THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605110301
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Hal Walker is out as director of the Albemarle Commission and so is the auditor who criticized him last week.
Walker and Charlena ``Charly'' Spence, the agency's bookkeeper, got their walking papers at a closed meeting of Albemarle Commission directors Thursday night.
Named interim director was Darlene Harrell, who has run a nutrition program for the Albemarle Commission. In her new job, Harrell will be paid about $43,000 a year.
Despite an attempt to make Leonard Ballou, chairman of the Albemarle Commission, the sole spokesman for the organization, news of the departure of Walker and Spence was quickly leaked to radio stations and newspapers.
Ballou confirmed Friday that Walker and Spence were leaving ``immediately.''
He said Leo Higgins, a commission member, had been asked to help the new interim chairman get the agency back on track. Higgins was an unsuccessful candidate for Perquimans County commissioner in Tuesday's elections.
Walker's departure was no surprise. He has been a target for criticism for several months because of a seemingly unmanageable $230,000 hole in the commission's cash flow.
The commission manages various programs for member cities and counties and charges a fee for its efforts.
When Walker was called on the carpet to explain why the commission couldn't balance its books, he said delays in receiving funds from state and federal agencies had caused a ``draw-down'' in the commission's operating cash.
Walker was also in trouble with board members for prematurely divulging information about a proposed new inter-county water system at a recent meeting of the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development Commission. The water plan was supposed to be announced by local legislators at a politically expedient time.
The departure of Spence as commission auditor was more of a surprise.
When Walker was under fire last week for the agency's money troubles, he went out of his way to praise Spence for her efforts to unscramble the commission's books.
But Spence didn't hesitate to say at the same meeting that she felt the dismissal of Walker would be the best first step toward solvency for the commission. by CNB