The Herald-Sun from Durham, North Carolina • 98

PAGE 4 THE HERALD-SUNRALEIGH EXTRA SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 1994 Wake Commissioners name CITY BRIEFS budget trimming task force ByELEANOREJ HAJIAN Raleigh Extra staff When governing bodies with an eye toward trimming budgets look at business executive Bob Luddy of Wake Forest they see dollar signs And the Wake County Commissioners are the latest to cash in on ate an economic strategy for the state More recently Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer named Luddy as leader of a task force to review the city budget That task force recommended a $147 million cut in the $227 million city budget Fetzer asked for a 20 percent property tax cut The City Council rejected most of Luddy's motivation for getting involved with government comes from his desire to improve the small business environment he said government regulation and taxation inhibits small businesses from Luddy said California is a good example of a state that has beat totally chocked off by taxation and regulation I don't want to see that happen Luddy will work with Commissioner Les Merritt an accountant and County Manager Richard Stevens to coordinate a citizen's task force that will-review county spending Although going into city affairs proved to be less than inviting Luddy said he expects a better reception from the county "There's a lot more support for sug- the cuts which were largely aimed at funding for arts and human services But after weeks of hostile debate between council members the mayor city employees City Manager Dempsey Benton and arts supporters the city ended up with its first property tax cut 75 percent in 30 years Pendleton said the Commission task force headed by Luddy will look at spending in every county department before determining where money his services Appointing Luddy to lead a budget review task force was among the first orders of business after newly elected Commissioners Les Merritt John Converse and Leo Tew took their seats Monday forming the first Republican majority on the board since Re- construction The commissioners appointed Luddy after they elected conservative Republican Commissioner Gary Pendleton as chairman Pledging to transform county government Pendleton said finding wasteful spending is the first step want to streamline government and nuke it more Pendleton said wanted Bob Luddy because I knew he would be loyal and he shares many of the same philosophies as I In the past two years Luddy has often found himself central to at- gestions here he said county i manager has a very positive outlook and welcomes different viewpoints I think we'll be able to get a lot Stevens said he welcomes the opportunity to work with Luddy and should go Two areas Pendleton has already pointed to are school administration and the sheriffs budget Only Commissioner Betty Lou Ward openly spoke against creating the task force saying it was hasty and inappropriate to make such a decision during the first meeting of foe new board "You all haven't been in your seats long enough to roe how efficiently Wake County government has been die said dismayed that you choose to do this expertise comes from running Captive-Air Systems Inc of Youngsville which manufactures Memtt to improve county government He said he was not pushed into working with Luddy or threatened with the loss of his job if he did not cooperate "Any organization can be made Stevens said The effort does not mean county government has not been well run Pendleton said have so many good things in county government but government just works like Pendleton said keeps growing and growing unless someone does something about Canned food will pay for CAT rides Tuesday A can of food will be accepted in lieu of 50 cents as fare on all Capital Area Transit vehicles Tuesday Food also will be collected on all CAT connectors and the downtown Raleigh Trolley Ibis is die first year the transit system has conducted the food drive All food collected will be donated to the Food Bank of North Carolina City dedicates Lake Johnson bridge The city dedicated a 700-foot bridge that completes a 27-mile pedestrian loop around the east end of Lake Johnson Thursday The new bridge is a joint project of the city's Parks and Recreation and Public Utilities departments Cost for the 10-foot-wide bridge and 12-inch water line that eventually will be extended to the water main on Tryon Road is estimated at more than $461000 Fire Department gets arson probe grant Raleigh fire investigators have been given a $2000 grant from the Factory Mutual Engineering Arson Fund The grant will be used to buy hydrocarbon detection equipment which can sniff out accelerants used to start arson fires according to Raleigh Asst Fire Chief Earl Fowler The equipment can help pinpoint the area where fires start and win help cut down the time forensic laboratories spend to determine the cause of fires Fowler said hydrocarbon detector can lead us right to the origin of a he said can get the lab results back much more quiddy if we have to analyze one quart or material instead of several gallons of Hearing scheduled on cable rate hike proposal The Raleigh Telecommunications Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday on three Cablevision of Raleigh proposals Residents can speak about Cablevi-sion's requested 44 percent rate increase an agreement establishing customer service standards for the company or an upgrade that could bring 290 television data and information channels to Raleigh during the next few years The hearing will be held at 6 pm in room of the Raleigh Civic and Convention Center Cablevision has proposed increasing cable rates from $826 to $863 for its more than 64500 customers Also rates for expanded cable would go from $1193 to $1247 and four additional channels in the Tier plan please see BRIEFS7 kitchen ventilation equipment Luddy tempts at started the business in Raleigh in In 1993 Gov Jim Hunt appointed 1979 Today the company employs Luddy to head the state Entrepreneur- more than 200 people and is a leading ial Development Board set up to ere- manufacturer in its field New commission chairman not afraid to take stand the sheriff He was formerly a director for the NC School of the Blind After taking their new seats Pendleton and his Republican colleagues appointed a task force to coordinate a citizens budget review committee pledging to locate and eliminate wasteful spending and set a meeting for Jan 17 to garner citizens' input on the 1995-96 budget In addition Pendleton went head to head this week with Democratic Sheriff John Baker who has been asking the commissioners for more money to add deputies since commissioners approved this budget in June In response to public comment that the commissioners' denial of funding for extra drug enforcement officers for rural Wake County demonstrated the approval of drug use Pendleton said he would consider a slander suit against the sheriff No suits had been filed as ofFriday Pendleton has also raised the ire of school officials by openly stating he believes there is too much bureaucracy and administrative expense in the school system and that it needs to be cut out He was bom in the mountains of Virginia and was ByELEANOREJ HAJIAN Raleigh Extra staff Before Monday Wake County Commissioner Gary was file only Republican voice on the board of seven Now he is chairman of the board Pendleton was elected as chairman this week by three newly elected Republican commissioners and their Democratic ally veteran Commissioner Stewart Adcock who was elected vice chairman Within minutes of assuming the leadership position Pendleton gave a gracious nod to former Chairman Vernon Malone for his service and then he got busy "I want to say publicly that Vernon and I are personal friends and that he's done a lot for this county and if anyone deserves a standing ovation he Pendleton said Malone served as chairman of the board since 1989 He led the board through a rough season of a new budgeting process navigating them through re- quests for more money from both the school board and i please see PENDLETON7.