By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
When voters elected Jim Sides as a county commissioner in 2004, they got something of a two-for-one deal.
His mother, Phyllis, decided to keep an eye on what her son was doing, along with the rest of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.
For four years at board meetings, she sat in the same seat on the front row. She became such a fixture that when she missed a meeting, commissioners and the public would ask Commissioner Sides, “Where’s your mother?”
She missed about a half dozen meetings ó time out for surgery and a couple of trips.
While her son lost his seat in the November election, mom hasn’t decided yet whether she’s going to keep showing up at the meetings.
She’s keenly interested in what the board does.
“One thing that will draw me back is the economy,” said Sides. She’s concerned about county spending as everybody is struggling.
For those who think her son is an outspoken conservative, he may be a milder version of mom.
She would like to see a new property revaluation immediately to reflect the drop in values. “Taxes are terrible.”
And the notion of spending millions on a school administration building now is unacceptable.
“They need to try to get parents interested in their children, if the parent’s don’t get interested in how their children are doing in school, no amount of money will do any good.”
Remembering her three children, Jim was a quick study, while the others “had to dig” and she stayed after them.
“All children are different, I’m proud of all three of my children,” she said.
Son Billy is retired from the post office in Salisbury. Daughter Martha Karen Sides is a massage therapist and grief counselor.
Phyllis Sides could take credit for getting some improvements in the commissioner’s meeting room.
Several times she pointed out that the public could not hear commissioners over the speakers.
After the board was fitted with a new sound system, she wasn’t shy in pointing out the audience still couldn’t hear.
Called by Chairman Arnold Chamberlain to speak at public comment, she critiqued the board, pointing out they didn’t speak into the microphones. And she scorched County Attorney Jay Dees, pointing out, “You mutter.”
Last week, she gave an updated critique ó Dees does better, but the rest of the board still doesn’t talk into the microphones.
“The county manager (Gary Page) talks like he’s whispering. He talks sideways, not in the microphone … can’t hear half of what he says.”
And what concerns her is she is sitting on the front row, and there are dozens of people in rows behind her.
When Jim complained about all the hours he was spending on county business while running his T-shirt company, Today’s Trading, he didn’t get any sympathy.
Instead, she told him to quit griping, “You asked for it, so do it.”
Would she like to move on up to a commissioner’s seat?
“No, ma’am, I’m not running. I’m just interested in what’s going on.”
One of her frequent seatmates, Carl Ford, has moved up and is now chairman of the board.
“I told him he was in for a rough ride. He’s a good man.”
When Jim won his first term on the board in 1980, she didn’t go to the meetings. The family was dealing with a lot.
“His daughter was sick and my husband was sick. I didn’t get to go.”
Jim Sides Sr. died in 1989.
After years of struggle and several operations, Jim’s daughter, Pamela, died of brain cancer in 1990.
Phyllis, who turns 77 on Saturday, stays busy. She travels with a church group from Woodleaf’s Unity Presbyterian Church. They’ve taken in dinner theater events along the East Coast and visited the hot spots of Myrtle Beach and Pigeon Forge.
She swims in the arthritis program at Rufty-Holmes Senior Center.
She’s active in Gospel Light Baptist Church.
Not a sports fan, she often has to work to find a good TV program.
She’s got two computers, one a laptop. She usually plays solitaire or free cell on the laptop while watching TV.
And she wants to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea.
“I’m not a couch potato. I do genealogy at the library, different places, mostly in Columbia, S.C.”
Most of the family lived in South Carolina. She was born outside Spartanburg. Her father was a Mason and her mother’s family names were Taylor and Maden.
“Genealogy is the most fascinating thing. Sometimes I don’t stop to eat or sleep. It just consumes you.”