From: Subject: The News-Journal, Raeford, N.C. Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 10:46:19 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C6FA7E.4D7FC400" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2962 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C6FA7E.4D7FC400 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.thenews-journal.com/ The News-Journal, Raeford, N.C. =0A= =0A= <body bgcolor=3D"#ffffff">=0A= <p>&ltframeset rows=3D&quot80,*&quot&gt<br>=0A= &ltframe name=3D&quotNoName&quot src=3D&quot&quot noresize&gt<br>=0A= &ltframe name=3D&quotNoName&quot src=3D&quot&quot noresize&gt<br>=0A= &lt/frameset&gt</p>=0A= </body>=0A= =0A= ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C6FA7E.4D7FC400 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.thenews-journal.com/pages/one.html One

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By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
An impassive Raeford city = council=20 listened as foes of forced annexation on College Drive/Palmer Street = sent a=20 resounding message on Monday evening they did not want =93taxation=94 or = =93representation=94 from the City of Raeford.
=93Abandon it,=94 one = anti-annexation=20 resident requested. No one spoke in favor of annexation at the public = hearing.=20 Sixteen people spoke against annexation.
=93Speak now or forever hold = your=20 peace,=94 Raeford Mayor John K. McNeill Jr. told one anti-annexation = speaker after=20 the city council adopted for the meeting, a policy of allotting five = minutes=20 speaking time per person.
In an overflowing city hall, more than 60 = county=20 residents =96 many senior citizens =96 offered support to speakers at = the=20 emotionally charged public hearing, which formally served as the prelude = to a=20 vote by the city council on November 6 on whether to proceed with an = involuntary=20 annexation. The council=92s plan calls for adding 131 residences, = encompassing 133=20 acres, into the city limits. The increase in tax revenues is estimated = at=20 $176,000 for the city.
Presenting a petition with the signatures of = property=20 owners, members of the community nestled on the west side of Raeford=20 demonstrated united opposition to annexation. Petition drive volunteer = Norma=20 Dooley said 94 percent of the residents threatened by annexation signed = the=20 petition.
=93We are disappointed the City of Raeford is still = operating in the=20 Middle Ages,=94 Dooley said. =93Stop this annexation.=94
She said out = of 122=20 residences visited, 115 of those property owners signed against = annexation. The=20 =93prevailing=94 majority, she indicated, should persuade Raeford=92s = council to back=20 off. Dooley said the figures estimated by the city in savings to county=20 residents being annexed in the =93targeted=94 area =93did not add = up.=94
=93We request=20 that the mayor of Raeford and the Raeford city council cease the = proceedings to=20 annex our property into the city,=94 Dooley read from the petition. = =93Except for=20 higher taxes and fees, annexation can offer us nothing which we do not = already=20 have and pay for ourselves.
=93North Carolina is one of only four = states in=20 America that still allows involuntary annexation. We have been told by = or state=20 representatives that this outdated 1959 law will probably be reviewed by = the=20 General Assembly this session,=94 Dooley read.
=93Several generations = of Hoke=20 families are now having to consider leaving their homes, particularly = those on=20 fixed incomes.=94
She said if annexation occurs that it will be the = =93final=20 blow=94 for some. Dooley said no mayor in the 100-year history of = Raeford has=20 =93forced=94 annexation.
Petitioners implored the council to postpone = a decision=20 on annexation until after the state legislature convenes, or a = referendum could=20 be held to hear voters=92 preferences.
One of the biggest outcries = came from=20 county citizens who complained that the Raeford proposed annexation maps = were=20 incorrect, and some accused the city council of intentionally leaving = out some=20 =93wealthy businessmen/property owners from the annexation movement. = They also=20 alleged some people were =93deceased=94 at some of the addresses listed, = others had=20 moved and at least one home may no longer have existed. These facts were = uncovered, they said, during a door-to-door campaign to request people = sign the=20 petition against annexation.
Tim Frahm, a volunteer fireman for 20 = years=20 with the City of Raeford, challenged city council members.
=93If you = had a=20 mother, daughter, father or brother to be annexed, and they were on a = fixed=20 income, would you want them to be annexed?=94 Frahm said. =93A lot of = our senior=20 citizens will not be able to pay any more for their = medicines.
=93Everyone of=20 you up here knows right from wrong. Forced annexation is = wrong.=94
Frahm and=20 others repeatedly implored the council to annex new subdivisions being=20 constructed on the west side of Palmer without taking in their=20 properties.
Teresa Maxwell, an employee with the Hoke school system, = sought=20 for the council to change their mind in annexing her home. A single = income=20 earner and sole parent to two children, she said she could qualify for = =93food=20 stamps=94 right now if she wished to do so.
=93If I go into the city, = I will have=20 to get a second job or be forced to move,=94 Maxwell, who described = herself on the=20 =93bottom rung=94 financially, said. =93I am a college educated person, = but I am as=20 poor as everybody on those streets.=94
Norma Connell, a senior = citizen, rental=20 property owner and wife of Avery Connell, offered a different = perspective.=20 However, Connell opposed the annexation. Connell said she owns four = rental=20 properties in the proposed annexed area, where she said tenants have a=20 =93terrible=94 time paying rents charged now. She said if she is forced = to increase=20 rents to defray extra taxes charged by the city that she fears she will = =93lose=94=20 her tenants.
=93How can four states (including North Carolina) be = right and=20 forty-six wrong?=94 Connell said in criticism. =93Why is it we are back = to day=20 one?=94
Hanchy Lusk, a female property owner and immigrant, indicated = some=20 cables from one of the companies servicing her street tore up her yard. = She said=20 one city official promised that the damage to her yard would be = repaired, but it=20 never took place.
=93Why you (not) handle this situation?=94 Lusk = said. =93I do not=20 want annexation.
=93(City=92s) responsibility is not = good.=94
Veronica Richie,=20 another resident against annexation, said if the council wanted to be = fair,=20 =93what was the hurry?=94 Richie said involuntary annexation was an = =93outdated=94=20 law.
=93The county commissioners condemned forced annexation,=94 = Richie,=20 referring to a resolution passed by commissioner in May, reminded the = city=20 council.
Tex Deaton, a minister, said their annexation proposal was=20 =93immoral, unethical and against the spirit.=94 Deacon said he was = addressing the=20 council, but a =93higher power=94 gave them their jobs and that = authority could=20 =93take away their jobs.=94
A transplant from the north, Dean Stolte, = told the=20 city council that he had moved from a place that =93taxed the = daylight=94 out of=20 people. Now, Stolte said, he was caught up in an annexation struggle = that would=20 results in higher taxes.
=93They are even going to tax my dog,=94 = Stolte=20 said.
Barbara Johnson, also a protester at the event, asked the city = council=20 how they thought she would =93benefit=94 from annexation, saying her = community=20 wanted =93nothing but to be left alone.=94 Johnson said residents were = satisfied=20 with the service of the Hoke Sheriff=92s Office and fees would be higher = as well=20 as taxes if Raeford annexed her into the city limits. Johnson and others = complained that the city was not offering more personnel or fire = protection, or=20 police officers to service their neighborhood.
=93We are a matter of = minutes=20 from the North Raeford Fire Department,=94 Johnson, comparing = Raeford=92s fire=20 department=92s location on the east side of Raeford, said. =93It would = take longer=20 and it could represent a loss of property and a loss of = life.=94
Johnny Baker,=20 fire chief for North Raeford, said he was =93afire=94 at hearing how the = city=20 council is handling the annexation situation. He used an expletive to = McNeill,=20 but quickly apologized. Baker said there would be no discount in fire = tax=20 savings for people proposed to be included in the city limits. He said = North=20 Raeford=92s rating was better, indicating residents would be brought = =93four=20 notches=94 lower that could result in higher insurance = premiums.
=93Most of the=20 people you see here are older people,=94 Baker said. =93These people = want to live=20 here.
=93What do these people have that is so important that the City = of=20 Raeford must disrupt their lives?=94
Senior citizen Helen Inman asked = the city=20 council to =93prayerfully=94 reconsider their position.
=93You know, = and I know=20 that forced annexation is an injustice,=94 Inman said. =93There is = partiality=20 here.
=93Just to round out the border =96 that is not = right.=94
Mary Southern,=20 also a senior citizen and wife of a disabled resident, told the council = they did=20 not have their =93ducks in a row.=94
=93This is causing friction = among friends and=20 friction among neighborhoods,=94 Southern said. =93It is not right to = take me in and=20 to not take the neighbor in my back yard in.
=93We know if you have = the right=20 name you can stay out (of annexation). If you do not have the right = name, you=20 can stay in.=94
Southern=92s message was received with applause from = participants=20 at the hearing.
Others also spoke, expressing fears of not being = able to=20 afford annexation because of having to sacrifice food and medicine to = pay extra=20 taxes. Among speakers against annexation who addressed the council were = also=20 Larry Whichard, Robin Leach, Ruth Pecora and Neal Sutton.
Minutes of = the=20 meeting were officially recorded by a court reporting service in case of = further=20 appeals. At least three Raeford police officers stood by in case of any=20 disturbance. However, the meeting began orderly and ended without=20 event.

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