THE BRUNSWICK&6EAC0N
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Lynn S. Carlson Managing Editor
Snsan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter Sports Editor
Eric Carlson Stajf Writer
Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Tlmberley Adams, Cecelia Gore
and Unda Cheers Advertising Representatives
Dorothy Brennan and Brenda Clemmons Moore ..Graphic Artists
William Manning Pressman
l^onnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Taminte Henderson Photo Technician
Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1993
It's Time To Hold Off
On New Municipalities
As Northwest moves toward becoming Brunswick County's
19th municipality, it was encouraging to hear Rep. David
Redwine decline to introduce two new incorporation bills in this
session and to say he will rely more on the House Incorporation
Commission in the future.
Redwine didn't introduce the Northwest bill?Rep. Thomas
Wright of Wilmington did. Redwine has expressed some well
founded concerns about what he called "the explosion of areas
wanting to incorporate" in recent years. "You just can't have a
town on every comer," he said. "1 know that won't be a popular
stance to take."
Indeed it won't, especially to residents of Seaside and Sunset
Harbor who have said they want to form towns but probably
won't get the chance in this legislative session. But Redwine is
right. Nineteen is an astonishing number of towns, even for a
county with Brunswick's geographic size and diversity. And
there is no reason to think the requests will stop until every vil
lage and crossroads unhappy with some facet of county govern
ment eventually decides that incorporation is the answer to its
greatest woes.
The current Calabash-Carolina Shores "unincorporation" is
sue should be enough to convince many county-dwellers to be
careful what they wish for in regard to creating new municipali
ties. Hopefully, Calabash won't have to learn the bitter lesson
about how much harder it is to get out of its "marriage" than it
was to get in, to promulgate a tiresome analogy. But regardless of
the outcome in Calabash, its troubles should serve as a lesson
that incorporation is not a magic bullet. It can create as many
problems as it solves?sometimes more?maybe not today, but
somewhere down the line.
Incorporation has traditionally been a relatively simple leg
islative procedure. It shouldn't be. Now, with the incorporation
commission, there is a vehicle for giving thorough and, more im
portantly, objective consideration to incorporation requests and to
explore the possible ramifications, not only for those to be incor
porated but for those who will be relied upon to provide tradi
tional municipal services to those new towns.
That way, perhaps, areas will pause before seeking incorpora
tion for all the wrong reasons?like trying to avoid zoning or oth
er county regulations?and be guided toward become towns only
when their motives are appropriate and when there is every rea
son to believe such new governmental ventures can not only sur
vive, but thrive, within the greater community.
Worth Repeating...
mWe desperately need to recover a sense of the fundamental
purpose of education, which is to engage in the architecture
of souls. When a self-governing society ignores this respon
sibility, it does so at its peril. ?William J. Bennett
m If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose
its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or mon
ey that it values more, it will lose that too.
?Somerset Maugham
mPolitical language...is designed to make lies sound trutltful
and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solid
ity to pure wind. ?George Orwell
1FX FIND ONE MORE GUN tfM A STUDENT THIS
V/EAS,T'M Q(JITTlN6 AND RE-ENU6TIN6 IN
lJHE WINES/ WHERE IT'S SAFER I
_ ? ?
C%UM/(
CflWte
&$BOlR
?m 3
Say What You Want, Whoever You Are
Before you read this, please fa
miliarize yourself with a letter to the
editor from Shirley Hewctt of Hol
den Bcach.
1 have never responded dirccUy to
a reader's correspondence, but this
time I feel some clarification may be
necessary.
The Beacon regards its letters to
the editor as one of the most impor
tant parts of the paper. It is here that
we (and you) find out what readers
are thinking: about their community,
about their government, about the is
sues of the day and your feelings
about how we report on those issues.
If you didn't write letters, we
would worry that you don't read (or
worse, that you don't care). So we
publish just about every letter we
get, as long as it is signed by the
person who wrote it and doesn't
make obsccnc or libelous remarks.
When 1 read Mrs. Hewett's letter,
1 was impressed with her apparent
grasp on the inner workings of coun
ty government. Having been in
Brunswick County for less than a
year, I had to admit that she seemed
to know a lot more than I about
some of these issues.
I did not appreciate being called
unprofessional, inaccurate, biased,
lazy, incompetent and out of touch.
But everyone is entitled to an opin
ion.
As a matter of fact, because the
letter was well written and included
what seemed to be informed opin
ions about complicated issues, I was
going to suggest that it be run as a
guest column?insults and all.
Notwithstanding her allegations
to the contrary, I am very much in
terested in hearing "the rest of the
story" about some of the topics she
mentions. But most of these events
occurred long before I arrived here.
. -srfte.
Eric { ^
Carlson ** ***
t
>
and ihc trail has goilcn a bit cold. So
I dccided 10 call Mrs. Hewett and
sec if she could provide some back
ground.
Most of her charges were aimed
at former County Manager/Attorney
David Clegg, so I was especially in
terested to hear what she had to say
about her claim that he had "ostensi
bly recommended to the then com
missioners that Brunswick County
participate financially in the Lower
Cape Fear Water and Sewer
Authority."
1 had heard about the LCFW&SA
and was aware that it had made
some controversial decisions years
ago. So last fall, 1 asked the chair
man (Mr. Clegg) about it.
He told me a very long, detailed
history of the authority and we dis
cussed some of the criticism it had
received. His comments raised a few
questions that might have been
worth looking into at the time. But
sincc this was a very old story, I
filed it away in case some recent de
velopment made it newsworthy.
When 1 read Mrs. Hcwctt's letter,
1 thought I had found someone who
could give me hard facts about the
other side of this issue, instead of
the usual rumors and conjecture. 1
assumed that anyone who felt so
strongly about these questions
would have other things to say and
would jump at the chance to discuss
il.
But when I asked Mrs. Hcwctt to
tell mc her impressions about how
the water and sewer authority oper
ated, she said she could not explain
it.
When 1 inquired about her
lawyer-like opinion that the com
missioners' letter of intent constitut
ed a "legal or illegal contract," she
had nothing to say about that. Her
only comment was, "The letter
speaks for itself."
Puzzled by her reticence, 1 began
to wonder why her name, typed in
bold capital letters at the top of the
first page, was spelled "HEWET"
when her signature was spelled
"Hewett." So 1 asked her if she had
written the letter herself. There was
a brief pause before she answered.
"1 and another party together
wrote the letter," she said. When 1
asked who the other party was, she
said, "That's between mc and them."
So 1 explained that the Beacon re
quires that all letters to the editor be
signet! by the author (or authors).
Thai's bccause we want our read
ers to trust the authenticity of the let
ters we publish. If someone is criti
cized (or insulted) in a letter, we
want that person to know who is do
ing the criticizing. And we want to
prevent someone from writing a let
ter and signing YOUR name to it.
As 1 tried to explain this, Mrs.
Hewett stopped me and insisted that
she DID write the letter, after "con
ferring" with another person. When
1 reminded her of her earlier state
ment, she denied making it and ac
cused me of twisting her words.
But 1 know exactly what she said.
Bccause I wrote it down as she said
it. Just as I have written down thou
sands and thousands of words spo
ken by hundreds and hundreds of
people for many years.
I'm not saying Mrs. Hewett did
nol write the letter. She may have
accidentally typed her name incor
rectly. She may have accidentally
said that she and another party
"wrote" it when she intended to say
they "conferred." Everyone makes
mistakes when they type and when
they speak.
What bothers me is that I keep
hearing this same agenda of old, po
litically charged "issues" dredged up
again and again without anyone pro
viding a convincing argument why
the Democrats' interpretation of
these events is any more valid than
the Republicans'.
Unfortunately, those who continu
ally stir this stale pot prefer to do so
from behind the scenes. I've heard
the same charges from unidentified
voices on the telephone. I've read it
in anonymous letters. The only thing
new in this version arc the insults
leveled at me for not putting their
politically correct spin on things.
If these folks really believe that
David Clegg and the former com
missioners arc guilty of a "conspira
cy" and an "illegal cover-up," why
don't they stand up at a commission
ers' meeting, present their case and
publicly demand a criminal investi
gation? Is it courage or evidence
they lack?
Guess what, folks? The election is
over. David Clegg is gone. New
commissioners are in control. If they
feel the county should pay off law
suits instead of defending against
them, they can do it today. If they
want to dismiss current appointees
and re-hire old employees, they can
do it tomorrow.
And if other people don't agree
and want to dismiss their elected of
ficials, they can do it in 558 days.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Writer Commends N
ew Board For Efforts To
To the editor:
I have read with considerable interest the letters and
articles blasting the new Brunswick County Com
missioners for the resignation of former County
Manager/Attorney David Clegg, and the outpouring of
praise for his qualifications and contributions to
Brunswick County. 1 think it is time to set the rccord
straight.
First, 1 believe that Mr. Clegg resigned on his own vo
lition, perhaps,\ because he disagreed with some policies
of the new commissioners. Let everyone understand that
these new commissioners were elected by a substantial
majority of the voters because the people wanted a
change. Lets also remember that the county manager,
county attorney and clerk to the board serve at the plea
sure of the board of commissioners by North Carolina
statute. It therefore would seem that if any of these ap
pointed people arc not willing to carry out the policies of
the commissioners, then they should resign; and, if not,
they should be dismissed because the board is answer
able to the people and not to the bureaucrats.
Now, if the board has asked Mr. Clegg to perform ille
gal acts as Mr. Donald Shaw has intimated, then lei's ask
the district attorney to investigate the validity of these
charges. If Mr. Shaw has knowledge of criminal activity,
he should come forth and testify under oath as to his
knowledge and accusations. Indeed, Mr. Clegg should
come forth with the truth instead of making veiled
threats in the newspaper. To do otherwise, I believe, is
conspiracy.
Let's now look at Mr. Clcgg"s performance as county
manager. When New Hanover County groups in con
junction with Takeda and Cape Industries indicated a de
sire to extend Uie Lower Cape Fear Watei & Scwci
Authority's raw water line to New Hanover, Mr. Clcgg,
our county manager and/or attorney, and also chairman
of the LCFWS Authority, ostensibly recommended to
the then commissioners that Brunswick County partici
pate financially in this project. 1 believe some investiga
tive reporting will find the board of commissioners vot
ed to send a "letter of intent" on Mr. Clegg's recommen
dation supporting this issue; however the "letter of in
tent" presented to and signed by the commissioner chair
man was actually a legal or illegal contract. No one 1
know, except perhaps Mr. Clcgg, could see any benefit
to Brunswick County by helping pay for a water line to
New Hanover County. Thankfully this contract was re
scinded and another signed.
Further, if Mr. Clcgg is so professional, why would he
advise the former board il.at it was legal to break an en
gineering firm's contract when he was well aware that
the action was definitely a political deed, and as an at
torney did or should have known the consequences.
Indeed, the court quickly ruled that the county had
wrongly broken the contract.
Further, The Brunswick Beacon reported that over
S2(X),(XM) had already been spent on Mr. Clegg's em
ployment of outside attorneys, expert witnesses, etc,
with the prospect of that amount or more being spent in
an appeal to defend a position on which the court has al
ready ruled that the county was wrong.
Let's look also for the source of these finds spent by
the county. North Carolina State law, I believe, requires
that finds be appropriated for specific types of expendi
tures. Transfer of finds may be made only by action of
the board of commissioners, and 1 do not recall any in
formation in any paper authorizing any transfers for spe
cific outside legal ices. Were they uikcn from other bud
getary iicms in an illegal cover-up attempt and/or to hide
the true cost to the county? Why not ask one of the new
commissioners?
It is to be assumed that Mr. Clcgg concurred with the
dismissal of several county employees, but did he advise
the then commissioners of the proper procedures and le
gal ramifications? One employee has already recovered,
from the county, $45,000, including his attorney fees
and monies due, through the courts. This docs not in
clude "outside" legal fees to defend the county in this
action.
Mr. Clcgg was reported to have said the entire amount
was "covered by insurance." However, I believe a little
investigative reporting will show this to be untrue. The
finds were taken from a "sales tax" account and accord
ing to one commissioner, he has no knowledge of any
budget amendments to rcccivc funds from an insurance
company for this purpose.
And what about the firing of these employees, who
were Democrats, several years ago by the then commis
sioners who were Republicans? This appeared to be
about as political as possible, and I certainly did not hear
any journalistic hue and cry because of this action.
Eric Carlson's recent articles were the most opinionat
ed and unprofessional pieces of journalism that I have
ever seen and were completely unfair to the commis
sioners as well as to the system. It flagrantly violates the
basic tenets of accuracy and objectivity of journalism.
But let's remember that Mr. Carlson receives his infor
mation primarily from the county employees who feed
him the information they want to, without mucn effort
on his part, to fili up whatever space is necessary in the
paper. His other source of information is primarily by
monitoring public events at which the political signifi
ward Change
cance is often not apparent or understood by Mr.
Carlson.
When the former board met, just prior to the assump
tion of officc by the new commissioners, and reappoint
ed many board members (a function heretofore normally
reserved for the incoming board) of their political per
suasion, was this not only political chicanery but also
boorish behavior and an insult to the citizens of
Brunswick County?
Where were the news reporters? Was this performed
at Mr. Clegg's recommendation , or was it a power grab
by Mr. Kelly Holdcn, Mr. Donald Shaw and Mr. Jerry
Jones to perpetuate their policies, perhaps, contrary to
the desires of the people? But no, these commissioners
allegedly abhor political conduct in the administration of
county government.
Mrs. (Irene) Kcllaghcr, who writes many letters to the
editor, one of which I read in The Brunswick Beacon
March 11, has never failed to have an unassailable opin
ion on just about any issue, but who thankfully is largely
ignored by those responsible for making meaningful de
cisions concerning our county.
I think it is time we gave our new commissioners a
chance to perform and gave a loud "hooray" to Mr.
Donald Warren, Mr. Tom Rabon and Mr. Wayland
Vereen for attempting to implement the change for
which they were elected. Certainly the continuing "bad
mouthing" without due cause is not helping our county.
We need their focus on the many problems we face and
if it means taking control of the government and dis
missing others who insist on "business as usual," then so
be it.
Shirley Hewctt. Holdcn Beach
(More Letters, Following Page)