NUMBER lli
TRENTON, N. C.( THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1966
VOLUME xvm
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Attorney Brock Takes Exception
To June 23 Statement in Journal
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Mr. Jack Rider
Jones Journal
West Vernon Avenue
Kinston, N. C.
Dear Mr. Rider:
I hereby take exception to
the following statement which
you published in the June 23,
1966 issue of the Jones Journ
al: “One is County Attorney
Donald Brock, who succeeded
shine years ago in getting a slate
of commissioners elected who
fired the Late George Hughes as
County attorney and gave the
job to Brock, which he still holds,
while also serving as county ve
erans service officer, attorney
to the school board, attorney to
the ABC board and attorney to
an assortment of other quasi
public non-profit, non-stock cor
porations that are either pres-;
ently using or planning to use I
tax funds.” Your statement that
I “succeeded ... in getting a
slate of commissioners elected
who fired the Late George Hugh
es as county attorney and gave
the job to” me is untrue and
misleading. It is true that the
Board of Commissioners refer
red to did not employ Mr. Hugh
es and did employ me; however,
a majority of the Board of Com
missioners asked me to accept
the position of county attorney.
I declined-to accept the poM*
tion and suggested that they
reappoint Mr. Hughes. Later the
Commissioners informed me that
they would not reappoint Mr.
Hughes and renewed their re
quest that I accept the position
and I did so. I had nothing to
do with the members of the
Board of Commissioners seek
ing election, and during that
particular primary (1960) I spent
my entire efforts in behalf of a
gubernatorial candidate from
Jones County.
I have undertaken to discharge
the duties of county attorney
in the best interest of the peo
ple of Jones County; since my
service as County Veterans Ser
vice Officer began, many hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
have been received by Jones
County veterans and their de
pendants; the amount received
:>• , by. them in 1965 alone was ap
■board.
actively
?2§4,00Q,0ili:c ^ :
thfr-Jones County
teCtionwith
tion, r.Jf am
ly '^Wtained Hay that.
In this connection I
supported the es
tablishment of ABC Stores in
Jones' County because I believe
strongly in the control of sales
of alcoholic beverages, moreover
the establishment of these stor
es has provided revenue for
Jones County in excess of $300,
000.00 and this benefits all the
taxpayers of Jones County.
In the past two years problems
have confronted the Jones Coun
ty Board of Education in con
nection with which they need
ed legal advise to a considerable
extent I am honored that the
School Board has sought my ad
vise in regard to these problems,
many of which arise out of the
civil rights efforts of the feder
al government.
It has been my privilege to
'service babe
; the Jones I
and the
The servie-J
eg rendered by me have enured
to the benefit of the people of
Jones County. In the past six
years Jones County has paid on
its bonded indebtedness $329,
618.00 and at the present time,
the total indebtedness is only
$196,800.00. During this same
period of time all classrooms re
quested in a recent bond issue,
which was defeated, have been
built along with several addi
tional classrooms for our schools,
and all have been paid for. You
might also check with Mrs. Dor
is Oliver concerning my assist
ance to the Jones County Health
Department.
I claim the privilege of serv
ing my community constructive
ly and I reserve the right to sup
port such programs and such
candidates as I see fit and to
,oppose all programs with which
I do not agree and to vote
against any candidate I do not
choose to support. I regret ex
ceedingly that you exercised
yourself in an effort to create
strife and dissension among
Jones County people by means
of the article you published in
the Jones Journal June 23, 1966
issue. The false statement to
which I have taken exception in
the first paragraph of this let
ter, if not malicious, is born of
> reckless and Wanton disregard
of the truth and adds nothing to
your statue as a newspaper man.
In my opinion, you could rend
er a constructive service to the
people of Jones County by in
forming yourself in reporting to
the people upon the problems
confronting the County Com
missioners, the Board of Edu
cation and other public agencies
charged with the responsibility
of conducting the public affairs
of Jones County. The members
of these boards are dedicated
public servants, anxious to do
their best for the people with
in the limits of the law, which
has undergone some most dis
tasteful and far reaching chang
es in recent years.
Yours very truly,
Donald P. Brock
DPB.ab
Editor's Nota:, Tl»e Journal
has never madje the sligMest in
ference tha^f^i^yfyock^iitl
iiypi
jtonbffiRrit m hfs efforts to !e$
■lize the sale of whisky in the
county and in bringing about a
thorough survey of the county's
eater resources and the possi
bilities of flood control measur
m. The Journal most of all cer
tainly does not deny Mr. Brock
the "privilege of serving" and
the "right to support such pro
grams and such candidates" as
he sees fit. As to the truth, half
truth or malicious lie Mr. Brock
refers to in the Hughes matter
the record speaks for itself, and
the people of the county; who
perhaps know as well as the
Journal or Mr. Brock will have
to be the final judges of who
is closer to the truth in this mat
ter. But most specifically The
lournal reiterates that Mr.
Brock, whether he knows it or
net and whether he likes it or
not is a major political issue in
lanes County and he will re
main so until he learns to let
ethers serve the community in a
arofossional (paid) capacity. The
•; * "
Three Divorces and
One Tax Suit
Filed in Court
Walter P. Henderson clerk of
superior court reports docketing
four civil cases in the past two
weeks.
William Earl Bell seeks a di
vorce from Linnea Graham Bell
alleging their marriage in April
1964 andl separation June 4,
1965.
Glenda Sue Pringle seeks a
divorce from Donald Pringle, al
leging marriage February 18,
1961, and separation July 6,
1965.
Town of Maysville is suing Ro
bert H. Jones and wife Gladys
Jones for taxes which are al
legedly owed to the town for
the years 1956, $9.59; 1958, $23.
70; 1960, $17.73; 1961, $22.64;
1962, $19.58; 1963, $17.29; 1964;
$10.25; and 1964, $21.75.
Dennis Gray Hill seeks a di
vorce from 11161013 Hill whom
he married May 12, 1962 and
was separated from July 5, 1963.
Commissioners Tell County Attorney
Brock to Bring Suit Against Judge
Larkins for Rent on Basement Suite
In July session the ‘lame
duck” Jones County Board of
Commissioners hobbled bravely
forward by instructing County
Attorney Donald P. Brock to
bring suit against Federal Dis
trict Judge John Larkins Jr.
The exact language of the
minutes of the meeting is: “P.
Nelson Banks made a motion
for County Attorney Donald P.
Brock to use any legal proce
dure to collect back rent from
Judge John D. Larkins Jr. of
fice in basement of court house.
Seconded by Charles Battle Jr.
and motion carried unanimous
ly.”
Banks was in a motioning
frame of mind. He also “made
motion” authorising the coun
ty attorney to “'use any legal
terms to discontinue the Neigh
borhood Youth Corps during the
months of July and August, and
also that Mrs. Grace Pollock
be notified that “rent will be
discontinued for two months on:
%igl$prhofst Yonth Cqn* ofr.
wMBi-the
county has been dairying.
Banks also resigned as the
board of commissioners’ repre
sentative on the “War on Pov
erty” program that is being
waged in the county.
Another touchy item resulted
in a 3-2 vote by the board to
restore funds deleted from the
budget of the office of superior
court clerk. Following a June
budget session the board in
directly informed Court Clerk
Walter Henderson that pay for
an assistant in his office was
being deleted from his office
budget.
Last week after Henderson
had done some in-between poli
ticking this deletion was restor
Journal freely admits that the
services rendered by Mr. Brick
have "enured to the benefit of
the people of Jones County."
But the Journal also freely as
serts that benefits have enured
Mr. Brock as well is the county.
Jones Commissioners Cut Tax Rate
34 Per Cent, Boost Tax Values 59 Per
Cent, Hike Budget by $20,631.07
In approving the 1966-67
county budget in their July meet
ing the Jones County Board of
Commissioners played a typical
modem political game.
They cut the county tax rate
on the $100 valuate from $1.92
to $1.25, which is slightly more
than a 34 per cent cut in rate.
But they boosted the county’s
tax listed valuation from $11,
803,000 to $18,855,154, which is
slightly more than a 59 per
cent increase in valuation.
Finally the board adopted the
1966-67 county budget which is
$20,631.07 larger than last
year’s; an increase from $899,
266.17 to $919,897.84.
This budget increase came
about despite the fact that in the
past year there was an item for
general county bond debt in the
amount of $47,480, which did
not occur this year since all gen
eral county bonds have been re
tired.
The boost in total budget al
so came despite a cut from $14,
154 last year to $4,623.32 this
year for tax listing, since a re
valuation was held last year and
caused the higher allocation for
this purpose.
The biggest increase in the
budget went to schools, with
$43,335.42 more being allocated
[ ed with Banks and Alvah How
ard votiag against restoring it
and Chairman Harold Mallard,
James Barbee and Charles Bat
tle Jr. voting to restore the
item.
In less touchy matters the
board voted to accept the re
port and annual settlement from
Tax Collector and Supervisor Ju
lia Waller, and authorized Wall
er to move forward with tax
foreclosures.
Chairman Mallard was author
ized to sign a contract with Con
sultant Engineers Rivers and
Rivers of Greenville for a survey
of the sewer and water needs
of the county.
The board also agreed te noti
fy the state personnel board that
Jones County salaries for health
and welfare department work
ers would be maintained at two
.Steps below the standard classi
fications.
The board also transferred $3,
482.54 from the -general fund
to the sheriff’s account to wipe
out a dificit caused when a full
time deputy was employed to
replace the Late Roy Mallard,
who resigned last September
while serving on a small retain
er as a part-time deputy. The
item also covered purchases of
uniforms and other equipment
for the department.
this year than last from county
funds. Total school cost from
county funds amounts to $324,
558.42 this year and last year
it was $281,223.
The second biggest increase
came in the welfare department
budget, which climbed from
$402,512 last year to $428,861.68
this year; an increase of $26,
349.68 in this department alone.
The tabulation on this page
shows the comparative alloca
tions for the 1965-66 budget
period and the 1966-67 budget
period.
1965
Aid to Poor $8,500.00
Aid to Blind 3,254.00
Welfare
Adm. 40,558.00
Aid to Aged 79,200.00
Aid to
Children 190,300.00
Aid to
Disabled 73,700.00
Medical Aid 7,000.00
Accounting 4,913.00
Extension
Agents 12,295.00
Forestry 4,537.50
Health
Dept. 24,193.60
School
CE* 232,896.00
School CO 29,000.00
School Debt 19,327.00
Mosquito
Control 4,900.00
Recorder
Court 3,126.00
Commissioners
3,485.00
Tav listing 14,154.00
Tax
Collection 8,873.00
Sheriff
Office 16,816.95
Election
Board 3,717.00
Court House 8,364.00
Register of
Deeds 8,478.00
Coroner 300.00
Jail 1,100.00
Superior
Court 4,500.00
Clerk of
Court 11,914.72
1966
$ 8,500.00
4,205.68
43.700.00
86.400.00
195,228.00
81.648.00
9.180.00
4,980.65
12,681.03
4.537.00
28,431.22
250,420.42
44.300.00
29.838.00
5,000.00
3,062.22
3,610.10
4,623.32
9,277.98
21,971.66
1,864.50
9,152.36
9,498.27
300.00
980.00
3,460.48
12,341.90
v^ouniy
Attorney ' 1,890.00 1,984.50
Veterans
Officer 1,254.00 1,310.70
Auditing 3,500.00 3,500.00
Soil Conservation
1,500.00 1,500.00
Special
Phones 240.00 300.00
Libraries 3,500.00 3,500.00
Miscellaneous
20,500.00 18,609.84
Totals $899,266.77$919,897.84
‘School CE is current expense
and School CO is capital outlay.
These Hems for individual of
fices include all salaries and ex
penses ifi that department and
do not represent the salary of
the person holding the office.
MOORE AT FT. DIX
Pvt. Shade Moore Jr., 20, whose
parents live on Star Route, Box
56, Maysville, completed a field
communication crewman course
at Fort Dix, N. J. on June 24th.
Thirty Five Cousins Seek to Break
Will of Late Robert T. Johnson
Legal action has been filed
in Jones County Superior Court
by three first cousins of the
Late Robert T. Johnson, seeking
to break the will under which he
left the bulk of his estate in a
trust for the education of de- :
serving Jones County boys and ;
girls. i
Johnson, who lived at Phillips i
Crossroads, died July 10, 1965 i
tnd on July 21, 1965 agents of ]
the Branch Banking and Trust 1
Company presented a paper pur
sorting to be Johnson’s last will
ind testament which was pro
:essed and approved in the
:ourts of Jones County.
Under this will Branch Bank
was namW'axecutor of John
son’s estate .which included 560
icres of land, a small amount of
:ash, stock m Branch Bank and
issorted furniture and tools. An
nventory of the estate listed a
jross value of $22,044.02 at the
ime the will was probated. But
Continued on page 4