Ee ———
Member
North Carolina Press Association
Vol. 107 No. 44
“| Mountaineers
- play-off bound
City Council
runoff Tuesday
Grover election may have
write-in votes for mayor
GROVER - The mayor's race will be the
hottest item on the ticket Tuesday in the mu-
nicipal election in spite of the fact that only
incumbent mayor Ronald Queen's name is
on the ballot.
Supporters of Ex-Mayor Bill McCarter
are waging a write-in campaign and letters
were being circulated this week by a group
headed by Evelyn Willis.
McCarter said that he ‘had planned to file
during the recent filing period but he had to
have back surgery and he wanted to wait un-
til after the surgery to make political plans.
"The doctor has given me a clean bill of
health and I'm ready to get back in if citi-
zens want me," he said this week.
McCarter served 16 years as mayor (from
1975-91) and previously was on the town
board 34 years beginning in 1957. He de-
feated Dean Westmoreland with a write-in
vote in 1977.
Queen says he is running on his record
and cited the Cops Fast grant for $75,000
over a three year period for a full-time po-
lice officer and the repairing of streets,
paving of streets in front of the stores on
Main Street, replacing of water lines, and
upgrading of the Grover park as major
Kings Mountain voters will go to the
polls Tuesday, putting an end to campaign-
ing and speculation for the mayor's job and
two seats on City Council.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30
p.m. at the two voting places: East Kings
Mountain at the Community Center and
West Kings Mountain at the National Guard
Armory.
In Kings Mountain, the mayor's race is
the most talked about, with the incumbent,
Scott Neisler, vigorously challenged for his
seat by a former commissioner, Jim
Childers.
The other hot races are for the two seats
on the board where incumbents are facing
their strongest challenges in recent memory.
At-Large Councilwoman Norma Bridges is
being challenged by political newcomer and
restaurant owner Wendel! Bunch.
Incumbent Jim Guyton in Ward 2 is being
challenged by Jerry Mullinax, seeking his
second bid for public office. Guyton and
Mullinax garnered the exact number of
votes in the October election that saw 1,550
voters turn up at the polls. On October 10
only incumbent Phil Hager in Ward I was a
clear winner.
Both Neisler and Bridges led their oppo-
nents October 10.
Among the issues cited by the candidates
were. attracting new business, improving
the city's appearance and pursuing a conser-
Thursday, November 2, 1995
“Pick The Winners”
McCARTER
FOR GROVER BOARDY FOR WARD2
HERNDON
RONALD
QUEEN
SCOTT JIM
NEISLER CHILDERS
MULLINAX GUYTON
HEATHER
LUGE FOR AT LARGE
acligvgments of his administration. He said
oat votes to contract for taps
Whether or not to get a written agreement from the
Cleveland County Sanitary Water District for a two-
inch tap took up the major part of the meeting of City
Council Tuesday night.
Water/Wastewater Department head Walt Ollis said
the city asks for no contracts except for water to outly-
ing areas, such as Grover and Bessemer City, and he
thought it unnecessary to get the transaction in writing.
: But Councilmen Jerry White and Dean Spears
joined utilities commissioner Jim Guyton in pushing
for something in writing.
"We all know of instances where the city needed
something in writing especially after a department
head moves on or retires and we had nothing to back
up our memory of the transaction," said Guyton.
White and Spears agreed.
Council voted unanimously, 6-0, to contract for a 2-
inch tap to a city meter at the Pilot Creek Wastewater
Treatment Plant at cost of $1800 plus $2,000 for the
pipe. Councilman Ralph Grindstaff was absent.
Ollis said his department is currently buying dis-
tilled water to run tests at the plant. The city's meter is,
close to the county water line.
In a related matter, the board let the low bid to
Stranco Manufacturing Co. for chlorinator/sulfonator
controls at the Pilot Creek plant.
Council spent about an hour Tuesday night authoriz-
ing expenditures, most of which were budgeted. They
IS HE ON OR OFF? [Kies Mountain Peorle
Williams vowed to stay on DSS
but didn't attend Monday meeting
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Department of Social Services, was
county members removed him he said.
from the board.
unanimously to remove Williams,
next year, the Fallston man has care.
incident.
and law enforcement personnel
Dickson and Crawford were on the
Gilbert was in the audience. tody.
DSS Program Director Bob
Hensley updated the "Families for
Kids™ grant received from the
Aja
i. aie tax. policy. :
Kellogg Foundation and designed
to revamp the foster care system.
Robert A. Williams, the contro- He also reported on a forum on
versial member of the Board of the , foster care he attended in Raleigh.
"What a difference it makes in a
a no-show at Monday's meeting he judicial decision when the judge
had vowed to attend even after thinks through the eyes of a child,"
Hensley says the Kellogg pro-
Since commissioners voted gram has a goal of greater family
support for families in crisis and
whose term doesn't expire until one case worker per child in foster
He said the goal is to return
been charged twice on assault the child to his biological parents
charges during a reported domestic after a year, or to relatives avail-
able or if necessary to pursue ter-
Newspaper and TV reporters mination of parental rights.
Hensley said that two experi-
headed by Sheriff Dan Crawford enced members of the DSS staff
made up the majority of people at- will head up the program and state
tending Monday's meeting. County management tams will come to
Commission chairman Cecil Shelby for workshops.
Another goal is to reduce the
front row and commissioner Ralph backlog of 66 children in DSS cus-
"A special needs child is hard to
See Williams, 2-A
stipulated that the various department heads asking for
the funds "find the money."
Authorized in expenditures:
The bid of $45,000 by SVBK of Charlotte for a rate
study of all four city utilities and based on the group's
recent experience with the city auditing electric utili-
ties. The firm had originally bid $53,000 but agreed to
do the work for the budgeted amount. The low bidder
for a rate study on all four utilities was PM Associates,
$30,485.
Allocated $14,000 for emergency roof repairs at the
old Kings Mountain Post Office and directed Public
Works Supt. Karl Moss and his staff to place tarp over
the flat part of the building to keep out the rain.
Interim Planning Director Jeff Putnam presented four
bids for the job ranging from $8,800 to $14,340 but
Council asked the city staff to prepare bid sheets again
and detail exactly in a formal package to area roofers
what the city expected, whether rubberized, paint and
replace glass in the dome, etc. Two of the bids were
dated July 24 and two were dated in October.
Authorized Putnam and Benchmark Inc. to submit
an application for a single family rehabilitation grant
to fix up 15 dwellings in only owner-occupied homes
to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency at fee
of $100 and agreed that if the $200,000 grant for hous-
See Election, 11-A
Photo by Gary Stewart
When Kings Mountain High FHA members went
to White Oak Manor Tuesday to distribute
Halloween treats, they found at least one resident -
Mildred Sheppard - who was in the spirit of
Halloween. Ms. Sheppard dressed as a witch and
greeted many residents and guests. Students, left to
right, are Dana Boheler, Krystal Stroup and April
Moore.
Win $100.00
Football Contest
Since 1889
Kings Mountain, N.C. » 28086 * 50¢
EXE IEE Clevemont
closing
costly
Over 400 to lose jobs,
city to lose $1.2 million
By ELIZABETH STEWART
City Manager Gary Hicks has ordered a hiring and
spending freeze in the wake of the announcement this
week that one of the city's major utility customers is
shutting down and the loss in annual water, sewer, gas
and electric revenues to the city will top $1.2 million.
"The bottom line is that Kings Mountain has no
money in reserves to cushion these losses and I have
told every Department head to cut back," Hicks said
Tuesday after Clevemont Mills officials informed him
Monday that the Fruit of the Loom is shutting down
and laying off over 400 employees.
"We certainly have empathy for these people who
will be without jobs," Hicks said.
"It's time for Kings Mountain citizens to quit kid-
ding themselves. We do have a financial problem."
Finance Director Maxine Parsons said the city's pre-
vious two budgets had been an attempt to get the city
in a position to weather a catastrophic event and get
some money into the reserve funds.
"Now we are below square one," said Hicks.
Hicks said City Council has no plans to raise rates
or city services in this budget year.
"We will have to cut expenditures to match the rev-
nies, that's the bottom line." ne
The last hiring and spending freeze was initiated fob
three months by then-interim Manager Parsons in
March 1994 .
- Hicks said that the city's loss in revenue for the i in-
week Council put off for 60 days a decision on passing.
on the supplier's costs.
Meantime, former mayor John Henry Moss, presic
dent of the Consortium for Progress, has called a spe-
cial'meeting for November 13 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to ~
name a task-force to begin work immediately to recruit =
a replacement industry in Kings Mountain and a com- =
mittee to help Clevemont workers get a job. He said =
that city and county officials, and the interested public, -
are encouraged to attend.
"I am saddened by the announcement of =
Clevemont's closing," said Moss, who was one of the =
key organizers in the effort to recruit Fruit of the Loom =
to Kings Mountain nearly 20 years ago.
Kings Mountain Mayor Scott Neisler said the clos-
ing is a sad indication that the North American Free -
Trade Agreement is slowly strangling the U. S. textile
industry.
"I believe it will be a trend," said Neisler. "And it's™
sad because we basically got sold out because of NAF-
TA."
Neisler said the departure of Clevemont will hurt
Kings Mountain.
"But it won't be a death blow," he said. "We're not a
one industry town. We're just going to tighten our.
belts."
Al Moretz, a former city commissioner and a mem-
ber of the Cleveland County Economic Development
Commission, said EDC will make it a priority to find a
company to buy or lease Clevemont Mills.
See Clevemont, i1-A
BROADUS ELAM
Home.
to do.
fai Rest Home.
Painting pleasant memory
for KM's Broadus Elam, 87
By ELIZABETH STEWART versity dining hall in Blacksburg,
Of The Herald Staff Va. but with the beginning of
When his Army General told World War II he went to Camp
him to paint 40 miles of US Army Shelby, Mississippi with a crew of
tent frames during World War II 300 painters to paint one of the
Broadus Elam snapped to attention. largest army camps in the country
Now 87, Elam's imagination that took three years.
and creativity are qualities that en-
dure him to family and new ac-
quaintances at Countrytime Rest on the job ‘until one of the head
On quiet days Elam's thoughts me to look over the next hill at the
return to those long-ago days when work I had not seen. There were
he had to figure out how to do the 52,000 tent frames in an arca 20
job the big General had told him miles each way," he said.
The Kings Mountain man's frames and I knew I needed four
large-scale painting carcer began at Model A cars and a shop to rebuild
the encouragement of his father the cars.”
who was a bookkeeper for J. A.
Jones, builder of culverts for the built the four units he needed,
Southern Railway. J
"I was just a young fella out of the end of each rear axle. Two 60
school and wanted to get off the feet hoses and two 40 fect hoses
farm and earn some money," said reached around the tents on cach
Elam, a resident of Countrytime side of the road. Onc man drove
His first job was painting a uni-
Elam continues the story:
"I thought I was doing very well
men came to my shop and advised
"The General said to paint the
Elam said a shop in Hattiesburg
added a 50 gallon pressure tank on
See Elam, 11-A
Biel
IT
A