Keen elected vice president of Eastern Council of Governments
By From staff reports
Published in News on July 21, 2010 1:22 PM
Steve Keen
Steve Keen, a member of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners and the county Planning Board, has been elected first vice president of the Eastern Carolina Council of Governments, a nine-county regional organization serving Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, and Wayne Counties.
In his role, Keen will provide leadership for the council's programs in aging, transportation planning, economic development, and community assistance.
He has served on the Council's Executive Committee since January 2009.
Keen's background serving on the Wayne Planning Board and as a past member of the county's Economic Development Commission also qualifies him to help direct the couincil's planning efforts.
And as a Navy veteran and past member of the Wayne County Military Affairs Committee, his experience will benefit the council in its efforts to insure regional compatibility between both military and civilian growth.
The Eastern Carolina Council is one of seventeen multi-county planning and development regions in the state.
Regional councils are governed by local public and private sector appointments. These councils are forums where local officials determine priorities for the larger area in which their communities are an integral part.
Region P is located in East-Central North Carolina. It has a land mass of 5,710 square miles and a population of more than 600,000 in the region's nine counties (Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico and Wayne).
The ECC was first established as the Neuse River Council of Governments in 1967. In 1999 the board elected to change the name to the Eastern Carolina Council.
The ECC provides the organizational mechanism officials to meet and deal with region-wide issues.
The concept also makes possible a single overall group of leaders for coordinating plans, programs and projects to deal with common problems and challenges and achieve mutual goals and objectives.