Constance Coram seeks seat on board
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 15, 2016 1:46 PM
Full Size
Constance Bryant Coram
Constance Bryant Coram said she is running for the District 3 seat on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners to be a voice for residents in that district.
She is challenging Commissioner John Bell, who has held that office since 2000, in the March 15 Democratic primary. The winner does not have any opposition in the November general election.
Mrs. Coram, 57, had originally filed for register of deeds only to withdraw her candidacy just days later.
Her last-minute filing just before last month's deadline created the only primary for the seven-member board.
Mrs. Coram said she prayed for direction and decided that the register of deeds office was not where God was leading her to.
"I asked God, 'Where can I be of service to you?'" she said. "I like to think that I would be a candidate who is a voice for the people because there is so much that is happening as District 3 winds up being a district that is predominately Goldsboro.
"It is the heart of Goldsboro. It just seems as though the inner city of Goldsboro, there is not a lot of attention there. We have members coming to complain to the (city) council all of the time, and also to the commissioners -- complaining they are losing their land because of erosion and such."
Also, Mrs. Coram said that while the county needs its new jail, she is concerned that it is being built in a residential area.
"I am concerned that there is so much crime going on, and I haven't heard any collaboration between the commission and council to try to get together and do something about it," she said. "All of the crime is happening right in the inner city.
"As voice I would just like to see what we can do. Of course one person cannot make the decisions. All they can do is show a concern and let it be known that I am interested in what is going on."
Mrs. Coram said she would like to see a closer working relationship between commissioners and the City Council.
"At the end of the day they are going to intertwine," she said.
Mrs. Coram is a Goldsboro native, but as a child her family moved to Buffalo, New York. She later lived in Ohio for a few years.
During those years she worked in office management for the Cleveland Bar Association, the Buffalo Museum of Science and Buffalo Child and Family Services.
"Most of my work experience has been in legal or office management," she said.
She attended Erie Community College and also took classes at Buffalo State and at Bryant and Stratton College.
"When I graduated from high school in 1976, I immediately got into politics," she said. "In New York you get into politics and as long as you work the campaigns well, you can always walk in the door there. That is how I got a lot of my job references -- working on campaigns. I never thought that I would be a candidate myself."
She worked on a mayoral campaign in Buffalo and several judicial campaigns as well.
"I was affiliated with Partners in Progress which was a political-based organization," she said.
Since moving back 14 years ago, she has worked at a car dealership, with the office of attorney Louis Jordan and then at the Wayne County Register of Deeds.
"I was there for a couple of years," she said. "Then I attempted to start my own business in 2007. That didn't pan out too well. I was in there for maybe 12 to 14 months. I tried to work with the community, whatever services they needed -- typing, clerical things because I have legal experience I was trying to help them research things in the Register of Deeds or Clerk of Courts office.
"I have been a member of the NAACP for about 30 years. So I have always been active there. I have marched. I have been active in my church (St. Mark Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ). I hold several positions in my church."
During elections, she helped people get to the polls.
Mrs. Coram said that for the past 10 years she has kept herself "very abreast" on what is happening in Goldsboro.
She is affiliated with a group that is concerned about the threat posed by coal ash. She has appeared before commissioners at several meetings to speak about those concerns.
"I try to keep my self very active," she said. "Being that employment has somehow has not come my way in the last few years, but God has blessed me to keep my head above water. I could have being doing woe is me. But instead I tried to focus on the needs of the community. That brings me to becoming interested in my current quest."
She has four children ranging in age from 19 to 38. Her youngest is a student at Wayne Community College.
"So of course I keep myself abreast of what is happening there," she said. "I have always kept myself very active."