The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter., 1959-12-11
WELFARE BOARD
RESENTS ATTITUDE
SHOWN BY STICK
Chairman of Commissioners Also
Has His Run lns With At
lantie Township Man

HceCulS VI Tile DdTe SOuIiLy OOhIu u
of Commissioners Tuesday, begin
ming with a joint session with the
County Welfare Board which had
been arranged at the insistence of
Commissioner David Stick. After
a long period of questions and adj
vice directed to the welfare Of
ficials by Commissioner Stick,
George Albert Daniels, Welfare
Board member from Wanchese got
!, up and said he was giving his time
as a. public service, and if all he was
going to hear was "this kind of
stuff" he was going home. He
said he'd heard enough and he was
disguised.
"I've been here before, and all l
can hear is you wrangling with
the Chairman" Mr.. Daniels said,
land it looks to me you try to be
the chairman, make trouble, and
try to run everything in the coun-
ty yourself in your own way"
w. S. White, Board member from
NIanns Harbor offered his reslg-
nation so someone could be put
on 10 suit Mr.. Stick, and Meekins
suggested maybe the Commission
ers could appoint Stick. One mem
Der of the Welfare Board said they
would then all resign.
Mr.. Daniels said he had no i'll
will against Mr.. Stick, but was
Just disguised, and didn't want his
time wasted.
Stick then dictated a long
motion outlining policies for hand
ling welfare work on which vote
of the two boards was to be asked
as a means of establishing policy
for future guidance. Commissioner
Woodrow Edwards moved the mo-
ton be tabled, contending that the
motion needed study. Stick said ne
would agree to holding the motion
over until January then and ask for
a vote on it. This meeting closed
at noon.
In the afternoon meeting, Stick
renewed his usual warfare on
Chairman Meekins. His larger ef-
fort was to get control of manage
ment of the Manteo airport. which
Meekins had offered to look after
without cost several months ago to
get some needed repairs made. AS
usual, Commissioner Hooper agreed
with Stick and Stick held out a
new appeal to Commissioner
George Fuller of Buxton by pronlis-
ing to agree to a revision OF the
budget next month so Commits
sioner Fuller could build jail at
Buxton. which he has long advo'
Gated. -
Meekins said Stick had been fill
clustering for months about the
airport and everything else which
he wishes to wreck, and that Stick
had announced his intention months
ago to destroy Meekins. Meekln;
said Stick had lied on him by claim
ing at the time he was Chairman
of the Board of Commissioners In
1949-5O he paid himself a salary to
look after the airport property.
"Stick knows he's LAR" Meek
ins said, "because it was more than
a year after I came off the Board
that the successor board, on the
recommendation of Civil Aeronau-
tics Engineers employed me at a
salary of 5000 a month to manage
rebuilding and repairing the air.
port property. Meekins worked al
) this for more than two years, got
a government grant Of $4,000 to
rebuild runways, and in all total
funds of $50,000 TO rehabilitate the
airport. None of it has cost the
taxpayers anything" he said. The
property is again in bad state OF
repair.
MeelSins said the decision by Of
ficials to employ him was because
he had been active in the beginning
in getting the airport established
with Government funds, back dur
ing the depression, and the Gov
ernment men knew he was famil-
lar with the CAA regulations
governing the work, and that he
y never applied for the job and was
relieved at his own request five
years ago.
Meekins said Stick had become
embittered with him ever since he
was unsuccessful a year ago in
rounding enough support on the
Board to make himself chairman
when the Board went into office.
Finding himself unsuccessful, Stick
nominated Meekins himself. "The
usual gesture he makes in order to
get it into the record and take
credit" Meekins says and adds
maybe Stick owed him the honor,
since he was responsible in the
greater part for the election of the
whole new Board.
Meekins said Stick tried to take
over at every meeting, wants every
thing his way, considers himself
the only member of the Board who
a<x~.,,,r .,v,xrfl,;,.o, o,.d exuatIc nv, and