Speaker tells of long fight against Idaho hate groups

By Andy Gross
STAFF WRITER

Soft-spoken, gentle and eloquent, Tony Stewart is an unlikely trench warrior. Yet, by his own admission, Stewart, a native of Graham County, has fought an ongoing and vocal battle against hate groups in Idaho.

"It's very important for any community that faces a problem with hate groups to recognize it and speak out. Hate groups don ' t go away because you wish them to go away," Stewart said.

Stewart, 50, is a political science professor at North Idaho College. Educated at the Western Carolina University and the University of Tennessee, Stewart is the president of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.

Stewart said the group was formed after white supremacists groups in Idaho harassed a Jewish family and a multi-racial family in two separate incidents.

Stewart appeared at the YMI Cultural Center in Asheville to introduce a 90-minute video the task force has produced, and to share his expertise about how communities can best combat the efforts of white supremacist organizations in the area.

Stewart spoke before a group of about 20 people, including two deputies from the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department.

"I have never understood why any individual Stewart said his impetus for battling hate groups came from a deceptively simple principle.

"I have never understood why any individual would prejudge a person because of race, religion or color."

The group of concerned people who came together on that December night in 1980 to comfort their victimized neighbors has matured into a group of 250 that has forged valuable coalitions with clergy, law enforcement officials, educators and civic leaders.

According to Stewart. the group's activism and presence in Idaho, helped law enforcement agents break up and arrest a dangerous group of white supremacists known as Order One.

According to Mary Harayda, a member of People Recognizing Individuality, Diversity and Dignity

in Everyone - PRIDE - one of three Asheville groups that -sponsored Stewart's appearance, his visit to Asheville is timely.

In the past two years, various white supremacist organizations have stepped up activities in Western North Carolina and in Asheville and surrounding counties.

Two organizations, the Southern Aryan Warriors and the Confederate Knights of America, distributed fliers in Buncombe County in 1991.

In February, concerned Buncombe County residents held a forum in reaction to the growing presence of a group of skinheads who had reportedly been assaulting black teenagers and gay men.

Harayda said the presence of groups like skinheads, Aryan nation and the KKK, give extra relevance to Stewarts appearance in Asheville.

"We're still real concerned by those groups. (Some members) of the groups were marching in the Family Values Day Parade they're a threat, Harayda said.

Beside building coalitions designed to promote humanism and defeat unwarranted prejudices that fuel hate groups, Stewart said communities cannot engage in a conspiracy of silence when hate groups such as the Klan, Aryan Nation or other white supremacist groups descend on a city.

Tony is the son of Margie Eller and Gurley Stewart, Rt. 1 Box 204E, Robbinsville, NC 28771

Tony's address is 2382 S. Fairway Dr., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814. His Eller lineage is:

Tony Stewart⁹( Margie Eller⁸, John Doke⁷, John⁶, John Wesley⁵, John⁴, Joseph³, Jacob Jr.², Jacob^l)

In 1981 Centex Corporation set out to reinvent itself. �Back in the '70s, we had enormous debt,� says Timothy Eller, CEO and president of Centex Real Estate Corporation, �We realized you have to be countercyclical to take advantage of the housing market. If you're heavily leveraged at the bottom, it's tough to do that.

That realization started Centex on a conservative growth plan that carried it to the pinnacle of the home building industry in 1991.

�In 1981 we were a first time home builder in eight markets,� says Eller, who started with Centex 18 years ago as an assistant superintendent. �Now we're in 39 markets and build homes from $50,000 to $500,000.�

Centex achieved this growth by maintaining a strong balance sheet � debt is only 30 percent of total capital � to take advantage of market cycles. And it stayed conservative when the market was flying high.

�We thought about entering Phoenix in the early '80s, but we could never make the numbers work� says Eller. �It wasn't possible to earn a return. We finally moved in in 1990.�

In 1991, taking full advantage of one of the worst years in the history of housing, Centex entered three markets: Portland Ore.,

Indianapolis, and central California. They weren't rash entries. The company spent three years studying the demographics, competition, barriers and costs of entry in the Portland market and a year and a half researching the Indianapolis market. As those markets sagged, entry opportunities improves.

Centex has no preferred method of starting up in a new market. In central California, it acquired the Mangano Company, In Portland and Indianapolis, it opened new divisions.

�Our growth is only constrained by our people,� says Eller, �It will be difficult to expand like we did last year because we used up a pool of talent.� Because growth remains a prime directive at Centex, the company recruits heavily at universities to replenish the ranks. The building company currently employs 1,520 people: the core management group consists of approximately 50 people.

Centex also focuses on growth in its established markets. It has doubled it's share of the Orlando, Fla. Market in the past two years to more than 12 percent. Centex also has more than 10 percent of the San Antonio and Dallas/Fort Worth markets, and about 9 percent of the Charleston, S.C., and Austin markets.

Eller isn't concerned about other companies that have grabbed a large share of the national market, only to stumble, such as U.S. Home, General Homes, and Nash Phillips/Copus.

�I don't know why we could ever be too big as long as we have capable people to assume roles,� says Eller. �We could reach 10,000 units at the next cyclical peak three to five years from now. Frankly, we're close to that now�

Timothy Robert Eller, son of Robert Max Eller and Dora J. Morgan and nephew of EFA President, A. Wm. Eller. See Eller Chronicles, Vol. III:I pp. 17.

STANLEY LEWIS ELLER, attorney, wins award.
(From: A. Wm. Eller)

Stanley Eller, in his position as District Attorney of Mono County, CA the extensive county bordering Yosemite National Park on the east, has recently been awarded the distinguished Golden Trout Award for 1991.

The award was the culmination of his successful court action he initiated against the WRID, Walker River Irrigation District, and the Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power.

Stanley joins the ranks of such notables who have received the award in past years: Senator Pete Wilson, Senator Alan Cranston, former Governor Jerry Brown and Congressman Rick Lehman. Quoting the article, Richard May, president of Caltrout (California Trout, Inc) that gives out the award: 'Stan is the first district attorney ever to receive the Golden Trout award. We've never given it to a district attorney before. Frankly, none has ever deserved it before.'

Stan Eller⁹ is the son of proud parents Carl and Marie Eller⁸., (the only first cousin of A. Wm Eller); Carl Stanley⁷, Robert T. Eller⁶ (GME pg 185), William⁵, Simeon⁴, John³, Peter², George Michael^l.