THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 16, 1995 TAG: 9503160416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
A citizens commission studying the merger of the Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County governments was directed on Wednesday night to prepare a plan for combining the bodies.
The decision to move to the second phase in the politically charged study came in a joint city-county meeting that began with a public hearing and ended with votes by both boards.
Pasquotank County Commissioners voted unanimously to continue the study, which began in November 1993. Elizabeth City Council members, who first quibbled over whether to vote at all, gave the go-ahead by a 5-3 vote. Council members A.C. Robinson, Anita Hummer and Dorothy Stallings voted no.
Permission of both boards was required for the Pasquotank-Elizabeth City Governmental Study Commission to continue its work.
The group of 18 appointed citizens, which reported in December that merging governments and combining services was ``feasible'' and ``advisable,'' now is charged with forming an implementation plan that answers the questions and concerns of merger's many opponents.
About 50 city and county residents turned out for the hearing, held in the expansive gymnasium at the Knobbs Creek Recreation Center in town. Most of the 18 people who spoke on the issue raised the two major points of opposition surrounding the process:
Many county residents, some of whom moved from the city to escape high utility rates and urban life, fear that their taxes will be raised to pay for city services.
Many black residents, who are the majority in Elizabeth City and have helped elect a city council that is half black, fear that their voting power will be diluted if mixed with the majority white population in the county.
Many who spoke against the commission's next phase said there were too many unanswered questions.
As he has done dozens of times since December, Commission Chairman L.P. ``Tony'' Hornthal told residents that the first phase of the study was not meant to focus on specific implementation questions but on whether a merger was a good idea.
The second phase of the report, he said, would address skeptics' concerns and would again have to be approved by both governments before the process continued.
``I don't think there's anything worse in this world maybe than the fear of the unknown,'' Hornthal said. ``The purpose of the second phase of the report would be to take a lot of those fears out.''
Even if the city and county approve an implementation plan down the road, merger could not be accomplished without writing legislation, holding a referendum of local voters and obtaining clearance from the U.S. Justice Department, Hornthal said.
The Phase One report of the governmental study commission said there would be several advantages to merging the governments, including more efficiency, convenience and tax fairness. The merger also would save money, though not vast amounts, the study says.
Opponents of the merger, such as black community leader Paul Bryant, said the minimal cost reduction ``does not justify the fair representation issue'' that would be raised by merger.
Other opponents, speaking for concerned county residents, made statements such as, ``I'm scared to death of the city. I don't want to be a part of the city.''
One man simply held up a flier that announced: ``Read My Lips!!'' followed by the word NO listed nine times. Residents leaving the meeting also found that flier under their windshields.
The highly contentious issue has caused consternation for many of the elected representatives. More than one City Council member has voted differently on the process at different meetings.
Councilman Jimi Sutton apparently came under criticism for being the only black council member to support the second phase in a Feb. 20 meeting. On Wednesday night he was joined in approving the study by Myrtle Rivers, who opposed the second phase last month.
Councilwoman Anita Hummer had voted for moving ahead at the last council meeting. She voted against it Wednesday. by CNB