The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 3, 2009

Ward 3 Councilman Hayes to step aside

Qualifying for fall municipal elections begins Monday morning

W. TERRY SMITH

There will be at least one new face on Tarboro Town Council this year, and the election isn’t until Nov. 3.

Danny Hayes has decided not to seek reelection in Ward 3. Former town Utility Director Rick Page has been attending recent council meetings and indicated he will put his hat in the ring when qualifying opens Monday.

“I’ll be there at 8 o’clock,” said Page.

Qualifying for the municipal elections begins at 8 a.m. Monday and continues until noon, Friday, July 17 in the Board of Elections office in Room 355 of the County Administrative Building. All 10 of Edgecombe County’s municipalities are having elections.

Rocky Mount’s election is Oct 6, but all the others are on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Tarboro voters will chose a mayor and councilmen in Wards 1,3, 5 and 7. The mayor is paid $665 and councilmen $526 per month.

Mayor Donald Morris, 66, is completing his 14th year as mayor and 28th on council. He will seek reelection.

“I am heavily involved with the town’s 250th anniversary and I would like to see that through,” he said. “I am on the executive committee of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership and we are in the process of recruiting a couple of new companies and I would like to finish that.”

Ward 1 Councilman Buck Price, 84, is recovering from recent hernia and back surgeries and eager to seek a third term.

Hayes, 62, spent 26 years in the police department, the last nine as chief, and the last 14 years on council.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” he said, “but it’s time to step aside, kick back and take it easy. I want to spend more time with my wife Cindy and my three grandchildren.

“I know Rick is interested,” Hayes said. “He is a good guy and would do a good job.”

Page, 63, said, “I have more than 20 years of experience and bring a lot of insight in the workings of the town. The main thing I see is that often decisions are made when just two or three people come to council and express their concerns. I want to do what’s best to benefit my entire ward and the town.”

Page’s wife Brenda works in the town’s accounting department.

Ward 5 Councilman John Jenkins, 65, is completing his third term and expects a challenge from Rudolph Knight, but Knight said Wednesday, “I am not running.”

The Rev. Roy Gray was appointed to the Ward 7 post when David Smoot resigned last year. Gray, 56 spent three terms totaling 12 years on council between 1990-2002 before stepping aside to take on additional duties as a minister.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to serve,” he said. “We had some difficult decisions relating to the budget this year, but we got through it.”

Other posts up for election this fall include (with incumbents in parenthesis):

The mayor (Linda Ingram) and all four commissioners (Milton Goff, Leon Wynn, Wilson Jones and Johnny Respass) in Conetoe.

The mayor (Mike Keel) and two (Harold Stallings and R.B. Owens) of the four commissioners in Macclesfield.

Two (Gerald Abrams and Joyce Tolson) of the four commissioners in Pinetops.

The mayor (Delia Perkins) and two (Ann Carney Adams and Carolyn Sharpe) of the four commissioners in Princeville.

The mayor (Wilbert Harrison) and all five commissioners ( Leroy Candies, Shirley Perry Brownell, Olga Dickens, Mary Manning and James Lee) in Speed.

Three (Esterine Pitt, Quentin Hill and Betty Bullock) of the five commissioners in Whitakers.

The mayor (Sheila Williams) and all five commissioners (Michael Jones, Mervin Gibson, Becky Humphrey, Troy Jenkins and Randy Weaver) in Sharpsburg.

And four (Ward 2 Reuben Blackwell, Ward 3 Lamont Wiggins, Ward 6 W.B. Bullock and Ward 7 Chris Miller) of the seven councilmen in Rocky Mount.

Qualifying fees range from $25 in Rocky Mount to $10 in Pinetops and Tarboro to $5 in Conetoe, Macclesfield, Princeville, Sharpsburg, Speed and Whitakers.

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