THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 18, 1995 TAG: 9504180285
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
For the second time in less than six months, Dare County Commissioner Shirley Hassell touched off a verbal battle Monday when she unsuccessfully sought the resignation of County Manager Terry Wheeler.
``I am sick of Mr. Wheeler's belligerence,'' she said, reading from a prepared statement. ``I am sick of this board taking everything I say and turning it into a circus.''
The Board of Commissioners, by a 5-1 vote, rejected Hassell's call for the county manager to step down. The vote was the latest chapter in the continuing fight between Hassell and her colleagues on the commission.
In a related action, the panel, by a 4-2 vote, approved the hiring of an assistant for Wheeler to handle Hassell's numerous requests for county information. A salary for the new staff assistant was not determined. Hassell, along with Commissioner Sammy Smith, voted against the motion.
Her action came as a result of a request for W-2 and 1099 printouts on all 525 county employees. Wheeler balked, and asked in a note to employees to let him know if they wanted the information released.
Hassell defended her request, saying that as a member of the commission she was entitled to the information, and that she only wanted it for research purposes on the county budget.
She said Wheeler created ``a little fiasco'' over her request.
Hassell also accused County Attorney H. Al Cole of being evasive, and accused him of being less than helpful to her.
Commissioners were not excluded from criticism. Responding to Commissioner Geneva Perry's statement that she didn't know why Hassell asked for the tax information, Hassell said, ``I question just what you do know. I don't answer to you; I answer to the people of Dare County.''
Hassell denied that her feud with Wheeler stems from his termination of her cleaning contract with the county.
``It has nothing to do with my contracts. . . . My intentions were to give it up in order to be fair and unbiased to the people who elected me.''
Hassell also took a swipe at Commission chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. She accused him and the board of violating the state Open Meetings Law.
``Anything I have ever questioned on this board had to do with the inequities of the system in our county,'' said Hassell. ``I have been thrown out of meetings. I have been slammed by this board, and I have had enough.''
Hassell said that according to state law, she is entitled as a commissioner to the W-2 and 1099 printouts as long as they are necessary and essential to a proper function as part of her duties on the board.
Commission Vice Chairman Clarence Skinner seconded the motion seeking Wheeler's ouster, ``for the sake of discussion.'' However, he criticized the action.
``This motion was a personnel matter, and to discuss it in public is totally inappropriate,'' Skinner said. ``If we're going to tear the meat off someone's bones, let's go into closed session, roll up our sleeves, put on the gloves and go at it.''
Skinner then voted against Wheeler's ouster.
Perry called Hassell's action an embarrassment to the board.
``Everybody on this board was willing to work with Mrs. Hassell,'' Perry said. ``Unfortunately that has not been reciprocated by Mrs. Hassell. As far as what I know, I don't profess to be a brain surgeon. I just do my job.''
Hassell and Owens clashed later over a meeting in Raleigh between commissioners and other county personnel with members of the local legislative delegation, which prompted Owens to criticize the newest member of the board for parking in handicap parking zones.
``I'm appalled to see you park in a handicapped space,'' Owens said.
Hassell responded, ``You don't know my situation. That's a bold statement.''
Owens replied, ``That is a bold statement. But I see a lot of people more handicapped than you who need that space.''
Later, on the motion to provide a staff assistant for Wheeler to respond to Hassell's request for information, Hassell was critical.
``I think this is a little bit ridiculous,'' she said. ``We have 525 employees who get 12 holidays and two weeks' vacation. I see them outside smoking cigarettes. I'm not saying they don't work hard. But I think there are enough employees to answer my questions.''
Perry said her motion came in the wake of threatened litigation by Hassell's attorney.
``I think this is much cheaper than fighting some threatened litigation,'' said Perry.
Smith, however, said he voted against the additional staffing because it was an added expense. by CNB