King, Brooks win in 3rd Ward

Brooks top vote-getter returning to council

By Reggie Ponder
Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Former Councilman Michael E. Brooks and incumbent Councilman Rickey E. King — who’ve each beaten the other in previous elections — will be serving together as councilors from Elizabeth City’s 3rd Ward beginning next month.

Brooks led the field in Tuesday’s runoff election for the ward’s two seats on council with 325 votes. King finished second with 278 votes.

First-time candidates Milford F. Creecy and Dennis B. Stallings trailed with 268 votes and 239 votes respectively.

Stallings outpaced everyone else in precinct 3B — garnering 94 votes to Brooks’ 81, Creecy’s 42 and King’s 21 — but received only 43 votes in 3A and lagged behind the other candidates in one-stop voting.

King led in 3A with 66 votes. He also won the one-stop race with 185 votes to Brooks’ 171.

Brooks said it was time to get to work on reducing electric bills for citizens.

“I just want the city to get on track,” Brooks said. “I think working together we can do more to help the people that are suffering. Anything that is a necessity of life should be affordable — and that includes electricity. We’ve got to stick to that. We can’t just talk about it in the campaign.”

He said all councilors would work well together as long as they remember they are working for the people.

“We serve the people,” Brooks said. “We are their servants. And once we understand that, everything will be fine. I think that anybody that throws their hat in to serve realizes that their job is to serve the people.”

Brooks said he looks forward to working with Mayor-elect Roger McLean on the things McLean campaigned on, including lower electric bills and programs for youth.

“I look forward to helping those thoughts become a reality,” he said.

King, who defeated Brooks in 2007 after losing to him in 2005, said he was pleased to be returning for another term on City Council.

“It feels good,” King said. “There’s a lot of things the city needs to continue to work on. We need to find jobs for the citizens. Hopefully we can get this conference center off the ground to bring some jobs into the city.”

King said he thought voters trusted him to work hard for jobs and for the city’s youth.

“I think the biggest issues during the campaign were jobs and the youth,” he said,

King said the city should put together a youth task force “so we can find out what these youth really want.”

“We need to sit down and listen to the youth,” he said.

King said he planned to call Brooks and congratulate him.

Neither Creecy nor Stallings could be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Myra Sawyer, a 20-year-old student who voted in 3B, said the main issue for her was high electric bills. She cast her votes for King and Stallings.

A 24-year-old unemployed woman who voted in 3B said jobs were the most important issue for her. She voted for Brooks and Creecy.

Turnout for Tuesday’s runoff was 21 percent, slighly higher than the 19.5 percent that turned out for the Oct. 6th election.