Gena Messer-Knode will be joining the town board following Tuesday night’s election results. (mountolivetribune.com photo)
Three newcomers will join Mount Olive’s incumbent mayor and two incumbent town commissioners to tackle the town’s mounting problems, according to unofficial election results reported by the Wayne County Board of Elections Tuesday night.
With 88 votes, newcomer Gena Messer-Knode led newcomer Jessica Simpson Olliver two to one in the District 1 race. Olliver received 44 votes.
C.J. Weaver beat Camilla Loftin 79 to 47 in District 4. Both were running for the seat for the first time.
In the at-large race, former town commissioner Harlie Carmichael defeated newcomer Don Fairman 314 to 286, and in District 1, commissioner Vicky Darden retained her seat with 63 votes, compared to 39 for challenger James Carlton and 25 for challenger Robert King.
Mayor Jerome Newton ran unopposed and received 459 votes, while District 2 Commissioner Delreese Simmons, also running unopposed, keeps his seat having received 180 votes.
“I won, so I feel good about that,” Messer-Knode said Tuesday night, but she said she was concerned about voter turnout. “I don’t want people to give up on the process.”
She questioned whether “divisiveness fatigue” was the reason more people didn’t turn out.
“I don’t want people to be discouraged,” she said. “I want to see more faces, more new faces, at the monthly meetings,” adding she would actively encourage people to participate. She plans to hold quarterly meetings in her district to keep residents informed and engaged.
One big concern Messer-Knode shared is that the town’s sense of community is gone and the town isn’t accomplishing anything.
“As a realtor I see people flocking to Pikeville, Fremont, eastern Wayne,” she said. “They’re not coming across the bridge to Mount Olive. We’re being outpaced by all the other communities. We are hiring friends and family and hoped they could pull it off. That’s one of the reasons we’re in the mess we’re in.
“I have won now, so I’m going to push and I’m going to push really hard,” Messer-Knode added. “I already have a list of documentation I want to see. There’s a lot of documentation I’m going to be asking for. I plan to lead with professionalism and grace, but no one should assume I won’t take the gloves off, so they just need to get ready.”
