The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 17, 2009

Familar names will be on ballot

Parrisher in Ward 5 race; Everette-Oates wants to be Princeville mayor again

T.J. ROYAL

Six more candidates filed Thursday for the fall's municipal elections in Edgecombe County, including two former Princeville officials and a former Tarboro official.

Priscilla Everette-Oates, Princeville's mayor from 2002-05, filed Thursday to challenge Mayor Delia Perkins and challengers Tyrone Hopkins and Theresa Richardson.

Isabelle Purvis-Andrews, who represented Princeville's Ward 3 on town council from 2002-05, filed to challenge Ward 3's incumbent Ann Adams, who also filed Thursday.

Also filing Thursday as the second challenger to Tarboro's Ward 5 Councilman John Jenkins was Ray Parrisher, who served from 1999-2007 as Tarboro's Ward 2 councilman.

Conetoe Commissioner Leon Wynn was the last incumbent on his town's Board of Commissioners to file for re-election, as he did Thursday.

The first incumbent or challenger for Speed's Board of Commissioners and the mayor, incumbent Commissioner Shirley Brownell, also filed Thursday.

There was also one more incumbent who filed just before 5 p.m Wednesday, Conetoe Commissioner Johnny Respass.

Perhaps Purvis-Andrews spoke for the other two former officials who filed Thursday when she said she is running again in Princeville "because I have unfinished business.

"The job is incomplete, and I'm tired of seeing (Princeville residents) suffer and get broken promises" from their leadership, Purvis-Andrews said.

She pointed to the need for beautification and redevelopment in Princeville, namely improvements to the town's drainage system and the need for a bank and a grocery store, as concerns that she would address if re-elected by the vote on Nov. 3.

Purvis-Andrews, 53, of 725 Greenwood Blvd., also said she would like an officer to work to control the mosquitoes that form in the town over the summer, and for Princeville to have its own stand-alone water system.

"And there's much more that I want to do," she added.

Everette-Oates, of 316 Russell Drive, said that she is running again for mayor of Princeville because she feels "we need to restore hope back to the citizens. They have lost hope in the government board."

During her tenure as mayor, Everette-Oates pointed to the establishment of the Freedom Hill Community Health Center in the town, and noted that "it took time to clean up stuff" following the flood from Hurricane Floyd.

But she also said Thursday she would not let the "ridiculous" water and sewer rates remain at their current level. "I would never raise a water bill that high on the citizens," Everette-Oates said, adding that one resident came to her complaining about a monthly water bill at $160.

Parrisher, 55, of 1016 S. Howard Circle in Tarboro, said that he is running again for Town Council because of his concern that "people are leaving Tarboro."

He said that he would work to bring in "jobs and industry" to Tarboro, noting that the additions of Wal-Mart and Lowe's have been bonuses for the town.

A retired R.H. Donnelly employee, Parrisher added that he is "proud of what I helped accomplish before" when he was on the council previously for eight years.

Brownell, 53, of 102 Jackson St. in Speed, said that she "has the interest of the town at heart" as she seeks re-election to the town's Board of Commissioners. The owner of The Grey Fox antiques store on Main Street in Tarboro, Brownell noted that the county’s acquisition of Speed's water system means more industry could come to the Speed area. She also said that she would work to restore the town's train depot.

Respass, 64, of 219 West Church Street in Conetoe, filed Wednesday along with fellow incumbent Conetoe Commissioner Milton Goff Jr., and Pinetops Board of Commissioners challenger Suzanne Coker and Whitakers Board of Commissioners challenger Ron Gibson.

Respass, who has served on the Conetoe board since the early '90s, said that he "has the experience to confront the issues" that face the town. A 37-year employee of the AmeriGas propane company, he pointed out that Conetoe has not had a property tax increase since he has been in office.

The filing period for the municipal elections ended today at noon. All Edgecombe municipalities except Rocky Mount will hold their elections Nov. 3. Rocky Mount's election is Oct. 6.

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