News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 19

2B Fort Myers News-Press, Monday, October 27. 1980 WEVU-TV official Buerry resigns from post (7 1 I 1 5 Providence, R.I. He was sales manager of radio station WMYR-AM for a decade before helping to start Channel 20. "I took one station from nothing and made it into something. Then I went to the third station, and it became viable," Buerry said.

"I can look with pride at Southwest Florida television and say two of three stations were mine. "I don't know what new horizons there are to conquer," Buerry continued. "This business of ours is growing so rapidly, I don't know what I'm going to do." "I don't have any plans yet (to replace Buerry)," Ratcliff remarked. "It's been too quick, too fast." dominium project, Buerry took over WEVU in 1976. WEVU, which suffers from low ratings, was losing more than $20,000 a month when Buerry came aboard, but he brought an end to the deficit by the time the station was sold to its current owners, Buerry said.

"I breathed life into it," Buerry claimed. "I turned a loser into a winner." Buerry said there was "no animosity or anger" involved in his departure. "I have a contract which they are still going to honor," he said. "They're good people, but I'm the kind of guy that likes to have total control of everything. But all of a sudden I'm a general manager and I had eight department heads and budget guidelines with certain limitations." Buerry came to Fort Myers in 1958 from Ratcliff, who recently moved to Fort Myers from Kingsport, to oversee the local ABC network affiliate and the rest of his company's broadcast division, denied Sunday that he had forced Buerry out of the company.

"I could have gotten rid of him from King-sport, if I wanted to get rid of him," Ratcliff said. "Our basic differences were in sales," said Buerry. Both men refused to elaborate. However, Milt Ledet, WEVU's sales manager, also resigned on Friday, Buerry said. Buerry, SO, holds an important place in the short history of Southwest Florida television.

He was an original founder and first general manager of WBBH-TV, Channel 20, for six years before he left in 1974. After working as sales manager for a North Fort Myers con By DAVID LIEBER Nwt-PrMS Staff Wrttar Joseph Buerry, vice president and general manager of WEVU-TV, Channel 26, resigned Saturday from the post he has held for four years. Buerry's departure follows months of rumors voiced by high-placed station officials that Buerry would be leaving because of differences with Robert Ratcliff, the new president of the Caloosa Television Corp. which owns the Bonita Springs station. "Our basic philosophies were drifting further and further apart," Buerry said Sunday.

"I felt for quite a while our basic differences would force me to resign. You don't have to hit me in the head with a two by four." 7J JJJi JOSEPH BUERRY leaves WEVU post From Page IB Geraci County takes hard look at diesel buses Flanders wrote in a recent memo. Some of the advantages of the diesel buses include: Fuel savings. A gallon of diesel would cost the school board 95 cents compared with $1.01 for a gallon of gasoline. And buses would get 6.8 miles for every gallon of diesel, to 4.3 miles for a gallon of gasoline.

Fewer employees. Fewer drivers would be needed because more pupils can ride diesel buses, eliminating some current routes. Longer life. Gasoline-burning engines normally have to be replaced every 85,000 miles, while diesel engines last up to 200,000 miles. The school board also considered converting the current buses to propane, but quickly dropped the idea because of potential safety hazards in case of an accident.

Flanders said he does not know of any school districts using propane to fuel their buses. And propane is no cheaper to use than gasoline, he said. Pottorf said school officials will continue investigating diesel buses for possible inclusion in next summer's budget. "For every five of ours, you could buy four diesels," Flanders said. The bigger size is one point of concern to Board Member Bill Mills, who fears more students means discipline problems.

"How are we going to handle 85 when we already have discipline problems with 65 children?" Mills asked at a recent board meeting. Unruly behavior on the buses has been a continual problem for the district and the bus drivers, who must control student behavior while keeping their eyes on the road. In order to make the diesel conversion practical, the school board would have to start with a $500,000 investment, which includes a new fuel tank and mechanical equipment to handle diesel engines. A specially trained mechanic also would be added to the transportation staff, Flanders said. He suggested the board buy at least 20 new diesel buses each year to replace deteriorating vehicles in the district's 180-route fleet.

"The operation of the diesel is much more economical, once you have them in your fleet. How long it would take to make up the difference is questionable," By CATHY REIMAN Ncw-Prt Staff Writer Looking down the road for energy and dollar sav- ings, the Lee County School Board could begin replacing its fleet of buses with diesel-powered vehicles within the next year. "It appears it's the way to plan, the way to go," Superintendent Ray Pottorf told the board last week. The diesel buses offer a number of pluses that make them attractive to school officials. They get better mileage, fuel is cheaper and more abundant than gasoline and they last longer.

However, the benefits of running the more efficient diesel buses would not be realized in transportation coffers for years to come. "The initial cost is the thing you have to consider," said Hugh Flanders, assistant superintendent for facilities and transportation. For example, a new gasoline-burning school bus costs about $19,000, while a diesel bus costs $42,000. But a diesel bus is built to carry 84 students, compared with the current 65-pupil load. North Fort Myers students heading for Germany Education Briefs By Cathy Reiman sioners take her recommendations verbatim.

"We must not allow the county commission and administration to run the county and audit themselves and do their own accounting," he added. At the same time, Geraci praised his finance department for earning $8.7 million worth of interest income for the county this year. Geraci, who has 115 employees under his authority as clerk to the courts and clerk to the county commission, threatened to sue the county in July when it refused to pay for two new positions he wanted, although the county approved four other new positions for Geraci 's office. i. At a recent special meeting, the commission approved three additional new positions for Geraci a county clerk department head, a special assessment fiscal assistant and a revenue accounting clerk.

The commission will later consider two more employees the clerk wants a grants coordinator and a contracts payable accounting clerk. '1 Geraci has yet to take his grievances to court, but has hired a private attorney, former County Attorney James Humphrey, to handle his case, at county expense. Only 19 months ago, the commission inaugurated a new office of management and budget headed by a certified public accountant. Among other duties, the new budget office, working under Wisher's direction, produced the 1980-81 budget a task formerly performed by Geraci's office. The budget's new format has been widely praised by the commission, county staff and other budget watchers as a much more digestible and understand-able document than those produced in past years.

The allegations Geraci will respond to Tuesday were obtained in packet form by a reporter two days after the press conference at which the clerk attacked Wisher and the commission and praised his finance department. The allegations appeared in the Oct. 18 editions of the News-Press. The article detailed seven memos signed by county employees, a county invoice, a data sheet and a signed letter from a local attorney concerning instances in which Geraci's staff allegedly mishandled finances and committed other mistakes. The packet of documents has an unsigned index cover summarizing the alleged foul-ups of the finance department.

Among the incidents were alleged errors in the investing of the Southwest Florida Regional Jetport bond issue that cost the county the opportunity to earn about $1.5 million in interest. The memos and other material also described instances when Geraci's staff allegedly deposited county funds into the wrong account, resulting in unnecessary overdrafts; overcharged the self-supporting airport $51,735 for services rendered by other county departments; audited the Fort Myers Royals lease payments based on an outdated lease; and reported an $18 million deficit in the jetport construction fund after $55 million worth of bonds and loans had been received. Geraci initially had declined to respond to the allegations against his finance office, calling them a "barrage of petty allegations." On Tuesday, however, Geraci called the allegations malicious, vicious attacks upon the integrity of his finance office and demanded a retraction or an opportunity to rebut them at a public meeting. The special meeting with Geraci will start at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Room 614 of the Courthouse.

tion course, which began Oct. 15, call Marie DeSalvo, 334-2167. A variety of adult dance classes, including ballet, jazz and dancercise, will begin Monday at the Lee County Arts Center. For more information on schedules, call 995-7795 or A special meeting to discuss adding a middle school to Pine Island Elementary will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the school.

Superintendent Ray Pottorf, Board Chairman Rayma Page and Board Member John Beckett will be on hand to answer questions. All interested parents are invited. Students at San Carlos Elementary School last week received a plaque and a certificate of appreciation from the Reynolds Aluminum Recycling Center for collecting the most cans in the Fort Myers area. When all 79,000 cans were weighed in at 3,432 pounds, the students reaped $789.36 for their recycling efforts. The money goes for school-betterment projects.

Louise Smith, who had worked in Lee County's exceptional student education department, last week joined the Cypress Lake High School administrative staff as a dean of students. Suncoast Middle School teachers Donna Johnson and Dottie Moseley were among a small group of state educators asked to make presentations at a recent conference of the Florida League of Middle Schools. To some 20 North Fort Myers High School students, one good turn deserves another. The group will be heading for a four-week excursion in Germany this summer to return a visit to be made during the school year by their counterparts from Cologne. The exchange program is under the direction of the German American Partnership Program and North High German teacher Linda Hissam.

During the past three years. North High students have happily hosted German students, giving them a taste of American schools, food and beaches. This year, for the first time, the North High students will travel as a group to sample the German life. The group will depart the day after school lets out this summer, while their German friends are still in school. Each student will become a temporary member of a German family, speaking the native language during the entire visit.

The trip will cost $700 a student, with much of the money coming from fund-raisers. "Besides the fact that the trip is affordable to the average income family, it also has the distinct advantage of integrating the American student in the family and school life of Germany," wrote Hissam in a letter to the school board. Last week, the board put its unanimous stamp of approval on the trip. Students from 16 high schools in four Southwest Florida counties will learn about life beyond graduation at Edison Community College's career night Thursday. Representatives from more than 85 colleges, universities, businesses and career organizations will be on hand from 7 to 9 p.m.

to discuss opportunities with students from Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The program will be held in ECC's student lounge, located off College Parkway south of Fort Myers. The Fort Myers-Lee County Public Library will be hosting a Halloween party from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday for all interested youngsters and the young at heart. Children should come decked out in their costumes for an afternoon of ghost stories, movies and treats.

A special preparatory class for students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test is being offered at Fort Myers High School for $17. For more information on the community educa From Page IB Underbill Two receive national awards from Valley Forge foundation June 3, 1979, News-Press. It was the third time Bly has been awarded by the group for speaking and writing about Americanism. Tate, 6221 St. Andrews Circle, was awarded for promoting free enterprise through an exchange program between business people and educators.

The awards were presented by Retired General Richard Montgomery of Longboat Key, who formerly served as vice commander-in-chief of the the U.S. Air Force in A former intelligence agent from south Fort Myers and a North Fort Myers educator received national awards from the Valley Forge Freedoms Foundation Sunday. Herman Bly, a former agent for the FBI and CIA, was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal in ceremonies at American Legion Post 38 in Fort Myers. Dr. Mary Tate, career education coordinator for Lee County, received the Valley Forge Honor Certificate.

Bly, 5315 Shelley Circle, was recognized for an article he wrote in defense of U.S. intelligence agencies that was published in the Manana se decidira quien es el proximo alcalde de Fort Myers man and finally mayor. It's time for a rest, he says. "I'm sure I'm going to miss it," Underhill, 57, says of his life as a public servant. "It's all I've ever known and all I've ever done." Born into the fourth generation of pioneer stock in Southwest Florida, Underhill joined the Navy during World War II, then returned to Fort Myers intent on becoming a policeman.

In 1949, he pinned on Badge No. 10 as the 10th uniformed officer in the Fort Myers Police Department. Two years later, he was appointed chief at the age of 28, then the youngest police chief in the South. In the years when Fort Myers was a placid backwater town, a local policeman was as much goodwill officer as crimef ighter. "I miss the days of old Fort Myers," Underhill says, recalling his years as a flatfoot officer patrolling the sidewalks of downtown Fort Myers.

"We didn't have the crime we do now, nor the people." Underbill's 23 years as Fort Myers police chief generally lacked controversy. He assumed increasing responsibilities as an adminis-' trator, as the department grew from a force of 15 men to a division of 80 uniformed and non-uniformed employees. Underhill's surprise retirement as chief in 1974 was followed by his even more startling bid for a city council seat. Underhill beat longtime Councilman Walter Moody for the Ward 4 council seat, then resigned his post two years later to win election as Fort Myers mayor. Rincon Hispano Felipe Fernandez vfi' was largely gutted by the council.

Council members said Underhill couldn't reorganize departments without their approval, while the mayor argued he had the authority to do so under the city's charter. Underhill himself declines to rehash the battle, saying diplomatically, "I'd hate to end my term on a negative note with the council. We didn't always see eye to eye, but I didn't get upset." Later that same year, Underhill ran into trouble again when he downgraded the city's Community Affairs Department, which included the city's community relations office, the federally funded Senior Aides program and Direct Opportunity in Employment (DOE), Fort Myers' minority job counseling service. Some Fort Myers residents, claiming Underhill was neglecting the needs of the city's minorities, organized a recall movement. The recall effort fizzled, but it was a bitter experience for Underhill.

Still, this year Underhill persuaded the council the DOE program should be revived with more funding, additional personnel and new offices in the black community. "I haven't achieved the success I hoped for but I've done a good job in keeping (the cost of) services low for the city," Underhill says. He predicts that task will grow increasingly difficult for his successor, as cities adopt expensive, federally mandated programs like the $60 million regional sewage treatment facilities being built by the city and county. Although the federal government has agreed to provide up to 85 percent of the funds for the massive project, a critical Underhill says, "They tell you they're going to give you the money, then you have to make several trips to Atlanta to ask why they haven't given you the funding." Among his achievements in office, Underhill counts the construction of the new Fort Myers-Lee County library, the development of the Senior Aides program and his work with the Chamber of Commerce to revitalize downtown Fort Myers. His career, says Underhill, has taught him "how to get along and work with people.

That's one great lesson some people never know." -j Manana tendran lugar las elecciones de alcalde en la ciudad de Fort Myers. Dos hombres de indudable habilidad estan compitiendo 1 por el cargo: Tom Cronin Ellis Solomon. Ambos han prometido que tomaran medidas para atender a las necesidades aspiraciones de los hispanos. Manana es pues de importancia ir a volar. Cualquiera que sea el candidato seleccionado, es importante cumplir con nuestro deber de votar que constituye a un tiempo nuestra fuerza como ciudadano comohispano.

Entre los candidates para concejal se encuentran por el distrito 1 Ann Pavese Palmer, Joan Pigott Porter; por el distrito 4 Harry Adams Wilbur C. Smith; por el distrito 5 Bob Stumpf James T. Williams. en la noche de manana tendra lugar el debate presidencial entre Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter desde Cleveland que muchos opinan resultara decisivo sobre quien sera el proximo presidente del pais. El debate, que comienza a las nueve media, sera transmitido por todas las cadenas de television La importancia del voto hispano se ha hecho transparente en los ultimos dias.

El presidente movilizo a Ted Kennedy para hablarle a los mejicano-americanos en Tejas mientras Reagan enviaba a George Bush, el vencedor de la campana de las primarias de Puerto Rico. a jugar" a Benjamin Fernandez el excandidato presidencial quien es ahora consejero de la campana de Reagan. Hemos hablado otras veces en esta columna de las caracteristicas de los distintos grupos hispanos. Esto viene siendo objetp de numero-sos estudios ahora a lo largo del pais. Un reporte, por ejemplo, del Comite Consejero del Estado de Ilinois concluye que generalmente hay cuatro caracteristicas comunes a todos los grupos hispanos Una orientacion mas hacia la gente que hacia las ideas las abstracciones.

Una determinacion de ser individualmente Un enfasis en la familia con el padre como la principal autori- dad. Un enfasis en "ser" mas que en Esta ultima, un tanto filosofica, mas que ninguna senala a una importante diferencia entre la cultura hispana la del anglo. El hispano se hace preguntas sobre la naturaleza de los casos (Que es) el anglo sobre la manera de hacerlas (Como). Pasando a nuestra comunidad, fue un exito la comida hispana celebrada en el Schandler Hall. Sabemos de gente que saboreando los deliciosas platos puertorriquenos querian seguir repitiendo sin parar.

La Asociacion de la Nacion tuvo a cargo la organizacion del acto. Ya se estan llenando las aulas de los hijos de los trabajadores migrantes que estan arribando al suroeste de la Florida. Vienen del "norte de Carolina" mayormente son los mismos estudiantes que el ano pasado. Me imagino la satisfaccion de los tutores de nuestros varios progrmamas "hispanos" que han visto a estos muchachos crecer. Felicidades a Brunilda Feliciano en su fiuevo trabajo.

Esta a cargo de un importante programa del que informaremos en breve Ayer una dama muy querida respetada en esta comunidad, Carmen Laffitte, recibio un 'asalto" por parte de un grupo de amis-tades intimas. No se preocupen amigos, "asalto" en "cubanese" signi-fica tambien una fiesta por sorpresa Esta en el hospital una querida amiga Freddie Zeiss. Pedimos a Dios que la restablezca pronto. Dos alumnos de la escuela superior de Immokalee, Jose Calderson Jaime Hernandez fueron premiados en el reciente concurso de la Asociacion de last Naciones Unidas. Felicidades English summary "He's the classic example of a small-town Southern gentleman," County Commissioner Wade Scaffe says of his friend and former boss Underhill.

"He's easygoing and personable; he never lost his cool with the council. "But he never had the support of the council he thought he should Underhill lost one of the toughest political fights of his career months after he became mayor. His attempt in 1977 to reorganize city departments, and in so doing reduce the powers of City Clerk and Finance Officer Maynard Matz, Fort Myers City elections to take place Tuesday Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan in the presidential debate Tuesday night Role of Hispanics in the election raises the four common Characteristics of all Hispanic groups Nations Association held a dinner party at Schandler Hall..