Five more candidates file for fall election
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on August 3, 2005 1:49 PM
Five candidates filed Tuesday to run for public office in Wayne County.
The filing period for municipal offices ends Friday at noon.
Seven Springs town commissioner Rodolph Adams filed Tuesday to seek re-election, and Stephen Potter filed for a seat on the board. Two seats are up for election in November.
Three people filed for seats on sanitary district boards. Charlie Holloway and Albert Williams Jr. filed for seats on the Southeastern Wayne Sanitary District Board and Jesse Jernigan field for a seat on the Southern Wayne Sanitary District Board.
Seven Springs town board member Danny Carter filed last week for mayor and said he hoped to have some competition. Former Seven Springs Mayor Jewel Kilpatrick said Tuesday she was strongly considering running for the job again.
Ms. Kilpatrick served for more than seven years as mayor before resigning a year ago because of health problems.
"I'm thinking about it real hard," she said. "I have a little bit of unfinished business I need to finish."
Carter, a member of the town board of commissioners, said he hopes more of the town's residents will consider filing for office. Carter said Seven Springs needs more people involved in governing.
"I'd hate for people to vote for me because they have no other choice," he said. "I hope I have plenty to run against."
Mrs. Kilpatrick said she would serve as mayor if she received enough write-in ballots to win. Write-in ballots have often determined the winners of small municipal races in Wayne County.
Mrs. Kilpatrick was mayor seven and a half years and town commissioner two years previously. She resigned as mayor in August 2004, citing problems with her health and with unity in the town.
During her tenure as mayor, Mrs. Kilpatrick led the town in its recovery from hurricane flooding, development of a sewer system and building a park and museum.
She said she wants to finish the picnic area and the teen playground by adding basketball, volleyball and horseshoes. Her son, Sonny, is working on a plan for a pavilion across Spring Street from the playground. She also wants an amphitheater for outdoor dramas on the north side of Spring Street.
Carter said he would make no major changes if elected mayor. He said he would push for the renovation of a former church for use as a new town hall and work to build stronger ties between volunteer groups in the town.
Duplin County
Filing for municipal offices in Dupin County also has been relatively slow.
The hottest race in the northern part of the county is in Faison, where six people have filed to run for three seats on the Faison Town board.
Elmer Flake has filed for mayor of Faison. Incumbent Mayor Bill Igoe is not seeking re-election but instead has filed for a seat on the board.
J.E. Andrews filed for re-election to the Faison board. Sheila Brock also has filed for a seat on the board, along with Rich Kaiserk, Bill Creech and Lisa Patterson.
Ms. Patterson said she expects it to be a friendly election. She and the other town board candidates live close together in the same neighborhood.
"We have been here over a year now," Ms. Patterson said. "When my husband retired from the military, we traveled all over eastern North Carolina looking for a place to retire, and we chose Faison. People here are so generous. I didn't cook a meal the first week we were here."
In nearby Calypso, the mayor and all five town commissioners are up for re-election, but no one had filed for re-election as of Thursday. The incumbents are Mayor Tom Reaves and town commissioners Greg Day, Ralph Britt Diane Lewis, Sandra Oates and Rubylene Lambert, who was appointed to replace Dick Lewis.
In Kenansville, where three the mayor's post and two seats on the town board are up for election, incumbent comissioner Stephen Williamson Jr. and Mayor Betty Long have filed for re-election.
In Warsaw, where three seats are up for election, Mayor Win Batten and town commissioner Johnny Hollingsworth have filed for re-election.