ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310048 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO DATELINE: PRINCEVILLE, N.C. SOURCE: Associated Press
MANY IN PRINCEVILLE hope the state can fix what the town hasn't - leaking sewage, a growing deficit and scant public services.
More than a century after Princeville was founded by freed slaves, their descendants are ashamed to think of the mess it's become.
Sewage leaks into neighbors' yards. Garbage is picked up just once a week. Law enforcement is often left to the county because there is only one police officer. Worst of all, Princeville's finances are in such disarray that the state probably will seize control of its books next week in the first such takeover in North Carolina history.
``To me, it is an embarrassment the way things are going on,'' said Emma Wilkins, 50. ``Our forefathers fought too hard and too long to establish this town to come down to this.''
The town commissioners in this community of 1,900 are grappling with a $712,000 budget that is $124,000 out of balance.
The disorganization is obvious: Princeville doesn't have accurate addresses for four-fifths of its water and sewer customers. Fifty-two percent of its residents had paid their taxes by the end of the fiscal year, compared with a statewide average of 97 percent.
While state officials and some residents say Princeville's financial problems have been around for a while, many point their fingers at town manager Charles Tillman.
Novella Tucker, 66, complained that her January water and sewer bill was nearly $140 compared with about $21 in December, and said: ``That's what Tillman is charging. He picks up anybody to read the meters.''
Tillman has managed to hold onto his office since 1995 despite being charged with failure to perform his duties. Among other things, he is accused of canceling municipal employees' health insurance and funneling the money into the town coffers. He is awaiting trial.
``When I hired him, he used two words. He promised he'd be fair and firm,'' said Mayor Walter Plemmer, 74. ``The only reason we've gotten where we have so far is because we had a manager that's fair and firm.''
Plemmer said the town has improved since Tillman's arrival, but wouldn't elaborate.
Tillman, a former cab driver, restaurant manager and public housing official, has refused to comment.
State historians describe the mostly black community 60 miles east of Raleigh as the oldest town in the country chartered by blacks, a fact proudly proclaimed at the top of the town stationery.
At the end of the Civil War in 1865, newly freed blacks created the community then called Freedom Hill or Liberty Hill on the south side of the Tar River. By the time it was chartered in 1885, the town was known as Princeville, after Turner Prince, a carpenter who was one of its early leaders.
Princeville nowadays contains both nicely kept small homes and rundown trailers, along with a few convenience stores, gas stations, a used car lot, upholsterer, barbecue restaurant and palm reader. Most residents work elsewhere, such as the Sara Lee bakery in Tarboro.
``Growing up in Princeville was very nice,'' said Dennis Westry, a florist who has lived in town for all but five of his 37 years. ``Everybody worked together. They didn't mind helping each other.''
The turmoil of late was evident at a meeting of town commissioners Monday, during which no one agreed on proposals to balance the budget.
``You sit there and look at us like we are clowns or something, and we are the same people you will meet on the street,'' one resident, Frank Jenkins, told officials.
Many of the people of Princeville hope the state can do what the town has not, such as fix the smelly sewage leaks and collect money responsibly.
Johnny Clark said he was proud of Princeville's heritage as a black town. ``But if white folks get it,'' he said, referring to the state government, ``I believe you would get a fairer deal with the white folks.''
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