Taking it to the people
I don't want to get overly giddy about a teeming throng of 30-plus people.
But, like Doug, I was geuninely impressed -- and pleasantly surprised -- by both the turnout, diversity and richness of the News & Record's District 1 town hall discussion of election issues Tuesday night at the Glenwood Library.
Man wasn't it fun to keep having to pull out chairs as more and more people trickled in.
First a confession: I immediately assumed we'd attract a predominantly African American crowd. And I was wrong. District 1 is much more racially mixed than you might think, and all of its white residents don't live in Glenwood.
I know the district currently represented by T. Dianne Bellamy-Small is 30 percent white. Yet even when a crowd that appeared evenly mixed between black and white showed up, I still took for granted that many of the white members of the audience must be from outside the district.Wrong again.
Most were from District 1, and nearly everyone -- black, white and other -- had interesting things to say.
It was if all these views and passions had been pent up for months and all of a sudden, someone was willing to listen.
They were informed and engaged. They were civil and respectrful, even though they clearly didn't agree with one another on some points.
And they were not happy with the way things are.
They wanted more leadership from the City Council. They perceived the council as lacking gumption and a clear vision.
They wanted more police officers and more action to curb gangs. (One wondered if downtown really needed all those police officers at the expense of neighborhoods elsewhere.)
But one of them made it clear he didn't believe that should mean targeting and demonizing young black men.
They wanted more positive, proactive solutions to homelessenss and aggressive panhandlers.
They see wasteful spending and a need for tougher priorities in city spending.
They lamented the lack of economic development in Districts 1 and 2.
Among other comments made Tuesday night:
The city's problem with uncollected parking tickets, as exemplified in a Sunday News & Record story, shows a lack of leadership.
So does a flimsy verbal agreement with N.C. A&T that allowed the school to renege on Chancellor Jim Renick's agreement to help pay for East Market Street streetscaping. The city should have gotten it in writing.
Southside looks impressive but is not affordable.
The new police gang units won't succeed without grass-roots community participation.
A teacher agreed, citing the absence of parental support in the schools. No matter how tough the teachers are and no matter how strong a police presence, she said, parental involvement is essential to curbing disciplinary problems. And in too many cases it is not there.
Libraries and community centers ought to be open later to allow young people positive options for places to spend their time.
Good thing we've got gang units, but how will we evaluate their effectiveness?
The city needs to clean up the police department. "I have no confidence in the police department," one man said.
The total community need to unite. It's too much "us against them."
Regionalism makes good sense. We duplicate too many services such as planning and police protection. That costs taxpayers double in some cases.
As for questions they'd like for us to ask the candidates:
How is the next District 1 representative going to work with the council to get things done?
What are the concrete development plans for District 1?
A footnote: Several district and at-large candidates attended the session but dutifully followed our ground rules to listen but not to talk.
This one was for the voters.
And we're not done. Our District 3 town hall meeting is Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Benjamin Branch Library.
Y'all come.
Comments (1)
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Allen making confessions about inaccurate preconceptions?
My lord, the sky must be falling.
Could you talk to Doug?
Posted on September 21, 2007 9:47 AM