Matthew J. “Rick” Watts of Fayetteville has been re-elected Chairman of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission for a second consecutive term and Melvin L. “Skip” Alston of Greensboro and Raymond A. “Buddy” Bass, Jr., of Fayetteville have been elected Vice Chairmen, it was announced by Phillip T. Fisher, Executive Director.
Watts is Broker Associate and Senior Sales Executive with Coldwell Banker United Realty in Fayetteville.
Watts entered the real estate business in 1992 after retiring from a 30-year career with the U. S. Army where he achieved the rank of Command Retention Sergeant Major for the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Among numerous honors, Watts holds the U.S. Army Legion of Merit, the highest peacetime award for military achievement and honorable service, and Governor Easley recently named him to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his service toNorth Carolina.
He is a member of the the Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation Board and past member of the Executive Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among other organizations.
Watts and his wife, Margaret, live in Fayetteville. Their daughter, Tiffany, recently received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Melvin L. “Skip” Alston
He is a former Chairman and is now serving his fourth four-year term as a member of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.
Alston is President of S&J Management Corporation and is involved with a number of other successful business ventures in the Greensboro area.
He is the immediate-president of the North Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches, and serves on the NAACP National Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.
He is also a member of the North Carolina Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission, a past president of the North Carolina Association of Black County Officials, and is co-founder and Chairman of the board of directors for the Sit-In Movement, Inc.
Alston has two sons, DeSean Jahleel who is also a real estate broker, and Ryan DeMarkus.
Raymond A. “Buddy” Bass, Jr.
Bass entered the real estate business in 1965.
He was owner and president of Dickens-Bass Realty & Construction Company and president of Bass Construction Company of Fayetteville, Inc., until his retirement.
He is a native of Halifax and a graduate of East Carolina University where he played football. He served in the U.S. Military during the Korean Conflict.
He is a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Halifax, the Halifax Fishing Club, Alpo Hunting Club and the Cape Fear Aero Clubs as well as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
A former Chairman of the Real Estate Commission, he has been a member of the Commission since 1993. He was named by Governor Easley to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his long and dedicated service to the state.
Bass and his wife, Joan, have three children, Greg, Lisa and Susan.
This article came from the October 2005-Vol36-2 edition of the bulletin.