DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997                TAG: 9703160050

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND                    LENGTH:   71 lines

DARE COUNTY GOP AVOIDS TAKING A STANCE ON SCHOOL BOND

The Dare County Republican Party will not take a formal position on the May 20 school bond referendum, the group's chairman said Saturday.

``The Dare County Republican Party has not taken a position on the school bond at this time, and at this point does not intend to,'' George Embrey, chairman of the Dare County GOP, said at the party's convention in Nags Head.

Two Republicans on the Dare County Board of Commissioners, however, told party members that while they differ on the proposed second high school to serve beach communities, they share mutual concern about the $59.5 million package as a whole.

``I'm for one big high school on the beach, or a second high school in a few years in Kitty Hawk,'' said Commissioner Richard Johnson of Manteo. ``Manteo High School can be expanded to 1,400 students. In 12-15 years, the school will be at capacity, and a second one will have to be built.''

Projections by county finance officials estimate that the bond package will add as much as 17 cents to Dare County's property tax rate of 40 cents per $100 in value.

However, Johnson said that whether the bond is accepted or rejected by voters, taxes are still likely to rise to pay for increases in the cost of government services.

``If the bond passes or doesn't pass, we're looking at a 5 to 8 cent tax increase,'' Johnson said. ``The Sheriff's Department has asked for a 45 percent increase in its budget. Social Services has asked for a big increase. We're going to have to stand firm and try to hold (spending) down as much as possible.''

Johnson's GOP colleague on the board, Commissioner Cheryl Byrd of Southern Shores, said that while she favors a proposed beach high school, some of the spending called for in the bond package is unnecessary.

``I believe we need a second high school,'' Byrd said. ``But I don't believe in the bond referendum. There are $10 to $20 million in projects that don't need to be funded. There is a lot of fluff that needs to come out.''

Byrd, who advocated a delay in the bond referendum until November, said the board of education``pushed the bond too fast and too hard.''

She also said the board has not answered citizen concerns about equal curriculum.

``They just did a poor job,'' she said.

As far as a tax increase for government services, Byrd expressed hope that an increase would not be needed.

``Our job is to say, `How much do you need that new computer or that additional staff?' '' Byrd said. ``I hope we can act responsibly and not raise taxes except for the school bond if it's approved.''

Byrd also called for Republicans to run a full slate of candidates in the 1998 elections. North Carolina Senate President Pro-Tem Marc Basnight, D-Manteo, Rep. Bill Culpepper, D-Edenton, and three members of the Dare County Board of Commissioners - Geneva Perry, Shirley Hassell and Doug Langford - will be up for re-election next year, as will be Dare County Sheriff Bert Austin.

George Embrey, 64, of Nags Head, was elected Saturday without opposition to a full two-year term to lead the county GOP. He was appointed to the post last April to fill the unexpired term of Danny Gray of Avon.

Embrey, a retired newsman who for decades was the chief Washington correspondent for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, said one of the party's goals is to have a full slate in place by Labor Day.

In other action, the GOP chose its executive committee, as well as 20 delegates and 20 alternates for the 3rd District Republican Convention on April 19, and the state convention in Charlotte May 30-June 1.

Elected to the executive committee: Embrey, Vice Chairman-Elect Al Smith of Southern Shores, Secretary-elect Laurie Farrow of Buxton, and Treasurer Gary Aspen of Kill Devil Hills. Also chosen were former chairman Gray, former Vice-Chairman L.C. ``Wick'' Wickmann of Kitty Hawk, Donna Elms of Manteo, Dare County Republican Women Chairwoman Juanita Clark of Southern Shores, Hatteras Island Republican Women Chairwoman Joan Norwood of Avon and Dare County Young Republicans Chairman Greg Wills of Nags Head.

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