|
OBSERVATIONS
March 4, 2021 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Sitting school-board members had
good reasons for their appointment
Al Byrd was a logical choice to fill the vacant seat on the Johnston County Board of Education. He's a resident of the fast-growing Greater Clayton area whose wife has worked as a school teacher in Johnston County and whose daughters have graduated from Cleveland High School.
He will also serve as the board's only African-American member in a county with a significant proportion of minority students in its public schools.
Furthermore, his professional career has revolved around public education, first in Durham and more recently with his Fellowship of Christian Athletes connection to N.C. State University. That should give him broad perspective in dealing with the challenges facing Johnston County Public Schools.
Terry Tippett and his supporters made an appealing case for his appointment after he finished in fifth place in last fall's election among eight candidates for four seats on the board. But his belligerent attitude toward the current board members during Monday's interview session was, in effect, a concession speech.
Taking a longer view of the situation, thank goodness we're no longer electing members to the Board of Education based on political-party affiliation. If that hadn't been changed by a local act of the N.C. General Assembly in 1997, it would have been the Executive Committee of either the Johnston County Democratic Party or the Johnston County Republican Party deciding Tracie Zukowski's replacement.
What we need are independent-minded leaders on our local governing boards, not agents of a political party's lockstep agenda, whatever it is.
ACCESS the complete YouTube stream of Monday's school-board interviews>
Citizens' ideas for upcoming town budget
Last Thursday evening's "public input budget meeting" hosted by the Town of Smithfield at the Recreation & Aquatics Center drew responses from a handful of citizens who either attended in person or submitted comments online. Town Manager Mike Scott provided this summary of their key points:
· Repave
and
re-landscape parking lot next to Simple Twist.
· Repave
and
refresh Town Hall parking lot.
· Add
funding
for landscaping and beautification of the water
plant, its expansion, and around the operation
center.
· Add
funding for planting and replanting large canopy
trees throughout all streets and thoroughfares and
in parks and greenway.
· Fund
and
develop a capital maintenance schedule for parks and
stormwater areas that covers more than grass mowing
so that issues/areas are inspected annually so
problems don’t linger or get worse.
· Develop
a
more stringent set of architectural standards for
all projects.
· Develop/require
residential
homes to provide landscaping, even in minimal,
especially for duplexes and rental properties.
· Consider
installing
reconditioned pumps instead of new pumps at the
water plant.
· Provide
more
funding for the Spring Branch (restoration project).
· Use
tax
dollars and volunteers for the removal of trash and
litter throughout the town.
WHERE READERS HAVE THEIR SAY
I've enjoyed The
Bootlegger's Daughter and the other books in
Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott mysteries. Having
grown up as a Georgia farm girl, I "recognize" the
special people, places, and situations she wrote about
in this series.
Her incorporation of some current-day issues that
rural communities are experiencing was well written
and thought provoking.
SUZANNE CARR COATES,
Smithfield
EDITOR'S
NOTE: In case you missed it in last week's Sun,
internationally acclaimed mystery novelist Margaret
Maron passed away February 23. A Johnston County
native who resided in recent times near the place of
her raising in Pleasant Grove Township, she was 82
years young.
Got a comment or a question?
If so, send an e-mail to editor@smithfieldweeklysun.com.
Or, if you prefer, mail a letter to P.O. Box 1363, Smithfield, N.C. 27577.
We'll confirm receipt of your correspondence and, if any or all of it is appropriate for publication, we'll ask your permission to print before we "go to press." If we publish your submission, all we will show is your name and place of residence. Neither your e-mail address nor your complete postal address will be shared with our readers or anyone else.
To make verification simpler, please sign up as a subscriber if you haven't already done so, using the online form below:
RETURN TO THE SMITHFIELD WEEKLY SUN FRONT PAGE