
DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060477

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS                  LENGTH:   85 lines

ROLLASON ELECTED KILL DEVIL HILLS MAYOR RESULTS DELAYED BECAUSE 200 BALLOTS FOR MAYOR WERE MARKED INCORRECTLY.

Last month, Sherry Rollason knocked on hundreds of doors. Tuesday morning, she shook hundreds of hands outside town hall. That night, she waited almost five hours for officials to tally votes after an electronic box rejected 200 incorrectly completed ballots.

But shortly before midnight, she finally got word that she had won her first bid for elective office.

Rollason is Kill Devil Hills' new mayor.

``It's so exciting,'' she said Wednesday morning from the Outer Banks real estate appraisal office she runs with her husband, Bob. ``Now I feel the direction of Kill Devil Hills will be going forwards instead of backwards.''

A 45-year-old Coinjock native, Rollason has lived in Kill Devil Hills for more than half her life. She has served on the town's planning board since March 1996 and has volunteered on numerous municipal committees. She has attended commissioners' meetings for the past 18 months.

Rollason defeated Commissioner E.M. ``Coy'' Harbeson for the mayor's seat. She received 553 votes; he got 421.

About 30 percent of the beach town's 1,570 registered voters turned out for Tuesday's election.

Other winners included Commissioner Jeff Shields, who got 551 votes, and political newcomer Bill Pitt, who received 451 votes and was elected to the five-member Board of Commissioners.

J. Howard Kimble, who was running for commissioner on a three-member ticket with Pitt and Harbeson, got 386 votes. And Jim Basnight failed in his bid for the board after receiving 416 votes. Each seat carries a four-year term.

The new officials will be sworn in Dec. 8.

``I'm going to meet with town leaders and employees between now and then. And I'll attend a school for new mayors in Raleigh next week,'' Rollason said. ``I think we'll have a nice balance on the board now.''

Harbeson, Pitt and Kimble had vowed to cut taxes - initially by trimming the town's trash pickup from twice a week to once a week between October and April. Rollason said she intends to look at possible budget cuts for the Outer Banks' biggest beach town - which also carries the highest tax rate. But she will not cut back on trash pickups or skimp on street standards.

``I don't want to save a penny here today just to have to find out it means spending a dime there tomorrow,'' she said. ``We need to maximize our tax dollars without cutting vital services. I don't want to cut employees' travel or training budgets, either.''

Shields, a 37-year-old property manager, has been on the Kill Devil Hills board for two years. After losing an election in 1995, he was appointed to fill Commissioner Duncan Wright's unexpired term.Wright was elected mayor that year - but did not seek his seat again this year.

``I'm really pleased with the results. I think this board will come together more closely and really get some important issues addressed,'' Shields said Wednesday from his Corolla Light office. ``The point-source discharge at Ocean Acres sewage treatment plant is looming in everyone's minds now - so that probably will be one of the first things we work on solving.

``We're also meeting with the school board Nov. 10 to talk about the land we have, and I'm sure that will be something all of us will be working on.''

Pitt was the sole winner from his three-member slate. A 59-year-old Navy veteran, he said he wants to reduce taxes, improve the town's recycling program and address beach erosion problems on the north end of Kill Devil Hills.

``We also need to look at the appearance of our commercial district on the bypass,'' Pitt said Tuesday. ``We're losing trade to Duck and places that have more pleasant shopping surroundings. We need some sidewalks along the bypass to make it a safer place to walk, wander and browse.'' ILLUSTRATION: Rollason

THE VOTE

30 percent of the 1,570 registered voters in Kill Devil Hills cast

ballots Tuesday.

MAYOR

* Sherry Rollason: 553

E.M. "Coy" Harbeson: 421

COMMISSIONER (two seats)

* Jeff Shields (i): 551

* Bill Pitt: 451

Jim Basnight: 416

J. Howard Kimble: 386

(i) incumbent