Council members not ready to commit
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on January 21, 2007 2:00 AM
November is still nearly a year away and it shows.
With less than six months until a decision must be made, some members of the Goldsboro City Council say they are still not ready to commit to a campaign for re-election.
All six seats on the board will be decided by the end of the year, as will the next mayor.
Current Mayor Al King said last month he won't make an announcement until he is "100 percent sure" that another term in office makes sense. Still, he made no indication that his name will not appear on the ballot.
District 2 representative Bob Waller, too, is thinking along those lines.
"I haven't decided yet," he said. "More than likely I will, but things could change."
Running again is tempting, he added, especially with so many "great projects" still in the works.
"I think we've got some good projects going," Waller said. "We're moving forward. There are a few more things we're working on that I'd like to see come to fruition."
District 6 councilman Jackie Warrick and District 4 councilman the Rev. Charles Williams agree.
"It's kind of early, but I will say this, I have already been contacted by some people in my district about the election," Warrick said. "I'm leaning toward running."
Both he and Williams said watching crews put their finishing touches on a reconstructed Paramount Theater and Community Building while on the council might be worth the months of campaigning.
Running again also would give him the opportunity to continue his fight for improvement in neighborhoods downtown.
"One of the reasons why I ran in the first place was the deterioration of the downtown area," Warrick said. "I wanted to see it go back to single-family. We're leaning that way now ... I want to continue with that."
Others on the council said they aren't yet leaning one way or the other.
"Right now, I'm really on the fence," District 3 representative Don Chatman said. "Some days I'm saying I'll go for it, and other days I just don't know."
Jimmy Bryan is in the same boat.
"I haven't quite decided yet," the District 1 councilman said. "It's just too early."
But no matter how far along they are in the process, all the incumbents said one thing is clear -- time is running out.
"We've got to be thinking about it," Bryan said.
Council member Chuck Allen could not be reached for comment by press time.