Sims has sold her house; may give up seat
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on May 10, 2010 1:46 PM
Board of Education member Shirley Sims has sold her Dudley home, but said she plans to remain on the school board at least until the school year ends.
For nearly 20 years, she has represented District 2, which encompasses the southern end of the county.
With less than two years remaining on her current term, she said she put her house on the market, never envisioning in the current economy it would sell so quickly.
"Nobody knew anybody would be able to sell a house," she said. "I never even had a real estate agency or anything."
All she was trying to do, she said, was prepare to make an independent break so that when her term ended, she would be in a position to move.
Ms. Sims says she had been looking at relocating to a senior community near Garner, and had apprised Dr. Steven Taylor, schools superintendent, and Jack Edwards, board attorney, of her intentions. Edwards had also advised her about the legalities of residency for elected officials.
"As I understand the law, you can have more than one residence," Edwards said. "But in order to change the residence, that's kind of a matter of intent."
For now, her plan is to remain in Wayne County.
"My understanding from Shirley is that she plans to maintain a residence here at least for some time," Ed-wards said. "She's still got property, I think two residences that are available to her, one that she has been working on to get it ready to occupy."
Ms. Sims said she has taken out a post office box in the interim to receive mail and has two houses in Mount Olive -- one the family homestead where she was reared, the other a residence she will move pending completion of several renovations.
She said she is still uncertain whether she will complete her term on the school board. She also serves on several other boards in the county, including WISH, WATCH and Neuse Correctional, none of which are contingent upon her residency in the county.
"Right now, my interest is in closing out the school year and getting through the graduations," she said.