DATE: Wednesday, June 4, 1997               TAG: 9706040507

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   87 lines

DIVIDED BOARD OKS CONTRACT FOR WHEELER

At his request, Dare County Manager Terry Wheeler has been given a contract that guarantees his current $71,472 salary for four years unless he is ``convicted of a felony involving personal gain.''

After a closed session late Monday afternoon, the Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 to approve the contract, with Commissioners Cheryl Byrd, Shirley Hassell and Richard Johnson in the minority.

``They played us all like a banjo,'' Hassell said Tuesday. The Democratic commissioner, who is generally aligned with her two Republican colleagues, said the matter was not put on the agenda, the press had a conflicting meeting to attend, and not everyone on the board had prior knowledge of Wheeler's intention.

``I had no earthly idea,'' she said. ``The fearsome four has shoved a lot down the taxpayer's throat, but we've given this man a license to steal.''

The agreement provides that if the board fires Wheeler without cause, or if his position is eliminated, he will continue working for the county as a ``consultant . . . to assist in carrying on the operations of government for the remainder of the (contract) term . . . and shall be paid a salary not less than what he was paid when his employment was terminated . . .''

But if the board fired Wheeler with cause, the county would not be obligated to employ him as a consultant, the contract continued. The sole cause for termination, the contract stated, ``shall mean employee's final conviction (after exhausting any applicable appeals) of a felony involving personal gain arising out of his performance of his position.''

Wheeler said he decided about three weeks ago to ask his attorney Jay Wheless to draw up a contract for him. He denied that there was an incident or situation that made him feel that his job was threatened.

``I've been thinking about it for a long time that I ought to have one. And it's not unusual - most managers have one.''

Board Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said Wheeler had informed him that he planned to present the contract to the board. ``I didn't discourage it; I didn't encourage it,'' Owens said. He added he found nothing out of the ordinary about Wheeler's desire for a stronger contract. In his prior contract, the county manager could be unceremoniously dismissed at the vote of the board majority, and would get six months of severance pay.

Wheeler has been under attack since Hassell was elected more than two years ago. Owens said the first motion she made as a commissioner was to fire Wheeler. Since then, she sued the county and Wheeler, charging that he was overstepping his authority to spend county money without board approval. The county recently settled with Hassell.

``It's very obvious that she's down his throat,'' Owens said. ``The board meetings lately are getting a little volatile . . . It seems like tempers were starting to flare.''

As a 26-year veteran of county politics, Owens said he has seen county managers come and go, depending on the political winds. During his tenure, he said two managers had been fired by the Board of Commissioners.

``It's not that much of a big deal,'' Owens said of Wheeler's contract. ``It gives him the assurances with his 22 years of service, he will be assured four more years with Dare County.''

Wheeler, 51, said he is considering retirement at the end of the contract. In his years with the county, he has worked as a tax mapper, a tax supervisor, assistant manager and interim county manager. He has been county manager for the last six years. His salary when he first took over as manager was $55,846, and over the years increased to his current salary.

``I can retire when this contract ends,'' he said. ``At this point, I really think that's probably what I will do. I will have my 30 years in the system, but in the same light, four years is a long time.''

Byrd said she doesn't have a problem with Wheeler's job performance, or his having a contract - she just believes that the contract is flawed.

``The contract does not protect the county,'' Byrd said.

``Basically, he could murder his parents, his whole family, and we couldn't let him go. Literally, there's no requirement that he performs his duties at a satisfactory level.''

Byrd said the board majority refused to consider waiting two weeks before voting on the matter; nor did the three members want to add a clause that she contends would protect the interests of the county.

``I really don't see partisanship here as the issue,'' she said. ``I think it has do with it being a bad contract.''

Both Byrd and Hassell said that, in light of the county's current political turmoil, the board majority is trying to protect Wheeler.

``I think Bobby is taking care of his friends before he leaves for Raleigh,'' Byrd said.

Owens is waiting for approval from the state House of Representatives on an appointment to the state Utilities Commission, which would require that he leave Dare County politics.

County Attorney Al Cole said, based on his working relationshiop with Wheeler, he has no problem with the terms of the contract.

``I would have to say that any concerns about the language in the contract were alleviated by my knowledge of the man and his character.''

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