THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509130417
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A brief forum for City Council candidates Tuesday was a study in contrasts.
There has been little fanfare over municipal elections this year, which feature no mayor's race and contests for only two open seats. About 20 people turned out for the Chamber of Commerce event in the Pasquotank County Courthouse. Only one man spoke in the question-and-answer period.
But the five candidates vying for positions in wards 1 and 2 did manage to demonstrate their differences in five-minute remarks.
In the 1st Ward, Realtor Donald Yates Cherry, Dr. Randall Sherman and Elizabeth City State University administrator Paul A. Bryant are running for the seat left open by departing Councilman David P. Bosomworth.
Cherry read from a detailed prepared statement outlining a host of serious issues facing the city: crime, drugs, spousal and child abuse, health problems, decaying infrastructure and ``endless attacks on our spiritual resolve and will.''
The key to building Elizabeth City, Cherry said, was economic development, which would bring revenue and jobs into the city.
``The best crime fighter is an employed individual,'' Cherry said.
Sherman, apparently speaking without notes, said his priority was promoting Elizabeth City, which he called ``a well-kept secret that has tremendous potential.'' Among his goals is the ``complete renovation of downtown.'' And Bryant, who ran unsuccessfully in the 1st Ward two years ago, cast himself as the candidate best-equipped to reach out to all segments of the ward - from businessmen to disadvantaged residents.
Bryant also announced the formation of an alliance to fight the commission studying a possible merger of Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County. He said the merger was the most important issue in the elections.
The 2nd Ward race pits a veteran former city councilman with broad business roots in the community, Zack D. Robertson Jr., against a homemaker who moved to the city six years ago, Linda Barrett.
Robertson is running on his record of city accomplishments introduced during his seven years on the council, while Barrett is focusing on community-based efforts to combat crime, particularly in her crime-riddled neighborhood known as ``Sawyertown.''
``It is no secret I am not a politician,'' Barrett said. ``However, I do believe the grass root is not about what you know, but how you apply your knowledge.''
Barrett said she would work to galvanize a community fight against crime.
Also speaking at the forum were Mayor H. Rick Gardner and 4th Ward Councilwoman Myrtle Rivers, both running unopposed. Third Ward Councilman Jimi Sutton, also unopposed, was absent because of illness, forum organizers said. by CNB