The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

October 30, 2009

Town Council candidates optimistic

W. TERRY SMITH

All the candidates in Tarboro's upcoming election Tuesday are optimistic.

And why not? Each one reports their campaigning is going well.

Of course, only one person will be elected mayor and one person will be elected to Town Council in Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7. Fourteen are running.

In Ward 1, incumbent Buck Price is facing challenges from Gerrelene Walker and newcomer John Wooten.

"I feel pretty good." said Price, 84. "I've worked harder than before. It's gonna be close, I'm pretty sure."

Four years ago, Price defeated Walker by 21 votes.

"I think things are going pretty well," said Walker, 62. "I have some people working for me in the neighborhoods."

A woman has never been elected to Tarboro's Town Council. Ward 1 is mostly female (421 to 313).

It's also mostly white (376 to 347). Wooten is black.

"I have been going door-door," he said, "and I have a pretty good feeling."

Wooten, 64, said one neighbor took him to a football game the other day, but he's also lost a couple campaign signs to vandalism.

Rick Page, 63, is unopposed in Ward 3 because Danny Hayes declined to run after 14 years on council. Page has posted signs and campaigned.

"I just want people to know that I am serious about the job," he said. "I'm not taking anything for granted."

In Ward 5, incumbent John Jenkins is seeking a fourth term.

"I feel good about it," said Jenkins, 65. "People have told me they will vote for me."

Jenkins, 65, was working on a fourth letter to voters Wednesday night.

Ray Parrisher, 55, the former Ward 2 councilman who is one of three people challenging Jenkins, got a direct mailing to the post office Thursday.

"I feel good," Parrisher said. "I feel extremely good about my chances. It's going smooth."

Candis Owens, 64, also is in the Ward 5 race. She has been going to door-to-door with her dog Millie seeking to become the first woman elected to Town Council.

"I think the campaign is going great," she said. "I am very well pleased. I have enjoyed meeting people and have had a good time."

Dickie Guill will be on the Ward 5 ballot, but he said, "I have had some personal things come up" and had to drop out.

He declined to endorse anyone. "I think every one of them would make a good council person," he said.

Incumbent Roy Gray is facing opposition from Taro Knight in Ward 7.

"It seems to be going really good," said Gray, 56. "I'm getting a good response from folks."

Gray was Ward 7's representative from 1990-2002 before he stepped down to concentrate on the ministry. Today he is pastor of Cedar Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Williamston.

Knight, 40, had worked for Gray in previous campaigns, but believes, "At this time, I'm the best candidate."

The campaign is going well," he continued. "Roy and I have kept it clean like we said we would. We have concentrated on the issues and not personalities. Whoever gets the most voters to the polls will win. I intend to keep working."

Mayor Donald Morris also is unopposed, but he has still posted signs and taken out ads in the newspaper.

"I want people to know. I appreciate them," he explained.

Morris, 66, is completing his 14th year as mayor and 28th on town council.

Tarboro's mayor is paid $665 and council members $526 per month.

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo