A Tribune Opinion
The Mount Olive Town Board of Commissioners needs to get its collective act together, remembering who members are there to represent and then representing them in a professional manner.
Neither really seems to be happening now.
Town meetings have become a free-for-all, with some commissioners showing little respect to their colleagues or to the audience. There are some who make comments while offering no evidence to back their claims, and there are times when some members mumble or talk so low the audience cannot hear them or actually know which way they’ve voted, or if they cast a vote.
What’s more, their actions are setting a poor example for the audience, many of whom act out as well, mumbling and shouting out during meetings, preventing those attending to actually get information they were there to garner.
The governmental assemblies, of late, are more akin to a back alley boxing match than a town board meeting where, as a rule, decorum is usually upheld.
It’s not that we don’t think commissioners should disagree. In truth, it’s from those disagreements that good government can come. But disagreeing is one thing, venon-spewing, total disrespect and downright uncalled for behavior is quite another.
And that’s what appears to happen every time a meeting is gaveled into session these days.
Don’t board members know that their behavior reflects on the town? Don’t they understand that constant and unsubstantiated claims of racism or lying turn the stomachs of potential industries which might be looking to locate in Mount Olive, should the sewer issues ever be resolved? What do they think potential residents think when they read — or witness — this sort of sophomoric behavior from those elected to represent?
We’re not sure it’s a misunderstanding of what others might think or a lack of concern that drives them.
One could perceive this behavior as an attempt to dismantle a wonderful little town.
We’ve seen it happen before, in neighboring Sampson County, where one of its southern-most towns lost multiple town clerks and three of its board members in less than a week’s time, all because of back-biting, name calling and social media shenanigans that were both bordering on illegal and shameful. That town edged close to having its charter revoked.
Is that where the town of Mount Olive is headed? We certainly hope not, but the future of the town lies in the hands of its elected officials and those who put them in office.
Residents can make a difference, letting town officials know that the kind of behavior they’ve witnessed from the board will no longer be tolerated and alerting the League of Municipalities to the way meetings are being carried out.
Mayor Jerome Newton, too, should be the calming leader this board needs right now, keeping order where none often seems to exist. Residents need to expect Newton to step up and insist on procedure, decorum and a following of the Open Meetings Law as well as Roberts Rules of Order.
Doing less shortchanges the residents which the mayor and town board members represent.
We urge a kinder, gentler, and far more professional board show up for the next town board meeting. And perhaps the mayor should require a show of hands on every vote versus, ensuring every vote is counted and everyone knows where the other stands.
Residents should be watching. We certainly will be.
