Herald - Lantern • Dbpatch 25 )unt '86 5

Kilpatrick Clarifies Freeholder Issues

By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE - Freeholder James S. Kilpatrick Jr. said last week that a freeholder disagreement last year over who to appoint deputy clerk had "nothing whatsoever to do with" his vote last December to rotate the board's chairmanship and deny a second year to Freeholder-Director Gerald M. Thornton. In an interview aimed at clarifying a number of issues in which Kilpatrick has appeared to be at odds with other freeholders, he also made these points. • His January vote against merging the Industrial & Economic Development Commision and airport operations into one Department of Economic Development (DED) "not a personnel objection,'' but represented a belief it was "illogical for the two departments to be combined." • He favored the vo-tech school district, which he heads, over the Office of Employment and Training (OE&T), which is under Freeholder Herbert Frederick, to offer educational courses to inmates at the county prison because vo-tech made the proposal first, and at a lower cost. This newspaper reported last week that Kilpatrick favored Patricia Currens of Ocean City for deputy clerk and Thornton supported Florence T. Hee of Town Bank. KILPATRICK SAID last week that he did recommend Currens, but Thornton backed "a person," and Sturm supported "a person." "All three were interviewed by Clerk Diane Rudolph," said Kilpatrick, "but we could not reach a consensus." Then, said Kilpatrick, "Sturm suggested Mrs. Hee and she was accepted by the board. Thornton told this newspaper last week that the "only reservation" he had last year with the appointment of either Currens or Hee was his "concern that they didn't have the necessary experience with county government." HE SAID HE OFFERED two candidates, Transportation Department head Mary Rowe, with the county since 1971 and Joseph Fahy, supervisor of train-

ing at the Welfare Department, where he has been since 1974. "I would have been satisfied with either," said Thornton. Thornton added that since Hee took the position, he has been "extremely satisfied with her performance. She is doing an excellent, outstanding job." "That issue had nothing whatsoever to do with Thornton not repeating another year as director," said Kilpatrick. "I was in favor of rotation when Mr. Catanoso (Anthony Catanoso) stepped down" (in January 1985). ACTUALLY. Kilpatrick said, he favored "no more than two years as director." Thornton lost the directorship after one year, but under the new seniority system, will have it again next year, to be followed in 1988 by Ralph Evans and in 1989 by Kilpatrick, if they are in office. Kilpatrick's "no" vote on | creation of the Department of Economic Development (DED) occurred Jan. 14. At : that time, he declined to ex- < plain it. j Last week, Kilpatrick I said it was the result of his ] feeling that no one person ; should head the airport and economic development. ! "I HAVE MAINTAINED I all along," said Kilpatrick, i "that an airport should i have a professional airport I manager. When Rick s (A.H.) Childs was here, he i was a professional in the field of airport manage- 1 ment, but unfortunately he } was also given the respon- i sibility of economic i development, about which 1 I don't know his total 1 background. I "Now," continued s Kilpatrick, "we bring in someone (Walter S. Sachs s Jr.) who has a background j in economic development and give him the airport. £

That kind of compounds the error. It is illogical for the two departments to be combined." Kilpatrick compared the attempt of the Office of Employment and Training (OE&T) to offer courses to county prisoners with "claim jumping in the Old West." "But we're only fighting over what's best for the county," he said. Kilpatrick said that the issue had its start in 1984 when he, with the warden, "had direct responsibility for the correctional center." He said that, because the prison held state prisoners, it came under state regulations for a full-time teacher. "Not wanting to put on a full-time teacher," said Kilpatrick last week, "I suggested (vo-tech Supt.) Wilbur Kistler and the warden get together and work out a program for providing educational services. "They began in 1984," he said, "and that process culminated this year with an educational grant from the state Department of to vo-tech for around *58,000 " IN THE MEANTIME, said Kilpatrick, a representative of Atlantic Community College asked to meet with the warden and the sheriff earlier this year and proposed ACC provide program. "The sheriff and warden told him, "thank you for interest," said Kilpatrick, "but ACC prepared a joint proposal JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act) funds on of ACC and the sheriff. "The sheriff knew absolutely nothing about that proposal," said Kilpatrick. "It was done without his authority and without

anyone's knowledge. And when we became aware, we requested he withdraw it. He indicated to the sheriff he made an error and should not have submitted an unauthorized proposal and he would withdraw (the proposal)." KILPATRICK CONTINUES: "Mr. Haggerty (Joseph Haggerty who

d heads OE&T) objected to it i, being withdrawn because v he had money he had to e spend. They attempted to r push that proposal through ►- over the vo-tech proposal, d "Interestingly enough," i added Kilpatrick, "ACC's proposal was *93,000 of which all but *18,000 was / for salaries for ACC inj eluding *10,000 for the man

who submitted the proposal. "That's why I took the position I did," said Kilpatrick. "I object to favoring an out-of-county institution (ACC) to something already here (vo-tech) which is more than 50 percent financed by the taxpayers of this county."

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