DRUG FIGHT ILLUSTRATES SPIRIT OF HIGH SHOALS

Small Gaston Town Tackles This Problem Like Others -- With Resilience And
Creativity

HIGH SHOALS - Some High Shoals residents are tackling the re-emergence of
drugs with the same zeal they've used to fight other problems stemming from
their former mill town's economic decline. They've become seasoned fighters
and have learned to rely on each other for support, because there's little
else in this town of about 750 residents. Officers with Gaston County
Police, which became responsible for the town in 1995, said the drug
problem is not overwhelming. But they admire the town's reaction to it.
"What is unique is the support of the community," said Capt. George
Osborne. "They're not tolerating this at all." The fight to keep this tiny
town afloat started in the mid-1970s, when the once thriving manufacturing
spirit evaporated after the textile mill filed for bankruptcy. A yarn
business began operating out of that building, but closed in 1990, leaving
200 people unemployed. The town, about 30 miles northwest of Charlotte, was
further stripped of its identity when its Police Department closed in 1994,
followed by the closing of its 240-student elementary school four years
later. "People here are discouraged," said Town Council member Lisa
Mullinax Stamey, who has lived in High Shoals for about 35 years. "Some of
the citizens feel like the city don't have anything to offer them because
it's changed so much." High Shoals has a post office and just a few
businesses, including a Texaco, the Beauty Villa beauty shop and Parker's
Fish, a fish-distributing company. In a rare bright spot of news, those
businesses will soon be joined by UCS Spirit Inc., a sports equipment
company that recently announced it will move its headquarters to High
Shoals -- a $3 million investment. Company officials plan to renovate the
former Sonoco manufacturing facility on old U.S. 321. Council members say
several initiatives they took this year could eliminate some of the
problems contributing to the drug situation. They've already approved a
minimum-housing ordinance, which requires landlords to maintain acceptable
living standards.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, almost 10 percent of High Shoals' 315 housing
units were vacant, and about 35 percent of its 284 occupied units were
rental properties. A cluster of rundown houses on School Street, near the
abandoned elementary school, has been the center of most of the town's drug
activity, police say. Osborne said one marijuana dealer was the source of
the problem, but he likely moved away in late April. "The traffic at that
location has dropped off considerably," he said. "We're still maintaining
surveillance of that situation." Mayor Dennis Gilbert, who has lived on
that street for more than 55 years, said police did a good job of cleaning
the street up, but said the drug problem throughout the city has worsened
in recent years. "We don't have our own police force, so that makes it even
worse," he said. "You try to call but if they're on another call, by the
time they get here, everything is gone." Gilbert said Gaston police
officers have done a good job overall of patrolling the area, but he still
wants to apply for state and federal grants so the town can hire at least a
part-time officer. The town missed its chance to apply for a grant this
year, so Gilbert said they'll apply next year. Meanwhile, some neighbors
fear that problems will persist on School Street because it's not patrolled
constantly. "It's lawless," said one 64-year-old man who did not want to be
identified for fear of retaliation. "It's do what you want to do. ... The
meanest come out when the law is not around." Some residents, such as David
Towery, come up with their own ways to protect themselves and their family.

He bought a pit bull and a surveillance camera, whose red blinking light,
he thinks, might keep drug dealers away. Gaston County Sheriff's Deputy
Fred Doolittle, who has lived in High Shoals since he was 2 and served as
the town's police chief from 1980 to 1983, said he constantly hears people
complain about drugs. Part of the problem is that young people don't have
anything to do, he said. The town also needs multiple police officers, he
said. "I'm not saying the county ain't doing their job," he said. "One
officer cannot do it. You have to have somebody there who can work it."
Council members say some of the drug complaints might ebb once they follow
through on previously announced plans to sell the abandoned school.

They plan to use the proceeds for the newly created parks and recreation
fund. Stamey, who heads that new committee, said she wants to build a
playground for kids and provide new basketball courts for teenagers. Right
now, the only play area is an empty spot near School Street that "has a
picnic shelter and some swings that have been there 150 years, seems like,"
she said. Stamey also wants to organize a community watch group and create
a stronger sense of identity so people will keep caring for their town. Her
priority is to focus on young people. "If we can get them involved now,
then when they get older, they're going to stay here and be raised in what
we believe in," she said.