Longtime efforts by a group advocating the removal of Princeville Mayor Priscilla Everette-Oates have been cut short.

For nearly two months, a small local coalition called Concerned Citizens of Princeville have been pushing several measures to oust Everette-Oates.

Delia Perkins, the town’s former mayor, serves as the spokesperson for the group, while Anthony Flanagan, the former town attorney, has assisted the group with legal matters. The official group members remain unknown.

Yet, the group did not show up at a preliminary hearing held by the Edgecombe County Board of Elections last week. The group was challenging whether Everette-Oates was registered to vote in the county.

That action comes after the N.C. Attorney General’s office recently rejected the group’s petitions to remove the mayor from office.

On June 16, Flanagan sent a 32-page complaint to the office of N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper issuing a petition for Everette-Oates’ removal on behalf of the group. The petition asserts that Everette-Oates changed her primary residency of 316 Russell Drive in Princeville to 1800 Chelsea Drive in Wilson last year. Flanagan also cites unlawful actions by Everette-Oates claiming her practices on the board violate state statutes such as illegally removing members of the town’s housing authority and stifling free speech of certain members of the Board of Commissioners.

The thick packet contained copies of the Deed of Trust to her Wilson home, which was filed on July 16, 2009, and several media reports outlining her actions during the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The N.C. Attorney General’s office received the petition June 23. Chief Deputy Attorney General Grayson G. Kelley replied to Flanagan two days later. A copy of the two-paged response was e-mailed to the Telegram last week by Princeville Town Attorney Charles Watts.

Kelley referenced section 6 of the Deed of Trust, which states that the borrower must use the property as the principal residence within 60 days and continue to occupy the property as the principal residence for at least a year after the date of occupancy, unless the lender otherwise agrees in writing or unless there are extenuating circumstances beyond the borrower’s control.

“Since this section clearly provides that the lender may agree that the borrowers do not have to make the Chelsea Drive home their principal residence, on its face it is not determinative of the residency issue,” Kelley said.

Everette-Oates’ actions in office also were addressed in the response. Kelley said that N.C. General Statute section 1-515 was not appropriate to use because “it has not been used as a vehicle for challenging the performance of an individual lawfully in office.”

Watts said that he is more upset that Perkins and the rest of the group did not follow the proper channels to resolve the matter.

“What we have here is some sort of shadow group that nobody knows about,” Watts said in a telephone interview. “If you’re someone that has the town’s reputation at heart, you don’t make those claims like that. ... We could’ve eliminated all of this without the negative publicity.”

Several calls made to Perkins were not returned by presstime.