Columbus County Community Chat

• Elections office seeing little interest in municipal, referendum votes.

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Early voting on the countywide sales tax and in municipal races has been “sadly low,” according to elections officials.

In the nearly two weeks since early voting started in Columbus County, 212 ballots have been cast, including absentees and 11 “instant votes” cast by people who registered at the same time.

While municipal elections generally have low turnout, Carla Strickland of the Columbus County Board of Elections said this year’s results so far have been worse than usual.

“It’s been very, very low,’ Strickland said.

Whiteville, Lake Waccamaw, Bolton, Chadbourn, Brunswick, Fair Bluff, Cerro Gordo, Sandyfield, and Tabor City will hold municipal elections Tuesday (see candidate surveys in today’s newspaper). Also, all registered voters in the county can cast a vote on the proposed one-quarter cent local option sales tax.

So far, Strickland said, few voters seem to care. Strickland said she is required by law to print enough ballots to provide one for every registered voter who could cast a ballot. For Tuesday’s election, 36,000 ballots were printed, but Strickland said she expects most of those to be wasted. By law, unused ballots must be kept for 13 to 23 months, depending on the race.

Municipal races sometimes have turnouts in the single digit percentages, while national and general elections can sometimes pull 30 percent of registered voters to the polls.

“People always complain about tax dollars being wasted,” Strickland said. “When they don’t vote, the taxpayers are wasting their own money.”

Early voting ends Saturday at 1 p.m. Conventional polling places throughout the county open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7:30 p.m.

Absentees will be counted at the Elections Office starting at 2 p.m.

Unofficial results will be announced at the board of Elections office on Legion Drive as soon as they are compiled. Canvass day will be Nov. 13 at 11 a.m.

Strickland said the poor turnout has been frustrating for election workers.

“I wish I could find some way to encourage people to take advantage of the early option,” she said. “I hope they’ll turn out for Tuesday, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

For more information about early voting, call the Columbus County Board of Elections at 640-6609.

Douglas Byron Sasser of Hallsboro was sworn in Monday afternoon as Columbus County’s resident Superior Court judge in ceremonies attended by more than 225 people from Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties.

Appointed in mid-October by Gov. Mike Easley to succeed William C. Gore Jr. of Whiteville, Sasser was given a rousing, standing ovation by the large crowd.

“This means the world to me. It’s an honor and I take this oath with enthusiasm. I promise my best, and I may not be right all the time,” the young judge stated.

More than 90 people lined the walls of the courtroom, and were stacked four deep at the doors. Another 135 were packed into the 14 rows of seats.

Superior Court Judge Jack Hooks Jr. of Whiteville, serving an appointed term as a special judge, presided, and noted the very warm courtroom because of the large crowd.

“I know a former judge (Gore), who is well known as being sensitive to heat, would agree with me that we need to adjust the air conditioning,” Hooks quipped as he opened the ceremony.

Chief District Court Judge Jerry Jolly pointed out Sasser’s outstanding work for nearly eight years, particularly with juvenile cases in three counties.

Jolly also thanked Sasser for his loyalty to fellow district judges, and assistance with their problems.

Gore, who retired in August to become director of the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles, brought greetings from Easley, and pointed out he was delighted with the governor’s choice to succeed him.

“If all these people support you like they did me for 27 years, then it’ll be a pleasant journey as you begin your work,” Gore declared.

Sasser is the new senior resident Superior Court judge for the counties of Bladen and Columbus. Brunswick County was taken out of the district in 2006.

Portions of letters praising Sasser from Congressman Mike McIntyre, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis were read to the assembled group.

After nearly 20 minutes was consumed by recognizing elected officials including senators and representatives, District Court judges, the district attorney and staff, the three county sheriffs and their employees, police chiefs and officers, probation officers, three county clerks of court and staff, judge’s staff, and news media, Hooks had the quip of the day.

“I would suggest that anyone who was not asked to stand is probably a defendant,” Hooks said. He also noted the three sheriffs and their officers should use a metal detector on the group of private citizens not asked to stand. (Bob High)

By RAY WYCHE
Staff writer

The annual Southeastern Community College Foundation fund drive kicked off Tuesday night with the largest gift in the foundation’s history with the announcement that that the Ben L. Nesmith III estate had willed $3 million to the college.

The SCC trustees and the directors of the foundation have approved the expenditure of $1 million of the bequest for the construction of an amphitheater on the campus on land recently given to the college by the James Allen Cartrette family.

SCC Foundation Director Richard Wright made the announcement of the gift at the fund drive kickoff dinner and said that long range plans for the college, made at least 20 years ago, included an amphitheatre.

Columbus County commissioners have agreed to fund annual maintenance costs of the amphitheatre.

The foundation’s fund drive kickoff annually seeks gifts and pledges from those present and this year’s goal has been set at $165,000. A total of about $91,000 was paid or pledged Tuesday night. Terry Mann of Whiteville is chairman of this year’s fund drive and Henry Edmund is foundation chairman.

More than $250,000 in additional endowments and gifts were announced at the dinner Tuesday night, including new contributions to the Lloyd Batten Scholarship Fund to bring its total to $215,000, and a $30,000 gift from Blue Cross-Blue Shield of North Carolina in honor of Rhone Sasser, past BCBS director and former president of United Carolina Bank that later merged with BB&T.

A new Allied Health Care scholarship in honor of the late Eleen Williams was announced at the kickoff, and Heather Brown, currently a nursing student at SCC, was awarded the first scholarship.

The Williams scholarship was presented by Eleen’s son Johnny.

In announcing the gift, Wright recalled some of Nesmith’s earlier life and the events leading up to the bequest.

A native of Tabor City, Nesmith served as an AirCorps officer in the Pacific in World War II and later graduated from The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He and his brother Frank operated an insurance agency for several years. Nesmith was known as “Little Ben” since his father was Ben Nesmith Jr., an early official with the old Waccamaw Bank and Trust Company.

Nesmith retired in 1986 and devoted his time to managing his property and investments. He was active in civic and church affairs in Tabor City and helped establish Westside Baptist Church.

He was predeceased by his wife Lucy and his only child, daughter Martha Anne “Mopsy.”

In planning their estates, after making provision for each other and their daughter, the Nesmiths directed that a “significant portion” of their residuary estates be given to SCC “for capital improvements, curriculum and student scholarship needs,” Wright said.

Wright said that at his (Wright’s) suggestion, Nesmith met with SCC President Matlock and Sue Hawks, executive secretary of the SCC Foundation, to discuss the prospective gift.

The gift will fund the amphitheatre that will be called the Nesmith Bicentennial Amphitheatre since it will be constructed during the 200th year of Columbus County’s existence.

SCC will use a consultant in deciding the exact location on campus for the structure.

The county Bicentennial Committee is planning for some events of the commemoration to be held in the amphitheatre, if possible.

The amphitheatre is expected to be used by different groups, including high school drama classes.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

The Columbus County Board of Commissioners is expected to revisit a resolution that addresses illegal residents in the county at the Nov. 5 meeting.

Commissioner James Prevatte asked the board in October to consider adopting a resolution that he said would give the sheriff full support in dealing with illegal aliens who commit crimes and break the law as well as make state and federal officials aware of the county’s stance on the issue.

The board voted unanimously at that time to accept a first reading on the resolution.

Sheriff Chris Batten and District Attorney Rex Gore were both present at the original meeting.

Batten said verification of illegal aliens is difficult to obtain but the N.C. Sheriffs Association and state and federal officials are looking for ways to improve the system. The association is concerned with crime associated with illegal aliens, he said.

Batten said the sheriff’s department would not be going out into farmers’ fields to verify if workers were legal or not. Essentially, if a person commits a crime and they are an illegal alien, they could be deported but such is already the case with the sheriff’s department.

Batten indicated recently that three or four illegal aliens have been deported from Columbus County in recent years and while there may be other illegal aliens in the county jail at present, verification on those individuals is not complete.

Gore pointed out resources for deportation are limited. He said not all offenses are deportable offenses – meaning the federal immigration authorities would not process and deport just anyone who is identified as an illegal.

Gore said under federal laws, employers can be fined for knowingly employing illegal aliens but those aren’t measures that can be taken locally. Gore said the impact on jobs is likely more visible in counties such as Brunswick. He said it is likely illegal residents who live in Columbus County may work in Myrtle Beach, S.C. or in Brunswick County.

Batten pointed out employers are often given phony social security cards and documentation.

Batten and Gore both said the county doesn’t have the jail space to house illegal aliens and serve as a regional holding center for deportees.

Last week, Batten via email explained how the process works and answered questions about what action the resolution would support.

“The commissioners resolution would mean, in my opinion, that they are willing to support the law enforcements efforts in identifying and removing illegal immigrants from our county,” Batten wrote .

“There is no power issue here. It’s about a process that must be taken to legally identify and remove these individuals if they meet the criteria the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities need for removal.

“Without getting into too many details about our procedure we bring inmates in and book them into our system. We then forward their information — if we feel that they may be in our country illegally — to the Federal authorities for a search in their system for a specific status,” the sheriff explained.

“Not only felons but repeat offenders of other offenses will also be targeted and removed.

“I think that in the future you will see local sheriff’s offices with jail facilities with the ability to access a data base that we can identify these illegals in a shorter period of time,” Batten added.

“We cannot afford to dedicate personnel to the extent that ICE needs for the 287g program for it to function on its own in our county. As you are well aware we had to rake and scrape to get the employees needed just to open our jail and I see already that we are struggling with what we have due to vacations, holidays and other issues such as comp time,” Batten explained.

“We as sheriffs in Eastern North Carolina are going to work together to find jail space, transport, and other needs to make the 287g program work to our advantage.

“I think and the sheriffs in the surrounding counties are of the opinion that we can work together and pool our resources to combat this issue of illegal immigration,” Batten concluded.

The Columbus County resolution calls for county staff among other things to cease funding for local programs “to the extent they serve illegal residents,” end contracts with companies that may employ illegals, and reduce expenditures for services provided to illegal aliens.

The measure also allows for the sheriff to partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement “to verify undocumented residents during the investigation or processing of any public safety inspection or offense and detain for deportation any illegal residents so identified.”

It is a resolution that has some people asking: “So what exactly does that mean?”

Prevatte said it’s simple and as he put it “anyone who says we don’t have illegals here has their head in the sand.”

Prevatte said illegal residents drain social programs and burden taxpayers. He wants state and federal government officials to be aware of the county’s resolution.

Director of Social Services Linda Fry told the board no services at the department are available to illegal residents. Identification and proof of citizenship are required but she pointed out any child born in the U.S. is a U.S. citizen, regardless of the citizenship of their parents, and are entitled to any benefits they are eligible to receive.

Medicaid allows medical reimbursement in emergency situations and Fry said that totaled about $41,000 of the department’s multi-million dollar budget.

Health Department Director Kim Smith said most of the programs at the department she heads up are federally and state funded, meaning there are federal guidelines.

The resolution directs county staff to:

1) Cease and desist local funding for any local programs to the extent that they serve illegal residents

2) Reduce expenditures on all federally funded and state-funded non-mandated programs to the extent that they serve illegal aliens

3) Discontinue contracting, based on reasonable information, with any county or out-of-county business employing or using identifiable illegal residents where county tax dollars are being expended.

4) Request the Columbus County Sheriff to diligently battle the ever-increasing criminal element which is growing daily with the influx of illegal residents and to consistently check the immigration status of each undocumented resident upon his or her arrests by such available means as fingerprints, federally verified social security numbers, and other accessible data.

5) Allow the Columbus County Sheriff to partner with (ICE) officials to verify undocumented residents during the investigation or processing of any public safety inspection or offense and detain for deportation any illegal residents so identified.

6) Direct all county departments and agencies, to the extent that they are able to do so with available information, to begin expenditure reductions for discretionary services provided to illegal aliens.

(In coming weeks, look for additional articles on the issue and impact on Columbus County agencies, schools and the economy.)

A quarter-cent.

Alone it is just one-fourth of a penny.

As an additional sales tax for goods (not food) purchased in Columbus County, it could amount to close to $1 million in revenue that county commissioners say would not have to take from additional property taxes.

A referendum to be held on Nov. 6 will determine if the board will be allowed to levy the additional sales tax come April 1, 2008, along with other counties across the state pursuing the option.

The Columbus County Board of Commissioners, along with every other county in the state, had the option of pursuing either a land sales transfer tax or sales tax. Columbus chose to pursue the sales tax that is estimated to bring in $934,000.

The one-fourth percent land transfer tax, opposed at the state level by real estate groups, would have generated approximately $443,968 in 2006 and $577,284 in 2007, according to N.C. Association of County Commissioners data.

Some counties are asking voters to vote on both, but only one option may be chosen. After the referendum, it is up to the boards to actually vote in the tax.

County officials say the additional tax is necessary to meet future needs and to build up the county’s low fund balance.

“Our problem is attempting to rebuild the fund balance,” Interim County Manager Leo Hunt said.

In June, as interim finance director, Hunt told the board that the county’s fund balance (savings) had been depleted for years to balance the budget while spending had increased.

Essentially, the county was spending more than it was generating in tax revenue and had covered shortfalls with savings – savings the state recommends stay at or above 8 percent of the county budget.

Columbus County is close to that minimum and earlier this year was advised that for counties close in size to Columbus the average fund balance was 26 percent of the total budget.

Columbus County had just half of that at 13 percent.

“We need to do some maintenance and repair on the courthouse – if not, we are going to have to build one,” Hunt also said.

A representative from the Administrative Office of the Courts told commissioners at a recent meeting that the courthouse is one of the worst he had seen from a health and safety standpoint.

Opponents of the sales tax, such as the Locke Foundation, say it is another unnecessary tax that will only increase government spending.

Columbus County is one of several counties that are predicted to have increased revenues once the Medicaid swap is completely phased in in three years.

While that is true, Hunt said, “once you crunch the numbers of taxes taken, Medicaid increases and the state’s assumption the county will see increased revenues of $700,000 next year and roughly $1.7 million in the third year.”
Essentially, the swap doesn’t amount to the total $6 million the county taxpayers are paying in property taxes that go to Medicaid.

At a public hearing held on the tax, few spoke in opposition. One resident said he would like to see property taxes replaced completely with sales taxes.

Every commissioner spoke in support of the tax and said they saw it as a fair tax.

Come Nov. 6 when all the votes are tallied, it will be known which argument voters bought.

“If a noise is a nuisance, the person will get a citation,” said Police Lt. Glenda George, “and a nuisance is well-defined in the city code.”

Police are starting a crackdown on noise pollution in accordance with the city ordinances.

The city has a number of rules regarding incessantly barking dogs, loud music on city streets or in homes, and other headache-producers. George said violation of the ordinance can result in a fine.

Anything audible outside of a vehicle or home can be considered a nuisance at any time of day or night, George said, but police use a lot of discretion in enforcing the rules.

“Mowing your yard at 10 in the morning won’t get you a ticket,” she said, “but mowing your yard at 10 at night will. People need to use common sense.”

According to the city code, amplified sounds are not allowed within 300 feet of hospitals, schools, churches, public buildings and nursing homes, or in any other “zone of quiet.”

Loud music or exhaust should only be able to be heard by the people in a vehicle, George explained.

“And that means inside a vehicle,” George said. “Standing in the front yard with the car doors open doesn’t put you inside the vehicle.”

George said the rules aren’t about keeping people from enjoying loud music or other sounds.

“It’s about being a nuisance to other people,” she said. “Anything that intrudes upon your peace and tranquility is a nuisance, and will be dealt with accordingly.”

George said parents can go a long way to helping with the problem by limiting how loud kids turn up the radio in the family car.

“If your children borrow your car and play the radio,” she said, “please tell them not to turn the volume past 03. Much more than that can damage hearing anyway.”