Brunswick Beacon, 11.16.23
We expect our local politicians to go to Raleigh and vote in a manner that would promote the welfare of their constituents rather than that of special interests. Unfortunately, their voting records have been disappointing. They waited for more than 12 years to approve Medicaid expansion for 600,000 North Carolinians, based upon the false assumption that the federal government would provide funding for only a few years. Although redistricting should happen every 10 years following the US Census, our representatives are currently making nonsensical changes to maps after one year.
Several years ago, Southport leaders annexed land that extended the city limit in a sensible manner. Since a local member of the NC General Assembly quickly sponsored a bill in Raleigh to rescind this annexation, the Southport area map is “pockmarked” with unincorporated areas. The city not only lost funds for services inadvertently provided, but it has limited power on how these areas are developed: note current controversy.
Unfortunately, history is being repeated in the Leland area, the fastest-growing municipality in the state. An area publication stated that annexation fueled much of this growth and Leland also had a deal with a regional water and sewer authority to require developers to incorporate if they want utility access. However, the local member of the NC Senate pushed through legislation earlier this year that halted this plan for orderly expansion.
Finally, my criticism of local members of the Assembly began to soften this summer as I observed the construction of double lanes on Hwy 211. However, my bubble of optimism was burst recently when it was revealed that the “odd” ending of the construction at the Hwy. 87 stoplight in Southport would allow for an established “backroad” to connect a proposed development with several hundred homes to a double-lane highway. Am I the only citizen who mistakenly thought that local members of the Assembly were finally doing something for us rather than special interest groups?
William Flythe
Southport
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