European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 18, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 7 Florida town finds its officials Law on collision course caryv1lle, Fla. A this Florida Panhandle town is having rouble keeping Public officials in office because of their run ins with the Law. Three officials have been ousted in the last year including former mayor John de French who has been removed from two different jobs. I be had this happen so Many times i m used to it French said this week. Why is it that 1 was qualified to seek Public office but not hold it gov. Bob Martinez suspended French As mayor last year following his conviction on an aggravated Battery charge. French then was hired As City manager but the governor suspended him from that Job too saying his appointment was made illegally. Undeterred French won re election As mayor in no vember but Martinez removed him from both offices through an executive order tuesday after an appeals court upheld French s conviction. State Law prohibits convicted felons from holding Public office. Walter Anderson who lost to French in the mayoral election last year was named temporary mayor but a formal move to replace French with Anderson failed on a 2-2 Vole of the City Council tuesday. The fifth councilman Jerry Lee Griffin was unable to Vole because Martinez had suspended Griffin after he was charged with Possession of Beer with intent to distribute without a License. City clerk Cheryl Green was fired last month after being accused of embezzling from the City. We Don t Lack Many episodes for a soap opera French said. Cleaning up the president s act National Park St vice workers scrub away Al Abraham statue of honest Abe at the Lincoln memorial across Lincoln in the pc Dawn thursday in Washington. The from the reflecting Pool is cleaned twice a year. Busy bigger irs often gives the wrong answers Washington a the internal Revenue service which has never been bigger or busier has its hands full of prob lems just one month before the deadline for filing individual lax returns. The 110.000-Cmployce Agency expects 10 receive a record 109 million returns this year and insists it is fully prepared to pro Cess them and Issue refunds on time. Overall the filing season is going smoothly Michael j. Murphy the acting 1ks commissioner told the House ways and Means oversight subcommittee thursday. But Murphy who has been acting in the top Job Only two weeks and other senior irs officials arc putting in Long hours dealing with some major problems. They include explaining Why the 5,000 employees who arc trained to answer taxpayers Tele phoned questions arc giving the wrong answer Al least 30 percent of the time. In some areas the accuracy Rale is barely 50 percent. Calling the irs for tax advice is a real crap shoot complains rep. . Pickled Texas chairman of the House panel. Our accuracy rate is unacceptable Murphy said. We will not be satisfied until we Sec substantial  assertions that some irs tax return examiners were led to believe they should keep quiet when they find taxpayers neglected to subtract taxes withheld when they completed their returns we were actually stealing from the tax payers said one employee who added that in most such cases the taxpayers often retirees lost Between $100 and $1,000 apiece. Murphy testifying before the subcommittee seemed to acknowledge such a policy existed and was amended last Decem Ber he ordered an investigation the irs which collects about $ i tril lion a year is strapped for cosh of its own. The Washington Post reported things Are so tight because of budget cuts that in some offices pens have been rationed and employee training has been reduced. The irs budget for this year was Cut by $100 Mil lion and the Agency then had to Cut other programs to finance a mandated employee pay raise. We have a management problem trying to conserve resources Murphy said we arc looking for about $50 million to continue operating at present Levels for the next six months. He vowed however that the lightening will not Force reductions in taxpayer serv ices processing of returns or Law enforce ment. The Agency still has trouble getting tax forms and publications to taxpayers. The general accounting office visited 35 irs offices in 10 states to Check on 79 documents each office was supposed Slock. No office had All 79 15 offices were missing 10 or More forms. The irs sampled 32.000 mail orders for forms and found 96 percent were processed correctly. Although nationwide the irs is 2.21 r s Pace in process 10 service centers percent ahead of last year process ing tax returns two of he i Brookhaven mass., and Kansas City arc 11.4 per cell and 10.2 percent respectively behind schedule. Brookhaven processes returns from most of new England Kansas City from parts of the Midwest. The irs says i Csc Are temporary conc i Lions thai do not portend major problems. Bui in All the bad news plaguing inc iks lately Iacre is one Bright spot. 1 he Gao says taxpayers and the irs arc making fewer errors completing and processing re turns this year. Errors were made on 15.8 percent of returns compared with 18 per cent last year and about six of Ever 10 were made by inc taxpayer. Irs analysis indicates that taxpayers arc making Many of inc same types of errors As last year even though irs Al tempted to avoid some of Hose errors by changing inc related forms or instructions Gao told the House panel. The most frequent errors taking the wrong Standard deduction erroneously computing or claiming the car cd in come credit and figuring a refund wrong. Safety probe under Way on 1.9 Mon pm cars Washington a the government has announced a formal investigation covering 1.9 million general motors cars following complaints that a defect in the cruise control system can cause a Driver to lose control of the car. The National Highway traffic safety administration said thursday the investigation was opened to prepare for a possible court ordered recall of several models of 1984 to s988 bricks Cadillac  Oldsmobile is and Pontiac equipped with cruise control. General motors has refused government requests for a voluntary recall the Agency said. The safety administration said it has received 144 complaints involving 18 accidents and seven injuries in which a Small plastic ring slipped out of a pan of the vehicle s cruise control system at Highway Speed without warning causing the throttle to be held partially open. Cruise controls enable a Driver to Sei a constant Highway Speed without tending the accelerator. Under certain conditions the Driver May be startled and lose control of the car and the brakes will be less effective the Agency said in announcing the defect investigation. A formal inquiry is the last step before a possible court Case to obtain a recall order a company spokesman David Hudgins said pm docs not believe the cruise control allegations warrant a safety recall. Our inc ligation shows that if the ring were Dis lodged the braking system can still Slop inc vehicle with in Safe slopping distances a company statement said adding that the cruise control and steering systems arc not affected by the condition and no sudden acceleration Occure. Our customers should continue to drive their cars with Confidence the company said. Clarence Ditlow spokesman for the Center for Aulo safety an advocacy group thai is often at Odds with the Auto Industry said the problem is common in general motors cars. We re glad to see they have taken action Dillow said bul added Hal inc manuf Ciurar should voluntarily recall the cars and Correct the alleged do feel. He said inc Center has passed along dozens of complaints to the government. The traffic safety administration said inc problem is not related to Driver operation of inc Nihro talc or to Sud Den acceleration conditions in which Drivers suddenly experience full Power acceleration. The Highway safety Agency concluded last week Hal sudden acceleration reported in the Audi 5000 and other cars is most Likely caused by Drivers stepping on the wrong pedal possibly due to the Way inc pedals arc designed in some cars according to inc Agency Drivers of pm cars who experience a Sluck throttle should Lum off the Ign upon and steer carefully bul quickly to the Side of the Road keeping in mind that Power assisted braking and steer ing will be diminished once the engine is turned  the steering wheel docs not lock on pm cars unless they arc shifted Inlo Park Afler stopping Agency spokesman Tim Hurd said. The safely administration said the investigation Cov ers 1.6 million pm cars with 5-liter gasoline engines and 300,000 cars with 8-Eylindcr i Csc engines models included Are Oldsmobile Delta 88s and 98s Cutlass supreme and Torona Dps Buick la sabres Riv iras and Rogals Pontiac parisian pcs and grand Ponxs Chevrolet caprices and Monte Carlos and Cadillac Brougham Eldorado and scat Lucs