In our opinion: All hail the municipals

Last month, Southport Alderman and Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Kelley called public attention to the city’s web page and its welcoming road signs, all of which brand the municipality as the “Home of Salubrious Breezes.”

Sniffing impropriety, Alderman Kelley introduced a motion to delete the motto from new road signs the state wants to place at the main entrances to Southport. The proposal drew an immediate response from citizens and the State Port Pilot, which, along with Brunswick County grammarians, editorialized there’s nothing scatological about “salubrious.”

But the incident is noteworthy for the reaction it provoked among residents of Southport and beyond. It’s a good example of the attention the governing bodies of our county’s municipalities attract, especially when large issues – taxation, growth, and recreation facilities, for example – come up for consideration.

Municipal governance is perhaps the closest Americans get to a participatory democracy. Instead of dealing long-distance with virtual strangers in Raleigh or Washington, citizens can literally reach out to their elected municipal representatives. They’re neighbors who make important decisions just down the street from where their constituents live. Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, underlined the significance of local representatives when she said recently, “The lower candidates are on the ballot, the closer they are to the voter.”

According to our Board of Elections, Brunswick County has 19 municipalities, more than any other county in North Carolina (the county also has two sanitary districts and a board that governs Dosher Memorial Hospital). This fall, voters will have an opportunity to vote for 114 municipal candidates who have volunteered to represent them in villages, towns, and cities  from Bald Head Island to Varnamtown. 

Between now and Election Day on Tuesday, November 4, you have an opportunity to get to know the candidates who are vying to represent you in your municipality. If you need more information on how, when, and where to vote, check in with the Board of Elections.

We urge you to take the time to meet your candidates and discuss local issues you care about. They’re expecting you. And if you’re voting in Southport, be sure to ask candidates for the city’s Board of Aldermen their views on the “salubrious” issue.