Mayor attends meeting of cities, says Goldsboro is doing just fine
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on October 22, 2006 2:02 AM
Mayor Al King said his recent trip to Raleigh for a gathering of the League of Municipalities showed him one thing -- Goldsboro is moving in the right direction.
Last week's meeting was an opportunity to network with officials from across the state and discuss common issues towns and cities in North Carolina share.
"Most of us have the same kind of problems, the same issues," King said.
Annexation, ethics and communication were among them, he added.
The meeting also served as a forum to discuss the state of municipalities statewide -- one of the tasks the league was founded to accomplish, King said.
"We looked at what the league has been doing right and what we've done wrong," he said. "And what dangers are ahead for municipalities."
Small towns face the biggest challenges, King added.
"We have a lot of little towns out there," he said. "They don't have a council or a manager ... We're big cities -- us and Charlotte and Raleigh and others. We're sort of self-sufficient. We can do a lot for ourselves. So we sort of provide guidance, and not only through the league. We work together to help solve their problems -- ones we might have already had and dealt with."
King wasn't just there to talk with old friends. He was a key speaker, too.
Along with Charlotte City Council member Nancy Carter, he presented the finding of a strategic planning committee formed more than a year ago.
King said he has met with the group once a month since his appointment and got the chance to report to the league via a skit he and Mrs. Carter performed.
The skit was also made into a video that will be dispersed to the 500-plus municipalities in the state. The goal of the video, he said, is to give officials a look at what direction N.C. governments should move in.
At the end of the trip, he felt good about the meeting, he said -- and the state of Goldsboro as compared to other municipalities like it in the state.
"I've been doing this for a long time, and I know most of the mayors and managers across the state," he said. "I'm pretty much in tune with how we stack up with others and we're in good shape."