2The Daily Tar HeelTuesday, September 1, 1987
ome.N.G.
By LAURIE DUNCAN
Staff Writer
After one of the longest legislative
sessions on record, prominent N.C.
General Assembly members said
legislators workloads have grown
enough to justify a pay raise, but they
stopped short of endorsing a full-time
General Assembly.
; Rep. Billy Watkins, D-Granvillc,
chairman of the House Appropria
tions Committee, said the workload
has gradually grown and justifies a
pay raise.
I think you could still have a
citizen legislature if you paid a better
salary," said Watkins, a 10-term
. member.
j North Carolina operates under a
part-time legislature primarily
responsible for planning a biennial
budget. State lawmakers meet for a
long -session, lasting from February
Town officials to discmss sites for shelter
By ANDREA SHAW
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill businessmen opposed
to giving the homeless shelter a
permanent location in the old Rose
mary Street jail will meet with town
officials this week to discuss three
alternative sites.
Mayor Jim Wallace appointed a
special task force in February to assist
the town and the Inter-Faith Council
(IFQ in finding a permanent site for
the shelter and soup kitchen. Two
months later the committee recom
mended that the Rosemary Street jail
would be the best location.
The IFC has temporarily operated
the shelter in the jail since 1985.
The group of businessmen asked
the town council in July to postpone
a decision on the shelter location until
November, while they look for an
alternative site. The town council set
a Sept. 14 deadline.
Harrison "Mickey" Ewell, spokes
man for the 56 businessmen and
owner of Spanky's Restaurant, would
not disclose the location of the three
sites, but said they are within the
central business district.
The businessmen said they object
to the jail location because the
property is too valuable to use for
a shelter and estimated costs of
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until August, when they plan the
budget. The following June they hold
a three or four week session to wrap
up loose ends and address other
issues.
House Speaker Liston Ramsey, D
Madison, said legislators' salaries
should be raised from $10,140 to
$15,000.
A study committee composed of
non-legislators was appointed last
session to study whether legislators
should raise their salaries, and will
issue a report in next summer's short
session, Watkins said.
North Carolina spends the lowest
amount per capita on its legislature
of all the states, said Senate Majority
Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland.
"I think some adjustment of that
is certainly justified," he said.
In recent years the legislature has
begun dealing with more complex
renovating the building exceed the
$150,000 earmarked in the town
budget for repairs.
"If they raise the money needed to
make the repairs, who's to say they
won't outgrow the site in a few years,"
Ewell said.
With new businesses locating on
Franklin Street, Ewell said people
consider the area "downtown," and
a 24-hour shelter could hurt business.
"Here it is right in our own
backyard," he said. "We're trying to
keep the village atmosphere and keep
downtown a viable place to do
business. It's not a positive note."
But Wallace said the jail location
is ideal.
"I like it," he said. "It's the highest
possible use that we can get from a
facility that the town already owns."
The town and the IFC want the
permanent site to house both the
shelter and the soup kitchen under
one roof. The soup kitchen is now
housed on Merritt Mill Road.
"The tragedy is that the soup
kitchen is in west Chapel Hill,"
Wallace said. "After finding a place
to sleep, a person would have to walk
a mile and a half for something to
eat."
IFC president Audrey Layden
State Department of Insurance to fight proposed rate increase
From Associated Press reports
RALEIGH An overall 3.5
percent increase in personal automo
bile insurance rates sought by the
industry is "excessive and unjusti
fied," the state Department of Insu
rance said Monday. .
Insurance Commissioner Jim Long
announced a public hearing for next
January on the proposed increase,
which includes a 15.8 percent boost
for compulsory liability coverage. If
approved, that would cost North
Carolina drivers about $45 million
more an average increase of $25.80
per vehicle.
The second part of the proposal
is an 1 1.6 percent decrease in collision
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nslatoffs want pay raise
issues because of a rise in environ
mental, educational and consumer
concerns, said Thad Beyle, professor
of political science at UNC. The sheer
number of issues has increased as
well, and the size of the budget has
expanded tremendously, he said.
Some officials suggested that
North Carolina is moving toward a
full-time professional legislature
because of the increased demands
upon legislators.
But General Assembly members
said they prefer the present citizen
legislature because it includes a cross
section of the state and of the people.
"If we went professional we would
lose that, and I think that would be
a terrible thing," Watkins said.
In professional legislatures, such as
those in California and New York,
members can lose contact with their
constituents because they are at the
agreed. "The jail location is ideal,"
she said. "These people need to have
access to employment and other
human services agencies."
While the task force was consid
ering permanent locations, down
town businessmen never objected to
the jail site option. But Ewell said
said they were unaware that the town
had appointed a task force to search
for another site.
Council member R.D. Smith
disagreed.
"I can't imagine anyone in the
business district not knowing," Smith
said. "(The businessmen) didn't say
anything until we were about to act
on the committee's
recommendation."
Ewell said the committee's search
was "short-sided" on the IFC's part.
"(The IFC) stopped searching
when the town said they could use
the building," Ewell said. "The fact
that we waited until the last minute
doesn't make us any less dedicated
(than) if we had started earlier."
Town and IFC officials have found
several suitable locations in their
three-year search for a permanent
facility, but building prices in excess
of $250,000, excluding additional
renovations, have made the task
and comprehensive coverage, which
is not mandatory. Roger Langley,
deputy insurance commissioner, said
the proposed reduction was
inadequate.
Long did not appear at a news
conference at. which his decision was
announced. Langley said Long could
not comment further because he will
preside over the hearing at which
industry representatives will make
their case for their rate proposals.
The Insurance Department will
fight the proposed increase and has
retained Raleigh attorney Dan Nel
son to represent the department. The
hearing will begin Jan. 11 and is
expected to last a week, after which
Long will have 45 days to make a
ruling.
If the industry disagrees with
Long's decision, it can appeal to the
f i
4 '
1987 Hewlett-Packard Company PG
capital all the time, Beyle said.
Members would be people who are
retired, independently wealthy, or
have large firms which can run by
themselves, he said.
This would make turnover of
legislators less frequent, with "no new
light being pumped in," Watkins said.
A citizen legislature has about a 25
percent attrition rate every election,
he said. And turnover allows for both
varied opinions and experience, he
said.
A full-time professional legislature
would be far more expensive than the
present operation, Watkins said.
North Carolina is among the top 10
states in population and expenditure,
but runs the cheapest per capita
operation in the nation.
"North Carolina is what all of the
mid-South states aspire to be like,"
Watkins said.
difficult, Layden said.
"In addition to costs and finding
a facility with enough room, another
problem is neighborhood opposi
tion," Layden said. "Our dedication
is to finding a suitable location for
our client population."
Smith, who would like to see the
jail renovations begin as soon as
possible, said the council probably
would not extend the Sept. 14
deadline.
"It's something that's immediately
needed and came from the recom
mendation of the committee," he said.
The council will make a decision
before the Nov. 3 elections to "avoid
letting another winter go by," Wallace
said. "The most important thing is
to put this thing together by election
time."
By tabling the issue, the council
might avert action altogether, he said.
The shelter served 146 people last
year, and IFC officials said they
expect a big increase this year. During
the first quarter of this year, the
shelter served 61 people.
The shelter will operate on a
$300,000 budget for the upcoming
year, including a portion of a three
year $15,000 allotment from the
town.
N.C. Court of Appeals.
By issuing the hearing order, Long
indicated "an opinion . . . that the
requested increase would produce
excessive and unjustified automobile
insurance rates for North Carolina
drivers'," Langley said hV a prepared
statement. ' y5
After deciding he opposed the
increase, Long was required by law
to schedule the public hearing, Nelson
said.
"To turn (the increase) down out
of hand would be arbitrary and
capricious and he (Long) would be
reversed summarily'' by the courts,
Nelson said.
The hearing will delay the pro
posed increase that was to take effect
early next year, according to John
Watkins, general manager of the
North Carolina Rate Bureau, which
li
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SCOT,
12703
f0 A
Soviet official offers to accept
U.S. test monitoring proposal
From wire reports
WASHINGTON A top
Soviet arms control official Mon
day offered for the first time to
accept a U.S. proposal for mon
itoring nuclear tests, and even
offered to let the United States
explode its own bomb in the
Soviet Union to calibrate mon
itoring equipment.
The chief U.S. negotiator to
arms control talks in Geneva,
Max Kampelman, immediately
said the offer was worth pursuing.
Colonel-general Nikolai Cher
vov, of the Soviet defense min
istry, said through an interpreter
in a luncheon speech that "the
Soviet Union is prepared to
accept any type of verification"
on a test ban agreement.
Use of counsels opposed
WASHINGTON The Jus
tice Department on Monday
challenged the constitutionality
of a law under which independent
counsels were appointed to inves
tigate the Iran-contra affair, the
financial affairs of Attorney
General Edwin Meese and pos
sible wrongdoing by other Rea
gan Administration officials.
Specifically, in a brief filed in
federal appeals court in Washing
ton, the department challenged
the independent counsel who is
investigating a former Justice
Department official in connection
with a 1983 Environmental Pro-1
tection Agency controversy.
The case in which the depart
ment filed the brief is sealed from
public view, but law enforcement
sources confirmed it is the probe
involving the EPA.
If upheld in court, the depart
ment's position wouldn't affect
the Iran-contra investigation or
the investigation involving
Meese, because independent
counsels in those cases have
accepted parallel appointments
from the Justice Department.
represents 390 companies licensed to
provide insurance in the state.
"The rate bureau feels that the
filing is fully justified, and we
certainly intend to support the filing
vigorously at the public hearing, "
Watkins said."
Nelson said Long should reject any
rate increase "as a minimum'' and that
an order to reduce rates "would be
nice." But Nelson said he did not
know how big a decrease would be
appropriate because the rate bureau
had not supplied all the information
the department wants.
"They've answered 30 out of about
62 questions," he said.
For example, he said, the rate
bureau said it studied "exhibits and
documents' in arriving at its pro
posed rate increase. "We asked for
copies of the exhibits that they've
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News in Brief
Plane crashes near Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand A
Thai Airways jet plunged into the
sea near Phuket Island on Mon
dah and officials said they
believed all 83 people aboard,
including two Americans, were
killed.
Spokesmen said 17 bodies were
recovered before search opera
tions halted for the night because
of high winds and poor visibility.
Meteorologists said skies were
clear when the crash occured.
Air Marshal Narong Dithi
peng, managing director of the
state-run airline, told a news
conference earlier Monday that
the plane was trying to evade a
737 of the Hong Kong-based line
Dragonair when it crashed into
the Andaman Sea eight miles
from the resort island's airport.
A statement from Dragon
Airlines Ltd. in Hong Kong said
company officials spoke to the
captain of its aircraft and were
"assured that the Dragonair
aircraft was not involved." It gave
no details and the Dragonair jet's
crew would not talk to reporters
when the plane returned to Hong
Kong.
Iran avenges Iraqi attacks
MANAMA, Bahrain Iran
ian commandos raked a Kuwaiti
freighter with machine-gun fire
and rocket-propelled grenades in
the Persian Gulf Monday in
retaliation for three days of Iraqi
air attacks, shipping sources said.
Iraq's attacks, aimed at forcing
Iran to accept a U.N. cease-fire
resolution in their 7-year-old war,
came as a convoy of reflagged
Kuwaiti tankers under U.S. escort
anchored off Bahrain. U.S. heli
copters looked for a reported
mine.
studied .
. and they haven't supplied
them yet,
Langley said Long agrees with his
staffs finding that the rate bureau's
suggested increase was based partly
on outdated information regarding
insurance industry profits.
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