When we elect someone to represent us, it is of the up most importance that we communicate with them. They need to be accessible to us and we need to express our concerns to them. This is how they know our needs, ideas and ideals. This is also how we are able to let them know our opinion of their performance.
Many citizens of Carteret County feel that their County Commissioners are either not available to them or do not care about their opinion. This has caused a long standing lack of involvement from many citizens. Sadly, when citizens do get involved, there is friction, fueled by frustration and/or apathy. Often this does not solve issues, instead it breeds more frustration, criticism, hopelessness, and thwarts further involvement. Often there is little advance notice on issues coming up before the Board and many people have difficulties making it to the meetings. If they can get there, there is only a small amount of time for each person to express their concerns.
There is an e-mail link on the Carteret County website that will allow you email access to our County Commissioners, but some find it less than user friendly. There are also telephone numbers listed for the County Commissioners, but often that is not the best way to reach them either. On occasions, our County Commissioners will hold public forums where they are available, but most of the time they are for targeted groups.
Although this is a concern for many citizens related to our County Commissioners, it includes all of our elected officials. Both in Carteret County and our State Government. There are improvements that can be made in each of these areas, and other avenues that can be explored also. We cannot expect our elected officials to represent our needs, unless we can communicate with them, and we cannot always communicate with them in the methods available. Each person has their own needs and methods of communication.
As your County Commissioner, I will work to improve access to and relations with all of our elected officials, both local and statewide, by researching and implementing programs that are user friendly, along with exploring other solutions to allow and encourage every citizen to be involved in issues important to them.
