Tw 2
A
City Attorney Mickey Corry
said Tuesday that in his opinion
council members Rick
Murphrey and Dean Spears ac-
cused of conflict of interest by
former city planner Gene White
did nothing wrong.
"The real issue is whether
conduct is that which gives the
appearance of impropriety,"
Corry wrote in a memorandum
to City Council this week.,
"It always seems that in poli-
tics, that matter gets dealt with
at the polls," he said.
In Corry's opinion, no con-
flicts of interest or illegal action
exists. ;
But Corry warned Council
that since it set a precedent in
Hot dog sale
to help fund
The Bethware Progressive
Club will sponsor a hot dog sale
to benefit the van fund for Billy
and Tabitha Byers Saturday,
Feb. 11 from 11 a.m-5 p.m. at
the Progressive Club, located on
the campus of Bethware School.
Hot dogs will be one dollar.
The club will also be accepting
donations for the van fund.
Billy and Tabitha, children of
‘Billy and Patricia Byers of
Kings Mcuntain, suffer from
~Battin's Disease, an incurable
disease that has left them inca-
pable of doing anything for
themselves. Since both are con-
fined to wheel chairs and cannot
be transported by car, a special-
equipped van is needed to trans-
port them to Duke Medical
Center for medical care.
A fund has been established
at First National Bank in
Shelby, and to date over
$10,000 of the $50,000 goal has
been raised. Anyone who can-
not attend the hot dog sale but
would like to donate to the fund
can send their donation to Van
Fund, Billy D. Byers Jr., First
National Bank, PO Box 168,
Shelby, NC 28151.
Rayford White, president of
the Progressive Club, said all of
the items needed for Saturday's
hot dog sale have been donated
by area merchants, thus all of
the proceeds from Saturday's
sale will be profit and will be
forwarded to the van fund.
Mr. and Mrs. Byers have in-
dicated that when the van is no
longer needed by their children, .
it will be passed on to another
family facing a similar crisis.
ttorney:
a controversial matter concern-
ing a developer that Council
must treat everyone alike.
White alleged that in January
1994 Murphrey and Spears de-
manded that Jim Lybrand be
reimbursed for water and sewer
lines installed outside the city
limits, which is illegal, he said,
under a city statute.
White also charged that their
votes on matters that directly in-
volved two industries repre-
sents a conflict of interest.
Spears once held stock in
Ruppe, Dixon and Spears, a
parent company of Ruppe
Hosiery which owes the city
$120,000 because of a utility
underbilling. Murphrey is vige
Rev. and Mrs. Wray Barret
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o conilict of interest
president of sales of Spectrum,
the city's biggest water user.
Corry said that Murphrey's
voting on matters broadly in-
volving his employer did not
create a conflict of interest and
that, if taken in that context, all
council members would at some
point be involved in a conflict
of interest.
"It cannot be denied that there
may be occasions where the
employer of Murphrey may
benefit from a vote he might
make but if such a vote deals
with a class, that being all of the
industrial citizens, then I cannot
assert that such is a conflict of
interest," Corry wrote.
"All of you have occasion to
tes
actually been sweethearts since the third grade.
Barretts sweethearts since 3rd grade
‘The Valentine love bug bit Wray and Irene
Barrett when they were in the third grade at
Bethware School.
Every Valentine Day since and during their 60
years of married life the well-known retired pas-
tor and his wife count their blessings for their
four children, eight grandchildre
grandchildren and for scores of friends in the
churches they have served.
In this day and time when wedded bliss often
incurs troubles along the way, the Barretts are ex-
amples of how couples can live together in a give
and take situation and happily.
"We never had a fuss and always were too busy
for problems," said Mrs. Barrett,
McMurray.
"And we have been Christians since age 12
when we joined Pleasant Hill Baptist Church at
Kings Mountain People
tablished their ''Valentine' home 60 years ago, but they have
vote on matters which are of
concern to you.
"If only matters which were
not of concern to you were vot-
ed upon, there likely would be
an abstaining of votes almost
100 percent of the time."
Corry said he was not pre-
sent for discussions last January
with the developer and former
manager George Wood and
White but he said he thought
the discussions show the situa-
tion was unique. He said he
thinks Murphrey and Spears
acted out of concern for a con-
stituent.
White claims Murphrey and
Spears skirted a city water/sew-
er code to financially benefit a
the same time," said Barrett.
During the early days of their marriage on
December 26, 1934 times were hard. Barrett split
n and five great- home in 1974.
the former Irene
cordwood for 50 cents a day and borrowed $20
from a friend to start housekeeping on a farm
which he owns today and where he built his new
"Irene and I were still newlyweds when an ac-
cident occurred that could have been disastrous,”
said Barrett. Plowing with a single-footed plow
stock, Barrett tried to tighten it with a ballpoint
hammer, missed the bolt and the hammer struck
Irene in the head and knocked her to the ground.
Barrett thought he had killed his bride but
luckily she suffered only a headache that stopped
the corn stalk cutting and plowing for the day.
See Barretts, 14-A
developer. Both Spears and
Murphrey vehemently denied
the charges which were leveled
by White during last Tuesday's
Council meeting which spilled
over into Wednesday morning.
White said that on January
14, 1994 Murphrey and Spears
questioned a city policy regard-
ing reimbursements to develop-
er Lybrand who was building
Downing Subdivision near KM
Country Club.
Under the current policy, the
city reimburses developers for
50 percent of water and sewer
line installation costs inside the
city limits. But for installation
outside the city limits, the de-
veloper is required to pay all the
Over one-fourth of the names
of voters required to petition
City Council to shorten terms of
the mayor and city council from
four to two years were obtained
Friday and Monday by former
city planner Gene White.
White said he is receiving
good response from citizens.
"Folks told me again and
again they are concerned about
higher utility bills and their ac-
curacy on Friday and Monday
as I sat in the lobby of City Hall
and watched them pay their
monthly bills," he said.
"Many on fixed incomes
with only two people living in a
house say their utility bills have
doubled," said White.
"I have known during my ca-
reer what it is to live from pay
check to pay check and I am
concerned,” he said.
White said that 413 names or
10 percent of the city's regis-
tered voters are required to call
for the change but that he has
set a goal of 500 names on the
petition which must be verified
for authenticity by the
Cleveland County Board of
Elections.
The 22-year retired veteran of
city government is shooting for
an early date to present the peti-
tion to City Council since terms
of the mayor and three of the
seven city council members are
up in October. The modifica-
tion of terms of office must be
approved by the US Justice
Department.
"The two year terms would
be staggered.
See Petition, 14-A
costs. White said Murphrey and
Spears wanted to exempt
Lybrand form the policy be-
cause the city limits were close
to the subdivision.
When White disagreed,
"Spears said I should be fired."
White recalled, "He said you
have done nothing here and
should have been fired five
years ago."
On January 25, Council ap-
proved the rebate to Lybrand
but White said they were misled
by Spears and Murphrey who
had just taken office in
December 1993.
White asked Council last
See Conflict, 14-A
White circulating petition
Mayor's budge
being reviewe
Mayor Scott Neisler's pro-
posed 1994-95 city budget
which he claims would roll over
recently passed tax and water
rate hikes has been sent to gov-
ernment consultants with the
Institute of Government and
Local Government Commission
to review.
The mayor mailed the pro-
posals Friday along with recom-
mendations of City Manager
Chuck Nance which support the
budget now in place and bal-
ance sheets for the last three
months of 1994,
"I wrote Robert High,
Chairman of the Local
Government Commission, that I
was concerned that two repre-
sentatives of his department
have been negative about my
proposal before they looked at
it," said Neisler, referring to
last Tuesday's City Council
meeting at which he questioned
the LGC's Vance Holliman and
Craig Barfield who said it
would probably take two or
three years of conservative bud-
gets and other measures for the
city to get back on sound finan-
cial footing.
' see nothing to be overly op-
timistic about," Holliman said
to a packed City Council meet-
ing which spilled into
Wednesday morning.
Spectators filled council
chambers for the latest round :
See Mayor, 14-A
bilia.
Fifty years after World War II a Kings Mountain man's 400-page novel about life in the military makes
fascinating reading. Retired M/Sgt. Jim Todd relaxes in his home with books and other WWII memora-
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Jim Todd found adventure in
the United States Air Force.
The retired Kings Mountain
man's 400-page novel of life in
the military is not yet published
but it makes fascinating read-
ing.
Young men and women aspit-
ing for a military career could
take valuable lessons 50 years
after World War II from
"Follow The Sun," a story of a
man's love of God, family,
country and fellowman.
Todd, 77, has carried his ser-
vice ID card with pride for 55
years and his military "guide,"
as he likes to describe his book,
began in 1938 when he was a
18-year-old "dogface" soldier.
Relaxing with his books and
WWII memorabilia in his com-
fortable N. Piedmont Avenue
home, Todd chose his book title
from his travels around the sun,
at least once around the world
and to all the Islands, Tasmania,
China, India, Japan and
Airman recalls war experiences
JIM TODD
Europe.
Todd admits to being hung up
on history and travel. His first
wife of 42 years, the late
Martha Kincaid Todd of
Bessemer City. traveled with
him to many of his duty sta-
tions. Nine years ago he mar-
ried Margie Putnam and
moved from Bessemer City to
Kings Mountain. They still like
to travel and Hawaii, before and
after the big war, Germany and
Colorado are favorite vacation
spots. A Sunday School teacher
at Bessemer City First United
Methodist Church, Jim is also a
Mason. Legionnaire and VFW
member.
Coming out of service in
1959 before Desert Storm, Todd
found civilian life boring com-
pared to the excitement and
glamour of the armed forces.
Books of philosophy and his-
tory line the shelves of his
home library which is also
filled with autographed pictures
and letters from movie star
Shirley Temple Black and
General Westmoreland, among
others.
Sixteen decorations including
the Medal for Humane Action
during the Berlin Airlift and the
National Chinese War
Memorial Medal from the
See Todd, 2-A
Eo es tse —