September 2, 2025
We all have our good and bad tendencies; politicians are no different. The kinds of elected officials we need are the ones who recognize this and who make every effort to act with wisdom and consideration, while doing their best to squash selfish motives or desires for vengeance.
Over 20 years ago I worked for the first time on a local campaign. A co-volunteer, whom I will call “CO” for “Charismatic One,” approached me to say that I needed to go to one of the Farmville candidates and convince him to withdraw his name from consideration. An election after that, CO instructed me to go to a different candidate and talk him into leaving the race before the ballots were set. In both cases, I hardly could imagine the audacity of telling someone who thoughtfully filed to run for office to change course. It seemed utterly presumptuous. Of course, I didn’t do it.
CO also boasted to me of their connections within their political party, even up to the national level. During a later municipal election, a friend of mine was being supported by CO. She told me two things CO had said to her. First, if you tell a lie and repeat it often, when the truth comes out it will be too late. (Countless residents through the years have told me they heard CO say the same thing.) The second was that CO could get a monkey elected.
Years later, CO themself was voted into office in Farmville. I began to do research after hearing some shocking things on the closed session tapes regarding the town buying the former Farmville Hardware building. CO made very clear the intention to tear down the iconic building in order to create a parking lot. The morning after the purchase vote, someone high up in the pro-tear-down group told me they were surprised CO did not have a wrecking ball at Farmville Hardware at that moment. After much publicity and public outcry, the building was rescued. CO then told me their signature would have been on the Enterprise petition to save the building. This was similar to their response after opposing in a not-so-polite manner the Garden Club ladies about the new clock on the Town Commons, yet acting supportive once it was erected.
In 2019 I talked to someone on the morning of the July filing deadline who told me CO had made her promises if she would not file to run as an opponent. She was persuaded. One can be almost sure of a victory if there is no other name on the ballot.
In May 2019 CO voted along with the majority to “trade” the fire station, and voted the next month to borrow $5 million for the new library. These decisions set in motion a rapid and treacherous financial decline for our town. In August 2023 the Investigative Report by the State Auditor revealed severe mismanagement.
Before one election, CO stopped me on Main Street and said they were just about to go to my place of employment because they had heard I was telling people not to vote for them. Can you imagine not understanding our freedom of speech? I said my problem with them was the seeming tendency to puff themself up. They laughed as if this were a novel idea, then proceeded to point to buildings like the bank-turned-Pitt-Community-College and to tell me how they were responsible for most of these downtown improvements. I urged them to stop listing their accomplishments, as they did not have to prove anything to me. CO could not seem to stop listing accolades, despite my repeated requests to cease. Clearly, the “puff yourself up” comment did not register. They told me they were “bonded” and their reputation must be guarded for business purposes. The indication was that criticism of CO could result in legal problems for the criticizer.
Having heard a widespread rumor that CO’s group was telling voters that then-candidate Georgia Lanier did not live in Farmville, I questioned CO about it. I said, “Georgia Lanier lives in Hillcrest across the street from our friends, the Mewborns.” CO replied, “Well, I might own property in Florida, but that doesn’t mean I live there.” I took this as an admission of a most despicable tactic.
Personally, I have direct knowledge of two other instances where CO went to employers trying to get people in trouble or fired, but I’ve heard of more. After a Veteran’s Day event at a local public school there was much discussion that CO seemed to care more about getting applause for their own adult child than for the veterans. Apparently, Pitt County School Board members were left with a horrible impression after CO antagonistically tried to insert themself in matters not under the authority of the Town of Farmville, causing a real rift.
In 2019 CO approved a flyer for four local candidates, including themself, that went only to two out of three postal routes in Farmville. The excluded route was the one mainly south of the railroad tracks. CO also participated in a Candidates’ Rally on Main Street where all four White candidates on the ballot were invited and the two Black candidates were not.
There is no doubt that CO loves the Town of Farmville and is one of its biggest cheerleaders. Certainly, CO has a heart for children and has helped many good causes. A lot of folks only have seen this good side.
CO has much experience in the political realm, but we understand that not all experience is positive or productive. Perhaps berating and humiliating someone in front of the Chamber of Commerce Board is something CO only would do to two out of ten employees. If a person acts cruelly only twenty percent of the time, would you recommend them? More than twenty percent of the time that I have gotten up to give a citizen’s presentation at a Town Board meeting, CO has left to use the bathroom or has tried to cut my statement short before the timer beeped. They publicly suggested I made up my source at the Greenville Utilities Commission and in one private phone conversation told me I probably was recording the call. The thought never crossed my mind. What kind of nefarious world must one live in to think automatically that someone is recording you?
I believe CO is an extremely talented individual who could do wonderful things for Farmville, if applause and recognition were not major goals. As a wise person once said, “It is amazing what can be accomplished if it does not matter who gets the credit.” If a politician promises a splash pad for years and only gets a small one built a few months before an election, I am not impressed. If a politician votes to borrow $5 million, knowing full well the need for a new fire station, I expect them to get out there and work hard to find money in order to correct the problem they helped create. Personally, I have no admiration for elected individuals who foster a sense of fear that if someone speaks out with a contrary opinion, there will be negative consequences. A lot of politicians overpromise and underdeliver. The bigger concern, in my view, is when they demonstrate a desire for vengeance against those who disagree with them. Farmville can do better.
celiastone 