Watt: same man in different district I
Md Watt ? the mine man who has reprc
sented the 12th Concffwumal Dietrict for the
pert n yean, bat its touch to oouwler bin
While the )2th ie ctiO overwhelmingly
Oeamnl, makeup chanced
Gone ir the dm when the 12th mean
dered from mid-Mecklenburg County to
Durham. Over the taut, it has gone from
being a predominantly Mack dietrict dngncd
to elect an African American to juet over 35
percent Hack. Writ, a Charlotte attorney who
Mis on the House Judiciary Committee, ?
bang challenged by Roma County dentist
Scott Kndk. KhA. who upset two Meck
lenburg BfpfHfrsriu in the ptf f^rr prinm
ry, did not return a request for an interview
From his Rowan County base; Readie s
viewed a strong challenger for Watt in a
majority white district.
-This is Watt's strongest challenge" said
stale Rep. Frank BaOaacc. "He is running as
hard as he can to make sure he will be safe but
you don't know until the night of the elec
tion."
Watt's campaign has been hampered by a
shortened election season due to the legal
maneuvering by opponent* of ? majority
Hack d'tfri*'! Coo|/m' extended Marion.
But aa Nov )mui. thecampaign n hant
ing np. 1 im. candidates boat had two tclrvncd
debates tfaw week. Kendk waa joined by tri
Repubhean't No. 2 man in Coopm* Kept.
Dick Armey for aeveraJ tton Monday
Hi* campaign rhetoric Uhwi the Repob
Ikan lie*, "irwca^me for Nmjntjw UJL
SaSagatdewMd drbatr with Wari laat week.
Keadk a a native of Wmt Vmn who
moved to Rowan Coanty in the 19&9 He's a
member of the Rowan Coanty Bootd of
letHMwAII
Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point srf.xxv n^i
Jta Chronicle
FORSYTH CNTY PUB ..
660 w 5TH ST #2 Choice for African American News and Information ?Mmiil oddre??: wschronO??tunliii?BwJ.n?t
Audit details HAWS'
financial problems
By KEVIN WALKER
It started with a bang but then abruptly ended.
The restoration of Oak Creek Apartment*? located in a aeduded sec
tion of Ogbura Station? was supposed to provide over 40 Section 8 units
for city residents But construction on the project, which was started as a joint
venture between HAWS and the city of Winston-Saiem, came to a complete
standstill last summer during its final stages
Neglected lawns and parking lots, boarded-up windows and doors along
with unfinished electrical wiring have rendered the complex unfit for human
habitation.
According to documents seen by The Chronicle, the Oak Creek debacle
and HAWS' attempts to reduce the city's role in the effort, was one of many
issues the board of commissioners considered before firing Executive Direc
tor Marie Roseboro hut Tuesday
According to documents, HAWS failed to adequately communicate with
the Winston-Salem Housing A Neighborhood Services Department on the
project And last summet; for reasons undent; HAWS boarded up the units
just as they were hemming to be wired for electricity. . ' . ,
* ^adUPhfoBkooks^mveotor of the drpartmsal for thf
Winston-Salem Housing A Neighborhood Services Department, said his
agency will now complete the project with HAWS, but that HAWS did stop
the project
"The housing authority stopped all activity on the project for a couple of
months .I don't know why thty decided that," Brooks said.
Brooks said that once William Andrews became chairman of the HAWS
Board of Commissioners, work on the year-and-half-old project began
again.
SKHAWSomAIO
-
uroup set to take steps
to bring Roseboro back
By KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
With a little help from her friend*, Marie Roseboro may soon
rebound from her firing last week.
Monday night during a meeting held at First Baptist Church, Rose
boro supporters laid out a plan of attack aimed at possibly getting Rose
boro her job back.
According to sources who attended the meeting, Roseboro ? the for
I mer executive director of the housing authority? was noticeably absent,
r But many pmmi?nt city leaders were on hand.
According to sources, included among the 15 to 20 people who
attended the meeting were members of a local Muslim organization,
Forsyth County Commissioners Walter Marshall and Earline Parmon;
board of education member Victor Johnson; Dolores Smith, head of the
Winston-Salem Urban League; James Grace, head of the East Winston
Community Development Corporation; D.D. Adams, a former HAWS
commissioner, community activist, the Rev. Lee Faye Mack; and Ellen
Hazzard, who sits on the current HAWS board which dismissed Rose
boro.
Supporters were urged to contact members ot the board of aldermen,
the mayor, Housing and Urban Development officials and members of
the U.S. Congress to voice opposition to Roseboto's dismissal.
The group also discussed the formation of a "legal committee" to
advise Roseboro on possible legal matters and sites for future picketing,
sources said.
Roseboro was terminated after a majority of the five member HAWS
Set Oroup on A3
Board's only
blacks vow
to serve city
By KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
It angers Sharlene Davis that most
of the members of the city/county
school board don't look like her or
her children.
As an African American resident
of the Northern side of the city,
Davis feels there is not anyone to
speak up for issues unique to black
children in her area.
The board is just not fairly representative," she
said. "A white person doean't know how to talk for
our children, most of them want to see our children
expelled or put out of school."
Davis says she is not overreacting.
In fact, she said many board members were
unresponsive when she tried to move her kids out of
a "pearly white" school into one more racially
diverse.
And although there are three at-large spots on
the board - for which every citizen in Forsyth Coun
ty gets to vote - they are continuously filled by
whites,
Davis said she is so fed up that she doesn't know
where she will choose to send her kids in the future.
"I really don't want to be bothered with the Win
ston-Salem/ Forsyth County Schools and their prej
udices...We need our own representation, we just
can't keep bombarding Mr. (Victor) Johnson and
M& (Geneva) Brown with all our issues," Davis said.
Come Nov. 3, unless Davis moves many miles
and several zip codes away, she will not be casting a
vote for either Johnson or Brown.
But voters in their mostly black East Winston dis
trict won't have to make any hard choices; they are
Sh Faction on A10
Alston
running V
for seat %
| %y DAMON FORD ffi
THifHIWttiai Wj
It WW a proud Nigel Alston I
who came to his grandfather J
with trophy in hand and haad
held high. ? - * - i
The high school senior had ,
just received the athlete of the
year award from RJ. Reynolds
and couldn't wait to tell his
grandfather. /.
"I expected a pat on the i
back,"
Alston
said.
B u t
that wasn't
what he
received.
"He
looked at
me and
said 'I'm
not sur
prised you
received
that, I would have been sur
prised if you had not,*" Alston /.
said. r.j
Alston's inflated chest sunk ,'l
a little then, but today the 46? [ t
year-old - who's vying for one ' V
of three at-large seats on the K
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
School Board - says those
words could help solve the prob
lem of underachieving students
in classrooms. 1
"We should expect our chil
dren to do well in school,"
Alston said. "Our children will
achieve more once teachers
begin to expect more out of
them. Children are our ftiture, *
but I don't think we put enough
interest in it as we should."
* This is the second go-round f.
for Alston who's spent the past
24 years at Integon Insurance.
Alston lost a hotly contested
school board race in 1994.
See Alston on A10
' k
Black voters crucial in battle for Senate
By JOHN MINTBR
African Americans voters could very
well send Democrat John Edwards to the
U.S. Senate and elect other N.C. Democ
rats in dozens of political races on Nov.
3.
That's assuming enough of them
vote.
With Election Day fast approaching,
political pundits are predicting a low
turnout in an "off year" election. That
makes the state's black voters, who usu
ally vote Democratic, the margin of vic
tory in any close race.
And a grassroots effort is underway
to mobilize blacks, especially for
Edwards, the Raleigh trial lawyer chal
lenging the stage's junior senator, Lauch
Faircloth, a conservative Republican.
Edwards, a boyish political newcom
er, has been run
ntng a careful cam
paign since
announcing last
year his run for the
senate. But he's
been unable to
appear too pro
black and liberal in
a state known for
electing conserva
tives.
Some blacks Mwvnfs
wonder if Edwards
strategy has been able to excite blacks,
though.
Edwards, for his part, says he speaks
for all voters who have not had a voice in
Washington with Faircioth and Jesse
Helms, in the U.S. Senate. Both are con
servatives.
Since the white vote in N.C. often
splits about equally among liberals and
conservatives, the black vote is the bal
ance of power, particularly when it
approaches SO percent.
"Basically I'm out there working as
hard as I know how in all parts of the
community, also in the African Ameri
can community. I've got to get the mes
sage out there," Edwards said Tuesday.
"Me doing it in person is the best way,
the most effective way.
"We're also organizing the most effec
tive way we can in all parts of the com
munity from a grassroots perspective. We
have put together a great 'get out the
vote' effort. The grassroots effort is very
important. This election is going to be
decided by turnout...getting people to
polls."
Edwards said Faircloth's negative ads
are aimed at depressing the turnout of
Democrats, particularly African Ameri
can voters."
A Faircloth aide was quoted recently
as saying the negative ads worked
because many voters were not smart
enough to discern truth from innuendo,
half truths and untruths.
Faircloth, who has lost ground in {
recent weeks, has hired Arthur Finkel- J
stein, a hard-ball strategist from New
York to replace pollster Neil Newhouse,
just two weeks from Election Day PoHti- ?
cal pundits think Finkelstein, who has *
?'
. s? Mwwrds m At i
. .
Opposites attract
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