Goldsboro is officially seeking bids from companies that want to stabilize Union Station — a move city leaders say is the longawaited first step toward saving the landmark.
BY KEN FINE p. 12
JANUARY 19, 202 5 Volume 2, Issue 20 NEWOLDNORTH.COM
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CONTENTS
4 Pikeville seeking charter change
Figuring out a way to hold a recall election has been a hot topic among Pikeville residents and elected officials since Mayor Garrett Johnston became the center of a scandal last summer. Monday, the town’s Board of Commissioners voted to give their attorney marching orders to approach the Legislature and find a way to make it happen.
6 Homeless count set for Jan. 29
Without an accurate accounting of how many homeless residents live in Wayne County, organizations working to solve the crisis stand to lose federal dollars meant to support their effort.
9 Mount Olive manager fired
Mount Olive Town Manager Jammie Royall was fired by the Board of Commissioners Jan. 13 — and at least one elected official has implied the move was racially motivated.
10 Our take
Mount Olive should have followed the Goldsboro City Council’s lead — and the town’s board still can.
12 Cover story
Goldsboro leaders have officially requested bids from companies interested in stabilizing Goldsboro Union Station — a move Mayor Charles Gaylor and Interim City Manager Matthew Livingston said was a sign that the effort to save the Wayne County landmark is back on track.
20 The Spectator
ArtXecute is still going strong — as evidenced by participants’ recent performance of “Lion King Jr.” at the Paramount Theatre.
COVER DESIGN BY SHAN STUMPF
NEWS + VIEWS
Pikeville seeks charter change, recall election
Members of the town’s Board of Commissioners have empowered their attorney to ask the N.C. Legislature how the town can get authority to change its charter to allow for a recall election in the wake of a scandal involving Mayor Garrett Johnston.
BY KEN FINE
Pikeville residents and elected officials have been discussing their options since last summer — when what was supposed to be a private conversation between Mayor Garrett Johnston and two town residents went public after audio of the meeting was leaked to town employees and Wayne Week by a whistleblower.
But it was not until Monday that the Board of Commissioners voted to authorize the town’s attorney to approach members of the North Carolina Legislature to request that officials be allowed to alter the town charter — a move that would allow for a recall election so Johnston could, should voters make it happen, be removed from office before his term comes to an end this November.
Town Manager Tim Biggerstaff said Tuesday that he and several board members agree that “the people” made it clear last summer that they wanted Johnston gone, referencing a contentious town meeting held inside the Pikeville-Pleasant Grove Fire Department July 8, 2024, that saw 100-plus residents cheer every time someone used their turn at the microphone to call for Johnston’s immediate resignation.
Their issues with the mayor included everything from disparaging remarks he made
about Biggerstaff, Police Chief Rodney Jarman, and other town employees to his plan to change the town’s form of government so he could initiate what he called “Operation Clean Sweep” and fire them all.
Johnston made fun of an employee he said was “dyslexic” and therefore could not be trusted to “read meters,” and claimed another, who was recovering from cancer, was “basically just here for the benefits.”
He lambasted Biggerstaff — calling him names and inferring there was something inappropriate about the fact that he adopted a 13-year-old boy.
“The manager works for the board — at the pleasure of the board — and we can fire him at any time without cause,” Johnston said. “So, when we decide we’re done — he can wear the wrong aftershave one day and piss us off — we can fire him. There’s nothing he can do about it.”
He attacked Jarman and other town law enforcement officers — calling the chief a “manipulator,” who, despite having worked in law enforcement since 2009, was not fit for the position.
“There’s not another agency in Wayne County that will hire him,” the mayor said. “That should say something to you.”
And he made disparaging remarks about
the law enforcement community as a whole.
“The law enforcement crowd, you’re gettin’ guys with daddy issues that need a badge to feel powerful. Knowing that we’re going to be dealing with those kinds of personalities, we just need strong leadership over them to keep them in line,” Johnston said. “We know they’re coming with issues. … If we leave Jarman too long, he’s going to create a whole lot of trouble. So, he’s gotta go quick.”
And while Johnston has, since July, been absent from several board meetings, he was in attendance Monday — and, according to Biggerstaff, criticized board members for voting to engage with the state on the matter that could potentially lead to a recall election.
But the town manager said he broached the subject not simply as a means to, perhaps, get rid of the embattled mayor. For him, it is about protecting the town’s future should another scandal emerge.
“This has very little to do with him,” Biggerstaff said. “It’s a message to him, but this is about a lot more than that.”
And that’s why, despite the fact that the potential change to the charter first came to the fore after Johnston’s comments were published and residents began calling for him to step down, Biggerstaff “let things cool down”
before engaging the board.
In fact, he did not formally broach the subject until December.
“Back in December, during the manager’s report, I said, ‘How does the board feel about pursuing an amendment to the charter for filling vacant seats and for recall elections? It’s come up in the past and it’s just a safety measure for the people of the town,’” Biggerstaff said. “A couple board members jumped right on it. It was, ‘Yes. This is holding us accountable to the town.’”
And they agreed to continue the conversation in the new year, a discussion that ultimately unfolded Monday.
The mayor, according to several people in the room, was visibly upset.
“(Johnston) said, ‘No. This needs to be put on the ballot in November. Let the people decide,’” Biggerstaff said. “Well, (Commissioner) Matt (Thomas) said, ‘Absolutely not. They showed up in July at the fire department and said that this is what they want. That was their vote. You just didn’t listen to them.’”
And despite Johnston’s continued protest, the board voted 4-1 to let the town attorney “take it to the next step” and approach Rep. John Bell about how to, like the town of Leland did in 2024, get a bill in front of the General Assembly that would allow for the charter change. n
High-stakes homeless count on the horizon
Without an accurate accounting of the size of its homeless population, Wayne County risks missing out on federal dollars meant to help combat a growing crisis.
BY KEN FINE
Last January, the organizations, volunteers, and Goldsboro police officers who participated in the nation’s annual “point-in-time” count had a place to start — the site off Royall Avenue beyond the tree line known as “Tent City.”
But the encampment, while home to the majority of the county’s homeless residents, was only one of the places at which they would find people to add to their final tally.
By day’s end, between 50 and 60 were identified — a number that would ultimately translate into federal dollars that, once they had trickled down into state and local coffers, could help them combat Wayne County’s homelessness crisis.
But this year, those who will take to streets, hotels, and shelters across the community Jan. 29 in hopes of gaining an accurate accounting know they are facing an uphill battle because Tent City was shuttered nine months ago.
And that, they said, could jeopardize funding meant to alleviate the crisis.
Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West has said for months that his officers were finding it increasingly difficult to wrap their arms around the homelessness issue that still plagues the city because former Tent City residents have repeatedly rejected hand-ups and have begun populating numerous encampments across Goldsboro.
So, he is expecting a “tougher” task at the end of the month when non-profits and volunteers join his officers to execute the formal accounting.
“I do believe it’s gonna be more difficult,” West said. “Given the fact that they are dispersed — they are more scattered throughout the community — it’s going to be a little more difficult for those people who are out there trying to do the count, unless some of those individuals who are going to be doing the count already know where they all are.”
United Way Executive Director Sherry Archibald shares West’s concern.
“Like the chief said, when it comes to the Tent City folks, I think they’re just in different places now,” she said.
And unless “accurate numbers” come in during the count, funding for Wayne County — and the region it belongs to — could significantly decrease.
“That’s why we’re doing it. The more information that we’re sharing, the more our numbers are realistic, that’s going to increase
the dollars that are sent down to our county,” Archibald said. “If we’re not having adequate numbers — and accurate numbers — we’re not getting enough money in the whole region to even apply (for the money).”
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, homelessness increased by 18 percent from 2023 to 2024, reflecting a jump by approximately 770,000 people.
And the crisis “increased among nearly all populations” — from single individuals, people in families with children, unaccompanied minors, and seniors.
The only decline? The homeless veteran population, which saw a 7.6 percent drop.
Of the homeless counted in communities across the country, more than one-third of
them had no shelter at all.
And North Carolina was the home of the nation’s 15th highest homeless population after seeing a 17 percent increase.
But HUD officials seemed to acknowledge that the data, itself, might not be reflective of a true increase in the Tar Heel State — that it is possible that a “noted increased capacity” for conducting the counts might have led to higher-than-expected numbers.
Local officials have differing views on the severity of the crisis, too.
In fact, West said it is difficult to put “an actual number” on Goldsboro’s homeless population for a myriad of reasons — not the least of which is the fact that many homeless residents steer clear of law enforcement for fear of being arrested.
“When people come to me — you, members of the public — and they want to know, ‘Chief, what is the number of homeless people we think we have in the community?’ I try to
The more our numbers are realistic, that's going to increase the dollars that are sent down to our county.
give you a realistic number. And what I’m seeing is 20 to 40,” West said. “But again, then you hear 50 to 60. So, it’s hard to say.”
One thing, though, is clear.
Encampments continue to pop up a cross Goldsboro.
“There are places where we think they are. I still think there’s people out there behind Ollie’s and, you know, off of 795 and places like that,” West said. “So, yes. We still have a homeless population. But will we be able to accurately put our finger on its size Jan. 29? I really don’t know.”
Archibald remains optimistic.
And with so much at stake — including access to Emergency Shelter Program and Rapid Re-Housing funds — she will keep her faith in the organizations who will do “the heavy lifting” at the end of the month.
“I am still hopeful,” she said. “And last year, we had a good five (organizations) that were willing to help, so I’m confident that we’ll have at least that many again.” n
HOMELESSNESS BY THE NUMBERS
IN SEGMENT OF U.S. HOMELESS POPULATION FROM 2023 T 0 2024
EXPERIENCES OF HOMELESSNESS IN UNITED STATES BY HOUSEHOLD TYPE AND SHELTERED STATUS IN 2024
NORTH CAROLINA DATA:
17% Increase in North Carolina in its homeless population between 2023 and 2024.
1,196 Homeless population growth in North Carolina between 2023 and 2024,
47% of North Carolina homeless population is designated as “unsheltered.”
HUD reported 8,396 homeless “individuals” in North Carolina during the 2024 point-in-time count. Individuals are defined by the government as single people without a spouse or children.
524 The 2024 point-in-time count of documented homeless “unaccompanied youth” in North Carolina
UNITED STATES DATA:
118,376 person increase in homelessness from 2023 to 2024.
In 2024 , more than one of every four people experiencing homelessness was a child under the age of 18 (19%) or a young adult between the ages of 18 and 24 (8%).
People between the ages of 35 and 54 make up almost half of the total number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
32% increase of homeless among children from 2023 t0 2024. While all populations saw increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness between 2023 and 2024, the largest percentage increases were among children.
SOURCE: HUD’s 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress
Allegations of racism fly before, after Mount Olive board fires manager
Town Manager Jammie Royall was terminated Jan. 13 during a special meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 15 and changed at the last minute by members of the Board of Commissioners without Mayor Jerome Newton’s knowledge.
BY KEN FINE AND RENEE CAREY
An off-color “joke” that led to claims of racism.
An open session vote to hold a special closed-session meeting of the Mount Olive Board of Commissioners.
A decision — allegedly made informally, and likely in violation of Open Meetings Law, by the majority of the board without Mayor Jerome Newton’s consent — to change the date of that meeting.
An email sent by the mayor protesting the change as a violation of “proper protocol.”
The termination of Town Manager Jammie Royall.
And all of that has unfolded since Jan. 6.
Newton has said recent happenings have created a “tumultuous” time for Mount Olive.
But Commissioner Delreese Simmons has different descriptors.
He claims “a certain commissioner” wants to “run this town” and that Royall was fired because he wasn’t going to be “the boy they wanted.”
He has referred to, in writing, the three board members who had a role in bypassing Newton to change the special meeting date and then voting to terminate the town manager despite the mayor’s absence as “the 3 stooges.”
He said Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Kornegay should resign for being “racist” — for saying, in response to Simmons quipping that he might apply for the town manager position should Royall be let go, that if he did so, “they” were going to “string you up.”
“Lynching is nothing to joke about,” Simmons posted on his Facebook page. “So I’m pissed, I’m angry, I’m fired up. To think a white woman would say that to me then say she joking. And the white men on the board set (sic) in silence.”
And he implied the firing of Mount Olive’s “first black town manager” was racially motivated — questioning the timing, given the fact that it came less than 10 days after the fallout from Kornegay’s comment prompted her to apologize for a “poor choice of words.”
When given the chance to comment Tuesday, Kornegay said while she appreciated the opportunity to speak with Wayne Week, it would be “helpful” if “we could put this conversation off a few days until things settle down a bit” because “things are very busy right now with the changing leadership at our town.”
And when she was informed that to meet the paper’s deadline and guarantee her response was included with the coverage of the issues raised, she said she understood but that she was “very busy right now with matters that affect the town” and “perhaps” could “chat next week.”
After the board voted 3-2 to fire Royall, members appointed Utilities Superintendent Glenn Holland to fill the vacancy in an interim capacity.
But the mayor, before the meeting took place, objected to the proceeding and the fact that he was informed about the date change via text message. He added that following through with action on Royall could be perceived as having been motivated by “vengeance and racism.”
The following email, which was obtained by Wayne Week, was sent by Newton to members of the board before the Jan. 13 session. It has not been edited:
Greetings Commissioners,
During the monthly meeting of January 6, 2025, the Board voted to have a closed session meeting on January 15, 2025 of which I agreed to preside. A recent text communication informed me that the meeting for January 15, 2025 had been rescheduled to an earlier date, without my consent or input. As the Town Mayor, proper proto-
Sources close to Royall told Wayne Week he is consulting with an attorney.
Sources close to Royall told Wayne Week that he is consulting with an attorney and could potentially sue the town.
His firing comes a little more than a year after Mount Olive officials were notified by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor that the town was under investigation — and state officials began conducting interviews and pulling documents as part of the inquiry.
And while it remains unclear how long it will take for the NCOSA to complete its investigation, the office seemingly laid out what it was looking into in an email sent to Royall Dec. 20, 2023.
In the notice, which was obtained by Wayne Week via a confidential source, Staff Auditor Jenna Murphy wrote that NCOSA had received “allegations of improper conduct” regarding the town.
col demands my direct input in assembling and/ or changing closed-door sessions. I did advise that the date change is not in keeping with my availability. My suggestion is postponement to a date amenable to all concerned.
Over the last week, I have been struggling to comprehend the January 6, 2025 revelation of the term utilized by Commissioner Kornegay – “string you up” - issued to Commissioner Simmons. To date, this matter has caused a tumultuous predicament of much outrage, criticism, concern and anguish.
The apology of Commissioner Kornegay, a longstanding Caucasian official, does not preclude the level of the resulting insensitivity and threat imposed upon the use of such racially charged verbiage referring to the “lynching” of an African American male official. The statement overshadows and outweighs the proposed meeting’s intent as we have an outstanding negative atmosphere to manage. While I know some of you would like to proceed forward, the dynamics of this closed meeting has changed. We must consider the atmosphere at this time to avoid the appearance of vengeance and racism regardless of your motivation.
Hence, I object to the meeting on January 13 and I propose that the intended meeting’s closeddoor matter be moved to a more appropriate date as we manage the pressing challenge before us with citizens, the press and surrounding towns.
We all must be concerned with the harmony, peace and justice that our citizens richly deserve.
Sincerely,
Dr. J. Jerome Newton, Mayor
“I am an investigator with the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor. OSA investigates allegations of improper governmental conduct by state agencies or state employees within our statutory authority,” the email reads. “OSA received allegations regarding the Town of Mount Olive.”
Murphy then requested a series of documents to “assist with the triage of the allegations.”
They include:
• The town’s personnel policy.
• The town’s secondary employment policy.
• The town’s procurement policy.
• All open and closed board minutes from June 1, 2020, to the present.
• All of William Carroll Turner’s contract(s) of employment entered into between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2023.
• All documents pertaining to the sidewalk construction performed on Church Street in 2022.
Had Kornegay spoken to Wayne Week, she would have been asked, as mayor pro tem, about her role in and the reason for the meeting date change, and also why she backed Royall’s dismissal.
If she is able to talk next week, Kornegay also will be offered the opportunity to address the racism accusations. Her comments will appear in the Jan. 26 edition of Wayne Week. Calls to the NCOSA for comment on the status of its investigation have not yet been returned. n
Jammie Royall
MOUNT OLIVE BOARD PUTS TOWN IN A PICKLE
{ our TAKE }
It is called shooting yourself in the foot. And it happens in local governments — and in other places — far too often in today’s social media climate.
A tossed off comment — ill-advised and unnecessary — is thrown out into the ether and it becomes a thing, a controversy, and a conversation that otherwise detracts from the real concerns that need to be addressed.
And then comes the apology — another distraction from the work that needs to be done, self-flagellation that seems, well, more like damage control than a thoughtful consideration of what was a golden opportunity to think before speaking.
We have seen many, many of these over the last few years — and seen the resulting uproar as political enemies or those who disagree pounce on the opportunity to embarrass, to label, and to excoriate.
Of course, it is, in part, theater.
And, of course, it is absolutely an unforced error.
Sometimes it is merely a poor choice of words.
And in some cases, it is really an insight into an attitude, a philosophy, or a plan that is less than savory and really, a glimpse of bad character.
We have seen many examples of both.
And this latest one will not be the last.
But the conversation about the comment made by a member of the Mount Olive Board of Commissioners — and how it should never have happened — is not the only lesson to be learned this week as we see yet another local government wrestle with hiring, firing, and power.
This is just another important example of what happens when a community faces a crisis and has to make a big decision — and why, if that decision includes a major administrative change, it needs to be done right.
And in this case, that means …
• Not changing a special-called meeting on the fly without notifying your mayor.
• Following Open Meetings Law and making sure you don’t give off the appearance of foul play.
• When you have a controversy about a stupid and ill-advised comment from one of your commissioners with racial undertones, you don’t then go blindly blundering into firing
your town manager — seemingly like it was done on a whim or, worse yet, as retaliation.
• And when the chief executive of the town, the person your community elected as its mayor, advises careful handling of the matter because of the tensions raised by that ill-advised and unfortunate comment, you listen.
Whether it was just a dumb statement or not — whether it was simply a toss-off with little thought of the actual meaning behind the content — those words stung and stuck.
And that means, if you really understand the consequences of the words, you have to move cautiously.
You see, when you are dealing with hirings and firings — and you have a major change to make in your town — it is critical that it is made soberly, with much forethought about the potential consequences, both in the leadership of your community and in the potential legal fallout.
You don’t set yourself up for a lawsuit. At least, that’s what you should do.
We don’t know whether or not Mount Olive Town Manager Jammie Royall deserved to be fired or not.
There has been some public discussion of concerns.
There were a few warnings that there needed to be a change.
But now, the matter is clouded by not only the timing in the wake of the offensive comment, but also by super slick and improper handling of the meeting date change.
So, if there were questions and there needed to be a change made at Town Hall, we are not talking about them — or how to make an orderly transition to a more qualified leader for the town.
We are talking about how bad all of this looks.
And those who have been tasked with leading the town of Mount Olive should have known better.
And if they didn’t, they should have listened to their mayor, who tried to warn them. If all of this sounds a little familiar, it should.
The city of Goldsboro has been through just this sort of battle.
There were concerns about the city manager.
The council had questions.
A decision needed to be made — and it was, by the book.
It was not easy, and it was not pleasant.
But it had to be done.
And now, Goldsboro has a solid, qualified interim city manager in place while it looks for a permanent leader.
In other words, the City Council is going about it the right way.
There is going to be a process, and the standards are much higher, both for qualifications and performance.
They are not handling their next hire the same way because they learned a lesson the hard way.
And that, friends, is how you make a meaningful change that sets a course forward in a positive direction for your community.
We don’t really know why the Board of Commissioners sent Royall packing.
And it seems pretty likely that the community they serve does not know either.
Perhaps there was a good reason.
And maybe, in the face of an investigation by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor launched after complaints were made about how the town was being managed, the board was looking for a scapegoat — or decided that a change in leadership was the best way to show state officials that the issues were being addressed.
We don’t know the answer because what should have been an open, honest, and respectful discussion of the state of the town turned into what looks very much like a power struggle gone bad.
It is what happens when you choose Wild, Wild West and doing what you want and not what the law requires — and you add in an ill-timed and tasteless comment for good measure.
See how bad it looks?
We bet you do.
The town of Mount Olive is not alone.
Many of our local communities struggle to find the right people to take on the jobs of watching over the taxpayers’ money and making sure decisions are made that are in the best interests of the people.
And in many cases, those leaders are left to their own devices — and they get a little bit too full of themselves and power-drunk.
When they do, and no one is there to hold them accountable, they get careless at best and stupid at the worst.
And that is when small problems become big ones, and you end up with a catastrophe like a multi-million-dollar debt in your school district, city audits that are years in arrears, complaints about city management, an incompetent Register of Deeds, and a sheriff’s office that has two major indictments of its leadership team in a year.
Any of those sound familiar?
So, how exactly do you get yourself out of that kind of pickle?
That’s right, you ask the right questions, throw all kinds of sunlight over those backdoor deals, and you hold those public officials accountable.
And you don’t make the same mistakes in hiring again and again — and if possible, you elect a few people who get that, too.
Mount Olive is a community with an enormous amount of potential.
It is an important part of the agri-business community and is the home of a growing and popular university.
And that is in addition to the quality of the people who live, work, worship, and raise their families there.
It is a small town where people still know their neighbors, and where a helping hand is only a phone call away.
The people who live there care about their town and its future.
That’s why over the last few years, so many of them have worked to tip off not only us, but state and local officials, when things are not being done on the up and up.
They didn’t like how their community was being run, so they did something about it.
That shows there are still a lot of people in Mount Olive who remember the lessons about integrity and honesty that their parents taught them.
And that is the sign of a place that has good bones.
As the state’s investigation continues, there might be some information that comes to light that suggests that there is a lot of work to be done to get the town back on track.
We don’t know what the inquiry will uncover, but we can be sure of this: Residents in the town of Mount Olive deserve not only responsible and ethical governance, but respectful and honest use of their tax dollars.
Asking questions and holding those in power accountable is how that gets done.
We know there are people in the community who are ready, willing, and able to set that standard.
They know who they are — and how grateful we are that they refuse to back down.
And we stand with them to make sure the questions get asked and answered.
That is how you turn a community around so that it is positioned to live up to its full potential.
Because as every good farmer and businessman knows, you reap what you sow.
And in this case, there is no more room for unforced errors, unfortunate and idiotic comments, or the ensuing uproar that comes when a board decides to go rogue.
Goldsboro is seeking bids for those companies that want to stabilize Union Station — a move city leaders say is the long-awaited first step toward saving the landmark.
BY KEN FINE
North Carolina is investing in the next generation Seimen's Amtrak Airo train, which could make stops in Goldsboro if the Union Station restoration project is completed and passenger rail returns to Wayne County.
Rendering courtesy of Siemen's Mobility
It was a story he heard from his grandmother, Christine Daughtry, “at least once a year” when he was coming of age — how as a young girl, she would walk through Goldsboro Union Station on her way home from school; how stepping onto the elegant floors made her feel like royalty.
Her recitation of those particular memories left an impression on her grandson.
So, when Mark Metzler heard that the landmark was in jeopardy of, quite literally, falling to the ground, he answered a call — in her memory — to do everything he could to save it.
Christine, those many decades ago, never could have imagined a day when the station would not be revered by the community — when waist-high grass would hide needles and garbage scattered across the grounds; when the foundation was in danger of buckling and those who walked across the floors would leave footprints on top of layers of dirt and dust.
“Union Station was such a special place for her,” Metzler said. “On a personal note, that’s the biggest reason we got involved.”
Involved, for Metzler and his wife, Lauren, meant instructing crews from their company, Landscape Design of Goldsboro, to make the land surrounding the landmark beautiful again.
And more than $30,000 in donated material and labor later, those who pass Union Station today would never know that a year ago, the grounds were treacherous to navigate.
Others involved in the Saving Union Station group that has vowed to raise half of the roughly $1.5 million needed to stabilize the structure have their own stories — memories that motivate them to continue to push their neighbors to help them realize a day when the station is, once again, Wayne County’s most bustling cultural center.
The elected officials — both from the City Council and county Board of Commissioners — whose boards committed $375,000 apiece do, too.
Commission Chairwoman Barbara Aycock remembers skipping school to buy sweets and watch the trains pass through town.
And Goldsboro Mayor Charles Gaylor grew up right up the
street from the building.
So, when they heard that the city officially put out a notice soliciting companies to begin the stabilization of the structure a few weeks ago, each of them celebrated the “first step.”
Sure, $1.5 million has not yet been raised. In fact, the SUS group is not even close to the $750,000 its members pledged to raise from private donors a little more than a year ago.
But city leaders have, at last, activated the $375,000 the council voted to allocate to the effort to ensure the most pressing needs are addressed — to buy the non-profit more time to pursue grant funding and more donations.
And Gaylor believes in doing so, Goldsboro has sent a message that the trains will indeed return to Wayne County one day.
“I fully believe that we’re going to be able to see passenger rail
Continued on page 14
Goldsboro Union Station in its early days.
UNION STATION TIMELINE
1906 Construction of Union Station begins.
1909 Union Station is opened to the public.
1914 Goldsboro wins a U.S. Supreme Court decision that enables the city to enforce its rights in the regulation of trains, shifting the rail line from Center Street.
1968 Passenger rail service ends. Union Station is decommissioned.
1972 Arthur Perry buys Union Station and its property.
1977 Union Station is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1999 N.C. Department of Transportation conducts Eastern Rail Passenger Study (ERPS) to explore options for passenger rail service connecting Raleigh to Wilmington.
2005 ERPS is redone, resulting in support for a Goldsboro route.
2007 NCDOT acquires Union Station.
.NCDOT utilizes grant money to conduct an environmental study, a conditions assessment, and initial stabilization work at the station.
2009 NCDOT conveys Union Station and its property to Goldsboro.
2023 Eastern Carolina Rail announces renewed interest in developing a passenger rail line that would connect Raleigh to Wilmington. NCDOT Passenger Rail employees visit Union Station.
. Federal Rail Division announces $36 billion in funding to study North Carolina’s preferred passenger rail routes. Appraisal places current value of Union Station at roughly negative $800,000.
. Saving Union Station (SUS), a local advocacy group, forms to support saving the station from being lost.
. The Goldsboro City Council and Wayne County Board of Commissioners agree to split $750,000 of the $1.5 million bill for stabilization of Union Station should the SUS group raise the other $750,000.
2024 The Southeastern North Carolina Passenger Rail Feasibility Study identifies Goldsboro, not Fayetteville, as the preferred connector between Raleigh and Wilmington.
. Dozens of Wayne County residents converge on Union Station for “Saving Union Station Day” — an event geared toward telling the train station’s story and launching a private fundraising campaign that, should enough be raised, would trigger a $375,000 match for the project from the Wayne County Board of Commissioners.
2025 Former Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. Executive Director Julie Metz — one of the people who helped form the Saving Union Station group — confirms that she has written and submitted grant applications in the hopes of netting hundreds of thousands of dollars for the would-be rebirth of the train station.
. Goldsboro publishes a notice calling for bids for stabilization work at Union Station, and leaders inside City Hall confirm that the city will activate the $375,000 City Council members voted to allocate toward the effort to begin that effort.
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and freight rail at some point in the not-sodistant future,” he said Monday. “Showing that investment and showing that commitment to that side of town, I think it’s absolutely critical.”
The effort to save Union Station began in earnest in late 2023, after former Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. Executive Director Julie Metz learned that an appraisal report from Birch-Ogburn & Co. had valued the landmark at negative $791,100 and outlined “detrimental conditions” found across the property — that $1.5 million would be needed to prevent the building from deteriorating beyond repair.
She was, admittedly, disturbed that the city had allowed such neglect in the years after she left the DGDC, but used her frustration as fuel to form a non-profit that could fight for what she characterized as an “irreplaceable” piece of North Carolina history.
“If Goldsboro loses Union Station, I can’t
even tell you how devastating that would be for this community. So, there is no way we can let that happen,” Metz said then. “We’re going to save it. That’s the mindset. There’s no way we’re not going to save that train station.”
The Metzlers quickly joined the battle.
So did David Perry, whose family purchased the station and its property back in 1972, four years after it was decommissioned.
And as more and more people signed on to support a fundraising campaign, the City Council and Board of Commissioners felt compelled to show their support, too.
Within weeks of the two boards agreeing to contribute a total of $750,000 to the stabilization effort, positive news started rolling in.
Sen. Thom Tillis (NC-R) announced that he had helped secure $3.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to identify “potential new rail routes or improvements across the state” — money that would be used to “develop a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for prepar-
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Union Station before the structure became jeopardized.
Congratulations to the BEST team in NORTH CAROLINA!
The Wayne County Clerk’s Office was one of only six offices in the state to achieve an “Effective” audit opinion for our internal audit — the highest opinion given, which indicates excellence in minimizing potential risks.
I feel so blessed to work with all of you.
Thank you for helping Wayne County shine!
Sending you love and best wishes as we take on this new year together as a community!
Julie Whitfield, Wayne County Clerk of Court
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ing, completing, or documenting its service development plan.”
The Southeastern North Carolina Passenger Rail Feasibility Study was published — and identified Goldsboro, not Fayetteville, as the preferred connector between Raleigh and Wilmington.
But the fundraising — and reaching the SUS group’s $750,000 goal to trigger the county’s $375,000 match — was stalling.
And with every passing month, Union Station was inching closer to a point of no return.
Interim City Manager Matthew Livingston said that is why the city recently activated the $375,000 allocated by the City Council for the stabilization effort and put the project out for bid.
The sum, he hopes, will be enough to address the structure’s most pressing needs — and buy SUS more time to pursue grant funds and private donations.
“We know preliminarily that we need X number of dollars to shore up a lot of those beams and get it to where it’s structurally at least not gonna fall down on us,” Livingston said. “And I don’t want to be one of those people who says, ‘Well, you know what? We should have done this.’ Because that is exactly what will happen. If it falls into the ground, people will say, ‘Well,
you should have done this or this. You should have tried harder.’ And they would be right.”
Now that the official call for bids has gone out and the process has begun, Livingston expects stabilization work to be under way by the fall.
And in the meantime, the city, with Metz’s help, will continue to apply for grant funding while the SUS group makes another push to raise private dollars.
Livingston and Gaylor hope their neighbors can begin to imagine what a revitalized Union Station would do for “that side of downtown” — that having the landmark as an “anchor tenant” could help that neighborhood “explode” with development in the same way the Paramount Theatre and Arts Council led to the rebirth of Center, Walnut, and Mulberry streets.
“It’s an opportunity. And you look at that building and you see how beautiful it is, you can see that this is an area that is just begging for revitalization. You’ve just got to have a vision,” Livingston said. “And it’s not necessarily about what’s there now. You know, I think it was Robert Kennedy who said, ‘Some men see things as they are, and say why. Other people dream of things that could be and ask, ‘Why
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Rendering courtesy of Siemen's Mobility
... and get ready, because the Sept. 6, 2025 version is sure to be our best festival yet!
Keen Plumbing Co.
Keen Plumbing Co.
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If you can lay your head down at night knowing you've been a part of that kind of effort, it really doesn't get any better than that.
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not?’ So, why can’t we revitalize that area? I think if we can bring people together, we can do it — and it could be special.”
Metz agrees, and said she feels reinvigorated now that Goldsboro leaders have taken what she characterized as an “essential step.”
“I want to express my deep gratitude to the city for taking this essential step toward restoring our magnificent Union Station building. Each time I stroll around the site, I feel a pang of distress at its condition and am melancholy about the possible loss of the rich history and memories it embodies,” she said.
“But the city’s proactive decision to use these budgeted funds to kick off the process marks a significant and necessary first step. I am reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.’s profound words, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’”
Christine will never get to see a restored Union Station — or walk across those elegant floors that made a little girl feel like royalty.
She passed in 2014 at the age of 84.
But her grandson hopes his daughter, Eleanor, will one day get to make memories of her own inside the landmark — that she will be able to connect with a woman who died before she was old enough to really know her.
So, he, like so many other founding members of Saving Union Station, will continue to hold events and announce initiatives to bring in the funding necessary to give the structure a second act.
And maybe, just maybe, Eleanor will one day tell her grandchildren about the first time she walked across an elegant floor inside a century-old train station and felt like royalty.
“For me, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about serving this community so we can honor the ones who came before us and give our children something they can be proud of,” Metzler said. “If you can lay your head down at night knowing you’ve been a part of that kind of effort, it really doesn’t get any better than that. And one day, because we set that example, our kids will feel a responsibility to carry that torch.” n
Take a bow
Communities Supporting Schools’ ArtXecute program, one that seeks to give at-risk youth something positive to do with their time, is thriving — as evidenced by the group’s performances of “The Lion King Jr.” this week at the Paramount Theatre.
the SPECTATOR
PHOTOS BY CASEY MOZINGO
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