Morgan chosen chair of county commissioners

By Randall Rigsbee

On Monday, new county commissioners Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross joined the five-member board and, in what is an annual rite, the board selected a leader for the next year, unanimously choosing Bunkey Morgan as chairman.

Barnes, who represents District 1, and Cross, from District 2, were sworn in at the beginning of the Monday night meeting by Chief District Judge Joe Buckner.

Barnes, a Democrat, replaces commissioner Bob Atwater, who was elected to state Senate District 18, and Cross, also a Democrat, replaces 10-year veteran commissioner Margaret Pollard, who did not seek re-election.

After taking their oaths of office, the new commissioners received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd gathered in the District Courtroom in Pittsboro.

Following the ceremony, the board selected a chairman.

“I nominate Mr. Morgan,” said commissioner Tommy Emerson, who has served as chairman since he was elected to the board in 2002.

more- See Thursday, December 9 paper: Vol 85, No.2

County board passes on pay raise

By Randall Rigsbee

While the composition of the county Board of Commissioners changed Monday with the swearing-in of two new members, the board members’ pay will remain as it has for the past several years.

On Monday, in a final act as a member of the Board of Commissioners, Bob Atwater urged the new board to approve a salary change he said would put Chatham County’s commissioner salaries more in line with comparable North Carolina counties.

Currently, the chairman of the board earns an annual salary of $13,050 and commissioners make $12,000.

Atwater suggested the board increase its pay, with the chairman receiving $15,000, the vice chair, $14,000 and commissioners, $13,500.

“That would put us more in line with counties our size,” Atwater said.

 “I feel strong enough and I make a motion to that effect,” Atwater said before the new board members were sworn in.

But other commissioners preferred to defer the matter to a later date to allow more time to consider it.

“We’ll be working on our budget pretty soon,” noted commissioner Tommy Emerson.

Commissioners agreed to consider the board’s salary at that time.

The board’s last increased its pay about four years ago.

By Cara Rotondaro

Although Chatham County has been in the news a lot lately, law enforcement officers say that violent crimes in the area are pretty much running average for this year.

This year the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office dealt with four homicides, two homicides occurred within Siler City town limits, and none in Pittsboro.

Most recently, the county made the news in an incident outside county limits when a Pittsboro couple was involved in a murder/suicide in Chapel Hill.  

In that tragic event, which occurred on the morning of November 29, Randy Leverne McKendall shot his estranged wife Shennel McCrimon McKenall, and then took his own life.

Chapel Hill officers dealt with the incident, but Sheriff’s Office reports revealed months of civil complaints from Shennel McKendall, in an effort to separate herself from a dangerous husband.

Just the Saturday before, the Sheriff’s Department made an arrest in the case of a Chatham County homicide.  

Patricia Ann Jefferson was arrested and charged for the fatal shooting of James Wade Taylor on Thanksgiving Day. The shooting appeared to be the result of an argument between the two, and occurred at Jefferson’s residence, 3561 Mount Vernon Hickory Mountain Road, Siler City.  

Another homicide investigation in the county came to a close last week when the deceased body of Brian Keith Marshall, the suspect in the murder of Richard Kelly, and attempted murder of Kelly’s wife and son, was found off of Highway 64.

more- See Thursday, December 9 paper: Vol 85, No.2