Volume 62/ Number 11
; \V
INSIDE
Southport, N.C.
November 4,1992 / 50 cents
Democrats benefit most from record turnout
Long Beach
limits terms,
votes on issue
By Amitabh Pal
Municipal Editor
Long Beach voters on Tuesday
decisively approved two local
referendum initiatives, voting 1,503
to 475 to reduce terms of the town
council members from four to two
years and 1,202 to 754 to prohibit
defeated bond referendums from
being brought before voters again
for five years.
"Beautiful," said Frances Allen,
spokesperson for the Concerned
.Citizens of Long Beach (CCLB) that
put the two initiatives to a vote with
a petition drive last spring.
"It shows dissatisfaction with the
.current administration," Allen said.
"It is the best expression of dis
satisfaction that could be made."
She said the outcome of the vote
wasn’t due to the national dis
satisfaction with elected officials
and was "purely local."
Mayor Joan Altman, who spoke
.out against both initiatives, said she
preferred not to comment on the
vote and denied that she was dis
appointed.
"The voters have spoken and Long
Beach will- -survive,^' she said. "I
respect the decision of the elec
torate."
Alunan did comment on motiva
tion leading to the referendum.
"I think some voters have been
given faulty and incorrect informa
tion about the council and the deci
sions that have been made," she
said. "People attribute motives to the
council that don’t exist."
Altman said the vote apparently
sprang from dissatisfaction with the
sewer referendum, defeated by Long
See Long Beach, page 3
NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL
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Mike Easley was assisted by his son, Michael, in
casting his ballot in Southport Tuesday before going
on to Raleigh and a victory celebration as the new
state attorney general. Easley built a political base
on his reputation as a drug-busting district attorney
in the local 13th Judicial District.
Party claims three board
seats; Fairley tops Carter
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
About 100 candidates and curious
citizens filled the public assembly
building at the Brunswick County
Government Center last night to wit
ness election results first hand. As
final totals for each precinct came
in, candidates who had apparently
lost left quietly while winners stayed
on to shake hands and recite victory
speeches.
Voter turnout was the highest
ever, with 68 percent of the county’s
32,769 registered voters going to the
polls.
The board of commissioners will
have three new Democrats when
Tom Rabon, Sr., Wayland Vereen
and Don Warren take office on De
cember 7.
Rabon received 12,174 votes to
defeat Patty Young with 9,211
votes; Vereen received 11,168 votes
to edge Bob Slockett with 10,270
votes; and Warren received 11,621
votes to top Joe Brust with 9,538
votes.
"1 appreciate the confidence
people have in me, and I’ll do my
best. But I think I’ll stop with that
for the time being," Rabon said,
declining to elaborate on what his
initial objectives might be.
Rabon has said that he is in favor
of zoning, but feels the proposed
zoning ordinance needs some "fine
tuning."
Vereen said Tuesday night that he
believes the zoning ordinance, if
adopted, should be repealed.
"Zoning is something that, will
have to be worked on," he said. "I
feel there are a lot of people it is un
fair to."
Warren has not said whether he
would vote to repeal the zoning or
dinance if it is adopted, but did say
he has a number of questions about
Voter turnout was
the highest ever,
with 68 percent of
the county’s 32,769
registered voters
going to the polls
the proposal.
One of the closest races in the
.election was for the District 1 scat
,on the board of education: Democrat
Thurman Gause received 10,657
votes to barely beat out Janet Pope
with 10,549 votes. Incumbent
Donna Baxter received 11,915 votes
to defeat Pete Barnett with 9,317
votes, and Bill Fairley received
11,109 votes to beat William Carter
with 10,117 votes.
Fairley said he is anxious to get to
know the other board members and
talk with superintendent of schools
Ralph Johnston.
"The most critical thing is improv
ing the performance of high school
See Elections, page 3
County results, page 3; Others, page 6
County salaries up to par, other raises given
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
Brunswick County commissioners
decided Monday to bring the annual
salaries of all county employees who
have been working for sub-standard
wages up to the minimum recom
mended level, and to award an addi
tional 2.5-percent raise to those em
ployees who have been working at or
above the minimum level all along.
County manager/attomey David
Clegg and county personnel officer
Starrie Grissett were directed by the
board to implement the salary changes
by December 1.
"Some of those making above the
minimum level might not be deserv
ing of that extra raise," commissioner
Board votes 3-2 for countywide zoning, page 5
Jerry Jones admitted. "But we're try
ing to be as fair for everybody as we
could."
Comm issionerGene Pinkerton said
the additional 2.5-percent raise for
some county employees was intended
to compensate for the increase in the
cost of living.
All county employees were given a
2.5-percent raise in June, and com
missioners agreed to wait until the
employee reclassification study was
completed before approving any ad
ditional salary increases.
The results of the study were pre
sented to commissioners Monday by
representatives of David M. Griffith
and Associates of Raleigh. The firm
classified all county employees ac
cording to the tasks they perform .and
recommended minimum, mid-point
and upper ranges of annual incomes
for each position.
About 65 percent of county em
ployees were either reclassified or
repositioned on the pay scale, while
about 35 percent were found to be
earning annual salaries within the
upper and lower ranges, and it is this
35 percent that will receive the addi
tional 2.5-percent raise.
Asked if he thought the additional
raise was fair, commissioners chair
man Kelly Holden replied: "We tried
to look at every option, and this was as
fair a way as we knew to do it. Every
body we felt should get a little some
thing."
If everyone had gotten a 2.5-per
cent raise in addition to being brought
up to the minimum level, Holden said
some employees would have seen a
"humongous" increase in their salary.
The salary increases will add an
extra $664,227 to the county 's current
estimated net payroll of S6 million.
However, the increases will be funded
only through June. 1993. and a per
centage will be reimbursed by the
state, said county finance officer Lithia
Hahn. Therefore, the actual amount
of additional county funds needed for
the salary increases this fiscal year is
about $277,000.
The sheriffs department and regis
ter of deeds office opted not to take
part in the study. County personnel
officer Grissett determined minimum
salaries for positions in those depart
ments by calculating state averages
for similar positions. As in other
county departments, commissioners
recommended that all employees be
brought up to the minimum salary
level, and those above the minimum
level be awarded the additional 2.5
percent raise.
The chief of detectives - the high
est position in the sheriffs depart
ment — will receive a ten-percent raise,
said Grissett.
Results of the time management
studies conducted for the department
of social services and health depart
ment were referred to their respective
boards for comment.
"I am in complete agreement with
the health department and social ser
vices management studies," said
Clegg. "They proved to me and the
rest of the world that these depart
ments were being appropriately man
aged."
NRC will file exposure report
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Local investigation of a September
22 incident that contaminated a CP&L
worker with radioactive material has
been completed by the Nuclear Regu
latory Commission, and a report is
expected from that agency in about 30
days.
In the incident a worker, who is not
being identifiedby CP&L ortheNRC,
was contaminated by Americium 241,
a source of alpha radiation, when an
other worker cut into a container of
the material in the process of readying
it for shipment to a disposal site.
The cleanout of the spent fuel pod
was an activity associated with the
The worker, who was wearing protective
clothing but no mask, apparently
breathed in the radioactive material
which is now lodged in his lung
current outage. The tube containing
the radioactive material had been on
site since 1978, and was the final item
taken from the unit 2 spent fuel pool.
The worker, who was wearing pro
tective clothing but no mask, appar
ently breathed in the radioactive ma
terial which is now lodged in his lung.
The portable bandsaw operator, who
was wearing a protective breathing
apparatus, and eight other people
present in the area, have not been
found contaminated in tests conducted
with sophisticated equipment in Ten
nessee.
A danger of Americium contami
nation, an NRC radiation specialist
said last week, is bone cancer.
But the specialist, along with a
CP&L spokesman interviewed ear
lier, said that danger is slight in this
case.
"He has deposited in his lung a
very, very small amount of Ameri
cium 241," Eldan D. Testa, from the
NRC Atlanta office, said here last
week. "The amount is so small that no
long-term healtheffectsareexpected."
The 14-foot metal tube which was
being cut for shipment is a source of
radiation used long ago in instrument
testing, senior NRC resident inspec
tor R. L. Prevatte said last week.
He said workers were not clear what
See NRC, page 9
OUTSIDE
Forecast
The extended forecast
calls for partly cloudy
skies Thursday through
Saturday with a chance of
showers. Highs will be in
the 60s, with nighttime
lows in the SOs.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5
3:46 a.m. 9:58 am.
4:12 p.m. 10:22 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
4:35 am. - 1031 am.
4:59 p.m. 11:07 pm.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
5:20 a.m. 1139 am.
5:41p.m. 11:49pm.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER S
j5:03 am. am.
15:25 p.m. 12:23 pm.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
6:45 am. 12:31 am.
7KJ3 pm. 1:07 pm.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
737 am. 1:12 am.
7:44 pm. 1:49 pm.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
8:07 am. 133 am.
8:25 pm. 2:33 pm.
The following adjustment! should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +157Yaupon Beach,high -32,low -45;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.