Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 23, 1995                   TAG: 9503230094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ISN'T THAT JUST THE LIMIT?

Mayor Steve Palmer says anyone going faster than 50 in the town's 45-mph zone should get a ticket.

But the town's police officer, Lynn Frith, has been giving tickets only to speeders going at least 59 mph.

This week, Palmer suspended Frith. But Town Council on Wednesday voted to lift the suspension - and defeated a motion to fire Frith.

Palmer and Frith have clashed before; the mayor was elected last year on a platform of change and had called for a thorough review of Frith's duties and the Camaro sports car he uses.

Here's how the latest dispute began:

On March 14, Town Council passed an enforcement policy requiring Frith to write more tickets.

Frith said he met with Palmer on Saturday. ``He asked me how many tickets I'd written under 59 mph,'' Frith said. ``And I told him I didn't write any.''

So on Tuesday, Palmer suspended Frith for seven days - with pay.

But Wednesday night, after meeting for 21/2 hours in an executive session to discuss "personnel matters," Town Council voted 4-2 to lift Frith's suspension. Council members Virginia Carroll and Phil Randolph cast the two "no" votes, according to Palmer, who votes only when there's a tie.

Then Randolph made a motion to fire Frith. It died on a 4-2 vote, with Carroll again siding with Randolph.

"I think our town has taken a step away from ruling itself," Palmer said afterward. "They've let an outsider rule the town. [Frith] is dictating to four council members.

"They're not letting me do the job" of mayor, Palmer said.

Palmer said earlier that, as mayor, he had the authority to suspend Frith for not complying with the new enforcement policy.

Frith said he drove his Camaro police car to the town's Municipal Building on Tuesday night, left it there, and hitched a ride back home with a council member.

Frith said he believes he should have discretion abput when to write tickets.

He said he wrote 10 tickets Saturday, all to speeders exceeding 59 mph.

``And that's more money for the town,'' he said, because the fine gets bigger the faster the driver is going. ``If I spend all my time writing tickets to people going 51 mph, then I'm not going to catch anybody else.''