City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone.

We're going to call things to order in about five minutes.

Okay, so we're gonna get everyone settled, and then we're gonna get started. Has everyone signed the registration sheet?

Yes? Yes.

Just wanted to direct everyone's attention. If you have to use the bathroom, the bathrooms are, if you go out that door and you look to your right, the bathrooms are right over here. Okay. Can you all hear me okay?

Yeah. Okay.

All right. I'm going to officially go ahead and call this meeting to order. I am Janice Bullock. I am the co-chair of Info Nameless for Data Center Accountability. And I want to thank you all for coming out. There are going to be two important things that are going to happen this evening. One, we're going to get to learn more about most favorite vets. And We're gonna do some organizing for the precinct if there are members here. Let me take this time to thank Reverend Oliver Jenkins and Deacon Rob Battle for the use of Hickory View Missionary Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. We thank you so much for opening church to us and allowing this opportunity for the community. Reverend Chief, thank you so much. So very well. Thank you. Next, I just want, if you all allow me, because I'm military and I watch what's going on in the region and different areas, I just want to take a moment, if you will, and allow a moment of silence for the soldiers that have lost their lives in the war both sides. So if we'll just take a moment of silence. Thank you so much for that. Let us hold those families up in our prayers. Pray for strength and courage. At this time, I'm going to ask Deacon Ray Hart if he will come forward and give us a little invitation.

Good afternoon. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you as humble as I know how. Lord, we pray, oh Heavenly Father, that we will come together, oh Heavenly Father, in this area, oh Heavenly Father, in this church, as we gather here in this historic place, Lord. We pray that you will be with us. Let us do those things that you would have us do. Let everything that is done and said here tonight be done to the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray for unity. Help us to come together. All races, oh, Heavenly Father, help us to do better than we've been doing. Lord, help us to just be together and on one accord and in one place. Lord, help us to know that we are all your children, Lord, and we want the best for everyone. And, Lord, we want everybody to feel involved and everybody to feel loved and everybody to know that you are our God, oh, Heavenly Father, and that you will lead us on in the right direction. Help us to listen to one another, oh, Heavenly Father, and be informed, oh, Heavenly Father, what we don't know. Lord, we ask that you would guide us and help us to move forward. This we ask in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We can never go wrong with prayer. That's how we start. That's what we stand on. At this time, we are going to Ms. Hazel Bass is going to show a video Informational.

Turn the lights out.

Yeah, go ahead. You can turn the lights out. This is going to be a background of why we are here.

There. And you see all these homes. I was born in that house right there. If something is coming, if you know it's coming, then you can hand it off.

But if you don't know it's coming, then once we get started, you turn it off.

I'm in Kingsborough, North Carolina.

to set her accountability.

David Batts, a 69-year-old U.S. Army veteran and retired truck driver, has taken up global politics to fight for the future of this community. A short track away, Belinda Joyner continues her decades-long battle for clean water from industrial pollution.

It's like the aluminum bus that brought that all of us and then what's that aside?

Can you tell me of anyone that lives near a settlement that has anything positive to say?

It's got a center that's two miles away from us. It's made for us. It's a big one. We're talking about it. We're talking about it.

Decades ago, the same community brought up another outside industry following a similar playbook.

They went on to slaughter 25,000 homes each day.

Water use award, health, employment, and the number of jobs that they were supposed to.

Janice, a lifelong resident of Kingsborough, showed me the location of the proposed hyperscale data center.

This is what the developer wanted to buy, 122 acres, in order to put a deficit of it. Well, this area is predominantly black.

Inco County, the income level is middle to low.

The idea that something might come in and put a billion dollars in the county economy

is, that's wild.

But the scale of a data center is unlike anything.

As Edgecombe County commissioners decide whether or not to sell the land for the data center, residents haven't been able to get straight answers from the developer about what's actually coming.

They say they're doing this for the future. Betterment of everyone. But I can't see it. Not knowing really what we were up against or what was happening. It was seeing bulldoze through.

And then the term hyperscale started to be used. It went from 122 acres, and this is what the developers looked at, 122 to 300 acres.

The developer had brought in probably 10 or 12 expert witnesses.

Being a layperson, as a person from the community, I didn't understand a lot of that. And I know a lot of the other people didn't understand. mostly to employ 500 people. What are these 500 people going to be doing? What kind of jobs are you talking about? That question was not answered.

Well, I'm in construction. That's a normal thing to do. Just tell somebody, yes, we're creating all these jobs, but generally the workers, the actual construction people, are on teams that are coming in here from other locations where they've been before.

But then after the construction, you'd have built all these buildings and you would have about two or three people in there working.

What sense does that make? The 101 site only had 29 parking places in its design that was submitted for approval.

Then they talked about the water usage.

How much water is this thing going to use? And he said two billion gallons a day.

Well, what about the contaminants, the PFAS? that they're cultivated off. They've got double chemicals. Over the period of time, we're looking at generations.

We do know that they have to put additives. Just like your car radiator, you have to put antifreeze in there to keep it from overheating or keep it from freezing. The additives generally things like PFAS that won't stick to balance but also can't be removed when it goes to a treatment plant. Just got some miles from the river.

All of this should be taken into consideration. But you proposed something like this. That's all we have. Also, here's an extra word.

Now, I'm thinking about the status of that.

So, that's important too.

I think that clean water should be a luxury that's only given to people based on their symptoms.

I'm here to present signatures of over 1,000 citizens that have woke up that are against the data center.

I am so tired of, you know, the elderly have to come out and fight for their homes. And we just did not envision that we will be going through this again.

I will be processing company was trying to build a home processing plant in the same Kingsbury area, built the same ground as it does. This area is 1995. I do think

So this is not the first. Our core group for the edge neighbors for data center accountability were people that were involved in that early IBP fight.

They would have been slaughtered in 20,000 homes a day. A day. I lived right over there. We can't give them that. 20,000 hogs a day. The water, the fish, the animals. And when I show you the area where people live in, your mind is going to be gone.

In 1995, millions of trucks had been running through the neighborhood, both 500 trucks per day, and trucks had not stopped.

We don't want to be just trampled on, so to speak, because they thought they could.

And it was the same thing is happening now. We are coming together.

health, environment, and the mental jobs that they were composing.

We want good jobs for our people, for our kids, to go back home and pay.

So that was the reason then, and this is the reason now.

The question was asked, well, when you're looking at these companies, these industries, and you think about the people, are you thinking about the residents? This is my 85-year-old cousin right here. Now, she don't want porridge, and you're going to hear that noise over here. This is where that slaughter plant would have been.

Yeah. North Carolina is one of the top U.N. pork-producing states, and two counties in the area are raising more pigs than anywhere else in America.

Well, the pig farm is a bit of a fail.

You know, every pig you go, there's a hog farm somewhere. Well, the Bible just isn't supposed to be fair to everybody. No matter what race, creed, color, whatever your situation be, that's what environmental justice is supposed to be.

But then we have a lot of environmental injustice.

I mean, right now we live in a community where it's predominantly black. But I take Newfoundland County, for instance.

They have, well, if they're unapologetic, they have people.

You see all those halls in there together, you know, with their feces, you know, they're walking in it, they're stepping in it, you know. And you talk about the ogres. Can you imagine trying to have a cookout? In order to win, like today, some people like to hang their clothes on the line. Why don't you hang your clothes on the line when you take me? We'll have to wash them all over again. Why don't you just sit out on your porch and just enjoy your environment? You can't do it because Something wants to come right here across the street.

I've been here all my life. So why should I have to get up and move? Because something comes in my community that's going to disturb my livelihood. It's like they're living off us, they're fostering off us, and they're the ones that are suffering. It comes from, first of all, our leaders for allowing this stuff to come.

Because without their permission, you know, we wouldn't have it. You know, when we look at it, I look at our county commissioners, and you should think about your community.

and the harm that it will do your community before you break anything. So, you know, we're going this afternoon because we have support moratorium because we don't want the data center to tell you.

We had a county commissioner that was running unopposed with the primary after the fifth period. In fact, in one of the meetings, he didn't say anything wrong with data centers. One of our members At that council meeting, he said, I'm going to run against you. I'm going to beat you. He didn't run for office a day of his life. He didn't have a platform or anything, but he made the commitment. He went the next day and filed his paper. In the primary, he won, my guy won, 3-1 over the 16-year incumbent. Well, I really didn't want to get into politics, but they proposed a better sentence, and we didn't have a lot of representation.

have a say and be a voice for the community. I advise the young people to pay attention because this will impact on your people more than anybody else.

We are looking out for the future generation. I tell them if you can get off something before it starts, you have a possibility of stopping it. But if you don't, once it gets started, it's hard to stop it. And now that I'm talking about the 10, you won't stop it. As John Lewis said, make a good journey and you'll have some of the time. Because when you stand for what you believe, somebody's going to hear you.

20,000 arms a day. That's what they wanted to do. And the community rose up and defeated them. And we have a historical mark at the intersection in honoring that defeat. See right there?

Citizens for a Responsible Zone. The historically black arena in Kingsborough organized to stop Paul Slaughterhouse, campus, 1996. Got it?

Okay.

So now the Kingsland sale has not moved forward. A county-appointed advisory board is recommending an advance amount of data center. Those findings will go before commissioners in July. Shortly after our interview, Belinda Joyner's community won a 32-month promise of data centers in their county.

We are happy to say that the developer, the developer that had proposed to put the data center in the Kingsbury Industrial Park through the application. So we are happy we were able to win that round. However, the battle is not over. So we still have a lot of work to do. At this time, I'm going to have Mr. Jim Wren to come up and give you an overview.

Good evening, everybody. Thanks for coming out.

Good evening. Good evening.

My name is Jim Reed. I live in the Dagon Precinct 51 under Vice President of Phoenix Historic Society. Retired from Cummins Rock and Mine Energy Plant while I was president of UB 150 there and part of the Community and Primary Alliance of Downing's Works Assembly at Edgecombe. Neighbors for Dancer County, Billy at Edgecombe United. And just to say, Edgecombe now, Edgecombe County, is on the front lines of the struggle for democracy today. Edgecombe has a long history of people's empowerment going back to the days of Reconstruction when Edgecombe was the center of the black second congressional district and elected blacks and allied whites to state and local office. And the fusion movement in the 1890s when white and black workers and small farmers came together here and across the state and voted to ensure a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We in Edgecombe made history last year with a community-based movement for redistricting of the school board districts that kept communities of interest together and provided fair distribution of black voters. In the face of racial gerrymandering we see at the state and national level, here in Edgecombe County, over 200 Edgecombe citizens came out to public hearings in support of MAPC and other than MAPC were approved by the school board. That movement, OF EDGECOME UNITE IN SUPPORT OF EDGECOME PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE EDGECOME ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS' DEMAND FOR MEET AND CONFER WITH THE SCHOOL BOARD RESULTED IN THE ELECTION OF GLORIA DAVIS AND CRYSTAL VILES-ANDERSON IN MARCH. AND THEY WERE INSTALLED LAST WEEK. AND GLORIA DAVIS IS HERE TODAY. SO WE WANT TO Meanwhile, the people came together to stop the location of the data centers in Kingsborough and Edgecone County just for it looked like the billionaire investors had a done deal with the county board last November. We rose up, just like we did in 1988 to stop the regional hazards wasted up near Canita and in 99.6 to stop the IVP hog slaughterhouse in Kingsborough. Community leader, retired truck driver and veteran David Bax stood up to run for county commissioner here in District 6 on a no data center platform and won the Democratic primary and marched by a two to one margin over a 16 year incumbent. This is significant, y'all. Our movement led to the data center developer withdrawing his application for Kingsborough on July 6th and forced the county commission to respond to the people. Now the board is proposing a 24 month moratorium on data centers but the Edgecombe neighbors still advocate for a ban on data centers in Edgecombe County. This Edgecombe County grassroots movement, and we're talking about the Edgecombe United, the Edgecombe neighbors, the Downey's Workers' Assembly, the Community Power Alliance, is making history, gaining national and statewide attention. Just like David, we're going against the Goliath, but we have the faith that the people united can never be defeated. The David Batts campaign is part of this working people's struggle to put community over corporation and people over billionaires. David seeks to be a voice of the people of District 6, Precinct 8-1, Precinct 11-1, Precinct 12-3, Precinct 13-1, and Precinct 14-1. White and Black, Democrat, Republican, Independent, we need to see this thing through victory. We aim to see David win the election November 3rd and take his seat December 7th. That's the context for that. Thank you. Thank you. It's important to know that you're making history in Anchicolm County. What's going on here is significant. Given what you see in the larger world, what we're doing here is significant. Thank you for your support. And this keeps us united and going together. Amen.

All right, Jim. Before I bring Ms. Hazel Batts up, I just want to say there's water in the back. Anyone needing some water, we have someone to get some. Raise your hand if you need any water. Okay.

What? Water and drinks. Okay.

Who else needs? Okay.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Thank you so much at this time.

I'm going to bring Ms. Hazel Bass up to introduce Nikki to speak.

Good evening, everybody. I hope everyone is well. I'm Hazel. I'm David's sister. I'm his older sister. And I too would like to thank the entire Vick Review family members for, church members for inviting us out and accommodating us. And Pastor Jenkins, I'd like to thank you for checking and double checking to make sure you have, you know, what we do. Thanks again. David was born and raised in the Kingsborough community, and he still lives in Kingsborough. He is the son of Aaron and Ernestine Batts, both of whom were ministers. David is married to Miss Robin Batts, and they just recently celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary. They have two children, Ashley and DJ, and they have five beautiful grandchildren. David attended GW Boat School and graduated from West Edgecombe High School in 1975. He grew up and worked on the farm practically all of his childhood life. He did the tobacco, the cotton, the peanuts, cornfield, you name it. He did it. We did it. Our father died when we were all very young. And David was only about six or seven years old when our father died. And even as a little boy, he always took a leadership role in looking out for our mother and the family. And then he just, just like innate, it's part of his nature to step in and play that role. And even though he has four older siblings, you know, we all always looked up to him. And it's kind of like stepping in, you know, to play the role of, you know, the role that our father would have played. After high school, he went into the military, and he's a United States veteran. After the military, he became a long-distance truck driver, and he drove trucks for 30 years in the world. He is now retired, but the farm gene is still in his blood. He still has a passion and a love for gardening, and for more than 25 years, he has enjoyed providing fresh vegetables and produce to the community. That's the love and his passion. Being that both of our parents were ministers, He grew up in the church, and he's a member of Highway Temple of Truth in Tallborough, and he has been a member there for more than 40 years. His ancestral roots are Speed and Lawrence, and the Bax Chapel Church was founded by our family, and most of our fraternal family is buried there at Bax Chapel dating back to the early 1800s. David is a member of the American Legion, He's a member of the Phoenix Historical Society, and he's a member of the Edgecombe Neighbors for Data Center Accountability. David has been an active community leader since 1995, and is helping to look out for the Kingsborough community to keep bad businesses out like hog farms and data centers. David and the community have always strongly supported bringing good businesses in like QVC and the Corningware business. He was for the tire plant and the battery plant, but that fizzled out and they elected to do business elsewhere. This evening, he's here to talk to us about data centers. During the primary, which has already been mentioned, he ran on no data center platform and he defeated the 16 year incumbent, Mr. Boswell. But without further ado, DAVID BATTS FOR EDGECOME COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 6.

I WANT TO SAY GOOD AFTERNOON TO EVERYBODY. AS SOON AS YOU INTRODUCE ME, I'M DAVID BATTS. I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR COMING OUT TODAY. I WANT TO THANK PASTOR JAMES AGAIN AND THE ENTIRE PICTURES FAMILY. I want to thank God and thank all the people who have supported me and made it possible for me to get this far. Without you, I could not do it. Many have helped me that I do not know their names, and many that have helped me that I do know their names. But I want to say, I thank those that want to know their names, and I also want to thank those that I don't know their names. I greatly appreciate all of you for your help and your support. I didn't enter this conventional race because I disliked everyone. I got in this commission race because I care about our community. I entered the race because there were proposals that put a Dallas Center campus within one half mile of my home and my neighborhood in Kingsborough. In 1995 and 1996, we went through the same thing. During that time, they wanted to put a big hog operation processing plant less than one half mile from my home in Kingsborough. Most of the water came from the Tall River, which is one half and one half mile from my home. When I first heard about data cells, I was like most people. I did not know too much about them. And I didn't pay that much attention. But the more quickly we learn about those data cells, come to find out that they were even more dangerous than a hog farm. Data cells pose for greater threat to our homes and our community. They threaten our very lives. They pollute our air we breathe. They pollute our health and environment and the quality of life in danger. Mind you, they provide less than 50 long-term jobs in the county. I heard they may even use robots for the jobs. Not only do they create pollution, they are said to create heat hours, affecting the intensity of strong, violent weather in the region. They are said to increase the temperature up to 16 degrees. A week like last week, we would have been talking about 146 degrees. They create unhealthy cause levels in the region, yet they provide less than 50 jobs. They want 100 to 300 acres of our land, which is taxpayer-owned land, not the commissioner. That is the community and the taxpayer's land. If that's needed, they lay out a parking lot that says there's 20,000 to 30 parking spots in the parking lot. They want 100 to 300 acres of our land to build these massive buildings and use a lot of water to try and cool them. They can use up to five million gallons of water a day. enough to water 700 family homes. Yet, the county sent out notices telling us to conserve water and save every crop. They put our schools, our hospitals, our fire departments, our rural county farmers, public safety at risk, forcing our people to institute, to compete for critical resources like water and electricity. They cause major increases in our cost of living. Everybody's property tax would probably go up with no meaningful benefit to the people of Edgecone County. They are said to cause big increase in our utility bill. We as the Edgecombe County taxpayers should not have to show the cost of being out of breed. Kingsborough Park includes both District 6 and District 1, population of about 14,000 people. A historic community of District 6, which is approximately 7,000 people, mind you, there are 400 homes in this area. Three schools in District 6, three schools in District 1, four fire departments and many churches. Edgecombe County has 49,000 people, approximately 10,000 of those people are elderly people. Edgecombe County is said to be one of the most poorest counties in the state, but that does not mean we have fields and birds that they can just screw us and plow over us and plant on top of us. If I'm elected, I'm committed to help bring positive economic growth to the development of our communities that serve to protect our health and our environment. First, to bring business which will same time provide long-term jobs and improve upward mobility for our county without displacing scattered communities occurring within the Mid-Lake subdivision. Most of us did not even know Mid-Lake subdivision was part of the Kingburn Industrial Megasite. 86 families were uprooted, scattered, and displaced in order to expand Kingburn Industrial Park and the Industrial Megasite. These families were uprooted and given deadlines to get out, supposedly to bring so-called progress to the Hitchcock County. It went unversely noted. Sadly, we did not attend until they came to us, and then we wanted to sit these devils down in our front yard. They proposed to bring the tire plant and the battery plant. That felt allowed. If elected, our community will bring positive economic growth and development to our community that does not uproot and scatter families and have roots in our community that date back to 175 or 200 years ago. Democracy will not begin on election day. The market stands, the market starts when we stand up and hold our elected officials accountable. And on election day, our voice, our vote, let them know where we stand. During the primary, I ran on the Dallas Southern platform for a commission of 56. I won that by six assembly votes. General election is coming up in November, and I'm asking y'all for y'all support. In November election, there was a lady by the name of Amy Robinette who said she would be a right-hand candidate. She said she was going to run it. I believe she was born to write in. We still have not seen the effects of her official yet, but we are taking it very seriously. She has an officer to make an official, but she can't write in as long as she completes the file with five paperwork 90 days before the election date. I think she only needs 48 signatures to write in to run. If elected commissioner, I would pledge to support the policy of economic development which puts community first. I will support economy growth development projects which make is their top priority. Protect our health, our environment, our quality of life, protect our water, our electric resources and reserves, protect our agriculture integrity, our farmers, the rural towns and communities. I also pledge to advocate for our public schools and our school teachers, our sheriff's department, and I pledge to support everyone, and most specifically, our public safety. I would not give special treatment exploring multiple billionaires' business that want 100 or 300 acres of taxpayer-owned land, but can only provide no more than 25 to 50 jobs. I'll be talking with the people, and I promise to get back with you in a timely manner. Dallas Sons can change our entire lives and our livelihood. We encourage people to come to the commission meeting every Monday, first Monday night in the month. Sign up. Sign up and voice your opinion, not only about Dallas Sons, but things in your everyday life. I'm not a politician, but we have become more active in our local politics to let our local elected officials know where we stand on issues. We must let them know what we will not feel. We must let them know that we will not feel that can be plowed over, just plant anything on top of us. The Dallas County Advisory Board was set up with about 14 members and majority recommended outright ban Dallas County. This recommendation was presented to the board commission by the advisory committee appointed by them but they are not talking about a moratorium instead of a ban. Therefore, we must still keep up the momentum of it. All the moratorium does is give time to regroup, retool, and means that they have not given up the idea of bringing data zones to its own kind. In the beginning, around November to December last year, we first took a stand against bringing these toxic and other data zones to our community. We was told it was not, it didn't matter. Men said we wasted our time, said we was the only few When I won the primary election in March, our commission said one vote is not going to change anything. And another group called the Hitchcock-Dallas House for Dallas House accountability has been in the forefront, kept it to the educated residents about the danger of Dallas House. In April, we had less than 300 votes. As of today, we have more than 2,000 signatures from the people throughout the county who oppose Dallas House in Hitchcock County. We're asking our commission to listen to the people that came from the advisory board The last several months, we have been researching pros and cons of Dallas Homes and their effects on our real screen, electricity, and all above. Without the help of our environment, we cannot come up with any good thing or positive about them. Towns and cities throughout the county are upholding them and let them be built in their town. Research conclusively shows Dallas Homes will not provide a long-term job. Why should a few acres of taxpayer-owned land be used as an incentive to attract billionaire businesses? that cannot provide more than 50 jobs. Even though construction jobs necessary to build these jobs, Davison reported, would not go to the local, but instead of the people already experienced in building the Erasure Davison. Research also show our elderly and young especially vulnerable because they're already being compromised by health conditions such as asthma, COPD, heart condition, lung, et cetera. We want good business to come to the Edgecombe County. We want business to bring long-term jobs to the Edgecombe County. We can do better. We cannot let our commissioner tell us that we cannot do better. We cannot let San Francisco, Edgecombe County community down the river to favor a big tech polluter just before they sell the pits and give the county a few tax dollars. And speaking of uprooting people, we need to uproot folks. Our commission to think it's okay to sacrifice health because it promised some tax dollars. No amount of money is worth our health. If you make a commission, it is not to build me up, but to humble me, to faithfully serve you, to people. Commission or serve with other people. This is not a black and white issue. This is a Democrat. This is not a Democratic voter issue. This is a human issue about saving our lives and our future generation. They have made it clear we certainly cannot depend on them to save us. I stepped up trying to help save the community. Now I need the community to step up and help me. Help me get this vote out. We must keep the pressure on these Dallas Sons complete ban, Edgecombe County, and our community. In addition, paper petitions. There are also two online petitions that you can sign, a poll in Dallas Sons. My website has a link to both petitions. Share and get others in your community to sign. Anyone living in Edgecombe County can sign these petitions. Vote. Both names will be presented to our current commissioner, letting them know you've made your voice heard. You know I won't die for something in Edgecombe County. The two petitions are, don't sell Edgecombe County to big tech polluters. Reject that assembly and rock them out in North Carolina. Surrounding towns like Princeville, Pinetop, Leggett, Liverpool, Bonita, West Edgecombe, Precinct 12-3. A signed resolution asking the Michigan band out of the Edgecombe County. We must do our part in getting out our precinct organizing. It's going to count as 21 precincts. We have two precincts that are unorganized. I don't claim to know everything. I'm aware that I have to learn more, but I'm willing to open to learning. You can help me learn by visiting my website where you can leave comments, concerns, questions, suggestions, and issues that you feel that I should be aware of. I'm convinced that keeping this election and getting our message out that we should be able to bring progress to our county at the same time to protect and save our community. Your help will be certainly helpful to obtain this goal. You can also sign up to volunteer on our website if you have some time to help us get out the vote. We need volunteers to help us canvassing, phone banking, knocking on doors, arresting voters, community outreach, sharing campaign information with the Christian Network Faith Group, clubs, community organization, event support, planning and assistance to set up, break down events, organize support, follow-up calls, preparing material, voter outreach, education, engaged voters before election, literature drop-off, yard signs, panels, campaign literature distribution, social media sharing posters, create content, a hip-boost campaign message, election day assistance, logistics of election day, get the early voting, get the earliest site handout flyer that's sample valid, In order, we need to help. And now, I want to say in closing, your voice matters. Be involved. Be involved. We must be the change we want. Every vote counts. Every vote matters. Make sure you are registered. Make sure you vote, too. We can build a better future for the Edgecombe County and our generation. On today, yesterday, when the report come out, that one of the reporters said that Dallas Center should never be taken off the table. He said a whole lot about things. He didn't say not one thing about the health of the people. That should have been the number one thing he should have spoke about, the health of our people. I want to thank you all again for coming out.

Thank you so much, Mr. Bass. At this time, we're going to take about 15 minutes for questions that anyone may have, and we will do our best to try to answer those questions. So at this time. Well, don't everybody speak at one time. So we've answered all your questions. Anything that you have in mind, what? Depending on your answer, then OK, press in.

So that video I sent you, they were starting with 120 acres, now they wanted 300 acres. Would that have taken homes away?

In the beginning, initially, When the public notice was given, when we had the public notification back in October, we were told 122 acres. And then as time progressed, the developer in an article indicated that they were going to push for more, for 300. So, and that's what the problem, that was one of the problems is that we were not getting clear information. There was not transparency. So we had to go with what we had in the beginning, that 122 acres. And that was what happened that caused the, when that proposal was made, That's when the development ordinance was amended in order to upgrade the decibel level from 50 to 60 to allow for that land to be sold. And that's when we started to look at deeper, trying to get information and get more clarity on what was being proposed.

So would it be possible for them to make people move out of their houses?

Yes, because, and I know you are referring to that video, and we're going to get that information out. Right now, there is a CBS News did a report on two families in Georgia that Georgia Powell is now forcing these people out of their homes because they are going to take their land in order to accommodate for more data centers to come in the area. They're going to take these people's land.

What was it called again? Internet domain. Internet domain.

So I'm going to get that. I'm going to get that YouTube, that link. I'm going to make sure that that link gets to you. I'm going to get it to you so you know how to get it out to people. Because I'm going to be honest with you. And I hope I don't tear them down. Because when I saw that, it brought tears to my eyes to know that these people are going to be forced Out of their homes. Because. Georgia Powell. Wants to put more. Utility lines in. To build a bigger infrastructure. Just to bring in more debt. These people are losing their homes. They're losing their homes. Just because. They want to bring more debt. And just like. David said. In that. article, that newspaper article that I read. And I guess that's why I'm emotional because once I read that, it just kind of documented my spirit today. All the things that were said in that article, not one thing was mentioned about the potential hazards that comes from these places. That It's not that we don't want economic development in the area. We do. By all means. We want our area to prosper. We want our area to grow. But we just can't settle for anything. What do you have to think about and look out for our people? Over time, you're going to hear things coming out. And I noticed, and I know you noticed, in the last two weeks, there is an ad that is promoted. But the ads came out after the legislature, the state legislature, are proposing different bills. Some of those bills are, they are all whole right now. But the main thing is that the state is now beginning to look at this. The General Assembly, the people in the General Assembly are beginning to look at this. And that now, those ads are coming out. And let me make this clear. Do your research. There are articles, news reports, There's going to be pros and cons, but do your research. Do your research. Because that commercial, that data center commercial, what is it called? North Carolina Connect. If you do your research, you will find that North Carolina Connect is connected to the major company that's coming out of Loudoun, Virginia, that's pushing these centers. They are doing business in North Carolina as North Carolina Connect, but it's coming out of Virginia.

One question I have is, of all that's being said about the benefits of data, none of them are saying that they're safe. You won't hear that. Say it again. There has to be a reason. I mean, none of them are saying that they're safe or that it can be done safely. All the money's being spent talking about the benefits. They're talking about the benefits of death. Are they safe? That came out in David's speech. Yes. Safety has to be a factor. If they're unsafe, I don't care. I mean, how can something benefit you when it's fucking a kid? Money won't matter. They don't care what you have. But we do. I hope we do. You're right, sir. But I'm saying we have to be concerned about our own health. And so that really is the issue. And I can't imagine anybody representing anybody. I couldn't talk to you about any benefit that I'm going to give you if I'm going to destroy you. I just don't understand the logic behind it.

Okay.

Yeah.

I feel a bit busy. OK, basically research.

Now people ask me what is the downtown? What is the downtown you know? Now.

I'm gonna read something before the stand up if you don't mind. So your boys are protected. Everybody can hear you. Thank you so much.

I was saying I did a little research myself, And believe it or not, some of the stuff you see on the internet or wherever they be, it may not be all true because they were saying that the data center pays for every watt of energy they use to generate things in Okinawa tax revenue. And I also said data center in Okinawa are the foundation of our world leading communities and preserving critical service such as healthcare, Education. Covenant safety. So a lot of stuff that they, you know, they saying, believe it or not, I don't know where you should actually go. They're not lining up with what Mr. Beck is saying and some others, you know. So see, when you go on the internet or whatever, and all this stuff, when they be saying this, this, and that, it's not always true. Something ain't true. You see what I'm saying? So be very careful on that part, you know. Because they're saying that they will take care of health care, education, public safety. And they say it's leaking worldwide, according to what I know. Actually, because I could, again, I wouldn't say a whole lot of things, but I don't want to go into that. So then I said to myself, because a lot of people at my church, at our church, I mean, I wanted to say something. I had to turn it over to Joni. Because I said, I looked at it, I tried to figure it out, but I go look for Jonah and just explain it to them. God lets you know more about it than I did, you know. So she did that Friday at the church, you know. So it's safe to say that everything you see, all right, I make it seem like it's going to be all right when we know it's not going to be all right. So you really got to watch what you, you know, what you read and what you hear, you know. Because the way they started, the way they put it, like it's going to be all, it's going to be all good. And they're coming through there. That's what I'm saying. Maybe some of it I heard in here. If they're going to cut through there, tell us to get on out of here. I thought about that way before I even heard it. That's not good for our community. And I'd also like to thank Mr. David Beck for standing up for our community and making other areas, not just seeing it go wrong, but other areas also.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Give him another hangout, I guess.

Anyone else? Well, the water source thing, like it is now, everything is around the thing. It's in a battle zone. It puts as much power in a small city. It takes billions of gallons of water to keep it cool down. What are we going to do when it comes to fattening the water? It's going to kill us too, Jim. But is there any type of law that can stop them from taking your property? Not that I'm aware of.

No, there's no law. If they come to you and say I want to buy your property, you say no. The government, they tell you to call and say I want eminent domain. You're going to lose that property one way or the other.

You got that? Yeah, but then they need to tell you how much they're going to give it to you.

Right. And then if you're saying what you will sell it for, they're going to say it's all the same for you. And you don't have no choice.

Right. It's like the place will be, I don't know if it's in Raleigh or here, but anyway, I think it's 100 acres of land. The Dallas Center won't be building it, but it's later on the property. She waived the amount and then let the Amazon come in and the place didn't call. They said the Dallas Center was going to destroy the property and the people helping right now. So she chose the Amazon Center to build instead of the Dallas Center. They're going to be in the United States, Dallas. How many people in Dallas? Imagine what they're going to do to your land and the people there.

That's one of the things that they don't cover. Just like she was saying, when you look at that North Carolina Connect commercial, it's all good. It's just good, good. But I have to say, I'll make glitter. It isn't good. But it's so important, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the importance of doing your research. When you hear something or see something, don't just get in and run with it. Research it. Check it out. Get the truth of the matter. That's what we need. Get the truth of the matter.

I wanted to ask if we have an opportunity to get an initiative to block data centers on the ballot for the next election? You said it again. So my question is, is there any way we can have an initiative on the ballot for to block data centers, say no to data centers. Is that possible?

Now, what I would do is call the Board of Elections and talk to the Board of Elections director.

Because it would be good if we could all vote on it. And of course, from what I've heard, the answer is no to data centers. But, okay, but I will call them and ask.

Yes, and that is... That's another point that I want to bring out is that the local government is not off limits to the people. The local government is not off limits. And one thing that this, you know, I'm going to say this.

You can pass, Janice. Go ahead.

No, you know I don't do that. You know I don't do that. Romans 8, 28. Romans 8, 28.

Talks about all things together for those that love the Lord and who are called

according to his purpose. Now, this data center thing, as far as I'm concerned, it's not good. But I know that there was a reason that this came to our attention in October. It was a reason. And one of the reasons is that for the community to know you can speak up. You can speak out. You have access to your local government officials. They are not off limits. And that is one of the things that the chairman of the Board of Commissioners stated. He said for a long time that that really the community had not said anything, had not done anything. But now the community is speaking up. He said for a long time that they had pretty much done what they wanted to do. But it's time that we speak up and we speak out and do it respectfully. And do it respectfully. So I just want to share that. Oh, let me get Ms. Ortiz.

I just wanted to ask a question. Why do they want to come into a close-knit community when there's so much open land out there? They're cutting down trees. Go out there in the woods somewhere where there's nobody. You know, I remember you telling me before that they said in the middle of nowhere. You know, like, Kingsburg is nowhere. We're just going to put it in Kingsburg. You know, I know it's predominantly black. It was all black, and we all owned our own land. It was nobody else in Kingsborough but us black people who owned all the land on Kingsborough Road and Antioch Road, and that's where they're calling it the Miller of Nowhere. It's not the Miller of Nowhere. We are in a place called Kingsborough, and that's our home state. We were born there and everything. Go out there and you'll find some way over on the highway. Go over there. Lay it out there. On the road where it's no houses. But they want to come right there and put that thing in our face, you know, and cause us bad.

Yeah.

Yeah, well. No single one thing that don't see you. You know it's brought up. We've had a meeting over at Rocky Mountain Saint Walk Church so much they say, well, how many data centers are coming to Nash Castle? None. Because Edgecombe is called a sacrifice zone. That's why it's called Edgecombe. And that's why we need to... The people of Edgecombe will stand up again. I just want to say real quick, when we leave here, and there's a lot of people here from Precinct 11-1, Precinct 12-3, and Precinct 13-1, and they've got blood signs here now. You can put a yard sign in your private property. You can't put it in a right way yet until... so many days for elections. But you can pull in your private property. We would like to see David's sign showing up in people's yards in each 11-1, 12-3, 13-1, and 14-1. And so be sure to get in the yard sign before you leave. Okay.

All right. Thank you for that. We got one more comment we're going to make, and then we're going to go further. Okay.

All I want to say was, look at what you can do if you come together and do it proactive a lot of times things are we're reacting now talking about the county commissioners now i've been going to the county commissioner meetings since the early 80s and i was the only one going a lot of times they even switched the means to morning because nobody coming but they switched it back tonight But like you said, nobody never came and asked for nothing. Then I'm up there by myself challenging them. So when you know you ain't got but one person, they look at you kind of crazy. But look at what can happen when you come together. I want to thank the group because y'all have been proactive. Y'all didn't wait until they came to the community. And that's what makes all the difference. You're ahead of the game. You talk about research. A lot of people don't know how to research. They want to do it. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You've got the researchers already here. When you hear about these things, like Ms. Kilman's best brother, when you hear about things, call somebody. I'm like this. I don't try to reinvent the wheel. If I know you're doing what you do, I'm going to pick up the phone and call you. Just like people ride by my house and see the signs in my yard who they want to vote for or call me, I'm going to reach out to somebody that's already doing it. So when I want to know something about the data center, which I'm on the group, I'm going to call you and find out what's going on. Don't try to figure it out. If you hear something, call. Call us and say, you know, is this true? Don't go through all that. You ain't got time to go through all that. Some people don't. But I just want to commend this group for all that y'all are doing on Precinct Level 1 and a lot of other stuff. But I'm just happy to see all these people here simply because over the years, like I say, I'll be 64 because today, I've been out here all these years fighting by myself. A few people came out, and my commissioner, my new commissioner, David Boswell, all these years, I ain't never seen him in the community. So, I mean, you know, thank you.

Thank you for that. Thank you for that. And that's, you were on point, because that's exactly what Ms. Francine Long did. She saw that link, and she sent it to me, asked some questions. And so now we're going to get that link to everyone else. Before we move on to the next thing, I just want to recognize Commissioner Larry Woodley. He's in the house. So if you have any questions for him, get him before he leaves. What did you say? Someone has a question? I'll do it later. Oh, okay. Okay.

All right.

We're going to move on. The next thing on the agenda, we're going to have remarks from our Edgecombe County issue here. I thought I saw her. Oh, there she is. Okay. I can't see clearly. We're going to have our own Edgecombe County Democratic Party chair. want them to come forth and pass a remarks, Ms. Alfreda Ferguson.

Let's bring it up, y'all. Well, my mouth is pretty big. I don't need a mic. When I whisper, you still can hear me back there. But what I wanted to say is not everybody will come and be a candidate. as a commissioner or whatever, some people will do it because they want recognition. You did it because it was something that was needed. As you said, I'm going to run against you and I'm going to win. And when I look at this room, when I look at this room, I say, thank everybody for being here. Thank you for being concerned about your community. Thank you for being willing to come out to see what's going on. And the commissioner meetings and the Town council meetings, their rooms should be so full that you have to have standing room only. The only way you're going to know what's going on in your community is by getting out there to find out what's going on. You got a lot of information out here, but you got to be willing to come out and talk and listen. And when something doesn't feel right, you got to be willing to do something about it. This election year, you can't sit back. and wait on somebody else to do the work for you. You gotta be able to have that voice. Get out there and work. Get out there and make sure that your livelihood is taken care of. In 1862, they had people who came down and they fought a war. They said it was about union, it was about slavery. And so they said, I'm coming down to fight that and make sure that the people are free because it's not just about us for right now, it's about those to come. That was 1862, you guys. We're in 2026. They came down here to make sure we, in the future, would be taken care of. Now you look at the administration. This new administration, and I tell you, right now they're trying to pass that bill, and I think it has been passed, where they're telling, look who's in control. It's the Republicans right now. They have the control of both houses. Who controls your board of election? They do. So whatever they say, that's going to go on in your community. But you got the last word. You voted these people in. You voted them in, vote them out. If they're not doing the work that you need done for you and your family and the future, vote them out. Early voting is October 15th. Early voting is October 15th. I say get out there and vote. Don't wait for November 3rd when they're going to go ahead and rig everything or stop from being able to vote. Right now, they are putting it on the books, whereas the ballots that come in, if they come in at a certain time, they're not going to be. And they want to be able to say which ballots are good or not. And so right now, things are going to change. Things are going to change even after they change. Because once they find out it ain't working, once they're gerrymandered, and they find out their gerrymandering ain't working, just because you're a Republican don't mean you're going to vote Republican. Just because you're unaffiliated don't mean you're going to vote Republican. There's no two lines at the service station. There's no two lines at the grocery store. We're all in this boat together. We sink together. And so if you don't go out and do your due diligence, if you don't take a neighbor out, if you don't take a relative out, those who are not registered to vote, talk to them and let them know this is no time to sit out. You can't afford to sit out. So I say, thank you, Mr. Betts, for stepping up and being willing to do the work. And you got somebody else in here too, When it comes to the blue ballot, I say right now, I don't care what your political party is. You best to vote Democrat right now, because that's the only thing that's going to save you. Once we flip those seats, then we get more of a say. But right now, if we do nothing, we're going to get the same old, same old. We're going to get everything that's taken away from everything that our forefathers worked for. And it's not just about a black person. It's about everybody, everybody. I don't know any color. That's not suffering right now when it comes to food and health care and where you live and everything across the board. You just got to be willing to get out there and work. We have a headquarters, 420 North Main Street. That's the Democratic Party. You can't miss it because we're in between Robert Dupree and Southern Bank. And it looks like a headquarters. You come down and you're going to see everybody sign up in the window. Your sign got to get up in there. And so my thing is being willing to stand up for your rights and for the rights of others who can't stand up. You got people in the nursing home. They can't fight. You got people who are born, children who are born, who need that health care. We've got to get out there and work, people. And everybody look for somebody who's not registered. And my thing is trying to get into the churches and talk to them. We got two Saturdays that's on early voting. I say to the churches, if you've got a van, get your members to the polls. So we have Fairview, which is the largest one. That's for early voting. We have the library in Pinetop, and we have the administration building in Tarboro. Those are the three sites. So I said, what can we do? We can do something. Don't have to sit back and do nothing. Some people are afraid, but we got to be strong enough to take them right on through. So my thing is, how do we find them? We're looking for people who are able to ride people to the polls who don't have a ride. You're going to have some people that don't have a ride. And right now we have coordinated campaign that's helping us to go out and knock doors and phone bank. We got something coming up on the 25th where you can volunteer down at the headquarters to either make phone calls or to go out and knock doors. Senator Smith came down this past Saturday. She knocks them door. And so we got people coming down from the state on the 25th. That's another Saturday. I'm willing to work it because it's not just about me. It's about all of us. And if we're not willing to work for all of us, then we're willing to just fall down for anything. So I say, when we vote, we win. That's the old slogan. When we vote, we what? We win. Let's get out here and get this thing done.

We can do it.

Yes, we can do it. Yes, we can do it. A lot of times we hear people say, my vote won't count. No, it won't count.

It won't.

But one vote, it matters. It matters. And they can prove that in the primary.

That's right.

At this time, I'm going to have Dan come up and talk about his business a little bit.

I was trying to be that way because I travel the county, but not only the county, but across the state in video. But today I asked, could I come and say a few words? I know I'm not talking to you, but I'm a community organizer for the North Carolina Black Alliance in Advanced Carolina. I started March the 1st. Then they put me in the office and I chose Rocking Mountain. I didn't put any word in the county, but I chose Rocking Mountain. It's going to be on the Douglas block. I hope I have the keys by next week. So I'll be reaching out to people and talk about what's going on in the county and what we can do. We're a partner. We should, if you have something like this right here, we can, you know, we can have money and stuff like that, refreshments and all that kind of stuff. But I ain't going to hold you long. I got some information here. This is what we're all about, building power, strengthening the community, advancing solutions. The North Carolina Black Alliance is a 501c3 organization working to enhance the well-being and advancement of communities through systematic policy change, economic empowerment, and youth and leadership development. Why we exist? Black communities face interconnected challenges across civil participation, economic opportunity, education, community well-being. basically everything as it relates to politics. And I'm unapologetic Black. I talk Black because I am Black. But what I recognize and understand years ago, that when Black folks do better, everybody's going to fit. So it ain't just about me being Black. I want what's best for us. And then everybody's going to fit. So it's not a Black or white thing, no matter what folks say about me. I'm good with that. I support everybody. And before I forget, I want to thank Larry Willie for coming out, too, because All the meetings I go to, I don't see no labor officials. And he's been coming out ever since he's been elected. So thank you, my man, for coming out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Be a political and economic power in Black communities and institutions in North Carolina. Advancing the interests of Black communities who advocate for solutions to our issues and supporting candidates who are aligned and central to our work. Right now we're doing, I just started in March. This is actually my first time speaking by myself. I've been going from here to Elizabeth City and places. But we are doing a campaign right now called Black Summer Outside. And we're trying to get people to walk through the neighborhood cameras and talk about the amendments to the balance. You're talking about property tax amendments, income tax amendments, amendments to be considered, right to work amendment, right to farm amendment, council state departments, state board relations, superintendent as chair amendment, pointless carry amendment. And we also have, we'll put these on the door when we go. Talking about property taxes and stuff. So we got a lot of good information. Like I said, we're partnered with your organization. Like I said, we have some funds. Upcoming election, November, around August, I'm going to be sending out some information. We'll be paying $25 an hour for people that want a canvas. So I'll be sending out information. You can go on the internet and look me up, Camillus Butch Dancing. Just type in my name, you'll see all my information. Reach out to me before I reach out to you. Next week, I have a key to the office, and I'm going to start putting out information so you can come in. I meet with individuals, collect officials, everyday people, see what you want in the community, and we'll go from there. So I appreciate y'all for this time, and I look forward to working with everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Manson, and it's purposeful for your comments. Appreciate that very much. And I'm excited about the information that everyone's getting tonight. And I'm just absolutely thrilled to see this room full like it is because You all are going to go back in your respective areas and you're going to pass this information on. That's right. I want to recognize Ms. Carol White. I know she's not here. Right here. You want to just, you have a couple comments you want to make right quick? Yeah, so everybody knows who you are.

Good evening, everyone. Good evening. I'm delighted to be here this evening. I'm Carol Ellen White. I was born and bred in Edgecombe County, graduate of South Edgecombe and Shaw University. And so Edgecombe is my home and I love, and I just want to thank you all for what you're doing in your community. and how we can continue to do it together. But we know it's by the grace of God that I am that I am. And so I give him all the credit. There is a lot of work to be done. The court system has changed. And so we know that in the court system, there are so many things that need to be shared with our community. And before the court system have changed, there was things that we were bringing information to our community to help someone. that may have had a criminal record to get back on their feet. But we want them not to have a criminal record and get the education that they need in order to be able to serve and make us proud and our children. So with the court system changing, we need each other. The community is broken, but each one of us, each one, can reach one. When I went to the courthouse, actually born and reared in Edgecombe County, graduate of South Edgecombe School, a year, my final year in high school, my husband and I, Robert, got married, married to the same man. That's a lot of grace, y'all. pray for him. He wasn't feeling as well when I left, but he was giving me his, he always does, he always gives me his support. His name is Robert White, and he and I, he was my school bus driver. You know what I did? My school bus driver. But through it all, I have, I was reared in Edgecombe County, and by the grace of God, it was amazing to be in the schools graduate of South Edgecombe High School. My father would drink alcohol. I feel that it was preparing me for now for service. All of us in this room can give back. And congratulations to you, sir, and your lovely family and all that you're doing for our community. But in graduating from high school and learning life The tough way of having my mom was a very strong woman in faith. And she believed in treating people right. And everybody is somebody. And all these things was instilled in me. But yet I came from a home that mom was battered. But she still taught me to forgive my father, which I'm so grateful. She didn't want me to carry that hate. She wanted me to take this energy on and serve. And that is what we are doing tonight, to serve and to help each other. And in the midst of that, going to the high schools, going to the middle school and school itself, the teacher saw something in me as with giving back to the community. What I'm saying is, it's not where you start, it's where you end up. And it's really not about me, but it's about our tomorrow that we're sharing tonight. I would say don't give up on God because he won't give up on you. Don't give up on each other. Okay? We're not always going to agree, but we can agree to disagree to help each other to become stronger and to give. And that is what I continue to pray and ask for because of being at the courthouse and seeing people in need, but yet seeing people going to prison, their life restored. It was founded of It Starts With You, a program that helped people to return to our community, to be stronger. So there are so many different things and different hats that we're wearing. And I just want each one of you to be encouraged and know as your clerk of Superior Court, there are statutes that I have to abide by, but we are here to help you to serve and to do all that we can do to help our community to be stronger than it ever was, because we are broken. We see young people coming into the court system, And they get stuck in it. And we have work to do. And I pray that if there's anything that I can do within the law, because you don't want me to break the law. Anything that I can do to help my community and my community help me for us to stay strong and give back to the community. I'm here to do so. I'm also a pastor of Greatest Coming Ministry in Shotsburg and also associate minister with Bethlehem Baptist Church, where my pastor, Pastor Wayne Hines, was a commissioner with illness now. He's no longer involved. He'll be retiring pretty soon. Thank you all, each one of you, for what we do. Don't y'all forget me on that ballot.

We have gained some good information today.

We have learned

some good information tonight. We have been encouraged, uplifted. Let's take that, take it, use it, act on it. David is a walking example of what can happen when you wanna do the right thing. want to be the right person. But what he has shown is that it can be done. What he has done is given each and every one of us in here hope. Hope. What he has done is spoken. The word says life and death is in the power of the tongue. Now, when David stood up to that podium and said, we will primary you out of here. No one took it. Well, I heard it. I heard it. And I am one that is I live on life and death is in the power of the tongue. So I'm careful in what I say. I'm careful in what I speak. But when he said it, I knew it. And those that are in our group know that because he made a statement and I said, when you win, when you win, he spoke it. He spoke it into existence. There were some other things that he spoke tonight

About being accountable.

When he said.

When he win. He will follow up.

With the issue. Not only did he say it. But let me tell you something. When he was. Invoking to all of us. Is that we be accountable. And make sure that he. Follows up. And we have that right to do that. We have that right to do that, to follow up. And I can say this about him because we grew up together. So he knows me. I know him. I know his family. Let me tell you one thing. David don't know this. Robert don't know this. But this meant something to me. We had a meeting that I can't remember where it was. But anyway, we had a meeting that I was going to attend. Now, he didn't have to be there. He did not have to be there. But let me tell you what he did. He showed up. He said, I'm here for Sephora. That spoke volumes. For me. And I'm saying that. To share it with you. To know. That when he say. What he's going to do. He's going to do. He has earned the right. You hear the phrase. Talk the talk. But I don't use that. I don't use it. What I use. Is walk the talk. Because you have to have walked it. In order to talk. Now this man. Has walked. And is walking. So he can talk. I want y'all to hear me now. Because this is important. This is important. That. In November. And just like Ephraim said. October the 15th. But this is something I want y'all to be aware of. And I cannot express this enough. How you can get information yourself. The young lady asked me about that initiative, getting on the ballot. Well, go to the source, the Board of Elections. Go to the source and get that information. And something Ms. Alfreda mentioned about the voting room. That's something we need to find out because the state board of election, correct me if I'm wrong, but the state board of election is invoking new rules for mail-in ballots. So find out about what's going on there. So if our military, our college students that are out of state, find out what's going on. So if anybody has to get in that ballot, mail in that ballot, let's make sure that that ballot is mailed in on time and properly. See, what we need to do is take the excuses away. Take the opposition's excuses away against us. And that's one of the reasons we, the other main reason, you know, I said that there was two main reasons that we get to know and hear from David Bass. Now we get ready to go into the next major reason, and that is to talk about Precinct 13-1 and Precinct 14-1. Now I don't know if there are any members here from 14-1, but those 13-1 and 14-1 are two good, strong precincts. We need to have those precincts organized. And so, and something that we should not be hearing among ourselves, among the community, is that we don't know what our precinct is. We don't need that. We need to know our precinct. We need to know. And we need to know what it means for a precinct to be organized. Okay. Let me let you let me get.

OK, I wanted to say in order to organize a precinct, you only need five people, right?

Right, we gotta. That's what we want to get into.

So we go ahead and deny we have. If we have these nine people here from precinct 13 one and we want those people to meet tonight and organize that precinct, the Democratic Party. You got the paperwork. There's nine people. Oh, so anyway. You know, one person here from 14-1, and we hope the next time we meet, maybe we'll have full-on people.

So at this time, we're going to close out. We got refreshments in the back.

What are you doing? I don't want to ask them. Oh, we got a question? I'd like to ask the chair, Caroline, for every year. Okay, thank you. Now it's the next event. Goodness.

Good evening, everybody.

I am Kimberly Lyon, and I'm the pre-set chair for 123 West Edgecombe. And on August the 7th, we will be having a meet the candidates. And I've already sent that to our chair, Alfreda Perkins, and Alfreda is going to get that information out as well. But we will be having a meet the candidates on August the 7th at the West Edgecombe Fire Department. from 5.30 to 7.30. We already got about seven or eight candidates now that have said yes to that. And Mr. Wood is one of those. So he will be in attendance. And so is Mr. David. But we do have a list of candidates that will be there. Those ones that are on our local ballots, the judges, we and all those. So we got them out and we're going to have them there. They're going to take about five minutes to speak and tell us about the platform. Sheriff Clee is going to be there. He's running out of polls, but he will be there so he can actually thank the community because he likes to be hands-on. So he will be there as well. But we will have some lightning freshmen. It's August 7th, 530 to 730. at the West Edge County Volunteer Fire Department. So we hope to see you all there. Make sure you get that word out so we can get everybody that we can there so that we can know who these candidates are and we can understand what their platform is and who we need to vote for. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And that's another thing, what we are doing. I mean, we are on an educational mission here because when we are educated, That takes away the excuses. All right. Okay, well, as we're closing out, you can say what you want to say. And like I said, there are refreshments in the back. And the members of 13-1 get with Jim. Go ahead. There you go. Thank you. Hi, man. Appreciate it.

Appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Thank you, man.