When Gerald Holleman, 78, describes Holly Springs, I barely recognize it. That’s because Holleman, a native of the area, is The Honorable Gerald Holleman, former Mayor of Holly Springs, and let’s just say, he’s seen some things. I sat down with him at SiP Bistro one afternoon to get a glimpse into the not-so-distant past, a time when Holly Springs was just a poor town with little to offer. Or so it seemed.
Becoming Mayor
Born in the area known as Holleman’s Crossroads, situated between Holly Springs and Harris Lake, Gerald Holleman grew up working on farms until he took a job with Wickes Lumber Company, a national firm. That job sent him traveling all over the country, working on accounts of $100,000 and up. But in 1980-81, Holleman returned to Holly Springs and settled into an old trailer on the back of his dad’s farm with his three sons and wife. He wanted more of the simple life, but a couple of guys who knew him well started trying to get him to run for mayor. (He had established himself on the town board before he took that traveling position.) Holleman thought, What am I gonna do as a mayor? He was tired from traveling and ready for something more steady: a reliable 4pm-12am shift, pigs and chickens to tend to, and taking care of his family. They convinced him, however, so he went out and paid a whopping $5 to run. On election night, he was home sleeping in a chair when they called and told him he won.
Disparity all Around
When Holleman looked around at this community he was now mayor of after being away for many years, he had fresh eyes. The population back then was 700, 80% minority, and most of them he knew because he’d grown up with them. A lot of change had occurred while he was gone, but not exactly for the better. Small farms had shut down, and most of the old tenant farmers had moved out to west Holly Springs Road, bought a 50-foot lot and built a house out of scrap lumber. And while Holleman was pleased that a water system had been established while he was gone, he questioned why it only served people downtown—why they didn’t run any water to west Holly Springs Road. He was told the reason was that none of those people could be trusted to pay their bill. Frustrated, Holleman talked with his uncle, an attorney in Apex, who was able to get a grant to get a water line put out there. That’s kind of where it started for Holleman. And for Holly Springs.
Establishing Infrastructure
After traveling the country, 36 out of 50 states, and visiting cities and towns of varying sizes and economies, Holleman had developed his own theories about how towns thrive. He realized that Holly Springs didn’t have any infrastructure except a “little bitty water system.” And at that time, Cary, Apex, and RTP were taking off, all while Holly Springs was staying a step or two behind. But Holleman had a vision, and that vision, in a word, was infrastructure.
Sewage Plant
Once the water system was put in place, Holleman knew they needed sewer. He did some research and found a grant for over a million dollars, but ran into a roadblock when he couldn’t come up with the additional money needed to secure it. He figured out that the only way he could get the money was if he had the town declared a health hazard. So he tracked down the right people and got it done: Holly Springs was declared a health hazard and, in 1985, a 250K-gallon sewer plant was completed. It’s been estimated that in the mid-‘80s, some 30% of homes in Holly Springs did not have indoor plumbing. Later, he got a grant to rehabilitate housing. Because of Holleman’s work, folks could get a basic bathroom for free, provided they stayed in the house for 7-8 years.
Adding Business
When Holleman started his term as mayor in the early ‘80s, “Holly Springs wasn’t nothin’ but a collection of poor folks with an average income of probably $10K a year,” he says. Most of the 700 or so people living here were living on minimum social security, because as a tenant farmer, you didn’t qualify for more. There were two convenience stores here, a gas station, and that was about it. If you needed medicine or a haircut, you had to go to Apex or Fuquay. So when Food Lion decided to open up the first grocery store in Holly Springs, Holleman says, “We thought that was the best thing since sliced bread.” When construction got behind, they paved the parking lot at night by the lights from the fire truck so it could open on time. Having a grocery store triggered other development, other stores coming to town, and more growth.
Warp Technologies, a textile company that produced polyester yarn, showed interest in coming to town, so Holleman did what he does best and picked up the phone, calling around until he was able to procure a grant from the State of NC. When the Department of Commerce asked him how much he needed, he replied, boldly, $750,000, but admits now that he really didn’t know how much they’d need. But he’s not one to hem and haw, that’s for certain. He ended up getting the $750,000, and when the plant had its groundbreaking, Holleman had three pigs barbecued on the grill and invited all the government staff and people from all over to come and celebrate. Around 600 people came that day, to commemorate the town’s first plant since the Civil War. Naturally, that prompted more growth; Holleman had gotten two IBM employees to buy the land for what is now the Holly Springs Industrial Park. They eventually sold it for $20 million. Brad Holland built his plant in the park for his Holland Grills on the corner where Rodney’s Signs sits, and eventually sold the facility.
Sunset Ridge
Although Holleman had faith in the growth of Holly Springs, even he had his limits. When some investors came to Holleman and proposed building a golf course in Holly Springs, he thought they were nuts. “Golf course? We don’t even have a playground,” Holleman said. “They needed discount on the sewer acreage fee in order to build. Once I saw the plans and calculated the tax base on the homes, I knew that even if we waived the fee, the town would still be way ahead. We waived the fee and they broke ground. Council member Jimmy Cobb’s wife was one of the investors. I remember her saying ‘I came out here and all I saw was red mud, and told Jimmy What have I done? I’ve lost my money.’ Cary, Raleigh and Fuquay-Varina all said the same thing ‘A golf course in Holly Springs? Are you kidding me?’ But having an affinity for people who think several steps ahead, he supported them, and that’s how Devils Ridge Golf Course, one of the top courses in Eastern NC, came to be.
Getting a School
With all of Holly Springs’ growth under Holleman, the town still didn’t have a school. With segregation over, children were being bussed all over the place, wherever they needed the racial balance. “And it was a bad situation to tell you the truth. ‘Ham’ Womble’s [another former Mayor of Holly Springs] daughters went to four different schools in four years.” So Holleman used his leverage to get one. “ They needed my vote on one on one of their school plans, and I told them I wouldn’t vote because we didn’t even have a school. I was promised a school if I voted with them, and they kept their word. That’s how you have to play it,” he says. “I was a mayor of a little podunk town…out there trying to fight for stuff.” Holleman says that the income level in this town was so low that they qualified for just about every grant the federal government ever thought up. And he says, “Once I got the first grant, I knew how to play the game.” It’s a lot easier to go down a ladder than to come up one, he says. In other words, go straight to the top. Holleman’s logic? It’s hard to go up the ladder because everyone wants to take credit for your idea. If you start at the top and come down, then everyone’s on your side because they want to look good to the higher-ups. He admits that he’s been called nuts—a lot—and old-fashioned, as well. But there is no denying that so very much of what we see today when we move about our “little” town is because of Holleman.
“That’s how this game is played,” Holleman says. “Being in the position we were in, I had to fight. I didn’t back down from nobody. It’s kinda in my nature,” he says with a smile. “They all laughed at me when I said this town would grow. Now it’s over 30,000 with about 8,000 children.” Holleman predicts that our town will hit 70,000 in 10 years if the economy stays good. “The key to any town is water, sewer, and transportation,” he says. And he has some very strong opinions about the latter, which he, half-jokingly, made me promise not to include in the article.
Biggest Regret
For a man who has accomplished so much, spoken so brazenly, and taken so many chances, he does have one regret: leaving office early after 17 years. But it’s kind of why he left his traveling job, back before he became mayor: he was tired. Still, he hasn’t exactly been lazing around. He got remarried towards the end of his time as mayor to an African American woman whose first impression of him was that he was the “most unfriendly person she had ever met.” He says it was the best thing he’s ever done in his life. She’s very outspoken, he says, and I have a feeling he rather likes that about her. They moved to Hawaii for a few years, then returned to NC, living in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Holly Springs. Upon returning, he started right back up, working for NC Emergency Management after several area hurricanes and tornadoes. Nevertheless, he feels some guilt. “I just don’t participate like I should,” he says. At 78, he’s actively trying to get a job with the state: “They still call me for interviews but they’re just trying to cover their butts for age discrimination!”
Yes, he regrets leaving office when he did. But as far as I can tell, he’s never stopped working for Holly Springs. Holleman insists, “I’m not the smartest person in the world…I’m not that bright. My father told me, you don’t know everything, you better hire people who know what you don’t know.” So he says he went and found the best people he could find, most of them still at their posts in Holly Springs. During our hour and a half together, he probably mentioned thirty different names of people he credits for varying reasons. Although we don’t have the space to name them all just know that there are a lot of people at Town Hall working hard to accommodate one of the fastest growing towns in North Carolina, just outside the fastest growing city east of the Mississippi. He would say they were an integral part of what he was able to accomplish as Mayor of Holly Springs for 17 years. And I’m sure he’s right.
Another thing his dad taught him? It’s about what’s in your heart, not what you’re wrapped in. And Holly Springs, it’s deep in his heart.
