LAURINBURG – The city of Laurinburg wants residents to play a role in local government by sharing their concerns and ideas at the annual Citizen’s Input Session next month.
The session will be held on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. in the board room of the A.B. Gibson Center located at 322 S. Main St.
According to Councilman J.D. Willis, the evening will begin with an overview of procedures for the meeting before attendees are divided into groups for work sessions to give feedback on what they believe council needs to devote its efforts to. The session will not allow for participants to ask questions.
The ideas garnered from the event will be compiled by staff, ranked by order of importance and presented to council.
“Council will decide on the top priorities and decide on what to act on first,” Willis said.
Willis said the city is likely to share the results of the input session at the March council meeting.
Willis predicted that the top complaint will be about litter.
“Every year we hear about trash and what [council] can do to make the city cleaner and a varying amount of other topics” Willis said. “We try to address the trash, but the best thing that could occur is for people to help keep Laurinburg clean; stop throwing trash on the streets and roadsides and report anyone they see littering.”
Willis appreciates the opportunity to “go from group to group and hear what [citizens] have to say.”
He said it also gives council an opportunity to inform citizens of some things that are going on that they might not be aware of.
Willis thinks it is good to hear what people have to say and listen to their ideas.
“[The sessions] started several years ago to give citizens a chance to voice their concerns on what they think the city needs to be addressing and implementing,” Willis said.
Council member Mary Jo Adams calls the sessions a “great tool.”
“It’s a time for us to listen to their concerns and then use their suggestions as much as we can,” Adams said.
City officials said attendance in past years has been low — averaging around 20 to 30 people.
Feedback from the meeting will be used to plan the 2017 – 2018 budget beginning in July.
Residents who cannot attend can email City Manager Charles Nichols at [email protected] or write to Attn: Charles Nichols, City of Laurinburg P.O Box 249 Laurinburg, NC 28353.