Tarboro Councilman Melvin Muhammad unloaded on Town Manager Sam Noble during Monday night’s Town Council meeting.

“I am very disappointed in the way that we sometimes perceive our service and duties as it relates to the people we are elected to serve,” Muhammad read from a two-page statement he gave during the citizens comments period of the meeting. “I also expected a much higher level of respect from the same people which whom I serve, including the town manager.”

Muhammad claimed he did not receive a copy of a police incident report in the packet delivered to each council member prior to their June 22 meeting.

“This is especially troubling since my name was in the report,” he said. “I refuse to believe that Sam Noble … forgot to put a copy of the report in my packet … . For the record, I have never had anything missing from my agenda packet before.”

Noble said he must have forgotten and took a copy to Muhammad’s East St. John Street residence at 8:30 a.m. the next day and also sent a copy of the report and a letter by certified mail that Muhammad acknowledged receiving June 23.

Muhammad said the letter asked him to “avoid confrontations with officers of the Tarboro Police Department.”

Muhammad’s voice grew louder when he continued.

“I am a councilman and the concerns of those in Ward 6 and the whole of Tarboro is a duty, which I respect, honor and appreciate,” he said. “My duties go beyond ‘Councilman.’ At the end of the day I am also Melvin Muhammad, a concerned citizen of Tarboro.”

Noble’s letter included an apology and stated:

“It would be greatly appreciated if you would avoid direct confrontations with officers of the Tarboro Police Department when they are making or have made an arrest or are performing their assigned duties.

“If you have questions as to how the officers of the TPD are performing their duties, please contact me. The police chief and I will be glad to sit down with you and discuss any concerns you may have.”

The mayor attempted to talk with Muhammad and tell him councilmen were not to be directly involved with town personnel, but Muhammad was having none of that, interrupting the mayor and saying, “This is old-school politics, and I am not playing.”

After about 15 minutes, the mayor told him, “Your five minutes are up,” and Muhammad returned to his seat.

Noble hand-delivers the agenda and other information to each councilman prior to each meeting. Most seem appreciative, but Muhammad asked that all his packets be sent to him by next-day mail. Noble said that would be done.

Terry Johnson of the east Tarboro community spoke next and said he was there that night when 10 to 12 young men stopped his car and threatened to “knock me out.”