Whatever Happened??????

KITTY HAWK -- The reins of government switched hands Monday night as longtime Mayor Clifton Perry stepped down and newcomer William Harris was unanimously appointed by the Town Council to the top seat.

Harris was nominated shortly after he and newly elected council members Douglas Seay and Donna Trivette were sworn into office in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Town Hall. The trio defeated Ken Hollowell and Leo Antonucci, both veteran council members, and planning board member Ervin Bateman in the Nov. 6 election.

Seay was unanimously appointed mayor pro tem. He replaces Paul Pruitt, who did not seek re-election this year for health reasons. Pruitt, a member of the Town Council since the incorporation of Kitty Hawk 20 years ago, received a round of applause as he stepped down Monday night.

``I don't know if anyone in today's political climate could match that,'' Harris said of Pruitt's tenure.

Harris, who described himself as a childhood friend of Perry's, presented the former mayor with the gavel Perry had used. ``It's hard to be mayor for 12 years,'' Harris said. ``I also don't think that record will be surpassed for a long time.'' Perry will continue to serve as a Town Council member. His term expires in December 2003. Antonucci leaves his seat as a council member after 12 years. Hollowell was on the council for eight years.

``I wish you Godspeed in your endeavor to keep Kitty Hawk a family community,'' Antonucci said.

Harris is retired from the National Park Service, where he worked for 40 years as both a superintendent and park manager. Seay is the owner and director of sales of Outer Banks Realty in Kitty Hawk.

Harris urged residents who filled Town Hall to get involved in town government.

``What is going to make this a good community,'' he said, ``is to have the people in the community working with the Town Council.''