THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508130296
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 54 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Ron Speer
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Well, Dare County's politicians are mad at the media again. That's not really news, because politicians usually are mad at the media.
They don't think, a good many of them, that we're on their side.
They are right. We try our darndest not to be on anybody's side - except the taxpayers.
Personally, I don't get upset when politicians raise hell with the media. And I rarely write about it. Usually it's pretty easy to understand why they're mad - we've told taxpayers something the politicians would just as soon the citizens didn't know.
Lately, it seems, that's been happening a lot.
Last spring the Board of Commissioners had pretty well lined up a new county government complex before the word really got around. When news reports started coming out, taxpayers demanded more details and more information and more options.The proposal was tabled.
Our stories have been blamed for killing the complex, but I can assure you the media doesn't have that kind of power.
All we can do is tell what is happening. If the news doesn't upset anyone, that's the end of it, no matter how much the media may shout and holler. But if the news triggers a reaction among the readers, they'll let the movers and shakers know how they feel about it.
A good case in point was the recent passage of a bill in the General Assembly giving a Manteo marina liquor by the drink. The bill, added quietly to another measure, was passed without fanfare before we got a tip about it from an angry resident.
When staff writer Lane DeGregory's story hit the streets, the people took action, holding meetings, writing letters, calling legislators. The bill was rescinded in a few days, because of the citizens' reactions, not because of our stories. If the citizens hadn't reacted, the bill would now be law.
Last week some commissioners gathered in an unannounced meeting in Corolla to talk about Dare selling water to luxurious Currituck developments.
We got a call from a worried citizen. I rushed staff writer Paul South to Corolla. He got there in time to find out about the proposed water sale, and wrote about it. Commissioner Shirley Hassell called the meeting illegal, but Paul checked around with legal experts and found that the issue is very fuzzy.
By the time the Dare commissioners met officially to discuss the water sale, numerous residents had made known their objections to the idea of dispensing water from an area where there's isn't much of a surplus.
No action was taken at the meeting, but a committee was named to study the issue.
At the same meeting, a curb on citizens' comment was proposed. The timing seemed almost like the politicians were determined to show the taxpayers of Dare that the commissioners know best, and input isn't needed.
Paul South wrote about that, too, apparently ruffling more feathers, at least those of Commissioner Clarence Skinner, who also heads the Dare County Emergency Operations Committee.
Paul was scheduled to meet with Commissioner Skinner and two county officials Thursday for an in-depth report on what residents and visitors should do if a hurricane heads our way.
Commissioner Skinner sent word that he wouldn't be at the meeting because he wasn't talking to Paul anymore.
``We'll keep the people safe when a hurricane comes,'' he told me. ``I just don't have anything to say to Paul.''
As I said, I don't get mad when politicians blame their mishaps on the media. But I do worry when petty politics seem more important than doing all we can to help folks survive a hurricane.
``Good deeds,'' I wrote years ago, ``are rarely done in the dark.'' by CNB