Allen is mayor
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 4, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Newly elected Mayor Chuck Allen, left, smiles after receiving encouragement from soon-to-be-former Mayor Al King during an election results viewing party at the Lantern Inn on Tuesday evening.
As Chuck Allen received unofficial election results Tuesday night from people with his campaign who were stationed at precinct polling stations in the city, he banged an empty cup against the door frame of the Lantern Inn.
Unofficially, he knew he had won the mayoral race to become Goldsboro's next mayor and took the opportunity provided by the silence that followed the sound of the cup to thank everyone who had supported him along the way.
Following Tuesday night's unofficial election results, Allen will be Goldsboro's next mayor.
He received 1,695 votes, while challenger Myelle Thompson received 722 votes. There were 144 write-in votes, the results of which will be announced Thursday by the Wayne County Board of Elections.
"It's awesome. I'm excited, I'm thrilled, I appreciate everyone who came out and voted, and I certainly have some big shoes to fill," Allen said.
He will take over as mayor for Al King, who has served as Goldsboro's mayor for more than a decade.
Allen said he felt the early voting results, which showed him in the lead, were a good start to a race that would see him come out victorious.
"Myelle Thompson crept up on me a little bit there and that made me kind of nervous," Allen said. "But I'm looking forward to working with the new City Council to accomplish a lot of things in our city."
Allen said he intends to begin working on big issues in the community right away when he is sworn in as mayor.
"The first thing we have to address is our crime, our shootings, the poverty rate here, our jobs and our schools," Allen said. "I'd like to partner with the entities related to working on those issues to allow the council to being working on all of them as well."
Thompson said he will still work to support Goldsboro however he can, regardless of his loss in Tuesday night's election.
"I still love my city, and will always give a helping hand," Thompson said in a text message about Tuesday night's election. "I made it through the playoffs and (to) the Super Bowl but didn't take home the title. Yes, we watch sports for the excitement, but even moreso we watch it for the drama. There's nothing more exciting than seeing a team come back to win that fourth series game after being down 0-3, or a fighter getting off the canvas to score a come from behind knockout. Sports are about those incredible moments where sheer human desire overcomes the odds. These are the moments we remember. Now, it's time for me to plan my wedding. God bless Goldsboro."
Allen said the issues he will need to address while he serves as the city's mayor will take the entire community to help resolve and fix.
"It's going to take the whole community to collectively work together on all of these issues," Allen said. "The question now becomes, are we going to do something about these things or allow the to stay as they are? We've received a pretty loud message as a council that we have got to do something about all of these things, and I look forward to doing so for the next four years."