The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people
Pirate teams keep on winning
Pages 6, 7
Honor rolls announced
Page 7
White is BPW
Career Woman of the Year
Page 9
The
October 21,1999
Vol. 67, No. 40 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Weekly
winfall vote may cause racial friction
Good night, Irene!
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Perquimans County residents said good night to the sounds of Hurricane Irene dumping more water on an already
soggy landscape Sunday night. With no place to drain after Floyd's floods a month ago, wc^er spiKed over roadways
in several areas in the county. School was delayed an hour Monday and Tuesday due to the roadway flooding. Water
was still standing across Center Hill Road (above) as late as press time Tuesday. Now forecasters are watching yet
another tropical depression in the Atlantic.
Take IT ffioif fHE TOP
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Perquimans County Middle School 8th Grade Band per
formed at the 1999 Business Expo last week at the National
Guard Armory in Edenton. The band, making its season
debute, performed under the direction of David Ziemba.
Business Expo ‘99
held in Edenton
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
'•Business and education
leaders got together last week
to network and give high
school students a chance to
explore careers at the third
annual Business Expo.
Begun in 1997 as a joint ven
ture by the Edenton-Chowan
and Perquimans chambers of
commerce and the Chowan-
Gates-Perquimans JobReady
Partnership, the expo moved
this year from the Edenton
Cotton Mill to the National
Guard Armory.
Wednesday evening was
billed as the sneak preview
and featured delicious edibles
prepared by six food service
businesses in Edenton. Both
exhibitors and business lead
ers gathered to network during
the evening.
Thursday morning brought
bus loads of ninth graders
from the three counties in the
JobReady Partnership. Armed
with a list of questions, stu
dents visited three booths to
find out more about careers in
which they might be interest
ed. These small group informa
tion sessions were followed by
seminars. Selected juniors and
seniors participated in after
noon mock interviews.
Thursday evening brought
messages from local officials, a
performance by the
Perquimans County Middle
School 8th Grade Band, a
career development seminar, a
student/parent scavenger hunt
and an expo wrap-up with Dr.
Sylvester McKay, president of
COA.
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Demolition crews painstakingly tore down the N.C. Forestry
Service fire tower in Winfall Friday, beginning with the top
section. For over 50 years, the tower served as a lookout
post for smoke and blazes that could have quickly consumed
acres of woodland and structures. The introduction of cells
phones, CB radios, and other modern communication meth
ods made the use of the tower obsolete. It was condemned
about 5 years ago due to structural rust and deteriorated
wood steps which made it unsafe to climb. Friday the land
mark came down for good.
JEREMY DESPOSITO
The Daily Advance
Winfall Town Council’s
split vote Wednesday to
appoint a white minister to
replace a deceased black pas
tor on the board may end up
causing friction in the town’s
African-American communi
ty
By a 2-1 vote, the council
appointed Methodist minister
Jim Krepps to replace its only
African-American member,
the Rev. Willie Moore, who
died last month.
Krepps’ appointment came
despite the presentation to
council of a petition contain
ing the names of 70 residents,
most of them African
American, recommending the
appointment of the Rev.
Morris Edward Mitchell.
Mitchell, who is black, is
pastor of Temple of Christ
Church in Elizabeth City and
has lived in Winfall for more
than 20 years.
Krepps, pastor of three
United Methodist churches —
Oak Grove, Epworth and
Cedar Grove — has lived in
Winfall for approximately 15
months.
Almost from the start,
Wednesday’s discussion about
replacing Moore focused on
race.
No sooner had
Councilwoman Carol Cooper
made a motion to appoint
Krepps than Mayor Fred Yates
asked, “What color is he?”
Cooper replied that Krepps
is Caucasian.
“What color was Reverend
Moore?” asked Yates.
Cooper responded that
state law doesn’t require
appointments to town council
to be based on a candidate’s
race.
Cooper and CouncUwoman
Joan Mansfield then voted for
Krepps. Councilman Jake
Chesson, who is white, voted
against Krepps, saying he had
never met him.
I”ve never heard (of
Krepps) or talked about (his
appointment) with the board
before,” said Chesson, who
knows Mitchell. “No one had
ever mentiopned him. I didn’t
know he was from Winfall.”
Under the town’s charter,
council has the authority to
appoint Moore’s replacement.
African Americans at
Wednesday’s meeting clearly
wanted Mitchell appointed to
Moore’s seat.
“I would like to see another
African American on the
baord,” said Bethsheba
Ormond, a black resident who
presented council with the
petition backing Mitchell.
“I’m not trying to be preju
diced, but I think it’s only fair
(to appoint an African
American.)”
Perquimans County
Commissioner Shirley Yates,
who attended Wednesday’s
meeting, said she believed
Cooper and Mansfield had
made their decision to appoint
Krepps privately.
“I feel Carol and Joan got
together and decided they did
n’t want to have an African
American on the board,” said
Yates, the wife of Winfall’s
mayor.
Her husband also believes
Cooper and Mansfield dis
cussed appointing Krepps
prior to Wednesday’s meeting.
That would be illegal, Yates
charged. Moore’s death left
Winfall with a three-member
board, and state law states
that a majority of a governing
board can only discuss public:
matters in public.
“How does it happen to heC
that it’s Joan’s pastor that got
appointed (when) Carol don’t
go to Joan’s church?” heT
asked.
Yates had strong words for-
the two councilwomen.
“(This decision is) insensi
tive to the African American
people,” he said, “they feel-
they can ram anything^
through. I think it was done
out of hatred.” -
Cooper denied that she and
Mansfield discussed Krepps’;
appointment in private.
Mansfield also said she and:
Cooper never discussed;
Krepps’ appointment in pri-;;
vate. She said she was in fact
surprised by Cooper’s nomi-.
nation of Krepps. T
Cooper also said the
appointment of Moore’s
replacement shouldn’t be*
decided by race.
“It was not an issue of
race,” she said. “I was choos
ing the best person that could
best serve the town. It’s not
that I have anything against
(Mitchell). I don’t know him. I
believe (Krepps) is a person of
integrity. He’s interested and
involved in the community.”
Yates said he has no prob
lem serving with Krepps. But
he would have liked to see the
appointment process conduct
ed more thoroughly.
“My concern is what’s best
for the citizens,” Yates said.
“(Krepps) don’t know the peo
ple he’s going to represent
other than his congregation.
He may be the better man, but
is he going to be sensitve to
the African American popula
tion?”
Asked if Krepps will be.
able to represent African
American constituents the
same way Moore did. Cooper-
said she thinks he can.
“...I think Reverend Mooreu
was a good person and his'
heart was for the town, and f
believe Mr. Krepps has the-
same desires for the town,”-
she said.
Reached at his home
Wednesday night, Krepps said-
he, too, believes he can be sen
sitive to the concerns of
African Americans. He also
hopes for more unity between
blacks and whites.
“I would like to see more
uniting of the two communi
ties to work as one, so we can
deal with issues of more perti
nence,” he said.
“Unfortunately, (race) still
plagues us. We’re going into
the 21st century; it’s time to
start learning how to live
together.”
Weekend
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