Princeville ‘leadership’ killing community too tough for Floyd

Opinion

July 20, 2012

Princeville ‘leadership’ killing community too tough for Floyd

FOR THE DAILY SOUTHERNER FOR THE DAILY SOUTHERNER The Daily Southerner Fri Jul 20, 2012, 11:49 AM EDT

TARBORO — Princeville.

The oldest town in America chartered by African Americans.

Princeville.

The only town in America chartered by African Americans where its politics have disgraced people of all races.

Turner Prince, the man for whom Princeville is named, is rolling over in his grave because of the shenanigans that are occurring in his beloved town. How could the elected officials not know they are the laughing stock of the country?

Over the last three years, those in the majority have made decisions that were too far-fetched for a writer of fiction to even come up with.

As a case in point, look at the water bill fiasco.

The majority agreed to a bill “payment plan” for its citizens, some of whom carried balances for months at a time. Unfortunately, the bills for some of those customers now exceed $2,000!

That’s a crying shame.

It is the fault of the elected majority for allowing the citizens of the town to get in this predicament. Officials are elected to look after the community’s citizens … to protect them and act in the best interest of the community — they are supposed to be the stewards of the community and guardians of its future.

But why would the majority allow the balance on a water bill, which is normally about $68 per month, to balloon in excess of $2,000?

That’s a crying shame.

The majority blamed everybody — except, of course, themselves — for their fiasco. They even blamed a reporter from this newspaper who only printed the information that was obtained through meeting coverage, interviews and investigation.

Kill the messenger, we suppose, because you find you can’t hide from a truthful message.

Princeville’s water bill issues don’t even scratch the surface of the myriad problems this town is enduring — and it’s all because of incompetent leadership.

From the water bill woes, to town’s financial distress, to an audit report fraught with problems and the repeated failure to meet deadline after deadline, the ineffective leadership has placed Princeville in dire straits.

It’s a crying shame.

Think about it … in 1885 a group of former slaves with a very limited education went before Congress and asked for a charter to a piece of land that slave owners viewed as not worth a hill of beans.

Turner Prince and those former slaves nourished that low land and it became their beacon on the south side of the Tar River.

For many years the mighty Tar spilled over its banks and caused massive flooding, heartache and hardship. The last flood was in 1999, when Hurricane Floyd’s floodwaters swallowed the town for more than three days. Political officials from all levels — federal, state and local —thought Floyd would mark the demise of the oldest town in America chartered by blacks. But just like it had during previous floods and leadership fiascos, Princeville bounced back.

And each time it bounced back, it is easy to imagine Prince and those former slaves dancing as they celebrated their town’s resilience.

One can also imagine that somewhere in that great beyond, Turner Prince has called a meeting of his town people to tell them about the atrocious political practices ongoing in their community. One can imagine Turner Prince asking, “What’s happening to our beloved town. What happened to the love and the camaraderie we shared when we crossed the Tar River in 1865? We fought so hard for our town and now the majority is about to lose it. Do they know how important Princeville is to the United States? There’s only one oldest town in America chartered by blacks and I’m proud to say that we hold that distinction. Apparently they didn’t get the memo. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

It’s a crying shame.”

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