Luncheon bash honors Corpening's retirement
Family and friends of Winston
Salem's retired Mayor Wayne A. Cor
pening gathered Wednesday morning
ai the Stouffer Winston Plaza Hotel
for a reception and luncheon that
kicked off a day of celebration in his
honor,-?
The special reception began on
the 15th floor of the hotel where offi
cials unveiled a newly-named suite in
honor of former Mayor Corpening.
"It gives me great pleasure to
dedicate this suite in the name of
Mayor Wayne Corpening said
Thomas L. Marello, general manger
of the Stouffer Winston Plaza.
"Mayor Corpening worked tirelessly
during the early part of the decade to
bring a premier hotel into downtown
Winston-Salem and all of the employ
ees of the Stouffer Winston Plaza
thank him for being instrumental in
the success of our hotel."
After the reception in the newly
dedicated suite, the group moved on
to the hotel's The Quill restaurant
where the former mayor's friends paid
tribute by telling stories about the
mayor and his career.
Former Mayor Corpening also
was praised for being instrumental in
bringing several other projects to the
city, such as the expansions at the
Benton Convention Center, Lawrence
Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum,
Mercantile Plaza, renovations along
Trade Street and the new downtown
strollway to Old Salem.
"All of Winston-Salem, and
especially downtown, owes a great ^
deal of rcspect to Mayor Corpcning *
for his service as mayor for so many ^
years," Mr. Marello added.
Wood, aldermen sworn into office
From Page A1
But the new mayor was thrown a
curve when the board rejected her
proposal and, in a surprise move,
opted instead for a slate that fea
tures Northeast Ward Alderman
Vivian Burke as mayor pro tem. In
accepting the second recommenda
tion, the aldermen also eliminated
Mrs. Newell from her position as
chair of the finance commiuee and
appointed Mr. Womble as chair of
the General Committee. West Ward
Alderman Robert S. Northington
Jr., who made the motion suggest
ing the second set of assignments,
was appointed chair of the Finance
Committee.
Mrs. Burke, Mrs. Harpe, Mrs.
Pleasants and Mr. Wright supported
Mr. Northington's motion.
The announcement of the
assignments came after speeches by
both the newly elected officials and
those leaving office.
Mrs. Wood discussed several
problem areas which she said
should command immediate atten
tion from the board. She issued
challenges to each of the commit
tees to begin to address issues of
pressing concern.
Vacancies on the city's drug
enforcement teams should be filled
immediately, she said, so that the
city can begin to chip away at its
drug problem.
Mrs. Wood said that "one of the
city's oldest and bitterest issues, the
location of the transit center," must
be a top priority for the Public
Works Committee. She promised
city residents to maintain open-door
policies in city hall and to allow
forums of which all citizens may be
a part.
"You not only have a place at
this table, it is your table," she told
the capacity crowd that overflowed
out of the chamber and into the
hallways on both sides of the room.
"In turn, 1 ask you to be. equally
open in presenting your concerns.
This is about building trust among
those who may have lost trust for
one another . , . and building a
community founded on coopera
tion."
In bidding farewell, Mr.
Hairston said that the board had
failed to alleviate many problems
during his term of office.
. "Four years ago when I came
on the board, the city of Winston
Salem had a lot of problems. It still
has a lot of problems," he said. "We
live in two citics, one black, one
white. One east, one west. We, on
this board, were not able to bring
the two cities together. 1 do hope
this board will be able to do that.
Racism is a terrible thing and it
governs us from birth to death.
Hopefully, we will rise above black
and white and treat each other as
individuals. This is my prayer."
But Mrs. Newell begged to dif
fer with Mr. Hairston on his assess
ment of the divisiveness of the city.
"I don't believe we have two
cities, I believe we have one city,
Mr. Hairston," she said. "We have a
lot of dissimilar wants, but we have
a lot of similar wants, too."
Walter Holton, chair of the
local Democratic Party, had not
returned phone calls at presstime.
Blacks outraged over^defection'
Northington's motion.
But several Afro-American lead
ers andmembers of ihe Democratic
? Party have said lhe>Lfeei-"beuraye<?4
by the fact that Mrs. Burke supported
a motion that reduced the number of
Afro-American committee chairs and
placed key committees, such as the
Finance Committee, previously
chaired by Mrs. Newell, in the hands
of Republicans.
Rep. Annie Brown Kennedy said
Ihe opportunity for progress that
Afro-Americans gained through their
vole in the last election, has been nul
lified by Mrs. Burke's decision to
lend her support to the Republican
board members.
"On Monday night, Vivian
Burke put her personal interests
above the good of her constituents
and the Democratic Party and voted
with the Republicans, which resulted
in the other black aldermen losing
important committee chairs," said
Rep. Kennedy. "Vivian Burke failed
to vote in the best interests of her
constituents and the black community
as a whole, and, as a result, has set
us back as a people and as a com
munity. The recent mayoral election
was a crucial election for African
Americans in the City of Winston
Salem. With the election of Martha
Wood as mayor, we as a community
had the rare opportunity to make
real progress during the next four
years. But our progress has been
tremendously stifled by the vote of
Vivian Burke."
But Mrs. Burke does not con
. sider her action a display of party
disloyalty.
"I don't have any problem with
the way I voted," she said Tuesday
afternoon. "As minorities we need
lo learn to be sophisticated in what
we do in politics."
Mr. Northington said that he
had discussed with Mrs. Burke the
; possibility of making a motion to
appoint her mayor pro tem. Mr.
Northington said that Mrs. Wood
approached him shortly after her
. election and asked for his input on
committee assignments and a candi
date for mayor pro tem. He suggest
ed both Mrs. Burke and Mrs.
Newell for the mayor pro tem posi
tion, he said, "and that was the end
of the conversation." He said there
had been conversations among
some of the aldermen with respect
to board appointments and that "the
five of us that voted for the motion
felt that that was a reasonable rec
ommendation."
" Mrs. -Newctt"said that she had
"no problem with changing the
committee appointments of a
mayor. We've done that before." But
she said that she was concerned by
the shift in party loyalty* and the
confusing messages being sent to
the Afro-American community in
particular.
"The community is confused.
Some of them feel that Martha has
betrayed the black community.
They feel that she has not put us on
committees as chairs. We have
fewer nb>^ than we did before she
was mayor and they feel she has let
the black community down," said
Mrs. Newell, noting that her phone
calls from voters in reference to
Monday night's meeting. "Martha
has not done this. What 1 find
astounding and what has flabber
gasted me . is that one of us, one of
our black elected officials, Mrs.
Vivian Burke, was the person used
to actually oust top blacks from
chairmanships. I am hurt. I think
Vivian has done a disservice to the
black community."
On Tuesday afternoon, Mrs.
Burke said that she had not been
contacted in person or confronted
with any such negative feedback as
described by Mrs. Newell. There
fore, she said she would not com
ment on charges that she had
"betrayed" her constituents or any
one else.
"Those who feel betrayed
should talk with me," she said.
"What 1 find astounding and
what has flabbergasted me is
that one of us, one of our
black elected officials, Mrs.
- Vivian Burke, was the person
used to actually oust top
blacks from chairmanships. I
am hurt. / think Vivian has
done a disservice to the black
community."
" Virginia Newell
"There are so many people who
would not feel I have betrayed any
one. It's a shame to spread informa
tion like they did in the mayor's
race. My loyal supporters or those
who have something to say about
betrayal would not use the press.
They wouldn't hide behind the
press."
Still, some Afro-Americans
feel Mrs. Burke "sold out" the Afro
American community to obtain the
position as mayor pp tem.
"As a female shrid as a black
person who got out and worked and
asked people to come out and vote
for her, I feel like I have been raped
with my clothes on," said Earline
Parmon, who lives in the Northeast
Ward. "The Democratic Party has
been defected from, black people
have been defected from. The party
should be outraged. She should not
better herself at the expense of the
black community. This is a serious
mistake. I feel terrible about all of
the people we have begged to come
out and vote. It's a slap in their
faces. Martha Wood won three
times in her (Mrs. Burke's) own
ward. Three times the people picked
Martha despite the fact that Vivian
Burke supported her opponent. That
was their mandate. The only possi
ble explanation for her actions is
that she (Mrs. Burke) feels that she
can do whatever she wants."
Mr. Womble said that he
respects Mrs. Burke's right to exer
cise her vote in any manner that she
chooses. But he did say he has some
conccrns about the "organizational
structure" of the committee assign
ments.
"The mayor, Mrs. Wood, met
with each of the aldermen before
making her recommendation and
sought their input," he said. "No
one else ever even did me the pro
fessional courtesy of talking with
me about what was going on. That
conccrns me."
The mayor pro tern serves in
the absence of the mayor at the
mayor's request. Because of the
largely ceremonial nature of the
position, Mrs. Parmon said that it
becomes even more baffling why
Mrs. Burke would sacrifice key
committ?e*appo!ntm?Tns for ihe
position.
An inlormed person knows
that that position carries no power.
None," said Mrs. Parmon. "Well
informed people know that just
being a mayor pro tcm docs not
help the black community. Chairing
committees that will determine
where the money goes is what helps
the black community."
But Mrs. Burke said that she
was asked to serve as mayor qto
tern and that she was able to mam
tain her position as chair of the Pub
lic Safety Committee in the process.
She said, too, that she sees this as a
victory for Afro-American women.
This is not my first time being
asked. The other times I did not
accept because I would not have
been able to continue to chair a
comrmitce. This time I was able to
continue as chair of the Public Safe
ty Committee," Mrs. Burke said. "I
decided it would be good for the
black community to have a black
female in this position. We've had
blacks before but never a black
female as mayor pro tem. I feci this
brings distinction to the Northeast
Ward. It adds distinction for black
womeh. It gives the black commu
nity, young blacks, something to
work toward. It makes elderly
blacks feel good to know of these
types of accomplishments."
Responding to Mrs. Parmon's
charges, Mrs. Burke said, "Earlinc
just got into the ward and I have
been helping her for quite some
time . . . when others didn't even
know she existed. Her loyalty is to
the Southeast Ward."
Mr. Malloy said that he is dis
appointed about the effect Mrs.
Burkes vote will have on the over
att Afro-American community and
described her actions as despica
ble."
Black people had the opportu
nity to do something to move this
community ahead," said Mr. Mal
loy. "We had finally put together a
progressive coalition that could
move this city forward. "Mrs.
Burke s actions, in collaborating
with the others on the boards is
against the mandate of the people.
She slapped us ail in the face. I
think Mrs. Burke has hurt black
people throughout Winston-Salem.
From Page A1
It's tantamount to treason as far as
loyally to black people. I hope peo- jf
pie don't stand by and let this hap- f]
pen. ? ? a
Mrs. Parmon said that she plans %
to meet with Northeast Ward resi
dents to discuss all possible options. *3
She said that a^recall would be one ^
of the options discussed. %
easotis
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