEOPLE
Proposal submitted by Turner
and East Winston CDC
is a refreshing development
PAGE A4
Native of Kenya
'comes to
America' for visit
PAGE A6
n-Salem Chronicle
The Twin City’s Award-Winning Weekly
jl.XIV.No. 52
U.S.P.S. No. 067910
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Thursday, August 18,1988
50 cents
42 Pages This Week
:ity falls short of minority, women hiring goals
VALERIA ROBACK GREGG
,»nldeSlatf Writer
The number of Afro-Americans and women in ihe
ys lop-paid adminisu-ative positions is abysmally
^;and action must be taken to rectify the situation,
embers of the Board of Aldermen told the city staff
londay.
"Of 18 top positions, only three are black," Patrick
airsion said. "That's always been a concern of mine
3us shelter
et for Third
ind Liberty
(ANGELA WRIGHT
ironicie Managing Editor
and that doesn’t change even though we say we're an
equal opportunity employer.”
Of the top 18 salaried city posidons, only two are
filled by women, and only Assistant City Manager
Alexander Beaty, Fire Chief L.E. Ervin and
Housing/Neighborhood Development Director Monica
R. Lett are Afro-American.
"I'm a little less than satisfied with this,” Larry W.
Wom'ble said. "By 1985, we said we would have a cer
tain percentage of blacks, and 1985 came and went and
we sull didn't meet the quota... I'm dred of this good
faith effort. They said we'd use the work force num
ber. I don't know where that catch-all word came
from."
The city's hiring goals for minorides and women
are based on the makeup of the labor force, by race and
gender, instead of the general population, according to
the city's Affirmadve Acdon Plan.
>
If city transit riders can endure just two or three
ore winter cold snaps and summer heatwaves, they
i{[iifmd relief at a new transit center which city offi-
hope to begin constructing at Third and Liberty
iteisby 1990.
Ciiy officials and community leaders received a
jiaM briefing Monday from the Winston-Salem
liffiUuthority (WSTA) on the proposed transit cen-
t,*li is estimated to cost about S9.3 million. The
tpei date for completion of the center is June
I
I Tom Fredericks, assistant city manager, said the
iimini transit system provides inadequate shelter,
's for too many auto/bus and auto/^destrian con-
cis, has a poor transfer arrangement, an inadequate
ik hour bus capacity and infringes on tie operation
■the courthouse and adjoining businesses.
He said the conditions provided a poor image of
■iwniown and of the transit service. Transit riders, 80
lucent of whom are Afro-American, are currently
pded onto buses in front of the courthouse on Liberty
peet, between Fourth and Third Streets. There are a
w sheltered benches provided for waiting riders.
The site at Third and Liberty was among several
Please see page All
Photo by Mike Cunningham
When you're practicing in 90-plus-degree weather, a fresh glass isn't enough, as Yancey Thigpen
of WSSU's football team demonstrates. For more on Rams’ football, see page Cl.
"You know this city is highly impacted by blacks
and females,” Womble said. "Look at the board. It's
half black and half female. The work force needs to
show that representation. We don't want to keep ask
ing, we will start demanding, and if the staff doesn't
respond, they can see about doing the work or looking
for another way of employment," Womble said.
The city's affirmative action plan, approved in
Please see page A10
Project Rise
goals are
on their way
Phillips responds to critiOs
By VALERIE ROBACK GREGG
Chronicle Staff Writer
The lengthy list of the Forsyth County
Schools/NAACP Project Rise Task Force recom
mendations aimed to improve the academic perfor
mance of underachievers are well on their way to
implementation. Assistant School Superintendent
Dr. Barbara Phillips said last week in response to
criticism of the project.
Phillips was co-chair of the task force steering
committee created in 1986 to study the characteris
tics, causes and answers to the problem of under
achieving students, those who don't do their best in
school.
In response to criticism of school officials' fol
low-up on Project Rise by NAACP President Walter
Marshall and NAACP member Bessie Allen,
Phillips said that almost all of the recommendations
are being implemented. "They just don't underetand
about how long it can take to develop these things,"
Phillips said. "It's only been a year since we’ve got
ten the recommendations.”
Coimty Director of Guidance William Albright,
who has been involved in some aspects of Project
Rise, agreed. "We've stuck with this project very
well, much longer than most."
Please seepage A10
l/WBE Task Force members disagree with Hanes
jy VALERIE ROBACK GREGG
pronicle Staff Writer
The city MAVBE director said last week that she
I generally opposed to the use of set-aside programs
f help minority- and women-owned firms get a fair
re of the city's contracts.
I don't think it's something that works," Minori-
jAVomen’s Business Enterprise Program Director
1- Hanes said. "It encourages bad habits."
Hanes later said, however, that she would favor
set-asides as a last resort
to ensure minorities and
women a fair share of the
city's business.
Her position is not
completely reflective of
the stance of the task
force which oversees the
city's MAVBE program.
Set-aside programs specify a percentage of city
contracts which must go to minority- or women-
"It's good she has an opinion. If
someone contradicts her, it just
opens an avenue for diaiogue."
- Marie Roseboro
owned firms. The city
currently sets goals for the
proportion of contracts to
be awarded to minoriiy-
and women-owned firms,
depending on the number
of firms certified in differ
ent areas. A list of certi
fied firms is kept for each
area of work the city contracts out.
If contractors decide to use subcontractors, they
must provide an affidavit to the city to prove a "good
faith effort" to use minority- or women-owned firms
for subcontracted work. They must prove they con
tacted a number of minority- and women-owned
firms while soliciting bids.
The task force voted last fall to continue to use
the goal program and use set-asides only if the goal
program fails. Legislation to enable the city to enact
a set-aside spending program was passed in July
Please see page AlO
|Aah ... The Good Life
Booker ties it up after 39 years
BARKSDALE
I ^onlcle Staff Writi»r
Aug. 24 is report filing day at North Carolina Mutual
I Insurance Co. On that day C.P. Booker will file his weekly
I ffipon just as he has done every week for years now. But this
I jjne, it will mark more than the end of a week of insurance
I wsiness. This time it will mark the end of a career that has
I a big pan of his life for the last 39 years,
f Kr 60-year-old Booker has retired from his position at
^orth Carolina Mutual and, after tying up a few loose ends,
^ill explore the whole new world of retirement. But as he logs
>s last days at the office, Booker said he has some mixed emo-
ons about his retirement. He said he has enjoyed his pariner-
I ^ P with the firm and has never once regretted the day that he
I ^ 'nbed onto his bicycle and began making his rounds as an
I insurance agent for the company.
[ w ^ Carolina Mutual. I
I working in Statesville but I didn't have a car," said Booker,
a native of Madison. "So my boss took me to Sears down on
Fourth Street I bought the largest bike I could find. And when
I got back K) Statesville I rode that bike for a year collecting my
debits." ^
Booker said his was a medium-sized area and he rode his
bicycle from February to December and made all of his collec
tions. It was what he calls a "nice experience" and one that he
said challenged him to persevere. That experience, he said,
helped him prove to himself and to others that he was going to
make it in the business world.
"I was dotermined that 1 was going to make it work " said
Booker. "Even when the weather was bad, I rode my bike and I
was still determined to make it work because some people had
predicted that 1 wasn't gofig to make it - that I would fail."
Now, 39 years and five months later, Booker has proven all
of the naysayers of years ago wrong. He stuck it out and moved
up through the ranks to the position he retired from, district
manager.
V Please see page All
—
Newly retired Booker will spend some time with his record°colCion as wen
as many other Indoor and outdoor recreational chores.