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<br />') r-r <br />~ 4 I <br /> <br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />MA.1i.CH 26, 1968 <br /> <br />The regular semi-monthly meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, <br /> <br />Virgircia, '.vith Mayor Fred T. Renick, Mayor, presiding, was held Tuesday, <br /> <br />March 26, 1968, in the Council Chamber, City Hall, beginning at 7:30 P.M., <br /> <br />all members being present, viz., Mayor Fred T. Renick, M.D.; Vice-Mayor E. E. <br /> <br />Stone; Harry L. Boaz; W, Donald Hartford; and Francis T. West. <br /> <br />After the invocation, Council approved as recorded the minutes of its regular <br /> <br />meeting held March 12, 1968. <br /> <br />Acknowledging the presence of a large group of citizens who appeared in <br /> <br />connection with an item under "new business" on the Council's agenda, Council <br /> <br />deferred its regular order of business to hear from the Martinsville Civic <br /> <br />League which presented--through the R~verend Robert L. Hairston--the following <br /> <br />written statement, signed by the Reverend Hezekiah Morris, Chairman: <br /> <br />May we call to your attention the views and sentiments of a group <br />of about 200 Martinsville citizens with regard to a recent action <br />by City Council and subsequent action by the City School Board: <br /> <br />1. We deplore the manner in which the Martinsville City Council <br />co~ducted its meeting o~ Tuesday, March 12. Mr. West's prompt <br />motion that the School Board be requested to meet and the Council's <br />immediate and unanimous passage of that motion seemed clearly <br />pre-arranged. But even worse, it constituted an affront to a <br />dedicated School Board, a group of men appointed by the Council <br />and vested with the responsibility for providing the best public <br />education for the children of Martinsville. <br /> <br />2. 'We applaud the moral fibre of the two members of our City <br />School Board who, despite harassing political pressure, were <br />able to maintain the courage of their convictions as expressed <br />at the March 4th meeting of the School Board and challenged by <br />Mr. Stone at last week's Council meeting. <br /> <br />3. We exte~d our sympathy to the o~e member of the City School <br />Board who, despite his protestations to the contrary, was <br />apparently coerced into changing what had been only two weeks <br />earlier his thoughtful decision based on considered judgment. <br />We regret that we cannot believe his change of heart was <br />prompted a wide sampling of opinion. <br />