Serving The People Of Our Communities Since 1901
_ ? ______
Vol. 87 No. 10
County Looks To 6De -Politicize' Schools
By BILL 8TUDENC
Madison County commissioners
have pledged to work to get politics
out of the Madison County school
system, and may form a special com
mittee to determine the best way to
"de-politicize" education.
That pledge came Monday after
Madison County Commissioner
Reese Steen suggested that the Board
of Commissioners adopt a resolution
asking the General Assembly to
make the county school board race a
nonpartisan election.
"I can't see any reason for having a
school board election on a local level
where you have Republicans and
Democrats running against each
other," Steen said "Let's get the
politics out and start thinking about
school children."
Robert Capps, chairman of the
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners, said he agreed with Steen,
and also disapproved of the way the
school board is currently set up.
"I don't like the idea of electing
three Board of Education members
on one side of the county and two on
the other," Capps said. "At the pre
sent time, if the three board members
from District t want something, it'
doesn't make any difference what
District 1 wants."
The three members of District 2
represent western Madison County -
including Marshall, Walnut, Hot Spr
Judge Refuses
To Drop Charge
Against Ponder
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
A Superior Court judge refused
Monday to dismiss a conspiracy
charge against Madison County
Democratic Party leader Zeno H.
Ponder.
Pander's attorney, Herbert Hyde of
Asheville, had filed a motion in
January asking that a conspiracy in
dictment against Ponder be quashed
and charges dismissed.
But Superior Court Judge Kenneth
A. Griffin ruled against the motion,
setting the stage for the trial of
Ponder later Jthte >ear
Ponder, 65, has been charged with
conspiring to profit from a land pur
chase he made while a member of the
N.C. Board of Transportation.
Ponder in 1W2 purchased some 300
acres of land in the Redmon Dam
area of Madison County along the
route of a proposed 15-mile road link
ing Marshall and the Trust communi
ty
The indictment, handed down Jan.
13, alleges that Ponder "gained his
knowledge of the intent of the board
by virtue of his official position and
then did engage in the conspiracy to
place other persons at a financial
disadvantage."
Hyde, in his motion heard Monday,
said that the indictment against
Ponder does not sufficiently inform
Ponder of the nature of charges
against him and is worded in such a
way as to make it difficult to prepare
a defense.
Hyde said the indictment consists
of "mm general or generic terms
and does not sufficiently define the
crime and does not set forth any of its
essential elements.''
The indictment violates Ponder's
constitutional rights guaranteeing
that defendants will be properly in
formed of charges against them and
providing protection from "double
jeopardy," Hyde contended.
Judge Griffin, after conferring in
his chambers with Hyde and 24th
Judicial District Attorney J. Thomas
Rusher far more than an hour, ruled
against Hyde's motion.
Rustwr submitted, a bill fif ittgci
ment to a Madison County grand* jury
in January, and the grand jurors
returned it as a "true bill."
Ponder faces his second trial stem
ming from the purchase of the Red
mon property.
He and three business associates -
wife Marie, nephew Leonard and
associate Marshall Kanner - were
charged in a federal indictment with
mail fraud According to the indict
ment, Ponder and his associates had
used the U.S. mail to transact the pur
chase of the land.
But a U.S. District Court judge, in
January 1966, threw out the case, say>
ing that a federal court was not the
proper venue.
Rusher and the former district at
torney for Wake County had con
sidered the filing of state charges two
years ago, but said that they found in
sufficient evidence to warrant
charges.
Hot Springs Board Agrees
To Keep Cable TV Company
By ANNE K1TCHELL
8Uff Writer
The town of Hot Springs has agreed
to keep Vision Cable as the town's pay
television service, despite complaints
from Hot Springs residents.
During the regular meeting of the
board of aldermen, town officials
beard Vision Cable franchise owner
Gene Johnson defend his company
and service record.
According to town officials, a
number of Hot Springs residents an
dissatisfied with the current cable
service
The service contract between the
town and Vision Cable calls for recep
tion of seven stations, but some
members of the community hav4
complained they can only get two or
three channels at certain times.
Johnson said he took a survey of
area residents and found that of 100
people polled, nearly two-thirds want
to continue with Us company.
Hot Springs Mayor Kenny Ramsey
said that many of tbe channels were
off for long periods of time during the
winter months.
"The only thing I ask is that you get
spare parts to keep the cable service
running," Ramsey said.
When asked why there would be an
increase in the rates if two more sta
tions were added to the service,
Johnson said he would have to abssrfe
the cost of maintaining the parts and
equipment. ? v i.
-Coa tinned on hack page
Kingston's Folly?
: M
Prison Plan Includes Landfill, Stake Park, Industrial Sites
s
replacement for
Craggy Prison in 1
Madison County.
He says that the facility could mean
up to 100 new jobs and (SB million to
?ay* ten is
af Mi
ut Kings)
> his p than
jfiK'
S
we could work this thing out.
Everybody got puffed up and blew
this thing out of proportion,' he Mid.
"I may be ? nut, but I think this hi a
the (
ttai of the prison -,H tbe|
approves legislation i
ing the prison to be built in Ma<
s. County. |
ings and Laurel. District 1, with two
members, represents the eastern sec
tion of the county - Mars Hill.
Grapevine and Beech Glenn.
Steen suggested that the commis
sioners create a new committee to
study the school board and come up
with the best way to establish a "non
partisan school board with different
districts." That committee could in
clude a Republican, a Democrat, a
school board member, a county com
missioner and several residents.
"I really feel like if we can put as
much politics out of the school system
in Madison County as possible, it will
have a tremendous effect, now and
forever," he said.
S teen' ? suggestion came after the
commissioner did some "homework"
on the Madison County Board of
Education.
"I've studied the history of the
school system extensively, and I've
seen time and time again where the
political system has had an adverse
BILL STUDENC PHOTO
Tennis , Anyone?
Andrea Oakes takes advantage of this week's springlike
weather to get in some practice strokes on the courts at North
Buncombe High School. Oakes and her teammates are gear
ing up for high school tennis season, which begins soon.
effect on the school system, and it
still is having an adverse effect," he
said.
"Sometimes those effects are real ;
sometimes those effects are imagin
ed, but it does create a problem in
that the suspicion of wrongdoing is
there," Steen said.
"It's a good point," Capps said. "I
think politics should be gotten out of
the school system."
Resident Bob Phillips told the com
missioners he believed removing par
tisan politics from the school board
would make it more likely that voters
would approve a bond issue for school
construction projects, if the need
arises.
The commissioners agreed to think
about ways to remove politics from
the Board of Education, and tabled
the issue until a future meeting.
Commissioners also looked at ways
to "de-politicize" county govern
ment, but with less agreement
Steen again made a motion to ask
the General Assembly to change the
way that vacancies on the county
board are filled. And, again, his mo
tion died for lack of a second.
Currently, a vacancy on the
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners would be filled by the county
executive committee of the political
party of the outgoing commissioner
The committee would nominate a
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District Attorney
To Get County's
Audit Report
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
The Madison County Board of Com
missioners agreed Monday to pass to
the District Attorney's Office an audit
report outlining questionable finan
cial transactions that took place dur
ing the previous county administra
tion.
The commissioners did not agree,
however, to specifically ask 24th
Judicial District Attorney J. Thomas
Rusher for a full-fledged investiga
te of possible mishandling of county
finances by former commissioners
and their employees.
send him (Rusher) a copy of the
report," said Commissioner Reese
Steen. "We should write a letter and
tell him we are not requesting an in
vestigation. We are Just making the
report available to him."
Whether an investigation is to come
will be entirely up to Rusher, Steen
said.
"We should just turn it over to him
and tell him, 'If you see any wrongdo
ing or if you feel like it need in
vestigating, do it to it," he said, mak
ing a motion to turn the report over to
Rusher.
Robert Cappt, chairman of the
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners, seconded the motion, which
passed unanimously.
Roger Gregg of the Asheville
auditing firm of Gregg & Lasher,
P.A., told the commissioners Jan. 12
that he had found a long list of
liscrepancies in records of county
finances during the final year of of
flee of the former county commis
sioners.
Most of the discrepancies were in
the form of "improperly documented
financial transactions," including a
"significant increase" in county
payments to former officials and
employees, particularly after the
May 1986 primary.
Among the "questionable
payments" were county checks to
former county commissioners for ex
penses and mileage and more than
17,500 in vacation, holiday and sick
pay to employees.
The audit report also listed a
numtapr ?f budgetary problems md
violations of state statutes regulating
governmental budgets.
Cappe said last week that the cur
rent commissioners had not had time
to discuss the audit report to deter
mine what action to take.
One reason that the commissioners
waited nearly two months before ac
ting was that the board felt it might
cost the county more money to pursue
the collection of any misspent funds
than could actually be recovered,
Steen said Monday.
In other action at Monday's
meeting, the commissioners agreed
to hire Gregg * Lasher - the firm
that did the controversial partial
audit of last year's finances - to com
plete an audit of the 1966-87 fiscal
year.
Gregg k Lasher agreed to audit the
county records for $20,000, the second
lowest bid received by the county.
Students Can Breathe Easier ;
Spring Vacation Remains Intact
By ANNE KITCHELL
Staff Writer
In the wake of one of the most
eventful winters in recent years,
area superintendents and school
boards have counted up the school
days students have missed due to
weather.
Despite frequent "mini
vacations" courtesy of Mother
Nature, spring break for students
in Madison and Buncombe coun
ties is basically intact.
Madison students will have to
come back one day early from
Easter break, if no more days are
missed, said Bobby Edwards,
superintendent of schools. If more
bad weather comes this way, the
Madison County school board will
have to deckle how the time will be
made in
state law requires students to be
in class ISO days a year, Edwards
said. The N.C. Board of Education
must approve the shortening of a
school year.
Madison County is not alone in
the loss of school days. Buncombe
County schools have been closed
10 days this winter.
Buncombe County Director of
Pupil Accounting Tommy Koontz
said the Easter break is still in
place.
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