A
an
July 12, 2001
. The Kings Mountain Herald
Page 3A
Commissioners to consider scioor
district representation plan
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
District representation was a
topic on the minds of the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners at its last meet-
ing.
The topic, which was last
brought up in 1992, was part of
the board’s goals they discussed
in February, according to
Chairperson Willie McIntosh.
“At this point, we're trying to
bring back up the history,”
McIntosh said. “At one time
they had a workable solution
that all parties agreed on.”
McIntosh said the current
board is contacting members of
the 1992 Board of
Commissioners to get its input
on the topic.
No action was taken from the
‘92 Board of Commissioners
concerning district representa-
tion. 3 2
“We Fave to have something
that we can bring to the public,”
McIntosh said.
McIntosh said he wanted to
talk to the ‘92 board to see what
they went through, and draw
from that. He said he wants to
find out everything before they
bring it to a vote, which could
come possibly in August.
“We have to have something
we can introduce to the public,”
McIntosh said. “Everyone
wants to feel like theyre repre-
sented.”
Nothing would change if the
public voted against the issue.
“If not, we would stay where
we are,” McIntosh said. “We
need to have our homework
done before we introduce any-
thing to the public.”
Commissioner Ronnie
Hawkins, who motioned for the
issue to be studied during the
Tuesday meeting, said it was
one of the things he based his
campaign on.
“I asked the commissioners
for a work session in August to
tell us the procedure to use,”
Hawkins said.
Hawkins said he wanted to
have a committee formed of
BEN LEDBETTER/THE HERALD
Lifeguard Meredith Ware watches over a group of children at the
YMCA pool recently. The children were part of a week-long camp
at the YMCA.
various individuals, mayors of
municipalities, Board of
Election Officials and the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People.
The issue would be voted on
in a non-binding referendum,
and if it is a sucess, enacted the
following year.
“The commissioners need to
stay out of it, other then to do
what the people say,” Hawkins
said. “It would lessen the way
the committee could look at it.”
A balanced geographic repre-
sentation was one reason
Hawkins said the county needs
district representation.
“There has not been a good
breakdown of representatives
from all over the county,”
Hawkins said.
Richard Hooker, who serves
as an Executive Board Member
for the NAACP and as a mem-
ber of the Shelby City School
Board, agreed.
Hooker said, with the elec-
tions of Mary Accor and
Mcintosh, the issue has shifted
from a racial issue to a geo-
graphic issue.
“There is now a track record
that can justify that African
Americans and other minorities
can be elected from a county
wide standpoint, “ Hooker said.
Cleveland County Board of
Elections Director Debra
Blanton said district representa-
tion would allow more people
to feel they're being heard.
“When you can reduce the
number of people represented
within a limited area, the peo-
ple feel they have a chance to
get their opinions across,”
Blanton said.
Several county boards in
North Carolina have a form of
district representation.
Mecklenburg County elects
six members of its board of
commissioners by districts and
three others at large. Guilford
County elects nine districts and
two are at large.
Cumberland County elects
five members from two districts
and two are elected at-large.
COACH
He is not to reside in a
household with minor children
except his own.
He is not to engage in any
sexual behavior with any minor
child under the age of 18.
He is to report to his proba-
tion officer to provide a blood
sample or DNA testing and pay
the cost of the testing.
He is not to use, possess, con-
trol, distribute, sell, exchange or
collect child pornography or
erotica.
He is not to access any type
of child pornography or erotica
via computer technology.
He is not to reside in a home
with internet access.
He is to submit to warrant-
less searches and seizures by
the probation officer of his per-
son, vehicle and premises for
the purposes of detecting or
discovering child pornography
or child erotica which are rea-
sonably related to his probation
supervision.
He is to pay for the victim's
outpatient psychological treat-
ment by certified mental health
professionals, approved by the
court, not to exceed $250 per
month or a total of $15,000 dur-
ing his 60-month probation pe-
riod.
He is to surrender his teach-
ing certificate to the North
Carolina Department of
Education. He is not to seek or
obtain employment as a teacher
in a public or private institution
in any grade K-12 during his
supervision, nor is he to engage
in any other employment where
he would have contact with mi-
nor children.
BOARD
From 1A
pointment, the majority of the
Board will be made up of per-
sons who were not elected by
the voters.
Filing for the outside city
seats held by Jerry Blanton _
and Terry McClain, as well as
the at-large member that will
be appointed Monday, is now
under way at the Cleveland
County Board of Elections and
will continue through 12 noon
‘Friday, August 3.
- At the Herald's presstime,
no one had filed for the School
Board. Elections Board
Chairman said Gaston County
residents who also live inside
the city limits of Kings
~ Mountain are eligible to file
for the at-large seat, but they
must file in Cleveland County.
KINGS eral 1
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WHITE
FromdA
Kings Mountain recently
passed one of the most strin-
gent gaming/ zoning ordi-
nances in the state. Over the
past several weeks KMPD has
issued a number of summons to
persons affiliated with video
poker machines that the City
Codes Department has ruled in
violation of zoning ordinances.
“I can’t say it was the video
poker people because I can't
prove it,” White said. “ButI do
think this is a personal retalia-
tion against me and my family
and this is a specific warning to
the mayor and city manager
and other council members that
some people are saying they
should be exempt from the rule
of law. But this type of thing
never works. This i is doomed to
fail, simply because 99.9 percent
of the people in town ate not
going to tolerate this type of
thing. It’s a simple matter of,
oy AP Jt
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are you going to have criminals
running the town or a responsi-
ble administration running the
town?”
White is encouraging anyone
with information about this lat-
est incident to call either Det.
Proctor or Chief Houston Corn
at the KMPD, 734-0444.
“The reward is $500 at this
point and I hope that more con-
tributions will be made to the
fund,” White said.”I am calling
on citizens to speak out in this
matter,” he said. “This is a di-
rect and arrogant attack upon
the rule of law. The city of
Kings Mountain has made great
strides in recent years. We can’t
go backward. This criminal be-
havior is unacceptable. Every
citizen should be outraged.”
Det. Proctor said, depending
upon what the investigation de-
termines, charges in this case
could run from a simple misde-
meanor charge such as harass-
ment to a federal felony charge
if it is determined that the ex-
plosives used were illegal to
possess in North Carolina.
we will
Member SIPC
Edward Jones
Serving Individual Investors Since 1871
Allen said Stewart is “very
organized and is structured in
her planning and implementa-
tion of the plans. We feel that
will serve well the needs of the
middle school.”
Stewart, who has been em-
ployed by KMDS since 1976
and held assistant principal's
positions at KMMS and Grover
Elementary prior to being pro-
moted to Curriculum Specialist,
said she welcomes the chal-
lenge awaiting her at KMMS.
“Kings Mountain has an ex-
cellent school system under the
leadership of Dr. Larry Allen,”
she said. “We have many sup-
portive people working toward
a common goal, to help our stu-
dents be the best they can be.
“I feel at home in our school
system. I am excited about go-
ing back to Kings Mountain
Middle School as principal to
work with the faculty, staff, stu-
dents and parents.
“With God's guidance, I will
do my best with this important
work.”
Stewart holds a B.S. in
Elementary and Middle Grade
Education from Gardner Webb
University, and a Master of Arts
in Middle Grade Education
from Western Carolina
University. She received a
Certificate or Advanced Study
in Education and Certificate in
School Administration from the
University of North Carolina at
Charlotte.
She began her career with
KMDS as a teacher’s assistant
and later taught fifth grade at
Grover and seventh grade at
KMMS.
She is the daughter of the late
Elmer and Lula Hardin. She
and her husband, Mack, live on
Bethlehem Road. They have one
son, Tracy, and daughter-in-law
Christina.
In other action Monday, the
Board:
B Was urged by local resi-
dent and UNCC professor John
Jones to do something about the
discrepancy between White and
minority students in AG pro-
grams. He said Kings
Mountain's minority percentage
is 27.6%, but only 6.5% of stu-
dents in AG programs are mi-
norities. A
“That's some discrepancy,”
“he said. “There must be an in-
crease in the numbers of mi-
norities in AG programs” if the
School System is to close the
achievement gap.
Jones said there were no mi-
nority students in the AG pro-
gram at Bethware School last
year. “There have to be some
students out there that qualify,”
he said, and he urged the
School System to start their
closing the gap efforts at that
school.
B Awarded bids for milk,
bread and food commodity
storage for next school year to
Merita, Peeler Jersey Farms,
and PYA Monarch, respectively.
B Heard a report from
Child Nutrition Director Patsy
Rountree that unpaid charge ac-
counts for student meals last
year amounted to $1,826.99.
She said that the school system
has a policy of not denying any
student a meal. School Board
member Stella Putnam suggest-
ed that she contact PTOs to see
if they would be willing to es-
tablish an “emergency” fund to
help pay for the meals, and also
pursue other ideas that may
help curtail the problem.
B Heard first reading of
policies relating to technology
equipment donations to the
school system; technology in
the educational program; inter-
net and educational program;
and student promotion and ac-
countability. The donation of
equipment policy is a new poli-
cy under consideration; the oth-
ers are mostly changes in poli-
cy that are required by law.
® Approved its Board goals {
for the 2001-02 school year.
B® Was given an update by Dr.
Allen on the progress of Kings
Mountain Intermediate School.
He said laying of the exterior
walls is almost complete, and |
after that workers will begin |
laying the interior walls. He -
predicted the school will “bei in
the dry” by October.
BW Approved several amend-
ments necessary to balance the
2000-01 fiscal year budget.
B Released three students to,
Cleveland County and accepted |
one fromCleveland County.
B® Approved the following
personnel matters: 5h
Contracts: Kent Blandford, |
language arts, KMMS; Lori i
Wilbanks, science, KMHS; April
Blaine, math, KMHS; Adam"
Elliott, science/ trainer, KMHS;
Margo Green, language arts,
KMMS; Margo Alexander,
math, KMMS; Hilda Kiser, first
grade, Bethware (interim), and
Laura Chalk, third grade,
Grover.
Resignations: Beth Martin,
math, KMMS; Carol Elliott, lan-
guage arts, KMMS; Laura
Dixon, assistant principal,
KMMS; Lynn Coggins, third
grade, Grover.
Classified: Glenda Crawford,
teacher assistant, Grover (inter-
im; and Patsy Huggins, hearing
interpreter, KMHS.
Retirement: Glenda
Crawford, teacher assistant,
Grover; Hilda Kiser, first grade,
Bethware.
Transfer: Jenny Hollifield,
AG. grade East, to Elementary
Al
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