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KINGS MOUNTAII
LS
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Vol. 116 No. 9
Since 1889
50 Cents
Highway 74 near Cleveland Avenue.
cstv.
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Contractors for the Department of Transportation work to repair an underground storm drainage problem on
Mayor, City Attorney say
council will follow policy
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
FormerKings Mountain City
Councilman Gene White asked Mayor
Rick Murphrey and the city’s attorney
Monday night to reign in an elected
official who is threatening city
employees’ jobs.
White was on the agenda to speak
during the February council meeting.
He asked personnel director Pat
Blanton to review employees’ rights
and requested the mayor and council
members to go on record with their
position on the issue.
City attorney Mickey Corry said
that Blanton, who was in the audignce,
did not need to speak publicly because
it would destroy the relationship she
had built with employees.
Corry went on to say that Blanton
required all employees to sign that
they had read a copy of the city’s
employment policy.
“That lady has done an excellent job
of informing employees,” Corry said.
Corry said the council would abide
by that policy and Murphrey agreed.
“We do,” Murphrey said.
White advised employees to docu-
ment any possible threats and to con-
Hicks named interim
manager on 4-3 vote
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain interim city manag-
er Gary Hicks started work Friday
with a narrow majority of the city
council behind him.
Thursday night council members
Houston Corn, Carl DeVane, Rick
Moore and Howard Shipp voted to
hire Hicks. Council members Kay
Hambright, Jerry Mullinax and Brenda
Ross cast the dissenting votes.
Before the vote was taken council
went into closed session to talk about
hiring Hicks. DeVane was the only
Stack takes over
as KM librarian
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
When Sharon Stack’s three children were young, she took
them to the Summerville, S.C. library where the family
lived at the time. That library was growing so fast, patrons
were limited to three picture books.
“For three little people that’s not good,” Stack said.
It was at that moment Stack realized how she could make
a difference. She decided to become a librarian.
Soon after her epiphany, her husband received a job
transfer and the family moved to Alabama. Stack enrolled
at the University of Alabama and two years later had a
graduate degree in Library Science.
On her first job as a librarian, Stack helped bring the
internet to the small Alabama town by writing a grant for
funding from the Gates Library Foundation. A visit from
philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates followed.
member who voted not to enter closed
session. |
During an interview after the meet-
ing he said entering closed session
was not necessary because past closed
meetings have been made public.
“There's no need to go back there,”
DeVane said. i
Mullinax disclosed Hicks’ name fol-
lowing a closed meeting Feb. 3.
North Carolina law allows city
councils to enter closed session to dis-
cuss hiring specific individuals.
Former council member Jim Guyton
was at city hall Thursday night wait
See Interim, 5A
“That was a lot of fun, getting to meet them,” Stack said.
The grant meant that early into the internet era, patrons
See Stack, 3A
sult the city manager if they are asked
to-fulfill ‘marginal’ request. . Jt
White also told the council that he
thought the city would have difficulty
hiring a manager after former City
Manager Phil Ponder’s controversial
departure. He has asked for a six-
month severance package from the
city.
Interim City Manager Gary Hicks
said he did not think the city would
have difficulty hiring a permanent
manager.
Hicks went on to say, “I cannot
imagine anyone threatening them (city
employees) and getting by with it.”
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD
Gary Hicks begins his second stint as
interim city manager in Kings
Mountain.
Thursday in
State 3A
Playoffs
6A
Hope fading
for Gaston
students
staying in CC
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
which comes with the stu-
dents, they could have to
pay tuition to attend
Cleveland County Schools = Cleveland schools.
Superintendent Gene Moore “A lot of these families are
was not hopeful Monday going to have a hard time
night that Kings Mountain's
Gaston County students will
remain in Cleveland County
schools.
The Gaston County
Schools’ Board voted 7-2 last
week to uphold the current
policy which only allows
students to transfer out on a
one year release.
Moore called it a “disap-
pointing meeting” and said
the Gaston board was not
willing to work with
Cleveland.
“It’s like we're fighting a
lost cause,” said Cleveland
County Schools board mem-
ber Shearra Miller.
Miller invited her fellow
board members to tour East
Elementary where most of
the affected children attend.
That tour is scheduled for
this afternoon.
Miller said many of the
parents are still fighting to
keep their children in
Cleveland County Schools.
Those students live inside
the Gaston County portion
of Kings Mountain, most
within minutes of East
Elementary. Under the
merger, next year they will
be required to attend
schools in Gaston County
which means a 20 or more
minute commute.
Because Gaston does not
want to release the funding
coming up with these
funds,” Miller said.
East Elementary is located
in a primarily economically
oppressed area of town.
“It’s heartbreaking that
‘Gaston County is not being :
more cooperative,” said
board member Terry
McClain.
Miller denied that
Cleveland County wants the
students because of the
funding.
“It’s not for the money.
We're trying to look after
these children,” she said.
While many of East's stu-
dents come from poor fami-
lies, test scores are some of
the highest in the state. That
is attributed to a dedicated
principal, faculty, staff, par-
ents, students and commu-
nity volunteers.
“It’s not a money issue for
us. [t's a money issue for
them,” said board member
Tommy Greene.
Monday night Kings
Mountain City Council
passed a resolution unani-
mously asking that the
Cleveland County Schools’
attendance lines be redrawn
to include all Kings
Mountain residents.
The-resolution was pre-
sented by former KMDS
board member Mike Smith.
z See Hope, 3A
Hicks’ employment
on week-to-week basis
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain interim City Manager Gary Hicks started
his first day on the job Friday meeting with department
heads and some past and present city council members.
In a Friday afternoon interview, Hicks said he will imple-
ment what is already in the planning stages and finish >
ongoing projects.
Hicks is employed on a week to week basis until the city
can hire a permanent city manager to replace Phil Ponder.
The council split three to four on whether to hire Hicks.
“I'm short term. My only responsibility is to keep them
informed, keep the employees happy,” Hicks said.
He went on to say he would do “everything I can to work
in harmony.”
Hicks, who is retired, said he was not interested in the
See Hicks, 3A °
53 pie TAA
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD
Sharon Stack has settled in as new librarian at Mauney Memorial Library
City denies
rezoning
for day care
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
A Kings Mountain child-
care provider said she will
probably sell her home fol-
lowing city council's refusal
Monday night to grant a
rezoning that would have
allowed her to expand an
in-home childcare center.
Robin Johnson Smith
asked the council to rezone
her home from Residential
Eight to Neighborhood
Business so she could
expand It Takes A Village,
the childcare center she
runs from her 821 North
Piedmont home.
See Day Care, 3A
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