THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210648
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Less than four months after taking charge of Hatteras Island's power co-operative, General Manager John A. Echols has resigned.
The 51-year-old Echols, who had been in charge of providing power for more than 5,000 homes and businesses, said Thursday he could not perform his job because the nine members of the Cape Hatteras Electric Membership Cooperative's board of directors continually interfere with day-to-day operations.
Board President Jack S. Gray said he was shocked by Echols' decision.
``The board was completely surprised by Mr. Echols' resignation,'' Gray said from his Hatteras Island motel Thursday. ``We addressed some of his concerns at our Monday night board meeting. But if he saw problems with the co-op, it was his job to correct them.''
Echols contended, however, that the board members were not receptive to his suggestions.
``The big problem is that authority's gone wrong,'' said Echols, who submitted his written resignation Tuesday. ``It's a dictatorship here. I'm really appalled and shocked by some of the things I've seen. The board members run the co-op to suit themselves, for their own personal gains and interests. I wanted to give the power back to the members - as it should be.''
Like most co-ops, Cape Hatteras electric is owned by power customers. Members elect board members for the nonprofit co-op at an annual meeting. Board terms are three years each.
Safety and maintenance were ranked highest among Echols' concerns. He has managed electrical co-ops for decades and said he had never seen as many outages as he has with the Hatteras operation. He said board members refused to purchase some needed safety equipment.
``When something breaks, when a fire pops up, we fix it now. That's it,'' Echols said. ``That's just not the way to run an electrical co-op in this day and age. . . ''
Gray responded by saying, ``We'll certainly get on those concerns as soon as possible. But we're not going to get into a shouting match over this.''
Since he accepted the manager's job July 1, Echols said he has tried repeatedly to meet with board members to discuss maintenance. He also said he was asked by Grayto waive a $3,000 deposit required by the co-op to restore power to a delinquent business.
``I stood up to him and told him he could waive it himself if he wanted to,'' Echols said. ``After all, he's the president. He became very angry with me. That was the spark that set me off in getting out of there.''
Gray said he did not ``technically ask him to waive a deposit for me, no. But the policy gives the board permission to have more of a fine on some people than on others.
``If a local person gets behind, we try to help them out,'' Gray said. ``We don't want to be so hard-hearted.''
Gray said he didn't waive the fee himself because the ``customer did not come before the board with that request. Besides, the manager has the authority, too.''
Gray asked that any further questions be directed to the co-op's attorney, Norman W. Shearin Jr. Shearin was unavailable for comment Thursday. by CNB