Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Carolina Shores residents eyeball board

SHALLOTTE, N.C. -- The passions of some Carolina Shores residents clearly were not quelled by Tuesday's vote, in which incumbent Commissioner Gere Dale overwhelmingly lost his seat.

Thursday's town board meeting, Dale's last as a commissioner, was marked by near outrage and certain indignation at every move Dale tried to make except when he seconded a motion sought by Mayor Steve Selby to amend the agenda.

Dale and Commissioner Dan Mann will surrender their seats on Dec. 1 to incoming commissioners Joyce Dunn and Walter Goodenough. Mann, a former mayor, was appointed earlier this year to fill the seat of former Commissioner Jack Czernecky, who resigned, until the election.

The capacity audience at Thursday's meeting clearly felt that the board was trying to pull a quick move when four of five commissioners approved Mann's signature on a contract for assistant town administrator Amanda Chestnut. They were equally wary about the board agreeing to change the word "manager" to "administrator" throughout Chestnut's and Town Administrator Linda Herncane's employment contracts to reflect a change in the form of the town's government that voters approved in a referendum.

Public comments took half of the two-hour meeting time.

Dale at one point said he thought that some of the prayers conducted by Selby did not meet legal guidelines because they too specifically referred to just Christianity. He said the town has been advised that prayers need to be general and without references tied to a specific religion. Dale and Commissioner Tom Puls said they did not object to prayer but wanted it to be nonsectarian enough to protect the town from lawsuits.

The mayor said he was aware of the limitations and tried to construct his prayers to accommodate the limitations.

"For the mayor," Selby's wife, Judy Selby, said during a public comment period, "praying is talking to his best friend."

She added, her voice wavering with emotion, "Carolina Shores and our leadership need God's guidance and wisdom more than ever."