The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 14, 2009

Muhammad complains about Noble

W. TERRY SMITH

Tarboro Councilman Melvin Muhammad unloaded on Town Manager Sam Noble during Monday night’s Town Council meeting.

“I am very disappointed in the way that we sometimes perceive our service and duties as it relates to the people we are elected to serve,” Muhammad read from a two-page statement he gave during the citizens comments period of the meeting. “I also expected a much higher level of respect from the same people which whom I serve, including the town manager.”

Muhammad claimed he did not receive a copy of a police incident report in the packet delivered to each council member prior to their June 22 meeting.

“This is especially troubling since my name was in the report,” he said. “I refuse to believe that Sam Noble … forgot to put a copy of the report in my packet … . For the record, I have never had anything missing from my agenda packet before.”

Noble said he must have forgotten and took a copy to Muhammad’s East St. John Street residence at 8:30 a.m. the next day and also sent a copy of the report and a letter by certified mail that Muhammad acknowledged receiving June 23.

Muhammad said the letter asked him to “avoid confrontations with officers of the Tarboro Police Department.”

Muhammad’s voice grew louder when he continued.

“I am a councilman and the concerns of those in Ward 6 and the whole of Tarboro is a duty, which I respect, honor and appreciate,” he said. “My duties go beyond ‘Councilman.’ At the end of the day I am also Melvin Muhammad, a concerned citizen of Tarboro.”

Noble’s letter included an apology and stated:

“It would be greatly appreciated if you would avoid direct confrontations with officers of the Tarboro Police Department when they are making or have made an arrest or are performing their assigned duties.

“If you have questions as to how the officers of the TPD are performing their duties, please contact me. The police chief and I will be glad to sit down with you and discuss any concerns you may have.”

The mayor attempted to talk with Muhammad and tell him councilmen were not to be directly involved with town personnel, but Muhammad was having none of that, interrupting the mayor and saying, “This is old-school politics, and I am not playing.”

After about 15 minutes, the mayor told him, “Your five minutes are up,” and Muhammad returned to his seat.

Noble hand-delivers the agenda and other information to each councilman prior to each meeting. Most seem appreciative, but Muhammad asked that all his packets be sent to him by next-day mail. Noble said that would be done.

Terry Johnson of the east Tarboro community spoke next and said he was there that night when 10 to 12 young men stopped his car and threatened to “knock me out.”

Johnson said, “The police did what they were supposed to do.”

He also said a bottle had been thrown at a patrol car earlier.

This is the third incident in which Muhammad has been involved with the police recently. He has demanded Officer Rick Mann be transferred from the east Tarboro area. Another time when officers were responding to a complaint about loud music, Muhammad showed up and turned his car radio up.

Later during the meeting, Muhammad said he wanted to see the grant the police had received for a program with the town Parks and Recreation Department to give teens alternative to gang activities.

He said he didn’t understand why most of the grant was going for salaries and overtime. Police Chief Robert Cherry explained that was what the grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission specified.

The grant was explained at length during the council’s retreat March 28-29.

“The quality of life in Tarboro is lacking,” Muhammad said. “Why aren’t we going after more grants?”

He also asked why the town did not seek more federal stimulus funds. Noble explained the town had received stimulus funds for infrastructure projects, which is what the loans were designated.

Noble suggested Muhammad write down his questions, and he would try to answer them.

After a closed session to discuss the town manager’s evaluation (Noble received an above-standard rating), Councilman Steve Hoard made a motion in open session to say Noble's job performance was “exemplarily."

That passed 7-1 with Muhammad casting the nay vote.

Mayor Donald Morris said, “He was rated above- standard and I agree wholeheartedly. He is probaboly one of the top 10 managers in the state and in the past, now and in the future he has the town’s citizens’ and employees’ best interest at heart.”

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