District 1 petition raises questions

Two days after Goldsboro City Councilwoman Brandi Matthews accused four of her fellow board members of ignoring the will of District 1 by electing Hiawatha Jones to fill a vacant council seat, a public records request revealed details about the “21 people” Ms. Matthews claimed signed a petition in support of Yvonnia Moore.

During Monday’s City Council meeting, Ms. Matthews took aim at Mayor Chuck Allen and councilmen David Ham, Bill Broadaway and Gene Aycock after the four voted to fill the seat formerly held by Wayne County Commissioner Antonio Williams with Ms. Jones — accusing them of “bias” and “wrongdoings.”

“So, what we’re saying, I want us to be real clear, one, I’m extremely disappointed in this board and two, I want it to be clear that what we just said is that the residents of District 1 do not matter, this petition does not matter and ultimately, we still want to decide who we think is a better fit,” she said. “You guys ignored the residents. You purposely ignored them after you all said their voices mattered. You sat here and went against what District 1 said they wanted and who they thought was a better fit to represent them. Instead, you chose someone who’s going to represent you. You should be ashamed of that.”

But the petition, which was obtained by the New Old North Wednesday via a public records request, raises questions about just who the four councilmen “ignored.”

According to North Carolina State Board of Elections voter information, five of the 21 people listed on the petition are not registered voters.

At least one individual is not a resident of District 1 — the only verifiable addresses on file for two other people on the list is in Kinston.

Three other addresses attributed to petitioners are incomplete.

In addition to the questions about the physical addresses, the handwriting on several of the entries that share an address — Workman Street, Astor Court and North Carolina Street — are very similar. The handwriting on another set of entries, where two petitioners share a last name, also appears to match.