Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / April 30, 1975, edition 1 / Page 1
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.qUJTIq^ ■-C Volume 46 Number 41 April 30, 1975 Southport, N. C. 22 Pages 10 Cents EXAMINING SOME OF the wares to be offered during next Saturday’s garage sale are Alneta. Crowe, left, and Judy White, president of this year’s Fourth of July Festival. The garage sale, which will be held at the Crowe residence at the corner of Moore Street and Atlantic Avenue in Southport, will benefit the Independence Day celebration here. m ----- ^ The Long Beach Board of W Commissioners will be asked v Thursday night to help es r. tablish a Commission to br in about consolidation of Oak Island into a single communi g. • ty In its final action, the Con solidation Committee for >>' Long Beach unanimously ap Y proved a motion recommen ■ ding to the town board that it % (1) request the mayor, together with the mayor of jf Yaupon Beach, to write a *y letter to the League of ^ Municipalities asking '< professional help in planning for consolidation; (2) work with Yaupon Beach and the i. unincorporated Caswell Beach area in naming a 6 - member Consolidation Com mission; and (3) work under i provisions of Chapter 153 A, Article 20, of the North Carolina General Statutes / concerning consolidation. Article 20 states that “two or more cities that are con i' tiguous or that lie within a continuous boundary may create a commission to study the consolidation of the cities or of one or more functions and services of the cities.” V Chairman Charges ‘Old Politics’ Still Remain i Political intimidation is be ing used on Brunswick Coun ty employees, County Republican Party Chairman Frankie Rabon charged this week. Chairman Rabon said he was concerned about the re cent resignation and firing of “three key county employees held over from the previous Republican administration.” He said that in recent weeks, County Manager Neil Mallory and Clerk of the Board Carole Greene have announced their resignations. “It is my belief that they were pressured out of their jobs,” Chairman Rabon declared. In addition, he said County Personnel-Purchasing Direc tor Steve Hughes was fired by chairman and manager Franky Thomas after he refused to resign. “I think it is useful to note that prior to the actions, there were numerous closed executive sessions called to discuss personnel,” he noted. Chairman Rabon said he believed that the all Democratic board of com missioners is setting a dangerous precedent in employment practices and demoralizing county employees. “If the people will remember after the 1970 election, which ended 38 years of one-party govern ment in Brunswick County, (Continued On Page 2) Present for the Monday night Consolidation Com mittee meeting were Chair man Woody Vennel, Virginia Christenbury, Ellis Dudley, Hannon Templeton and secretary Carole Greene. Member E.W. Morgan was out of town and unable to at tend. The only matter of new business discussed was the “Charter Commission” ap proach to merger, revealed two weeks ago by an unof ficial visit to Raleigh by four Oak Island residents and reported in last week’s State Port Pilot. Templeton said Article 20, brought to his attention by one of the Raleigh delegation, 4 Hughes Handed Walking Papers Brunswick County Per sonnel - Purchasing Depart ment Director Steve Hughes was fired Friday allegedly because of “political pressure.” Hughes told The Pilot that Interim County Manager - Board Chairman Franky Thomas came into his office in the Hood Building around 12:30 p.m. Friday afternoon and put the dismissal letter on his desk. "In accordance with Arti cle 2, Section 13 and 21, of the personnel ordinance, please be advised that you are herby dismissed from your service with Brunswick County for the following reasons,” said the letter Thomas put on Hughes’ desk. The reasons listed in the letter included “not properly supervising your personnel, not maintaining office hours” and "poor attitude.” The letter said that Hughes will be “afforded termination pay in accordance with said ordinance” and would be given a public hearing if he desired. Hughes said he was told in early April to resign. He said the resignation was not re quested because of his work but because of “political pressure.” Thomas denied that he fired Hughes for political reasons. “I would be willing to swear on a stack of Bibles ten miles high that no politics was involved in the decision,” he told The Pilot. “I don’t care what party af filiation a county employee has. All I want to see is that they do the job. I heard that Steve is a Republican, but I never checked it because it did not matter.” Thomas said he fired Hughes as interim county manager and not as chair man of the board. “If I thought he was doing a good job, I would never have fired him,” he stated. Thomas said he did not want to elaborate on the three reasons given for the (Continued On Page 2) “has some good points, and teeth” that would expedite consolidation. He said that by working together with Yaupon Beach — and Caswell Beach — to appoint a joint commission “maybe people would leave (the commis sion) alone for awhile” as work towards consolidation progresses. “It would be really putting us on a firm foundation,” said Templeton. Chairman Vennel noted that the Long Beach com mittee was a “one - sided” with no input from Yaupon or Caswell beaches. “There’s no point trying to consolidate unless it’s the whole island,” he said. The motion asking Long Be ach commissioners to work with commissioners from Yaupon Beach and represen tatives of Caswell Beach was introduced :by Dudley, who also asked for the dissolution of the Long Beach consolida tion committee. The recommendation suggests that Long Beach name three members, Yaupon Beach two and Caswell Beach one to the proposed 6 - member Con solidation Commission, and that the members be named by early next month. Following are provisions of Article 20: as they relate to Oak Island A commission established pursuant to this Article may be charged with any of the following purposes: (1) To study the powers, duties, functions, respon sibilities, and organizational structures of the cities that established the commission and of other units of local government anu puuuu agen cies within those cities; (2) To prepare a report on its studies and findings; (3) To prepare a plan for consolidating one or more functions and services of the governments that established the commission; (4) To prepare drafts of any agreements or legisla tion necessary to effect the consolidation of one or more functions and services; (5) To prepare a plan for consolidating into a single government some or all of the governments that es tablished the commission; (Continued On Page 2) Asking $5.7 Million Local v a —— — 1 " . Education Budget Is Considerably Higher By BILL ALLEN Brunswick County Board of Education members began preliminary discussion of the proposed $6,677,459 budget for 1975 - 76 during a special meeting Monday night. The proposed budget calls for current expenses of $2, 595,759, capital outlays of $3, 809,975 and a debt service of $271,725 for the grand total. Since $939,747 will come from available funds, a total of $5,737,712 in county money will be needed to balance the proposed budget. Brunswick County schools operated on a $4,660,104 budget during 1974 - 75 with $2,853,956.24 coming from local tax funds. Supt. Ralph King said most of the increase over last year comes in the field of capital outlay since the board plans major construction work at elementary schools. Capital outlay is proposed to be in creased from $2,450,954 to $3,809,975 in the new budget. He said the proposed budget calls for all employees to receive at least a 7.5 percent pay increase. New programs and more money needs because of growth and inflation account for other increases in the budget, King pointed out to board members. Board members spent a great deal of time going over the proposed current expense needs line - by - line Monday Count}! ‘In Good Hands,’ Says Chairman Thomas By BILL ALLEfc ' Franky Thomas said Tues day he has the experience to serve as both chairman of the Board of Commissioners and interim county manager. “People who know my 5 background have told me they feel that the county is in good hands,’’ Thomas declared. - ' Thomas saids be accepted*, the position of interim county manager last week at the suggestion of residents of Brunswick County. “They felt I should serve since I have the power of a county commissioner and the business experience com bined with being a county resident, who will work with all areas,” he pointed out. Thomas said he has no in tentions to resign as board chairman to take the county ' jtaahag«r4^ ^tbe boaud .can*$ ask me to step down as in terim county manager at any time, but I will be a com As Town Manager Kivett Ends Beach Slay The Long Beach Board of Commissioners held a 7 - minute “emergency meeting” Saturday morning to act on the resignation of Town Manager Frank Kivett. Kivett was granted 3 months’ severance pay — $5, 250 based on his annual salary of $21,000. He said he would remain on the beach until June 1 and would help prepare the 1975 - 76 budget if requested. The board also authorized Finance Officer Mrs. Jean Nelson to sign town checks, and named Commissioners Russ Morrison and H.E. Joyce co - signers. Joyce replaces Mayor E.W. Morgan, who said Saturday he “won’t be here long enough” to act as co-signer. Morgan has announced his intention to resign from the town’s top position Thursday night. Commissioner Ellis Dudley was noi present ior me special meeting but sent a Letter declaring his “complete accord” with the board’s decision to accept Kivett’s resignation. He also expressed “surprise at the hasty departure” of the town manager. The board considered nam ing an interim manager — probably Otto Maehl — but Town Attorney James Prevatte advised that no ac tion should be taken. A waiver from Dudley would have been required for any board action other than accepting Kivett’s resigna tion and authorizing persons to sign checks. After the meeting, Kivett explained the “hasty depar ture” cited by Dudley. "My offer was that I would waive the provisions of my contract and resign effective May 30, 1975, or upon pay ment of severance pay I would step down earlier. The^ board accepted the latter provision and I therefore sub mitted my resignation effec tive Friday.” Kivett said he had assured the board of his cooperation in order to provide an orderly transition. He said he would remain for the completion of the audit, would help Mrs. Nelson with the 1975 - 76 budget if requested, and “since federal agents are (Continued On Page 2) Asking $100,000 Each Deputies Sue Strong, Claim Discrimination Three former Brunswick County deputies, claiming their recent dismissals were racially motivated, have filed a class action suit in U.S. District Court in Wilmington. George Ballard, Earlie L. Gore and John Raphael Frink made a number of requests in the class action suit, in cluding asking for $100,000 in punitive damages, re - instal ment to their jobs and back pay Wilmington Attorney James Wall, representing the three deputies, said the class they represent is composed of Negroes who are employed or might be employed by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department and who are dis criminated against by Sheriff Herman Strong in ways which deprive or tend to deprive them of their employment opportunities. Ballard, Gore and Frink ask for on behalf of —themselves, “and members of their class," an injunction preventing Sheriff Strong or his employees from main taining a policy designed to deny or limit the rights of others, because of race, to equal employment oppor tunities. They are also requesting a declaratory judgment that racial employment practices and policies of Sheriff Strong violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amend ment to the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the three former deputies ask for an in junction preventing Sheriff Strong or his employees from violating their rights of free speech and association once they are re - employed, by forbidding them to associate with persons who supported the sheriffs political oppo nent, former Sheriff Harold Willetts. Sheriff Strong, who dis missed the three deputies, has employed Southport At torney A.H. Gainey, Jr., to represent him in the action. No county funds will be used to defend the action, the sheriff has said. Gore and Frink said in the suit they were fired April 7 with no reason given Ballard said he was dismissed because he did not give orders like a sergeant. The three deputies said in the complaint that they were not given an opportunity to be heard or offer evidence on their behalf. They said Sheriff Strong repeatedly dis criminated against them because of their race. The firings, they said, are a con tinuation of the discrimina tion. According to the com plaint, Sheriff Strong ordered Gore to deliver all civil papers in the county and refused to allow anyone to help him. The complaint said the sheriff knew this would (Continued On Page 2) missioner for two years,” he stated. The Leland resident said he saw no conflict of interest in serving as both board chair man and interim county manager. He said if a conflict develops, he will not vote on the issue. f Thomas said he planned to serve as Interim manager un til a.. qualified manager can., be found. “There is no doubt in my mind I am qualified, but I am not soliciting the job,” he said. Thomas said he is qualified to serve as interim manager because of the business ex perience he has gained by operating a mobile home sales business for the past nine years. “I started the business with $100 and the Internal Revenue Service has never questioned my ability to run a business,” he stated. “I am going to try to run the county like a business. According to the Institute of Government, county government is nothing but a big business.” Although he is being paid $18,590 to serve as interim manager, Thomas said he had to take a salary reduction to take the position. “I had to take the cut in the salary I am accustom to in business,” he stated. “I had to take the salary cut despite the fact the (Continued On Page 2) night. Capital outlay and debt service will be reviewed at the next meeting. Member William Sue questioned why the proposed budget called for about $33, 000 more to keep books this year than was needed last year. King said the additional money is needed because the budget is higher and more people are required to ad minister it. In addition, he said the number of people in the bookkeeping department last year did not go up in proportion to the other in creases. King also pointed out that neither he nor Associate Supt. Robert Elkin have a personel secretary. He said that one secretary, who does an “excellent job,” does the work. oue saiu nc aim uiu noi un derstand the reason for the increase since the biggest portion of the budget will go to capital outlay. Capital out lay, he noted, is major spen ding with few checks written. 'We need to look at this more in detail.” he stated. Chairman Wilbur Rabon sug gested that King look at the ^section of. 4h* budget and report Sack to the board ' at the next meeting. King said the section calls for the appointment of a business manager and an assistant as recommended by the state. He also said one clerical assistant will be add ed. The budget proposes that the perdiem and travel for members be increased from $4,000 to $7,000. Members will continue to receive $25 for attending meetings. It is proposed that a second and third attendance officer by employed, with one ser ving as the director. The budget sets $2,500 for legal work based on a $75 a month retainer and ‘‘normal rates.” King said the amount may have to be increased since School Attorney Mason Anderson will have to defend members in a federal court action. It is also proposed that $7, 600 be spent to replace two (Continued On Page 2)
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April 30, 1975, edition 1
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