Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Oct. 21, 1993, edition 1 / Page 4
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Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Lynn S. Carlson Managing Editor Susan Usher JVetus Editor Doug Rutter Sports Editor Eric Carlson Staff Writer Peggy Earwood Office Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director Tlmberley Adams, Cecelia Gore and Linda Cheers Advertising Representatives Dorothy Brennan and Brenda Clemmons Moore ..Graphic Artists William Manning Pressman Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman David White Photo Technician PAGE 4 -A, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1993 Blame General Assembly For Strife Relating To Proposed Smoking Regs An omission in state statutes apparently allows county health board members an escape hatch not available to the county com missioners who appoint them. Elected officials, unless they have permission and a legitimate excuse, may not abstain from voting. That loophole came to light in Brunswick County Oct. 11 when Dr. Harry Johnson abstained from voting on some tough proposed countywide smoking regulations for no reason better than his being "in the middle of a dilemma." Even though it seems unfair to the citizens he agreed to represent, the doctor ap parently was within his legal rights when he hedged on the ques tion. Members of the county board of commissioners. General Assembly and other elective bodies may abstain from voting on ly if they have a personal financial interest in the outcome of a vote, and then only with the consent of a majority of the other board members. Otherwise, if a member refuses to vote on a mo tion of the board, the abstention is counted as a vote in favor of the motion. Dr. Johnson probably wasn't the only health board member in the state who pulled the lever on that trap door. Jeff Koeze, a N.C. Institute of Government expert on state laws governing health boards, said he received inquiries "five or six times" about abstentions since local regulators began considering smoking control ordinances. Health boards across the state were thrust into the public eye as they drafted and sometimes passed ordinances aimed at beat ing the Oct. 15 deadline imposed by the state legislature under which localities were prohibited from enacting stricter guidelines than those passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. Under the new law, public buildings must set aside at least 20 percent of their enclosed area for smokers. Because Brunswick County passed no regulations of its own, that law is now in effect here. No matter how you feel about the public consumption of to bacco, there were some lessons to oe learned trom this whole process. First of all, if you want somewhere to place blame for the controversy Brunswick County experienced over whether and how to regulate smoking, start with the General Assembly. Its ex traordinarily ill-conceived law forced health board members all over the state to devise, in a matter of weeks, proposals which common sense would dictate needed a longer time time to evolve and allow competing interests to reach common ground. If the legislators didn't learn anything else by watching many counties deeply divided over the smoking issue, maybe they'll learn to say no the next time a piece of legislation this booby trapped comes their way. Also, maybe they'll see the wisdom of closing the loophole that allows appointed officials to abstain from votes which make them uncomfortable. Last week's health board vote is a reminder that appointed officials can wield as much power over the lives and livelihood of citizens as their elective counterparts do. Being "in the middle of a dilemma" is part of that job. The escape hatch of abstention should be sealed off. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Nonsmokers, Liberals, Media Among Interest Groups, Too To the editor: I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the health board members (Don Warren, Bruce Quaintance, Pa trick Newton and Arthur Knox) for their vote against the smoking ban. These men should be applauded for their courage. When Eric Carlson spoke of the powerful special interest groups, he left out the nonsmokers, the media and all the liberals (including the medical people) who want to tell everybody what's right and what's wrong and demand that all comply with their decisions. The members who voted for the band and the special interest groups listed above will probably find some back-door way to change this vote Write Us We welcome your letters to the editor. Letters must include your address and telephone number. (This information is for verifica tion purposes only; we will not publish your street/mailing ad dress or phone number.) Letters must be typed or written legibly. Address letters to: The Brunswick Beacon P.O. Box 2558 Shallot* NC 28459 Anonymous letters will not be published. before you get this letter. We will see. I will never do business or contact any of the ones who voted for this ban again. A special thanks to Dr. Harry Johnson for not voting at all and putting a stop to what was sup posed to be a done deal. I will shed one tear for the media, the nonsmokers and' the liberals if they cannot find a way to change this vote. I know they are working hard to do just that. C.M. Rusch Supply Out, Darned Spot To the editor: How long as Doug Rutter been sports editor? Better yet, how long has he lived in the coastal area? Unless my eyes are playing a rather nasty trick on me, the fish that the young lady on page 14-B of the Oct. 14 edition is holding is a pom pano and not a spot. Shame, shame, shame. Don O. Stanley Ash EDITOR 'S NOTE: Doug Rutter replies, "Unless my eyes are deceiv ing me, the credit under that picture says 'by Lynn Carlson.'" Lynn Carlson replies, "The kid said it was a spot, and I don 't know from fish. " Nonetheless, consider us duly ashamed. (More Letters, Following Page) This Domestic War Relates To Health, Too "Write lo Congress or kiss your supplements goodbye!" So claims a pamphlet 1 received recently when 1 went to purchase my regular six-month supply of ly sine. the amino acid that, when tak en regularly, seems to help reduce the number of fever sores I suffer through each year. There's another health care war going on in D.C. that many of us aren't noticing. Do Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to take away or restrict access to your favorite dietary supplements? Should it? By dietary supplements, we're talking about the multivitamins adults and kids swallow as part of their morning ritual, along with min erals. amino acids and herbs or com binations of the above, typically sold in drug stores and health food stores, over the counter, to supplement the diet. These products include every thing from papaya enzymes to skunk cabbage root and oat grass. The answers to these questions depend upon who's talking. At the heart of the issue are efforts to amend the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act as its relates to di etary supplements, which are neither foods nor, generally speaking, food additives. The idea behind the law was to help protect consumers from dishon est claims and unsafe products. I ? IT mm ?4 Susan Usher To hear the supplement industry talk, the FDA is tyrannical, out to deprive consumers of choice, to put an end to all self-care, and to jack up health care costs at a time when there is a national agenda to reduce health care costs. This "kiss your supplements goodbye" group insists that if the FDA has its way, the only way we'll be able to get many items is by prescription. TTiat is a mistake, they claim with some degree of merit, because the medical community receives little if any formal training in nutrition and diet or in alternative medicine or self-treatment. Insufficient formal research has been done to document benefit claims. On the other hand, the FDA and its supporters paints the agency as near-angelic, out to protect innocent, hopeful consumers with truth in la beling and production guidelines. The bad guys from the FDA's point of view: companies that make supplements without proper quality controls and manufacturing prac lices. and/or market them without being able to document that these supplements 1) do what they claim; or 2) have any health benefit what soever; and without indicating to consumers any possible adverse side effects that may result from usage. The issue is important, given that over the counter vitamin and miner al sales a! one are a $3 billion retail business. Industry supporters are sponsor ing bills in the House and Senate (S.784 and H.R. 1709) which would limit PDA control over the labels as well as the agency's power to re move supplements that it considers unsafe. These bills would restore control over health claims to the manufacturers, based on "the totali ty" of scientific evidence, with no FDA approval required. The FDA can now condemn un safe food supplements as unap proved drugs or food additives, but the two industry-backed bills would preclude this. A compromise bill (H.R. 2923) is being supported by groups such as the American Cancer Society and the AARP, as wefl as the general medical community, citing safety concerns. This bill provides that the standards and procedures applicable to health claims for supplements be the same as those for conventional foods, with expiration dates and in formation regarding any potential adverse effects. Under certain cir cumstances the label must provide specific information about any ad verse effects on affected popula tions, such as the elderly. Dietary ingredients in use as of Aug. 6 would be deemed safe, if manufacturers can show that the in gredient is safe using either scientif ic procedures or experience based on common ?se. The bill also would require the FDA to review the safety of all dietary ingredients currently in use. The ingredients could continue to be marketed, pending results of the review. They would have to be taken off the market if the FDa\ decides a particular ingredient is not generally recognized as safe. We consumers have to trust some body. In this case our choices arc fairly limited: Do we trust the peo ple who make and sell supplements, or the people who want to more closely regulate their manufacture and sale? I can't tell you the answers, but this I do believe: neither side is pro viding information that is as straightforward as 1, as a supplement user, need to read. I'm trying to wade through the information, and I hope you will too. If supplements are of interest to you, get more information on ALL the legislation now pending in Congress, and look into the issue for yourself before deciding whose bill(s) to support. N.c. RAB/?s fc.PI VEM/C > f t =1 m\ I !3ARBf ?IW CAROLINA 3 CARTOONS IN SEWAGE AS IN LIFE... Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself Unless you happen to live in Calabash, you probably don't pay much attention to what goes on down there. Most people think of Calabash as a place to retire, to play golf, to eat fried seafood or some combination of the three. But folks in other Brunswick County municipalities might want to keep an eye on Calabash. Because they are dealing with a lot of social pressures and political issues that are likely to crop up in other towns, if they haven't already. All vacation area populations seem to be split into two factions: the natives and the newcomers, with subtle tensions between those who want to do things "like we've al ways done them" and others who feci that there is a better method, specifically "the way we used to do things back home." Now that uie Berlin Wall has crumbled, there is probably no place where you'll find a population more neatly divided than in Calabash. District 1, commonly called "Old Calabash," encompasses the down town commercial district, the water front and the homes of long-time residents. Folks there are interested in seeing their town grow and their businesses prosper. They have two seats on the town board. District 2 is largely comprised of the sprawling Carolina Shores golf course subdivision. Most folks there have retired after successful careers elsewhere and are predominantly in terested in preserving the beauty and tranquility that attracted them here. They have five seats on the town board. While the relationship has never been easy, the two groups have usu ally been able to maintain an uneasy Erk .Cj*^ Carlson Wp , truce. That is until strict enforce ment of the sign ordinance ? sup ported by folks that have to look at them ? was vehemently opposed by the folks who need them to advertise their businesses. That issue brought demands, and even proposed legislation, to split the town in two ? which would have left District ! with 2 sharply reduced tax base and District 2 with no voice in the development of a neighboring business district where its residents eat and shop. Luckily for both sides, that controversy seems to have sub sided. Today the question on everyone's mind is how best to provide sewer service to the downtown area. And again, there are ominous signs that some people in Calabash have drawn their pistols and are taking careful aim at their own feet. Representatives of both districts say they support sewer service for downtown Calabash, where the old septic-tank systems are an environ mental time bomb. They say they recognize that central sewerage might be a costly now, but not near ly as expensive as the clean-up that would eventually be demanded by state and federal regulators. For more than a year, the town commissioners have been spending considerable money to study their options and to move toward a solu tion of the problem. After consider ing and rejecting several proposals, they decided that the best approach was to join the town of Sunset Beach in a joint venture to serve both towns. Consultants say the town is within a hair's breadth of qualifying for $15 million in federal and state grants and loans to build the region al system. A joint sewer authority has been set up to operate it without obligating the tax base of either town, allowing all expenses to be paid for by the system users. Unfortunately, the old rivalries have again reared their ugly heads as residents begin to consider other plans. A lot of folks in District 2 want the town to buy the sewage system that serves Carolina Shores and expand it to serve downtown Calabash. And now a third proposal has sur faced, calling for the creation of a Calabash Sanitary District similar to the one in Leland. Details of this plan are to be presented at an up coming town board meeting. Finally, a town meeting has been scheduled for the citizens to consider all three proposals. Which is all fine and good. Creating and paying for a central sewer system will effect both dis tricts and everyone should have a voice in how it is done. Calabashers need to keep the fu ture in mind during this process. One way or another, the downtown area MUST and eventually WILL get sewer service. And whatever system is built, sewer service WILL create growth, as established busi nesses expand and new ones are al lowed to be built. But that is not something to fear. The Calabash Planning and Zoning Board has done an admirable job of totally revamping the town's growth-control ordinances, assuring that an invigorated Calabash will de velop in an orderly fashion. This inevitable growth will create new demands on whatever sewer system the town decides to create. So the most important question to be asked about any of the three propos als is: Will it take us far enough? Or will we have to go through all this again in 10 years? 1 fear that there are a few selfish people in Calabash who will try to put stumbling blocks in front of any sewer proposal in the misguided be lief that they can slow development. Those folks should consider the plight of Dare County, which had a chance to build a sewer system in the 1970s, when governments were shoveling huge amounts of free money at such projects. Now, after a decade in which Dare was the state's fastest growing county (unhindered by the lack of a sewage system), they are faced with spending a lot more of their own money to build one. One Calabash commissioner re cently told me in private that the major concern he had heard from folks in Carolina Shores was that downtown growth would bring more traffic and make it harder to pull out onto Main Street. I was shocked to think that people who have already made their for tunes and retired to an area they found attractive might be more con cerned about a little inconvenience on their daily jaunts downtown than they are about the well being of neighbors who live and work there. Please, say it ain't so.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 21, 1993, edition 1
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