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Study the platforms, Examine the candidates, then . . . VOTE YOUR CONVICTIONS! As a citizen of democracy it is your DUTY and PRIVILEGE To VOTE August 22 VOLUME 25; NUMBER 16. NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 1961 ^ $2.00 PER YEAR By The Way - By DORIS A. SANDERS EXPLANATION In the story on this page about city council meeting, mention is made of a mayor-candidate misin terpreting the city an^ :j * March 31, 1961. Here are the facts: This same candidate has shown to various people a copy of the annual audit for the year ended September 30, 1960 which, he re portedly said, shows the city had a deficit of $25,000. What he did not know, or did not explain if he did know, was that the $25,000 was borrowed in May i960 to pay for capital improvements ; n Su burbia. Money borrowed for capi tal improvement is not considered a debt in the first place; in the second place, the money was re paid when taxes began to come in in October 1960, just after the an nual audit was made. That should clear that up. Now as to the March 1961 audit, the charge reportedly is that the city purchased equipment which was not in the budget and not authorized. The facts are these: In the current budget, the sum of $36,900 was set up in a fund for new equipment. No money was set up in the item known as “electric, water and sewer improvements.” When new electric current regu lators were purchased at a price of $22,386.66 it was charged to disbursements of the utilities de partment although the money to pay for same came from the item “new equipment,” the amount council had set up for the purpose of buying such equipment. If this is still not clear—Mr. Clarence Wallace can straighten you out but I will add this: our city employees, and the auditor who makes the annual audit, are not trying to hide anything. If there is any question of any kind, any doubt you might have about the figures contained in the audits of this year or years past, these people would welcome the oppor tunity to explain the matter to you in detail. The irresponsible action of any candidate in spreading what is certainly misleading, if not techni cally inaccurate, information should be closely scrutinized by voters before they cast a vote for such a man as mayor. tion to what you read and hear so that you will be able to make an intelligent decision. LITTLE DIFFERENCE Like all good public speakers, Rev. Kenneth Wilson was kind enough to furnish the news media copies of his talk before the Ro tary Club last Thursday. Also, like the good public speaker he is, he did not follow his written copy word for word. With the aid of the tape record ing made by WKDK, and a Steno graph machine, I have attempted to capture a little more of Rev. Wilson’s personality from his ac tual speech rather than from the typed copy. I hope you will en joy the account seen elsewhere on this page and that, for the ‘real thing’ you will listen Saturday morning as his speech is re-broad cast. THEY’RE FOR IT Three former mayors of New berry, in statements to be seen in this issue, have endorsed the council-manager form of govern ment. The Lions Club, at a recent meeting, unanimously passed a resolution favoring this system as the best for Newberry. Not only are these all prominent businessmen and community lead ers, they are also, in many in stances, payers of substantial amounts of taxes and business lic enses to the city. It stands to reason that these men know what they are doing in wholeheartedly endorsing council-manager gov ernment. For continued good government, when you go to the polls August 22,1 would join these men in urg ing you to strike no, vote YES, in the special election. MORE RUMORS Rumors have been rampant dur ing the municipal campaign this year. The latest of the rumors is that some of the candidates plan to “boycott” the Forum meeting planned by the Civic League. If they do, that should be indication enough you don’t want such peo ple—afraid to stand up and be questioned—on your city council. ADDRESSES A reader says “You are always telling people to write to their congressman or senators, but you don’t tell them how 'o address their letters.” Well, I can’t say that I know the Emily Post eti quette, but I know how to get let ters where I want them to go. Your representatives are Con gressman W. J. Bryan Dorn, House Office Building, Washing ton, D. C.; Senator Strom Thur mond, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.; Senator Olin Johnston, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. The office building isn’t even necessary as long as your envelope has the congressman or senator on it, it will get where you intend for it to go. A PUBLIC SERVICE Between now and August 22nd, you will read much in this paper, and hear much on Radio Station WKDK, about the council-manager form of government. Many per sons have workea diligently to compile information so that you may give thoughtful consideration to what has happened in your city during the past 11 years, and to decide intelligently the question “Shall Newberry continue the council-manager form of govern ment.” I wish especially to thank Mr. Clarence Wallace, city clerk and treasurer, for the many hours of his own time spent gathering in formation which was requested; also P. K. Fuller for providing statistics about recreation pro grams and equipment. In addition to information pub lished in The Sun, WKDK is plan ning a number of special programs on the subject as a public service. This series began last Thursday when Rev. Kenneth B. Wilson’s address to the Rotary Club, was broadcast. Incidentally, in response to popular demand, this speech will be re-broadcast on Saturday of this week immediately follow ing the news at 9:00 a.m. WKDK will also broadcast the Forum meeting of the Civic League Fri day night at 8 p.m. and arrange ments are being made to broadcast the Kiwanis Club meeting Thurs day, August 17 at 1:30 p.m. H. B. Kirkegard, guest speaker, will discuss the council-manager form of government in Newbeiry. Oth er special programs on the subject will be broadcast. I know that statistics can be boring, but I urge that you take the time to give careful considera- Schools To Open September 5th Newberry City Schools will op en Tuesday, September 5, accord ing to a joint announcement made ! this week by Superintendent J. V. Kneece and R. E. Beck. The session on September 5 will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p. m. Regular schedule will begin Wednesday, September 6. School j lunches will be provided for $1.25 a week. Accident insurance will be I $2.00. A meeting of all mothers and fathers of all students entering j the first grade will be held at the ; Junior High School auditorium ; Wednesday, August 30 at 10:00 a. m. Mr. Beck urges that parents make note of the meeting, and make every effort to attend. All new students, grades 1 through 8, who will enter the New 7 - berry City Elementary schools for the first time will enroll at Jun ior High School August 21 through September 1, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 12 noon, and 2 to 5 p.m. Students entering Newberry High school, grades 9 through 12, for the first time will enroll at the high school August 21 through September 1 between the hours of 9 a.m. to 12 noon, and 2 to 5 p.m. This does not include students now in the city system or from Silver- street and Bush River Areas. In order to have a smooth open ing of school, the superintendents ask that arrangements be made to rent books at the specified time, as given below: Junior High, Grades 6, 7, 8: August 14 and 15, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Boundary Street, Grades 2-5: August 21 and 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Speers Street, Grades 2-5: Aug. 28 and 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Senior High School, Grade 9: August 21, 22, 23; Grade 10, Aug ust 24 and 25; Grade 11, August 28 and 29; Grades 12, August 30 and 31, all from 9 a.m. until 12 noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. Know Your Candidates The Know Your Candidate Series this week includes brief bio graphical sketches of Clarence A. Shealy, Jr. and S. D. (Bozo) Pay- singer, candidates for Alderman Ward 3; and Jimmie B. Davenport, candidate for Alderman War 4. The other Ward 4 candidate has not furnished information requested over two weeks ago. Clarence A. Shealy Jr., age 31, was born and'reared in Newberry, and has lived here his entire life with the exception of four years spent in the Navy, and one and one-half years spent teaching atj Summerville High School. Mr. Shealy is single and is an agent with Liberty Life Insurance Company. He is a member of Ept- ing Memorial Methodist Church where he serves as chairman of the official board and assistant teacher of the Young Adult Sun day School Class. Mr. Shealy is a Mason, a mem ber of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Board of Review Boy Scout Troop 222 and a mem’^r of the S. C. MUhici- pal Association. Strother Daniel (Bozo) Paysing- er, who has served previously on city council for four years as Al derman from Ward 3, was born and reared in Newberry. He is 36 years of age, is married to the former Miss Eleanor Weir, and is the father of three children. Mr. Paysinger is an oil supplier with Sinclair Refining Company, and is a member of the First Bap tist Church. He is a member of Kiwanis Club, American Legion, Junior j Chamber of Commerce and Air Force Reserve. A newcomer to politics is Jim-j mie Byrnes Davenport, 31 year* of age, who seeks the office of Alderman Ward 4. Mr. Davenport was born in Newberry and has lived here most of his life. His wife is the former Miss Gay Bowers of Prosperity, who is an employee of S. C. Na tional Bank. They have one daugh ter, Kim, age one and one-half. Mr. Davenport is parts mana ger for J. Ellerbe Sease Co., and is a member of Central Methodist Church. He also is a member of Carolina Farm Equipment Asso ciation, and of Amity Lodge No. 87, A..FM. Wilson Gives Reasons For Favoring City Government Mr. and Mrs. Frasier Sanders and Connie and Ruthie spent the weekend in Statesville, N. C. with Mrs. Sanders’ sister, Mrs. D. H. McHargue and family. Danny Mc- Hargue returned with them to Newberry for a two weeks visit with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. O. F. Armfield Sr., and oth er relatives. “I believe in the council-manag er form of government,” Rev. Ken neth B. Wilson, pastor of First Baptist church, told members of the Rotary club, their guests, and a radio audience last Thursday. He continued his talk with sound reasoning to back his belief. He briefly reviewed the history of council-manager government. “I say to you I believe with all my heart the council-manager form of government is one of the very highest of ideals, for the sim ple reason it is based on the most practical method of self- government,” Mr .Wilson said. Noting the fact that since 1912 1650 cities have adopted this form of government, the speaker continued “I know it isn’t well for a minister to pass by the statement and sing the theme ‘Everybody’s doing it,’ but I am going to say this with insight: if everybody’s doing it, it need not mean it is desirable and best, but I am going to be awake enough to investigate and find out what it is that causes everybody to do this certain thing.” Rev. Wilson’s speech continued, in part: “In looking into this, I found and offer to you several convict ions based upon the idea that this form of government is the most personal approach to city- self-administered government. “It is in the council that muni cipal policies are determined in the light of a set charter; councilmen are elected by the masses, they represent the best interests of the city because they are the ones who select the city manager; it is the council which approves the budget, determines the tax rate; it is the council which enacts the laws, votes the appropriations and sees to the administration of city affairs. “The government of our city rests primarily not upon the integ rity or honesty of the manager, as important as that is; rather the success or failure of our gov ernment rests upon the shoulders of the council we elect. Obviously this system becomes a safeguard against corruption and short sighted principles. “So I am saying first of all, I believe in the council-manager form of government because it is popular for a reason. It is popu lar because it is a personalized form of expression of self-gov ernment; but it is not just per sonalized—it is immensely and in tensely practical. “I cannot help but muse to my self humorously when I try to im agine the Kendall company plants without a manager; the Newberry Mills operating without a mana ger where every department could go its separate way as it pleased without direction; I can not for the life of me see New berry college succeed to the heights of possibility without a president; I cannot imagine the county hospital producing services we want and deserve without an administrator; I cannot conceive of the schools operating at maxi mum efficiency without someone of wisdom, insight and training giving full time to the responsi bility; and humorously, I can’t even imagine First Baptist church getting along without a pastor. If you think it’s bad now, you can imagine what it would be other wise. “I do think council-manager government is the only practical system of goverrtment and may I simply infer why. We are in big business. I don’t know whether you ever stopped to realize it or not: we—I—employ'114 full time servants. They are on my payroll. We pay out in salaries $286,968 every year to these employees. We gross better than three-quarters (Continued on Page 3) City Employees Are Rewarded For Services By DORIS A. SANDERS The most important part of any business is its labor force. The City of Newberry, which is big business, is no exception. The City Councils of the past eleven years, through council-manager govern ment, have seen that city em ployees are adequately rewarded for services rendered the public. With no increase in taxes dur ing the period, employee salaries have been increased four times. The City manager, who, by law, is a 24-hour a day public servant, was hired by city council on Octo ber 1, 1949 at a salary of $6000. At. the end of a ^ear, his salary was increased by $1000, at the same time all city employees re ceived an increase. On October 1. 1951, a 10 percent increase was given all employees, bringing the manager’s salary to $7700. On Oc tober 1, 1957, a five percent in crease was given all personnel, in creasing the manager’s salary to $8085. On October 1, 1960, adjust ments were made in the salaries of all city employees to bring them up to the rate provided by the Employee Classification System adopted by council. This brought the manager’s salary to $8280, which it is at the present time. He is furnished an automobile to conduct the city’s business, but gets no other compensation, direct ly or indirectly, for his services. As a result of these increases, the manager’s salary has had a percentage increase of 38% dur ing the eleven years; however, sal aries of 19 categories of employees have increased more, while only three have shown less increase. These three are utility supenh- tendent, 37.1 percent, water plant operated 35 percent — this is be cause these employees are rela tively new in their positions and in the lower rates of the classifica tion system; and the recreation di rector, 12.2 percent. This job was established in 1953 after all other employees had received two sub stantial increases so his salary was, and is, in line with c^her de partment heads in the city. Total salaries paid city employ ees in 1950 amounted to $171,094.- 67. Total salaries paid for 1960 amounted to $286,968—with no in crease in taxes. The City of Newberry employs 114 persons, 30 more than in 1949. The percentage of salary in creases in various categories from 1950 to 1960 is as follows: City manager, 38%; utility sup erintendent, 37.1%; clerk and treasurer, 69.2%; street superin tendent, 78.2%; police chief, 73.* 9%; fire chief, 80.8%; electric line man first class, 95.4%; electric lineman second class, 104%; utili ty labor foreman, 77.2%; truck driver, 53.5%; water plant opera tor, 35%; water plant operator, 40 %; semi-skilled labor, utility department, 74.5%; common labor, utility department, 68%; common labor, street department, 64%; police patrolman, 50, 55.5 and 61. 1% in three categories; firemen, 38.5%; recorder, 46.7% and rec- creation director, 12.2%. The city has also made it pos sible for about 25 employees to attend schools for their line of work: water and sewage works, police, fire, gas, recreation and fi nance. All employees are under Federal Social security. From July 1, 1955 to October 1, 1960, the city con tributed $30,218.15 to Social Sec urity for its employees. The city has a group insurance plan and pays one-third the cost of hospi tal insurance and one-third the cost of a $1000 life insurance pol icy for all employees who partici pate. City employees, with few excep tions, are granted one and one- fourth days per month vacation with pay after six months in the city’s service. All of these salary increases, programs and benefits for city employees have been accomplish ed under council-manager form of government without increase in taxes. (Information about more ac complishments of the city under council - manager government will be publishend in The Sun next week.) T $ iH-li MM mm i Hi tec mi m*. TV PROGRAM Pat Shealy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dick Shealy, will appear on WIS-TV Saturday, August 12 ai 4:30 p.m. from the Calvert-Brodie School of Dance. Also appealing on the program will be Tommy Lybrand, Newberry dance instruc tor. Making way for progress and a modern, new for Newberry College, the cornerstone is removed from Hall prior to raxing the building. Dr. A. G. D. Wiles, college presi dent, looks on as A. Z. Wilson of Gohunbia, in the center, contractor for removal of & building, and Ellis Dennis remove the heavy stone. After some effort, the stone was opened, ami found therein were: Newberry Herald and News of Jane 5. 1966; Newberry Ob server, June 8, 1906; The State, June 10, 1906; Charleston Sunday News, May 27, 1906; Newberry College Catalog, 1905-06; Newberry College alumni publication, “The Stylus,** May 1906. (Photo by Nichols.) Three Former Mayors Endorse Council-Manager Government Three former mayors of New berry, Dave Hayes, E. B. Purcell and James E. Wiseman Sr., have whole - heartedly endorsed the council-manager form of govern ment. Mr. Hayes and Mr. Purcell served as mayor prior to the time this government was instituted. Mr. Wiseman began his tenure three months after the plan was inaugurated. Their letters are as follows: (By DAVE HAYES) To the People of Newberry: I was greatly honored in 1946 in being elected Mayor of the City of Newberry. I think this is the greatest honor that could come to any citizen of Newberry. Before that time and since I have been greatly interested in the welfare of our fine city and the manage ment of its affairs. I think the greatest forward step that has been taken in New- berry and many other towns throughout the country was the adoption of the city manager form of government. When the affairs of the town, which include the water and light department, were combined under the management of one person, the City of Newber ry not only saved considerable amount of money, but the affairs of tiie city have been managed in a businesslike manner. Before it was divided up among six aider- men who naturally wanted to get all the work done for their individ ual wards and the people living in them. The affairs of the City of Newberry is big business. Any business which has an income of Mrs. Jac Ullman and children, Jac and Mary Lee of Wilmington, Del., are visiting in the home of Mrs. Ullman’s mother, Mrs. Va nessa Holt, and grandmother, Mrs. Leila Williams, who is seriously ill. Mr. Ullman and another son, Mark, will join his family here later. Interest High In Civic Form The Civic League has sent a written invitation to the 14 candi dates for alderman positions, and the three candidates for mayor, to attend their Forum meeting Aug ust 11 at 8 p.m. at the Community Hall. Each candidate has been ask ed to appear on the program. In order to hold the gathering within a two-hour period, the 14 aspirants for alderman will have 60 minutes divided among them; while the three for mayor will have another 60 minutes to dis cuss issues. In addition to the moderator. Dr. Jame^ C. Kinard, there will be a time-keeper. Both will cooperate to keep the discussions rolling along and in the time allotted to each speaker. Many voters will wish to see the candidates in person and hear them at close range. For these there will be 150 seats available. Many more will tune in on WK DK for the meeting. $800,000 each year requires a great deal of planning and man agement. One of the first things outside business people look for in com ing into a city is the manner in which their city affairs are hand led, and I am sure Newberry will compare favorably with any city in South Carolina. I would like to personally urge all of the ptiople in Newberry to vote on August 22 and to vote in favor of keeping the City Manager form of government. (By E. B. PURCELL) I recently read what ex-Mayor Dave Hayes had to say about serving as mayor before the City manager form qf government was established here in Newberry. I agree with Mr. Hayes 100%. X, too, served as mayor during World War II before we had a city manager, and I wish to say here and now it was very demoral izing to try to run a city in such an awkward and unbusinesslike manner. Now the City of Newberry has consolidated the public utilities and all other departments under the city manager. In this way many loose ends are gathered up and the city manager can carry out the orders of the mayor and city coun cil with great efficiency. Running a city is a big job and a big business. In fact, it is one of the biggest businesses we have. It is vital that we have someone full t ; :ne to watch over our inter ests and the huge investment that Newbervy has. Can you imagine one of our large textile plants run ning without a manager? It is unthinkable. In conclusion let me say that I thoroughly recommend and endorse the city manager form of govern ment. tion of the affairs of the city. Although I did not serve the city in an official capacity prior to 1950, I have been in business in Newberry for many years and have been interested in the man ner in which city affairs have been handled. Newberry -is “big business’* with assets of one and one-half million dollars; yearly receipts and disbursements of over three-quar ters of a million dollars; employees numbering 114 with a payroll of almost one-quarter of a million dollars annually. Having been connected with this big business since 1950, especially during the years I served as Mayor, I feel qualified to recommend, without hesitation, the council-manager form of government as the govern ment the City of Newberry nee Is* and must have, if it is to continue to grow and prosper in the best interest of the citizens it serves. Mrs. Fred H. Dominick return ed to her home on Harrington street Friday night after several months stay with her son-in-law and daughter in Waynesboro, Va. (By JAMES E. WISEMAN, SR.) The Council-Manager form of government ,adopted by a major ity vote of qualified electors of Newberry, began operations in Oc tober 1949. On January 1, 1950, I began my first term as Mayor of our city. I was, therefore, in on the “ground floor”—I saw condi tions as they existed at the begin ning of this form of government, and during the six years I had the privilege of serving as your Mayor, I saw the City of Newber ry come out of a condition of con fusion into the well-managed business organization it rightful ly should be. This is no reflection on mayors, councilmen and commissioners who served prior to 1950, but a criticism of a system which al lowed each department of the city to go its own merry way, with no central supervision or control. The almost 60 percent increase in the value of the city’s assets during the past eleven years is indicative of the efficiency of the council-manager form of govern ment. This increase, it might be noted, was accomplished not with an increase in taxes, but with in creased efficiency in administra- GREETINGS BIRTHDAY Aug. 13: Mickey Jennings, Rosalind Werts, Tom P. Wicker, David Waldrop, R. C. Hunter, Alfredia Livingston, Mrs. F. C. Hentz, Barbara Alice Amick, F. J. Kennerley IT, Henry Da vid Warren, Mrs. T. M. Shull. Aug. 14: Tip Hargrove, Mrs. Clay Balleatine, Carroll Loo ney, Loris Boland, Deborah Brady, Dudley Dominick, Miss Sudie Dennis, Patricia Lake, Ike Dennis Jr., Debbie Lip scomb, P. K. Fuller, Rev. Paul Petty. ✓ Aug. 15: Mrs. James Mills, Miss Sadie Bowers, Mrs. Wil liam Partridge, Mary Lane Chapman, Mrs.' Ruth Walton, Ann Leopard, Mrs. Arthur Ear- gle, Charlotte Pelham, Gary Pope, Dow Bedenbaugh, Jose phine Ann Tindall, Cecil E. Mer chant, Ella Rae Blake, Rev. Bob Long. Aug. 16: Price K. Harmon, Mrs. Holland Sligh, Barney Yates, Billie Dickert, Cynthia Sue Merchant, Martha Folk, Mary Katherine Stone, Mary Bedenbaugh, Cathy Graham, Mary Anna Long, Clyde Living ston Jr., Mark Baker. Aug. 17: Mrs. M. P. Davis, Mrs. Seth A. Meek, L^ila Kay Singley, John H. Boozer, Frank Gilbert, Rodney Outz, Jeannie Armfield, John Earl Smith, Boyd Hobson Parr, Mrs. Bobby Hawkins. Aug. 18: Griffin Coleman, Mrs. B. F. Hawkins, Sinclair Kemper, Billy Yanderford, Mi chael Cameron Johnson, Clarence B. Hazel, Eugene Smith, Eunice H. Hawkins, Tom E. Longshore. Aug. 19: Mrs. Charlie Ruff. Jimmie Ringer, Jknmy Timmer man, Anita Hyers, Blanche C. Leslie, Frances S. Dufford, W. C. Wallace, Mrs. Ernest O. Wicker, Sandra Cubbage. £1