THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410300051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
At least one self-proclaimed outsider will join Dare County's political inner circles Nov.8 when voters elect three people to the Board of Commissioners.
Incumbent Geneva H. Perry is unopposed for her re-election bid to the at-large seat on the all-Democratic seven-member board.
Three political critics and Commissioner Douglas W. Langford are vying for the other two chairs. None of the challengers has ever sought elected office before. All say change is the primary plank in their platform.
``I decided to run because no one else was running against the incumbent,'' said Republican William L. ``Bill'' Hauschild, a 61-year-old Colington Harbor resident who is challenging Langford for the District II seat. ``We need Republican opposition to the all-Democratic board. A single party governing the county is unhealthy.''
Republican Charles D. ``Chuck'' Elms agreed. A career international airline pilot, he served on the county's Airport Authority until commissioners kicked him off that appointed advisory board. Elms said Friday that he's running to get a Republican voice on the board.
``Right now, we have a dictatorship controlling this county. These
people just do things as they please,'' said Roanoke Island resident Elms, 67. ``We need to get the county government out of a lot of the activities they're in - especially running the airport and building a convention center.''
Elms is seeking the District I board seat along with Manns Harbor resident Shirley Hassell. In May, Hassell defeated incumbent Commissioner Robert Williams during the Democratic primary election. This fall, the county manager fired Hassell from the commercial cleaning contract she held on some county buildings.
``I think I surprised some people around here by winning,'' Hassell, 54, said after the primaries. ``The message the voters were giving was that there needs to be more concern for the taxpayers and the county employees.''
If elected, all of the challengers promised to open county government to the people and keep taxpayers more informed about spending policies. They pledged to hold at least some Board of Commissioners meetings in the evenings, so that working residents could attend. And they said they would cut down on ``back-room politics'' and executive sessions.
The political newcomers promised not to raise taxes under any circumstances. And they said many proposed capital projects should not be built with taxpayers' money.
Langford, the incumbent, said voters should have the right to prioritize large government spending initiatives such as a new high school, convention center, county office complex, mainland airport or hospital.
Hauschild and Elms both oppose building a third Dare County high school and new airport for the mainland. They said tourism taxes should pay for a new convention center. Private business - not county officials - should build a local hospital, said the Republicans.
``If a big corporation thought it would be profitable to build a hospital on the Outer Banks, it already would've been done,'' said Elms. ``County taxes shouldn't fund something like that.''
Hassell does not oppose or support a mainland airport. Instead, she said, the county should run the existing Roanoke Island facility as a business - and stop subsidizing its operations.
Although Board of Commissioner seats carry four-year terms, Langford, a 47-year-old Nags Head resident who owns a small real estate company, is up for re-election after only two years. His seat was newly created by a legislative reorganization of the county board and carried an initial short term in order to stagger re-elections. If Langford retains his seat next week, he will hold it for four more years.
``Two years is a significant length of time - but not long enough to be able to accomplish all the important programs that are facing this county,'' said Langford, who had never run for elected office before becoming a commissioner. ``The things that will be done during the next four years will set the stage for Dare County's next 20 years.''
While serving as commissioner, Langford has persuaded the county to take over Colington Island's water system from Kill Devil Hills - thereby bringing that unincorporated area's rates in line with the rest of the county. He initiated a proposal which voters approved to get all telephone calls within the county billed at local rates. Currently, calls to Hatteras Island carry long-distance tolls.
``One of the things I'm proudest of is helping re-organize the county's government,'' said Langford, whose board restructured departments and fired several employees after the new commissioners came aboard. ``By getting an inventory of all our properties and running the government like a business, we were able to hold the county's tax rate in face of increased expenditures.''
If re-elected, Langford said he would like to complete a county recreational facility on a 14-acre Kill Devil Hills tract. Currently, the park has a soccer field and tennis court. Langford said he wants the county to add two baseball fields, lights for night games, outdoor basketball courts, and cook-out cabanas for family picnics.
``I also think a bicycle path for Hatteras Island is a wonderful idea and very important project for this area,'' Langford said. ``I'd really be inclined for the county to participate in funding that project if it was necessary to get state or federal monies.''
Other than slowing government spending and opening communication channels with the public, Elms and Hassell had few concrete programs they plan to initiate for Dare County.
Hauschild said he would like to lobby state legislators for a can and bottle deposit law to improve recycling efforts. And he wants to change the re-admission policy so that local residents would be able to return to Dare County after emergencies well before out-of-state property owners could come back.
``I know one or two Republicans on a seven-member board can't make that much of a difference,'' said Hauschild, a retired general manager of a wire, rope and chain corporation. ``But I can be a watchdog. And from the inside, I can be a more effective voice for the people.'' by CNB