DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030674

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   51 lines

DARE DELAYS NAMING OWENS' REPLACEMENT VOTE ON BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS POSITION WILL WAIT UNTIL JULY 22

Dare County Democrats have decided to hold off on appointing a replacement for veteran politician Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr., who is awaiting confirmation to the prestigious and powerful state Utilities Commission.

Owens, widely regarded by critics to be at the vanguard of the ``good ol' boy'' politicians in Dare County, will by law be banned from participating in politics. In a meeting of the Dare County Democratic Party Executive Committee Tuesday night, members agreed to wait to vote on Owens' successor to the Dare County Board of Commissioners until its July 22 meeting.

``It was determined by the group that they want all the names of the proper candidates,'' said Geneva Perry, a Democrat and vice chair of the Board of Commissioners. ``Then they are going to bring the names back to the precincts to see about support.''

Perry said four men withdrew their names from the list of nominees: Henry Haywood, Terry Gray, Bo Taylor and Harry Seymour. Remaining contenders are Brant Wise, a surveyor from Colington; Stan White, a Nags Head resident whose father was involved in Dare County politics; and David Oaksmith, who is retired from the military and was a former Manteo high school math teacher.

The Executive Committee is made up of the chairman and vice-chairman of each of the 16 precincts; Democratic party officials; elected Democrats in the county and local representatives from the state; and chairs of the auxiliary Democratic organizations The Young Democrats, Democratic Women and Teen Democrats.

Despite her recent pledge to dump the Democrats and join the Republican party before the 1998 election, Dare County Commissioner Shirley Hassell attended the Tuesday meeting.

Owens, who is awaiting a vote in the state House of Representatives on his confirmation to the $94,000-a-year post, has been on the board for at least 25 years.

The brother-in-law of Sen. Pro Tem Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, Owens, 64, will also have to quit his $73,000-a-year job as the governor's eastern representative if his appointment is confirmed.

The job on the Utilities Commission was expected to start July 1, but budget-related turmoil in the state has resulted in a backlog in the General Assembly. The state Senate confirmed the nomination on May 14.

The final House vote is expected within days.

After the new commissioner takes Owens' seat on the county panel, the board will have to choose a new chairman, a position Owens has held for much of his tenure.

Perry said she would not be displeased if she was chosen.

``If I am elected to that, I would feel it was an honor to accept,'' she said.

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