THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120256
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Consensus will be the key to survival for any plan to merge the Pasquotank-Elizabeth City governments, a Raleigh lawyer told a local study committee Monday.
In creating an electoral system that must withstand the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department, attorney Mike Crowell said, residents of different races and interests must find common ground.
``Their response is largely going to depend on how this plan was developed and how widespread support in the community is,'' Crowell told about 50 people at a meeting on city-county merger. ``Being as representative a group as you are, if you are able to come together on a plan, then it significantly decreases the odds of anyone suing or suing successfully.''
The representative group Crowell addressed was the 46-member ``advisory committee'' to the Pasquotank-Elizabeth City Governmental Study Commission. It was the diverse committee's first gathering, a meeting with the seven-member commission panel whose task is to plan a combined governing board.
The 2-year-old merger commission is preparing a plan suggesting how Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County can combine their boards, services and administration to streamline government.
The task, already saddled with controversy and requiring more time than anticipated, appeared even more daunting as Crowell outlined a variety of representative board options.
After the group heard about at-large elections, election districts, minority representation and voting rights law, commission Chairman L.P. ``Tony'' Hornthal Jr. intervened with a pep talk.
``I was watching some faces in the room,'' Hornthal said. ``I can see a lot of people saying, 'Gosh, this is hard.' ''
Too often, Hornthal said, Americans confronted with tough choices simply back away, opting for easier roads. Hornthal said participating in the process was part of a citizen's duty in a democracy.
``The choices are going to be hard,'' Honrthal said, ``and we hope all of you stick with us so that we can try to bring the will of the people to this process.
``If a lawsuit is going to result from this process, it's going to be because democracy failed. . . . I see this as an opportunity for democracy to work in its purest sense.''
There was little debate over options at Monday's meeting. Few advisory committee members spoke up, and none of the merger's known opponents registered concerns.
Group members filled out 10-question surveys on what they hoped would be features of a combined government - items like proportional representation for black residents and whether elections should be partisan.
The results will form what Hornthal called a starting point for discussion.
The commission is preparing a report on how the governments could be combined. City and county officials gave the go-ahead for this phase in March after the commission determined that merging was ``feasible'' and ``advisable.''
Merger is a hot political issue among many black city residents who fear that black voting power would be dispersed on a county-wide board.
Local government, legislative, Justice Department and county voter approval would be required before a merger could take place. by CNB