October 7, 2025 – In this case, the most powerful statement a voter can make is not a vote at all.
In response to a comment on Facebook about the shameful neglect of the Happy Hill neighborhood, I replied with a thought I now want to explore more fully. Councilman Reuben Blackwell is running unopposed in the upcoming election.
But running unopposed does not mean running unquestioned. I believe the voters of Happy Hill should consider staying home on his line of the ballot, not out of apathy, but as an act of protest.
Happy Hill is a neighborhood that deserves better. Its decline did not happen overnight, nor can we lay its entire condition at the feet of one person.
But when a councilman has held office for a quarter century, and the visible neglect of a neighborhood under his representation is this case, something has gone terribly wrong.
After the last census, Happy Hill was redistricted into his ward. While that means the most recent years of its stewardship fall under his watch, the silence and lack of visible effort to address the area’s condition are part of the problem. Where is the care? Where is the dignity this neighborhood deserves?
There are times when voting feels like an empty exercise, especially when a candidate has no challenger. But voter turnout still tells a story.
A low vote count in an unopposed race is not just a statistic, it is a signal. It says the people are paying attention. It says we are tired of the same promises and the same inaction. It says, loud and clear, that Happy Hill wants action, not empty talk.
Boycotting a ballot line is not the same as boycotting democracy. It is, in fact, a form of speech within it. A way to say, “You have not earned my vote,” even when there is no one else listed.
This is not personal. It is political. It is civic. It is about the responsibility our elected officials carry and the neighborhoods that live with the results. My hope is that Happy Hill residents, and those who care about its future, will find ways to make their voices heard, even in a race where no one else is running.
Sometimes, silence speaks volumes. Let the silence at the ballot box in Happy Hill say this: We are living in a blight filled world, which has sapped our energy, and our voices. We’ve accepted that nothing is going to change.
This apathy is as bad a problem as the state of things. This campaign I have begun, these words I am writing come from a place of hope as much as outrage. I believe neighborhoods can be loved back to life.
I believe the voices of ordinary people can move immovable things. I believe that accountability is not cruelty, and that naming what is broken is the first act of healing.
My recent trip through Happy Hill was not casual. What I saw was not just disrepair, it was a silence that had settled over the place like a fog. Happy Hill sits in its ashes. I have a lot to say about that!
So I will keep writing. And I will keep believing that the people of Happy Hill deserve more than what they’ve been given.
Main Street Rocky Mount 
The Councilmembers are legislators, not full-time staff members. I have said for many years that the City of Rocky Mount needs to declare “A War on Ugly” not just on Happy Hill but Citywide. We need City Management to assemble a group of smart, hard working, caring, professional staff members who will look at every neighborhood in the city and aggressively enforce the building codes that are already on the books. The “Broken Glass Theory” has proven time and time again in other communities that when you clean up the blight, you dramatically reduce the crime in a community. When we look like we don’t care, like we have no pride, the criminal element will move in and take over. I love living in Rocky Mount and it breaks my heart when I hear people call it Murder Mount and say they would not live here for anything in the world. Let’s face it, we have some good things going on but we don’t have a good image right now and we need to do everything we can to improve the imagine of our city…… we need to attract new residents, families, businesses and major industry but we won’t be very successful until we start caring about the way we look to others. Councilman Blackwell is a part of the legislative branch of government, the Council needs to hold their appointees accountable. The City Manager is the person to develop a plan that City Council would be willing to approve.
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Though Anonymous to me, consider yourself hugged around the neck after leaving this marvelous comment. Filled with food for thought about the state of things in our neighborhoods, Main Street. I appreciate your additional thoughts. Thank you. Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much!
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