Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 19, 1990 TAG: 9006190416
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
"I've never tried to squeeze the town of Rocky Mount," said Woody, who steps down after 20 years as mayor and acting manager of this Franklin County town.
Town Council member Wayne Cundiff and the widow of a former town policeman questioned $2,680 set aside for the Woodys' health insurance premiums in the town's 1990-91 budget.
At a public hearing, Mary W. Davis, the widow of John Davis, told council that it was unfair that the town paid the insurance premiums for the widow of another town employee while her husband's monthly $216 pension was cut off after his death last year.
Woody told Davis that her situation was different from that of the widow of former water plant manager Cecil Frith.
When Frith retired in the early 1970s, the town did not have a retirement system, so Town Council agreed to continue paying health insurance for him and his wife. His widow continued to receive the benefits after his death.
Woody said that because John Davis never participated in the town's health insurance program, it was too late to put his widow on the plan.
Mary Davis replied that she was not asking for health insurance, but simply for a percentage of her husband's pension benefits. Davis said she was just as entitled to help from the town.
"Here I am with my husband's 24 years' service, and I'm not drawing anything," Davis said. "It just doesn't seem right."
Woody said that John Davis also had not been part of a formal pension plan, but that Town Council had given him a stipend "out of the goodness of its heart." Woody said he could not recommend any relief for his widow. No other Town Council member commented on her situation.
But Council member Wayne Cundiff said he objected to taxpayers footing the medical insurance for Woody, a man Cundiff said had once bragged about having enough money "to burn a wet mule."
Cundiff read letters from two town residents, Audrey N. Angle, widow of former Councilman A.N. Angle, and Brian Weatherford, a local Republican Party activist.
In his letter, Weatherford said that Woody had "demeaned" his legacy by "begging for crumbs from the town."
Woody lashed back, saying that Cundiff's opposition stemmed from his defeat in last month's mayoral contest against Broaddus Shively, whom Woody endorsed.
Cundiff and Woody took turns trading personal slights, with Woody blasting Cundiff for not contributing to Franklin Memorial Hospital's recent fund drive.
"I didn't see your name on there for a quarter," Woody said.
"There were several anonymous donations," Cundiff shot back.
"Was yours one of them?" Woody asked.
Before Cundiff could answer, council member Posey Dillon stepped in and noted that the two men had strayed off the subject at hand.
Council is scheduled to vote on the budget, including Woody's health insurance, at a special meeting scheduled for June 25.
After Monday's meeting, Woody said that although he could afford to pay the $220 monthly premiums out of his own pocket, he believed that he and his wife should receive the benefit as a matter of principle.
Woody noted that he had declined other pension benefits, which he said had saved the town money over the years. "If everybody else gets it, why shouldn't I?" he said.
by CNB