Votes will get sewer lines
Enfield mayor: if you can't beat them, replace them
By SHARON HODGE
Greensboro Correspondent
There is more than one way to get sewer lines
extended to a dozen impoverished residents of
Enfield. And Mayor Kai Hardaway is playing all
the angles.
"1 still want what's best for the community,"
Hardaway said last week after hearing the news
that he cleared a hurdle that could put him one
step closer to that goal. Last week was the dead
line for registering new voters for the November
municipal elections.
"We've got 49 more people on the books than
they do," says Hardaway. There's a sense of satis
faction evident in his voice. But he quickly
acknowledges that registering voters isn't
enough. If he intends to circumvent racist poli
cies by replacing the officials who advocate them,
the black mayor says he'll have to make sure peo
ple who think the way he does turn out in force
at the polls on Nov. 4. In the town of Enfield,
sewer lines for Plant Street have become an issue
pitting blacks against whites.
Residents of black enclaves on the outskirts
of town are forced to pay high prices for electric
ity, water and sewer. After all, since the town has
a small tax base, that's how the municipality
makes its money, Hardaway says. But he's frus
.V<. ENFIELD on A6
75 cents WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT >1. XXIV No. 7
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Kotsue Johnson, Evelyn Rickard and Chariene Rickard arm dissatisfied with the cooperation they are
getting from the housing authority for children's programs they are trying to initiate.
HAWS residents get little
help with kids' program
By BRIDGET EVARTS
The Chronicle Staff Writer
Like many public housing authorities across the
country, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem
stands as a proponent of self-sufficient residents who
want to work their way out of housing communities.
Maintaining a job and obtaining a home, executive
director Marie Roseboro has stated, are goals that all
tenants should strive toward.
? The process of finding a home and securing a
mortgage can be daunting, though, and many public
housing tenants feel they first need to build confi
dence and self-esteem before they dare such an
Undertaking. That's one reason why housing author
ities often offer job training and other programs to
their residents.
It should be a dream come true when residents get
together on their own to launch their own program.
But, said Cleveland Avenue Homes resident
Charlene Rickard, HAWS staff's attitude toward her
attempts to do so are turning her dream into a night
mare.
For about three years now, Rickard and a small
group of parents have tried to organize fun and edu
cational activities for their neighborhood children.
Last year, Rickard opened her 17th Street apartment
to dozens of children and their parents for a
Halloween party.
This year, Rickard wanted to have more space for
the Halloween program. She approached Arthur
Hardin, youth services coordinator for HAWS, about
using the complex's community center.
Since the center was under construction at the
time, said Hardin, he didn't feel comfortable promis
ing the space. Rickard then contacted the 14th Street
Recreation Center and arranged to pair the
Halloween party with a carnival already scheduled
for the center.
Robert Little, the center's supervisor, agreed to
coordinate the events and extend his program by two
hours if security could be provided.
Rickard asked Hardin if HAWS could supply
vans and security for the event. He told her that she
needed to present HAWS with a proposal and have
each of the participants fill out a form.
Rickard went to work. She completed the propos
al and collected a list of over 75 parents and children
who would be attending the festivities.
Though she followed the instructions, said
See RESJDCNTS on A3
W-S native crowned UNC Homecoming Queen
By FELECIA P. MCMILLAN
Social to THE CHRONICLE
*
|* "As UNC's Homecoming
Queen, I can show young people
tiftt they do not have to compro
Vi ?
mbe their beliefs and principles
t?be accepted."
? Melanie Joy Sellers
When Melanie Joy Sellers
heard her name announced as
University of North Carolina
Homecoming Queen 1997, she
also heard her family yell from
the stands, "Go, Mel! Go
Mel!" It was a dream come
true, she said, a gift from God.
She was crowned during the
UNC vs. Wake Forest
University game on Saturday,
Oct. 11. Her parents, Otis B.
Sellers and Gladys B. Sellers^,
said they are very proud that
their daughter will represent
such a large and prestigious
university.
Sellers received many gifts
with the honor. She got dinner
for two at a local restaurant, a
UNC on A3
Alston vies to make
position permanent
X
By SHARON HODGE
Greensboro Correspondent
On Nov. 1, NAACP members
across North Carolina will select
someone to lead the state chapter
of the nation's oldest civil rights
organization into the 21st century.
"That person could be Melvin
"Skip" Alston.
"At the approach of the millen
nium, the NAACP marches ever
forward to insure that the accom
plishments we have achieved since
1909 are not forgotten nor erased,"
writes Alston in an open letter to
the delegates who will gather for
their annual convention a week
from Saturday in Raleigh.
For more than a year, Alston
has held the post of state president
on an interim basis. He took over
after Kelly Alexander Jr. resigned
under a cloud of scrutiny. Along
with Alston, three other men are
vying for the chance to take the
helm. Curtis Gatewood. of
Durham, who currently serves on
the state chapter's board of direc
tors, Terry Belk of Charlotte and
Duplin's Jesse Smith are also candi
dates for state president.
Regardless of who is elected, the
man tapped in less than two weeks
will be the first person outside of
the Alexander family to become
the highest ranking NAACP offi
cial in North Carolina in roughly
50 years. If delegates select him.
Alston said, he will use the post to
hone the organization's political
muscle and "raise the well-respect-^
ed state conference to a new level."
That posturing, Alston explains.
See ALSTON on A3
Candidates
face off in
battle of signs
B.G. Hauser, candidate for
alderman in the South Ward,
has issued a $500 reward for
the arrest and conviction of
persons who have been
removing his campaign signs.
HI issued the reward this
morning after coming from
church and discovered that
my signs had been disappear
ing,'' said Hauser. "I filed
more than 25 complaints ?
there may be more ? for lar
ceny and destruction of pri
vate property with the police,
and each complaint carries a
penalty of up tp $200.1 don't
believe in dirty politics, but
this is getting to be really
petty. Even if my signs are
posted illegally, no one is
authorized to remove them.
They should call the city or
the police and have them
remove them" he continued.
Meanwhile, Vernon
Robinson, Hauser's oppo
nent, issued campaign materi
al stating, "If you see one of
SkMONmAIO
fnd Tmrry
Robert
Nordlander
Inmx Davit
Steve Whiton
Vernon
Robinson
B.O. Hauter
This week, the Chronicle profiles
alderman candidates from the
Southeast, South and Southwest
Wards. Next week, the Northeast,
North, and Northwest Ward candi
dates will be featured. Two repotters
divided the candidates to be covered
this week. The first three were covered
by English Bradshaw, the other three
by Bridget Evarts
The Chronicle is seeking the
views of candidates in the race
for alderman in the Nov. 4 elec
tion concerning the present
structure of city government ?
does it allow for maximum par
ticipation of minorities in the
planning and decision making
process? Candidates were asked
the following question:
Do you favor the council
manager system for the city,
where the mayor is simply cere
See CANDIDATES ,m A2
I Alderman's statement about
lumen's leadership sparks outcry
tow'bwn
: pmp of the d?iiy
in'^11i air 11 i * -*** .... |2n^? _ - , ?.
^?4P|ppn iwvimi rote, a? a spaa
Ihfttai whm topasture the ittea
m . w
tioa of .women across the city.
Retort Nordlander, Southeast
Ward Alderman, charged that
Martha Wood was unfit to lead tto
city because of her gender.
?, -
i M
* ,