Elected officials to be sworn in
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 29, 2014 11:05 PM
Swearing-in ceremonies will be held Monday for Wayne County commissioners, the county Board of Education and sheriff.
Commissioners and the school board also will elect a chairman and vice-chairman.
The school board will do so on Monday and commissioners when they meet Tuesday morning.
District 2 Commissioner Ed Cromartie and District 4 Commissioner Joe Gurley will take the oath of office during a special board session Monday at 4:30 p.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
Cromartie and Gurley, both of whom were earlier appointed to the board, were unopposed in a special election held as part of the Nov. 4 general election.
Gurley is completing the term of Steve Keen, who resigned earlier this year to take a position in Gov. Pat McCroy's administration.
Cromartie, who is currently serving as board vice chairman, is completing the unexpired term of J.D. Evans, who died shortly after being elected in 2012.
Clerk of Court Pam Minshew will swear the two men in.
Mrs. Minshew also will administer the oath of office Monday at 3:30 p.m. to Wayne County Board of Education member Chris West, who represents District 1.
Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones will then administer the oath of office to school board members Jennifer Strickland, District 4; Arnold Flowers, District 5, and Rick Pridgen, District 6.
Mrs. Strickland defeated longtime District 4 board member John Grantham while Flowers and Pridgen were unopposed in their re-election bids.
Sheriff Larry Pierce will take the oath of office Monday morning at 9 a.m. in Courtroom No. 1 at the Wayne County Courthouse.
Jones will swear in Pierce, who was appointed sheriff in February following the death of Carey Winders.
Pierce defeated Glenn Barnes in the Nov. 4 election.
It will be another month before local legislators will take office. That ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 9 a.m. at the General Assembly in Raleigh.
They are Sens. Louis Pate of Mount Olive, District 7, and Don Davis of Snow Hill, District 5, and Reps. Jimmy Dixon of Mount Olive, District 4, John R. Bell of Goldsboro, District 10, and Larry M. Bell of Clinton, District 21.