The Boss is Gone Secret Sale!
We Are in Charge! Deals So Good, We Can’t Mention Them Here! Sale at both locations. Offered 7/8/15 to 7/14/15.
Barbecue festival It’s time for music, fun, and plenty of tasty barbecue at the Cape Fear BBQ Festival at Old River Farms. See the ad on page 16A for more info.
Volume 44, No. 36
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Thursday, June 4, 2015
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Season ends The Topsail Lady Pirates went down swinging in the East Regionals last week. Read about it in sports on page 10A.
50 Cents The Media of Record for the People of Pender County Work continues on budget
A Frozen movie night at the park
Proposed tax increase slips to 17-cent range By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
As work continues on the Pender County budget, the proposed tax increase estimate has slipped from 18 cents down to 17, according to commission chairman David Williams. “With the potential savings on the insurance, we are down to the 17 cent range now,” Williams said. “When you look at the budget items that are non-mandated, that is the hardest to cut. There are a lot of things people seem to want. We are looking at everything.” Officials hope to have county employees added to the state health insurance system, which will result in substantial savings. Commissioners will have another budget workshop this week. In a press release last week, county mana g er Randell
Woodruff said “the current budget cycle is proving to be one of the most difficult for Pender County in recent years due to the timing of a number of important projects coming to fruition at the same time. The county is faced with the dilemma of implementing a very significant property tax increase to cover the debt service payments on the new school projects which were included in the bond referendum passed by the county voters last November. The required debt service for the school bond projects will represent the majority of the proposed tax increase.” Williams says a lot of ideas are being discussed and the majority of the projects there are prompting a tax increase were approved by county voters. “We are doing the best we can,” said Williams.
School bond projects on hold Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Elsa visits with children at Soundside Park Friday evening at the first free movie night of the summer season. The events are sponsored by the Surf City Parks and Recreation Department. See more photos on Facebook.
Equine rescue fundraiser Saturday in Hampstead By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer Their nightmarish stories belie the horses they are now. Palti was released to fend for herself in a rural area of Harnett County. The person who bought the mustang from a federal auction decided he could no longer handle her, even after hobbling her front feet with rope so tight that it left scars. Grace was kept in an 18 by 20 pen for two years, and only brought out to race against other starved horses, or when her owner, an accused drug dealer, tried
to have her bred. June was more than 200 pounds underweight, and still nursing a ninemonth-old filly when she was seized from a convicted hoarder. These horses, and dozens like them, are why Cape Fear Equine Rescue (CFER) is holding its annual fundraiser Saturday. The multi-class show is open to any equestrians, and features classes for
English, Western and gaming riders. The show will be held at Shingleton Farm in Hampstead. Registration starts at 9 a.m. “I’m afraid that attendance is going to be low this year,” said Debbie Bartholomew, director of CFER. “This is our big hurrah for the year. We have to make enough money to carry us through the rest of the year.” CFER is a non-profit equine and large animal rescue group. Volunteers assist animal control departments across southeastern North Carolina on inves-
No money, no progress
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher Seven months after Pender County voters approved a $75 million school bond, little if any progress has been made on the bond projects. The problem is money – the lack of it. County officials say the bonds to fund the projects won’t be sold until sometime this fall, nearly a year after voters approved the bond. Although commissioners
approved matching money with the School Board for preliminary work on some bond projects, Roper says no money has been released. “We are eagerly awaiting the bond money. We are at the mercy of the commissioners until the bonds are sold,” said School Board member Tom Roper. “They haven’t released any money to hire the architects. We’ve asked them for about $2 million for that
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Chairman defends manager’s memo to employees Employees must repect the chain of command By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher A memo from County Manager Randell Woodruff to county employees sparked controversy when the memo was picked up in a story by a Wilmington television station. In the memo, Woodruff told county employees to take concer ns and complaints
related to work and county business to their supervisors, not directly to the board of commissioners. Comments about the story on Facebook said employees were county citizens and should be able to voice concerns directly to their elected officials. Commission Chair man David Williams disagrees. “There has been a long his-
tory of employees in general being allowed to circumvent the chain of command. When you are an employee of the county, and you have personnel issues, you need to follow the chain of command,” Williams said. “You can’t run straight to the county commissioners, you go to your supervisor.” Williams said just because an employee is a citizen and
lives in Pender County, they still must respect the chain of command in their department. “One of the worst things you can do as a commissioner is stick your nose in personnel issues,” said Williams. “I had someone the other day send me an email because their friend didn’t get hired at the hospital. That is not our role.
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
State Rep. Chris Millis met with citizens at a town hall meeting in Hampstead May 28. Millis gave an update on the state budget and answered questions. He pledged to help with funding for the proposed U.S. Hwy. 17 bypass project in Hampstead.
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