The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 16, 2009

One incumbent, two challengers file

T. J. ROYAL

Three more candidates, an incumbent and two challengers, filed Wednesday to run in Edgecombe County's municipal elections in the fall.

Conetoe Commissioner Milton Goff Jr. was the lone incumbent to file for election Wednesday. Goff could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Suzanne Coker of Pinetops was the second challenger to file for one of the two at-large Board of Commissioners seats available in Pinetops in November. Ron Gibson of Whitakers was the first challenger to file for one of the three at-large Edgecombe County seats on his town's Board of Commissioners.

Coker, 47, of 201 N. Third St., said that filing for her hometown's Board of Commissioners' race has "always been something I've been interested in and wanted to do.

"I think it's a good time for folks in my generation to take a step up and become part of that," she added of her first time filing for public office.

Coker was "born and raised" in Pinetops she said, before eventually moving to Raleigh to work in government relations for the North Carolina Hospital Association. She said she moved back to Pinetops in 2000 and commuted the last eight years of her job every day. She was laid off from her job with the Association in December, after 18 years of work, she said Wednesday.

If she is elected to the Board of Commissioners, she said she does not have a "specific agenda" yet about what she would like to see done in the town. Coker added that she is "interested in seeing our town do well."

Coker is also vice president of the Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council.

Gibson, 54, of 202 Marks St., said that if he is elected to one of the spots on the Board of Commissioners, he would work to see the town capitalize on the "tremendous" amount of traffic that comes through on U.S. 301.

"We've waited too long to do something in the right direction ... we've just let especially the downtown deteriorate," Gibson said. He would like to see some restaurants in place, and more downtown revitalization work take place to preserve existing buildings and infrastructure, he added.

"That's what we need to do, revitalize Whitakers," perhaps adding a store like Dollar General into the area, Gibson said.

Gibson said he moved to the Edgecombe portion of Whitakers in 2005, after living in Rocky Mount for 13 years. He is the pastor of Gethsemane Baptist Church in Whitakers and works for a local food distributor.

Filing for the fall municipal elections ends Friday at noon.

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