THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407050225
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
The Chairman of the Potato Board had enough of the fryer. ``Mr. Agriculture'' wanted to harvest his crops. The Boll Weevil Eradicator was ready for someone else to manage pest control from the statehouse.
Humbly, he waited until after the end of the House Agriculture Committee meeting on Thursday to wish them all farewell: After 26 years in the legislature, 83-year-old committee Chairman Vernon G. James, D-Pasquotank, was ready to retire.
Chances are if you drive on a secondary road in North Carolina, buy or sell fresh fruits and vegetables or live in one of the state's smaller counties, you have something to thank Vernon James for.
``I think I helped get the country folks out of the dust and the mud,'' James said last week. ``Many people have pushed for more four-lane roads in the east. But my effort has been the farm-to-market roads.''
His retirement announcement was modest: ``If we're here next Wednesday, I want to invite you all to come to breakfast with me at the Farmers Market,'' James told the committee members, who gave him a standing ovation.
He thanked them for their work and said, ``I've done my best, which may not be good enough.''
Suddenly their other business wasn't so terribly important. Many took time to linger with James in the committee room.
It was a simple goodbye from the unassuming and jovial man who served as chairman of the agriculture committee for nearly two decades. In his years in the N.C. House of Representatives, James became one of its most respected and well-liked members.
When James, dean of the Albemarle-area legislative delegation and the oldest member now serving in the House, announced last year that he would not seek re-election to the post he has held for 11 consecutive terms, he surprised and saddened many of his colleagues.
Hurt by a bruising re-election campaign in a new 1st District and increasingly torn between loyalties to House Speaker Dan Blue and new Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, James had hinted from the outset that the 1993-94 General Assembly session would be his last.
``I feel fine. I really feel good about this,'' James said in an interview from his sixth-floor office of the Legislative Office Building - which has a spectacular view of the state capital and downtown Raleigh. ``I think it's time for me to go.
``You certainly have some feeling of loss and regret,'' he said. ``The membership of the legislature has changed many times over the years, and I've enjoyed serving with all of them.
``You learn that the people you disagree with one day, you agree with the next day,'' he said. ``This helps you grow.''
The affable James, whose signature bow ties have become somewhat of an institution in Raleigh, will be remembered by colleagues for his apparently boundless energy, good nature, personal integrity, devotion to his constituents and limitless knowledge of agriculture issues.
``He has a higher energy level than a lot of people his age and probably as good or better appreciation for the role agriculture plays in the northeastern region than most other people,'' said Durward Bateman, dean of N.C. State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Bateman has worked closely with James for nearly 20 years.
``Vernon James is one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known, and he has done more for eastern North Carolina than any legislator I've had the pleasure of serving with,'' said Rep. Liston B. Ramsey, D-Madison, a former House speaker who has served in the legislature since 1961.
It was James' support of Ramsey and his devotion to the Democratic Party that cost James some of his power and prestige during the 1989 revolt that saw Ramsey replaced as House speaker by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who backed Rep. Joe Mavretic, D-Edgecombe.
James saw his agriculture committee demoted to a subcommittee during the subsequent reshuffling of the House.
But the self-described head of the ``Kennel Club'' of ousted Democrats also worked hard to keep the remaining 58 or so Democrats united and in the political game.
When Dan Blue, D-Wake, reunited the Democrats and ousted Mavretic in 1991, James' committee and standing were restored.
During his tenure as chairman, James never lost a vote on the House floor on any bill that had been endorsed by his committee. ``That reflects a confidence in the chairman of that committee by House members,'' Ramsey said.
``Service is what Vernon is all about. He really cares about his fellow man, community and country,'' Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham said. ``He wants to see things done right - and works to make sure they are.''
The list of James' district and statewide accomplishments is long:
He boosted agriculture research at N.C. State University, both in its College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and in its veterinary school.
He helped fund and promote 4-H programs statewide and pushed for a 4-H camp in northeastern North Carolina.
He gained crucial legislative support for the state's boll weevil eradication program, which spurred the comeback of cotton in North Carolina.
He chaired the National Potato Board and was instrumental in developing and promoting North Carolina's potato crop.
He was the guiding force in promoting and funding marketing programs for state-grown crops under the logo ``Goodness Grows in North Carolina.''
``Of course, he will be remembered as Mr. Agriculture in North Carolina,'' said Rep. John J. ``Jack'' Hunt, D-Cleveland, who shares a desk with James on the floor of the House. ``He is the one that we all look to when it comes to agricultural issues. . . . But his influence is not limited to agriculture.''
James also spearheaded efforts to devote more state funds to paving the many secondary dirt roads that dot the rural North Carolina landscape. He won concessions in the distribution of funds from the state sales tax that boosted the amount of money the state's smaller counties receive.
While members of the Albemarle-area's legislative delegation this year made their strongest overall showing in recent years in effective rankings of state legislators, those serving in and watching the General Assembly say the northeast will lose some of its clout in the House after James leaves.
``Rural legislators tend to grow in effectiveness because there is less turnover among rural legislators than among legislators from metropolitan areas,'' said Ran Coble, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Research, a Raleigh think-tank.
James promises to stay involved in politics, agriculture and North Carolina affairs.
He will continue to serve on several state agriculture committees, including a committee that is studying how to reduce odors from hog farms. He has plans to attend a Southern Legislative Conference in Norfolk later this summer and visit the regional farmers markets in the state that he helped establish.
But for the first week or so after he leaves the General Assembly, James wants to spend time with his family and do chores around his house and family farm.
``I will have some role in what goes on in North Carolina,'' he promised. ``I do not need to sit down and do nothing.
``I'm of the opinion that if you sit down and do nothing, it won't be long before you're not able to do anything but nothing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Photo
Vernon Grant James
Occupation: Retired, farmer, president and manager of James
Brothers Inc., produce supply business.
Family: Wife, Thelma Luton James; children, John Thomas James and
Vernon Grant James Jr., both deceased.
Education: Graduated from Weeksville High School, 1930; attended
N.C. State University 1930-31.
Religion: Lifelong member and former Sunday school teacher, Salem
Baptist Church.
Government: Chairman, Weeksville High School Board of Education,
1943-44; served in the N.C. House of Representatives for 13 terms:
1945, 1947 and 1973-1994.
Current committee assignments: Chairman, Agriculture Committee;
vice chairman, Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House; member,
Appropriations Subcommittee on Environment, Natural and Economic
Resources; member, local and regional Government I; member, Public
Utilities.
Selected honors: North Carolina School Boards Association Award
for Service to Public Education, 1984; Governor's Award from North
Carolina Agribusiness Council for Distinguished Service to
Agribusiness, 1985; College of the Albemarle 25th Anniversary Award;
Rural Water Association Outstanding Service Award, 1990; Mental
Health Association Outstanding Service Award, 1990.
by CNB