THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410300044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Even before the Currituck Board of Commissioners election on Nov. 8, one thing is certain: The winners will all be newcomers.
None of the six candidates running for three seats has ever been a county commissioner. The officials up for re-election were either defeated in the May primary or decided not to run.
``I'd say that's very unusual,'' said county elections supervisor Doris Sawyer, who also predicts voter turnout to be around 75 percent.
Even more unusual, if not unprecedented, is the chance for a Republican to be elected to the five-member board.
``I think I'm going to make history. I really do,'' said Michael D. Weatherly of Shawboro, a Republican store owner running for the at-large seat against Democrat J. Owen Etheridge, also of Shawboro.
All candidates are worried about Currituck County's rapid residential growth - whether political neophytes like Weatherly, or perennial contenders like Etheridge, the current planning board chairman who has run twice before for commissioner.
``We need to have our services catch up with the growth,'' Weatherly said. He also wants to expand the county's parks and recreation programs.
Etheridge believes his background is needed on the board. ``I'm a financial planner. I'm a trained listener. I have to listen to people to find out what they want.''
To provide more opportunities for exchange, Etheridge would hold regular town meetings in various precincts and move some commissioners' meetings to outlying townships.
Each candidate has a plan or vision to bring schools, fire and rescue, water and police services in line with the growing population.
Most of those plans involve attracting more commercial and light manufacturing development to diversify the tax base and provide more jobs.
``In schools anywhere else, you've got the three R's - reading, writing and arithmetic. In Currituck County, the three R's stand for reading, writing and riding because you've got to go 60 miles to get a job,'' said John D. Donaldson, a retired propane gas dealer and U.S. Navy master chief running for the Poplar Branch seat.
Donaldson will face Republican Paul O'Neal of Coinjock and Ray Griggs, a Democrat from Harbinger, in the general elections.
O'Neal, a sales manager with an insurance company, is concerned with citizens' attitudes toward the county board, which last year was sharply criticized for keeping mum on a school construction cost overrun until voters approved a $16 million schools bond in a referendum.
``I just want to bring some trust and representation into the county government,'' he said.
Griggs, a state parole and probation officer, has emphasized his experience.
``My job puts me in daily contact with the people of Currituck County, and I think that's a tremendous plus. And I will continue doing that,'' he said, adding that his knowledge of the law also will be a benefit.
The only other commissioner candidate on the November ballot is Eldon L. Miller Jr., who is running unopposed for the Moyock Township seat.
Miller is a retired shipyard worker who ran for the same seat once before.
He beat Janie Askew, who was the victor four years ago, in the Democratic primary.
Schools funding will be a priority, Miller said, along with more recreation programs and sufficient water supplies to all county residents.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA by CNB