M. Rick Watts, Broker Associate and Senior Sales Executive with Coldwell Banker United Realty in Fayetteville, has been appointed a member of the Real Estate Commission by Gov. Michael E Easley, it was announced by Lanny Wilson, Chairman. Watts succeeds Billie J. Mercer of Wilson.

      Judge Cheri Lynn Beasley, 12th District Court in Cumberland Country, administered the oath of office to Watts February 13 at the Commission office.

      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. In eight years with Coldwell Banker, Watts has been a member of the President's Elite for four years and the President's Circle for five years.

      Among numerous military honors, Watts holds the U. S. Army's Legion of Merit, the highest peacetime award for military achievement and honorable service.

      He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, 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, a retired teacher with 31 years of service, live in Fayetteville. Their daughter, Tiffany, is a doctoral student in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.