Feb. 14 - 20, 2014
bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996 • nwobserver.com •
Questions surround town council appointment A vacant seat on the council has been filled by Gary Albert by ANNETTE JOYCE
Ordinance would ‘pit neighbor against neighbor,’ citizens say A proposed nuisance ordinance draws questions, little support from citizens by PATTI STOKES SUMMERFIELD – The majority of citizens who came to the Feb. 11 council meeting were there to speak their mind about a proposed public nuisance ordinance. Though the intent of the ordinance was to update and “provide further
clarifications” to an existing nuisance ordinance that has been on the books since 1999, it fell far short of its mark according to the citizens who filled up the meeting room. In fact, almost all of the citizens who spoke implied
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STOKESDALE – The recent appointment of a citizen on the Stokesdale Town Council has prompted people on both sides of the council table to question the process that was followed when making the decision. The council seat opened up after Randy Braswell, who was serving a four-year term on the council, won his bid for mayor in the November election; Braswell was sworn into office as mayor
last month, consequently vacating his council seat with two years left in his term. Gary Albert ran for town council in the November election, but lost to Vicki White-Lawrence. At the Jan. 21 council meeting, the council appointed Albert to serve the remaining two years of Braswell’s council term. Most of the questions regarding Albert’s appointment to the council last month have to do with the process the council un-
derwent when selecting him. Because the council had invited citizens interested in serving to fill out an application, many people assumed a candidate would be selected from the applicants.
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IN THIS ISSUE News in brief.......................3 Fire station expands ..........4 Your Questions ...................5 Oak Ridge Town Council ...6 Business Notes .................12 Bits & Pieces .....................13
They have the authority to put whoever they want to in there … They don’t have to take applications, but they did. It didn’t look like to me there was much discussion. It does look like you would interview the applicants.” Joe Thacker applicant for Town Council
Valentine Tales ................14 Community Calendar.....18 High School Sports ..........20 Student Profiles ................22 Crime/Incident Report ....23 Letters/Opinions .............24 Grins & Gripes ..................24 Classifieds ........................26 Index of Advertisers ........31