Thirty-two posts up for election this fall

T. J. ROYAL

Though the nation witnessed an historic election in 2008, there will be plenty of action in Edgecombe County come election time in November.

Thirty-two municipal posts will be up for election in Edgecombe come the fall, including the mayorships of Tarboro, Princeville, Macclesfield, Speed and Conetoe.

There will be 27 town council/commissioner seats up for election in Tarboro, Princeville Rocky Mount, Pinetops, Whitakers, Macclesfield, Speed and Conetoe.

Tarboro Mayor Donald Morris will be going for his fourth consecutive term as mayor, after serving on Town Council since 1981 and becoming mayor in 1995. Morris, 66, said he plans to campaign "vigorously" once election season starts early in the fall, with print advertisements running and door fliers going out to residences.

He said he would "talk about what's been accomplished since 1995" when he took office, which includes the recovery from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and the several businesses that have set up in town since then.

He also said that he would like to be part of Tarboro's 250th anniversary celebration in 2010.

Princeville Mayor Delia Perkins will go for her second consecutive term as mayor come November, after she was elected in November 2005. She said "I haven't really thought about" the re-election campaign at this point in the year.

If she is elected, she said she would continue to focus on economic development for Princeville, and "have a continuation of some of the things we've already started."

Perkins, 67, pointed to the town's Heritage Museum and Welcome Center as one of the recent accomplishments. Perkins also said the town has "some things on the table that we're not ready to talk about yet" with economic development.

Speed Mayor Wilbert Harrison said that through this year, and if he is re-elected, one of the major things he wants to do for the town is help get the old railroad depot refurbished. Harrison also said he wants to see a recreational area built for the community.

But, he added, "it takes some time to get stuff going" with building projects for a small town like Speed.

Conetoe Mayor Linda Ingram said she is "not sure at the moment" if she will seek re-election to her post.

Five Town Council seats are up for election in Tarboro. They are: Buck Price in Ward 1; Danny Hayes in Ward 3; John L. Jenkins II in Ward 5; and Roy Gray in Ward 7.

Along with Perkins's, the posts of Princeville Commissioners Ann Adams in Ward 3 and Carolyn Sharpe in Ward 4 will be up for re-election.

In Rocky Mount, Ward 2 Councilman Reuben Blackwell and Ward 3 Councilman Lamont Wiggins will have their Edgecombe County posts up for term. Ward 6 Councilman W. B. Bullock and Ward 7 Councilwoman Chris Miller will be up for re-election for Rocky Mount in Nash County.

Along with Macclesfield Mayor Mike Keel, town Commissioners R.B. Owens and J. Harold Stallings will have their at-large posts up for election.

In Conetoe, all four commissioner posts, held by Milton Goff Jr., Leon Wynn, Wilson Jones and Johnny Respass, will be up for election along with the mayor.

Along with the mayor's spot, all five of Speed's commissioners, LeRoy Candies, Shirley Brownell, Olga Dickens, Mary Manning and James Lee, will have their posts up for election.

In Pinetops, Joyce Tolson and Jerry Abrams Jr. will have their at-large town council posts up for election.

Three of Whitakers commissioners, Quentin Hill, Esterine Gary Pitt and Betty Bullock, will be up for re-election.

For Sharpsburg in Nash County, all six members of its council, Mayor Sheila Williams and Commissioners Randy Weaver, Troy Jenkins, Becky Humphrey, Mervin Gibson and Michael O. Jones, will be up for re-election.

Filing begins July 6 and ends at noon July 17.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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