THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160526
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A three-member panel heard arguments Thursday morning on behalf of two Dare County employees who were dismissed last month. The two are seeking reinstatement to their posts.
Attorneys for former Dare County Water Department employees Mincie Smith Coder and Willie McMurran presented their case during a nearly three-hour hearing.
A hearing for a third employee, Roy Ambrose Jr., was postponed due to a scheduling conflict.
The three were dismissed Aug. 13 for unspecified reasons. They are now in the final stage of the appeal process.
The panel was chaired Thursday by County Planning Director Ray Sturza. An at-large member, as well as a peer of the discharged employees served on the panel.
Under personnel procedures, the peer is generally an employee of a similar salary classification, race and gender of the discharged employee.
The panel has three days to give a final decision. The majority opinion of the panel will be submitted to County Manager Terry Wheeler. Wheeler will then make a final decision, and notify County Personnel Director Shawn Murphy, who will then notify all parties involved in the dispute.
Water department records show that from July 1992, when records were placed on computer, to the date of their dismissal, the three employees had not paid on their water accounts.
Coder, the daughter of Dare County Commissioner Samuel O. Smith, owed a $692 water bill for her residence on Moore Shore Road.
Ambrose, who is married to Smith's daughter Melissa, owed a bill of $230 for another Moore Shore Road home.
Records also showed that Jacqueline T. Smith, wife of the commissioner, paid both bills, as well as a delinquent bill of $350 on an account at the same address as the Smiths.
McMurran, records show, paid a bill of $867.29 on Aug. 15, two days after his termination.
After possible remedies are exhausted at the county level, the employees have the option of civil litigation. The three have declined to comment on the matter. by CNB