April 8, 1963 - 11:00 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

April 8, 1963 - Special1 2Fit width94Meeting of, Board _of Commissioners -f-or the County f,Lohnst?n - -__April 8, 1963The Board of Commissioners of Johnston County reconvened in special session onApril 8, 1963, at 1100 A M, in the Commissioners Room, with the following memberspresentH M Johnson, Chairman, Frank B Holding, Jesse H Austin, Jr and Norman GDenningAbsent J N BaileyThe following business was transacted1 EndorsementSchool Bond ReferendumJames W Earp, Chairman, N B Grantham Vice - Chairman, and E S Simpson, Superin-tendent of Public Schools, informed the Board of action taken by the members of theBoard of Education supporting and recommending the passage of a bill proposed bySenator Gurganus and others, which provides for a 100,000,000 bond referendum forschool constructionEach spoke briefly in behalf of the bill, which, if approved by the people, would provide the county with 1,548,000 for school construction They deemed this bill tobe the best solution to the building problem confronting themAfter due consideration and discussion, Commissioner Frank B Holding moved thatthe Board go on record as endorsing the proposal of Senator Gurganus providing for a100,000,000 bond referendum for school constructionFurther moved that a copy of this motion be mailed to Mr Alex- McMahon, GeneralCounsel, North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, and H onorable Adam JWhitley, Jr, North Carolina Senate, and Honorable W R Britt, North Carolina House ofRepresentativesCommissioner Jesse H Austin, Jr, seconded the motion, which was unanimouslycarried2 ABC HearinIndividually, as well as citizens in groups, with diverse ideas on a proposed ABCreferendum for three of the towns in the county aired their views before the Board andSenator Whitley and Representative Britt, who, at the request of the Board, were pre-sent at the meetingRev J Malloy Owens, Methodist Minister of Clayton, acting as spokesman for agroup of ministers, presented the following petitionWe, as Ministers of Johnston County, call upon you, the men elected by our peopleto govern this County, to take no action that will increase the amount of intoxicatingbeverages drunk in Johnston County Such beverages and those who manufacture, sell,and promote them constitute one of the most evil and demonic forces in American societytoday We call upon you in the Name of the Lord not to become the tools of this forcewhich causes increasing automobile accidents, breaks homes, makes men and women youngand old do things they would not otherwise do, leaves children fatherless and mother-less, and breaks the mental and physical health of persons who drink it and often ofthose who have to live with them- in other words this force which greatly and aggress-ively degrades our People As men who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, let uscall on you in His Name not to mark this Holy Week and Easter Season by using theauthority you have to bring a greater flood of this demonic, person - destroying materialinto our County It is wrong and should be illegal Let us call upon you to enforcethe law, not repeal it To legalize liquor increases its consumption, else why wouldthe people who profit from it spend such vast amounts of money to legalize it in townafter town and county after county across the Country They know from experience that-legalizing it makes it flow more freely, increases drinking And that is preciselywhat we are against and what you as professing Christians should be against tooFurthermore, to allow one or more towns within a County that has voted dry to voteseparately is grossly unfair and absolutely undemocratic, in that it deliberatelycircumvents the expressed will of all the People Your votes came from people whoknew that you were associated with Christs Church and they have a right to expect youto act like those associated with Christs Church When our people want pagans togovern them, they have a right to elect men who profess no religion or morals We callon you in the name of God and the good People of Johnston County to vote against anyfurther expensive and unnemsary referendums on this subjectHubert E Bland, Clayton Pentecostal HolinessHarold M White, First Baptist, ClaytonJ Malloy Owen, Horne Memorial Methodist, ClaytonHorace Ricks, Princeton Baptist, PrincetonH J Melvin, Hocutt Memorial Baptist, ClaytonD R Tangewan, Selma Tabernacle, SelmaW R Crowder,_ Pastor Edgerton Memorial, SelmaL 0 Bunce, Pastor Church of God, SelmaW C Martin,, Retired, ClaytonK N Carnes, Selma Church of GodJohn R Blue, Princeton Methodist Church, Princeton?5- — - - - _ - -- -- - - A-p?ri1 -8 1963 ContEach minister present then expressed himself against the evils of alcohol and thedamages it left in its wake, urging the members of the Board not to stand for a cityreferendum but to encourage stricter law enforcementHarold Peedin, who appeared before the Board at their last meeting, again reiteratedhis request for a county wide referendum to allow the rural citizens the right to vote onthe issueHe was supported in his stand by Kermit Stencil, Odell Adams and Glenn StancilW G Massey endorsed and read a letter from Mrs J E Jones, of the Wesley BibleClass, Horne Memorial Methodist Church, which in substance expressed the feeling of theClass against the legalisation of ABC stores, and that if a referendum were to be heldthat it should be on a county wide basis rather than distributing the privilege reck-lessly to individual communitiesArchie Johnson presented a petition signed by 299 citizens,which was prefaced asfollowsPetition opposing Municipalities having A B C Stores Separate from CountyWe the undersigned oppose any Municipality having separate A B C facilities notincluded on a county wide basis We think it should be put to a vote County -Wide togive all the people of Johnston County an opportunity to decide such a far - reachingquestion that effects all the people in the countyThe Commissioners were asked to express t1e it views, which, as a whole, implied theright of citizens to express themselves by a referendum, provided sufficient evidenceof their purpose was manifested As to whether the Towns of Smithfield, Selma and Bensoncould hold an election was out of their province and rested with the members of theGeneral AssemblySenator Whitley, eluded to as the person with whom it rested to decide as to whetherthe towns could hold a liquor referendum, arose to say that he thought the reference amistake, that it laid with Mr BrittMr Britt took the floor to say that he was tired of seeing the buck passed andbeing identified as a wet and Senator Whitley as a dry He stated that their recordon liquor was just about the same, but that he intended to face the issue and not dodgeit He said that he and Senator Whitley had been consulted by representatives of thetowns and county He further stated that he might endorse the bill under certain cir-cum5tances, but that he did not know whether he would vote for the same He questionedthe idea that those who could ask for a referendum be considered all bad and that thosewho opposed all good, as the names on the petition requesting a town referendum bore thenames of good people, who were bone dry Following his declaration, Commissioner Austin complimented him upon stating hisviews in such a candid manner, in order that the people of the county might know wherehe stoodCommissioner Denning questioned Senator Whitley as to whether he would support sucha bill, if endorsed Senator Whitley replied that he expressed his views in a letterto the Board and reiterated that he would not support a bill providing for the towns tohold an ABC referendum, that he did not think it was fair to the rural areaFollowing Senator Whitleys announcement, there arose expressions from the ministersand Mr Peedin stating in substance, that they were not down to request a county widevote However, , Odell Adams dissented from their views, terming himself a wet andasking the Commissioners to call a county wide referendumThe majority of the Commissioners stated that if sufficient bona fide interest wasmanifested by the citizens of the County, calling for a county wide vote, that theywould seriously consider calling a referendum; otherwise they would not care to put thecounty to the expense of an election when sentiment appeared overwhelmingly dry3 Bond Willard A WallaceCommissioner Jesse H Austin, Jr moved that the bond of Willard A Wallace, Con-stable of Smithfield Township, in the amount of 20000, with W D Hood, as surety, beapprovedCommissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was carriedOn motion made, sconded and carried, it was moved that the meeting be adjourned- - 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