BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE
JANUARY 7,20211 5
The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
Continued
Commissioners
; From 1
interviews were conducted
with each of the candidates
with a group of Democratic
Party representatives from
across the county. James
Lee received 76 percent of
the votes for the nomina-
'-tion,” he said.
Dudley requested the
board to select Lee to fulfill
the vacant seat for the re
maining two years of Baze-
more’s term, which expires
in 2022.
Bertie County resident
James Pugh expressed his
respect for the recommen
dation of James Lee.
2 “1 think James Lee was the
strongest choice for the po
sition,” Pugh added.
Pastor Samual Shaw
voiced his support of James
. Lee’s nomination.
“1 support James Lee as the
replacement. He is a team
player. He has the character
and skill for the position. 1
. have the highest confidence
in him,” Pastor Shaw said.
Others agreed.
“We interviewed four can
didates and 76 percent of
the Democratic leadership
voted for James Lee. The
recommended individual
is fully qualified for the po
sition,” said Bertie County
Democratic Party member
John Davis.
Bertie County Commission
Tammy Lee opened the floor
for discussion
for nomina
tions for the
replacement
of the commis
sioner for Dis
trict 5.
Bertie Coun-
Lee ty Vice Chair
man John
Trent nominated Ron Rober
son, who was one of the four
candidates interviewed by
the party, for the position.
Next, Commissioner Ron
Wesson recommended the
Bertie County Democratic
Party’s nomination, James
Lee for the seat.
Wesson addressed the
board and Bertie County
Manager Juan Vaughan II
saying he would like to call
a “Point of Order for Discus
sion” and make a statement
before the vote was taken.
“The citizens of this coun
ty have a right to know that
this vote that we are about
to take has been rigged from
the very start,” said Wesson.
“These three commission
ers, Mr. Trent, Mrs. Lee and
Mr. Atkins communicated
together and decided to
elect Mr. Roberson prior to
the Democratic Party hav
ing any chance to interview
and recommend a candidate
from their party as required
by our General Statutes.”
According to Wesson,
Trent (who is registered as
Unaffiliated) approached
Lee and she
agreed to sup
port Roberson.
Then, Trent
and Lee ap
proached Com
missioner Greg
Atkins and
Atkins sought his sup
port. Both Lee
and Atkins are elected as
members of the Democratic
Party.
“Mr. Roberson called me
and asked if I would support
him. I told him clearly that I
would support the nominee
of the Democratic Party. If
that turned out to be him,
then I would support that
decision,” Wesson contin
ued. “Mr. Roberson thanked
me, but told me he already
had the support of the other
commissioners.”
Wesson said he then called
Atkins and asked if this was
true.
“Mr. Atkins confirmed that
Mr. Trent had first gone to
Mrs. Lee and that they both
had encouraged him to sup
port Mr. Roberson. Mr. At
kins told me that he was
favoring Mr. Roberson, but
had not made up his mind.
I understand that this has
now changed,” said Wesson.
According to Wesson,
what makes this especially
egregious is that the Demo
cratic Party did things the
right way. They sought all
candidates that expressed
interest, and interviewed all
four candidates publicly.
The Democratic Party
asked each precinct chair
man, vice chairman, and
elected party officials to
discuss the candidates with
the citizens of the precincts
across the county before
voting.
Wesson said James Lee re
ceived 76 percent of the all
the votes. More than three
of the four individuals voted
for Mr. Lee. Mr. Roberson
was one of the candidates
who were interviewed, but
not selected.
“But the ‘fix’ was already
in. These three commission
ers in essence said ‘to hell
with the will of the citizens.’
They made the decision pri
or to the process ever start
ing. Didn’t anyone say, ‘we
should listen to the recom
mendation of the Democrat
ic Party as required statuto
rily before making a decision
on who should fill the seat?
That never happened here,”
Wesson expressed.
“This is wrong. This is a
perfect example of what is
wrong with our government
today. Those elected to lis
ten to the citizens, all too
often decide to do what they
want to do, before they lis
ten to the people. I’m done.
Thank you,” he closed.
“I don’t appreciate the use
of the word- rigged. After
talking to others in the com
munity, I told Mr. Roberson
he had my vote,”said Chair
woman Lee.
Wesson asked, “Why did
the Democratic Party go
through the process if you
were going to make a deci
sion after just talking to oth
ers?”
Commissioner Atkins
chimed in and said that
Commissioner Wesson had
called him twice as well.
“Mr. Roberson told people
all over the county that he
had support of all three of
you. Yet, none of you con
tacted me and Ernestine,”
said Wesson.
“We didn’t need to contact
Ernestine because she no
longer had a vote,” replied
Lee.
Vice Chairman Trent of
fered a motion for the nomi
nation of Roberson to the
vacant Bertie County Com
missioners District 5 seat.
Commissioner Atkins sec
onded the nomination.
Roberson was selected as
the new Bertie County Com
missioner in a 3-1 vote. Com
missioner Wesson voted
against the nomination.
Roberson will be sworn in
at the Bertie County Com
missioner’s work session at
10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan 20.
Leslie Beachboard can be
reached via email at ber-
tienews@ncweeklies. com.
Backpack
From 1
_ son. “We did 100 kids
that first year and now
it’s grown to 110.”
Before the pandem
ic and in its first four^
. years. Youth Bertie did
most of its fund-raising
from the end of the
school term in spring
/ , to the return to classes
in the fall.
“On the weekends,
especially when you
reach the end of the
month and run out of
food stamps or run
out of money, there is
a food shortage,” Wes
son revealed. “The
small kids are the least
able to fend for them
selves, which is why we
started with elemen-
tary students, but we
'. ‘ have a need for all kids
'throughout our com-
'" munity.
“It cost us $ 185 a year
to feed a child,” he con-
^Tinued. “So each year
we had to raise about
$38,000 to run this pro-
’ gram. This year with
COVID, the tornado,
and everything else in
the county it’s made it
*' more challenging.”
^ This year, an anony
mous donor stepped
' ' in and made an $ 11,000
‘ contribution to assist
with maintaining the
! program since the pan-
“ demic cut short much
of the group’s usual
Deputy
From 1
side of the road.
“With the way it has
rained, it was very wet
and he was not able to
get the car back on the
road,” Sheriff Holley
said. “The car struck
a tree and caught on
fire.”
The sheriff said a fam
ily in a car behind him
saw the accident and
when the deputy didn’t
get out of the car, they
stopped to assist.
“These people are
A sample backpack for Bertie County students.
fund-raising. Letters
requesting donation
that usually went out
in March, now were not
sent until December
due to COVID-19.
“We purchase the
Packs from the Albe
marle Food Bank and it
consists of two break
fasts, two lunches,
healthy snacks, and we
put in fresh fruit, pur
chased at a discount
from the Windsor Food
Lion. Before, the teach
ers would then hand
the Packs out every Fri
day for the kids to take
home for the weekend,
or parents would pick
the packs up,” Wes
son noted. “But when
kids went out on vir
tual learning, we didn’t
have that mechanism.”
He continued, “COV
ID kind of kicked things
into disarray and the
county (Bertie County
Schools) stepped in
when learning went vir
tual. Now, thanks to the
county’s Recreation
Department (Donna
Mizelle and Emily Jerni-
gan) stepping in and
picking up the Packs
from the 900 Building
at the old Bertie High
School and deliver
ing them to the coun
ty’s five elementary
schools, the food can
now go out on Fridays
by school bus with the
regular daily food de
livery.”
Thanks to Bertie
County Schools Su
perintendent Dr. Otis
Smallwood, the school
district applied for a
$400,000 grant allowing
them to use the school
buses. Now, regard
less of transportation,
all the county’s school
children can be served.
“The schools have
really been great
partners,” Wes
son acknowledged.
“Our money is raised
grass-roots - from in
dividuals, churches,
sponsorships and or
ganizations. For the
past few years we’ve
gotten the Vidant Com
munity Grant, a grant
from United Way of the
Albemarle, and earlier
a grant from Perdue
Farms.
“The schools even
allow the teachers and
staff to donate through
payroll deductions,” he
added. “Janitors, teach
ers, bus drivers, ad
ministrators, everyone
contributing their $5
and $10 per paycheck
has been a big boost to
us.”
Bertie County 4-H’ers
used to stuff the back
packs for the first three
years, but for the last
two years members
of the Solid Founda
tion (members that are
physically and men
tally challenged) have
done the packing.
“Every single penny
that’s donated to us
goes directly to buy
food,” Wesson main
tained. “Four founding
members of our Board
(Dr. Ben Speller, Dr.
Johnny Hill and Karen
Ray, John and Cindy
Davis and Ron and Dr.
Patricia Wesson) put in
money ($1,000) to pay
all the expenses for ev
erything but the food,
which is paid by the
donor dollars.”
Before the pandemic.
Youth Bertie was plan
ning a quarterly Ser
vice Project with kids
from the community.
They were able to com
plete one project be
fore COVID put a stop
to their plans.
“We’re not doing big
stuff, just things like
cleaning up the Wind
sor Tennis Courts,
planting flowers, clean
ing up behind the old
Ethridge school and
adding grills and picnic
tables - donated by the
town of Windsor - and
contributions from the
community,” Wesson
remarked.
“Our next project
when things resume
and the kids get back
in school will be to pro
vide personal hygiene
supplies for junior and
senior high school
girls,” he continued.
“It’s already been ap
proved by the school
system and we’ve al
ready purchased the
stock.”
If anyone would like
to contribute to the
Backpack program,
they can mail donation
to; Youth Bertie, Inc.
P.O. Box 778, Windsor,
NC 27983.
“We’re committed
to this year, and hope
fully when things re
sume and we get back
in school physically,
we can get to some of
those kids on our wait
ing list,” Wesson con
cluded.
Gene Motley can be
reached via email at
bertie news@nc week
lies, com.
heroes in my book,”
Sheriff Holley said. “I’m
so thankful for the way
they were able to help
him. There is no doubt
in my mind if they
hadn’t been there and
been willing to help,
the situation could
have turned tragic.”
Sheriff Holley said as
it is. Deputy Halloran
is suffering from a bro
ken ankle, fractured
femur and a fracture
of the skull. He has un
dergone one surgery
and is likely to have an
other, according to the
sheriff.
“I’ve talked to him
and he is in good spir
its,” Sheriff Holley said.
“He is incredibly grate
ful for those who as
sisted him.”
Sheriff Holley said
the patrol vehicle was
a total loss, and the
N.C. Highway Patrol is
investigating the acci
dent.
Thadd White can be
reached via email at
twhite@ncweeklies. com.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR SEALED BIDS
SALES OF REAL PROPERTY
The Roxobel Board of Commissioners has authorized the sale by sealed
bid of the following parcel of real property. The property known as the
Southern Bank Building, 115 South Main Street, Roxobel, NC, Deed Book
949/Page 643.
The Town will accept sealed bids for the property until 5:00 PM, Tuesday,
February 9, 2021 at the Town Hall, 204 South Main Street, Roxobel, NC.
At 7:00 PM, Tuesday, February 9, 2021, all bids received shall be opened in
public and the amount of each bid announced and recorded.
The Board of Commissioners will determine the highest responsible bid
der for the property and will award the bid at its regular meeting on Febru
ary 9, 2021. Bids will remain open and subject to acceptance until the Board
of Commissioners awards the bid.
Each big must be accompanied by a bid deposit of five percent (5%) of
the amount of the bid. A bid deposit may take the form of cash, a cashier’s
check, a certified check, or a surety bond. The deposit of the bidder to
whom the award is made will be held until the sale of the property is closed;
if that bidder refuses at any time to close the sale, the deposit will be forfeit
ed to the Town. The deposits of other bidders will be returned at the time
the Board of Commissioners awards the property to the highest responsible
bidder.
The Town reserves the right to withdraw the property from sale at any time
and the right to reject all bids.
Inquiries about the property and the sale may be made to the Town Clerk
or Mayor, Town Hall, 204 South Main Street, Roxobel, NC..