Rocky Mount operates under a Council–Manager form of government, which is the most common structure in North Carolina cities. Voters elect a Mayor and seven City Council members, each representing one of the city’s seven wards.
The Mayor presides over meetings, but the City Manager, hired by the Council, serves as the city’s chief executive officer, responsible for day-to-day operations, hiring department heads, and carrying out policies adopted by the Council.
Council members set city policy, approve the budget, pass ordinances, and vote on contracts and zoning decisions that affect all residents. While they are elected by ward, their votes shape the direction of the entire city, public safety, housing, infrastructure, and economic development.
Each Council member is elected by a small fraction of voters, yet together they govern everyone.
How do we go about a change? It would require changing the City Charter, the legal document that defines how Rocky Mount’s government is structured.
Currently, each ward elects its own representative through district (ward-based) voting. To allow citywide voting for all seven seats, often called an “at-large council” system, the City Council or the General Assembly would need to amend the Charter.
This change could happen in two ways: By local act of the N.C. General Assembly, if requested by the City Council.
By voter referendum, if the Council adopts a resolution to place a Charter amendment on the ballot.
Catch-22: If a council benefits from the current ward-based system, it has little incentive to invite reform that could weaken its own grip on power.
The current ward-based system has, over time, allowed a few to consolidate influence and maintain power through limited constituencies. When only a fraction of voters decides who sits on the Council, accountability narrows and the balance of power tilts.
So I ask you, if Council’s decisions impact the whole city, shouldn’t the whole city help decide who sits at that table?
By opening every seat to a citywide vote, we give the people, not political strongholds, the final say. This change would ensure that leadership reflects the will of all citizens, and that they serve one community with a shared destiny: Rocky Mount.
Read #3 in the series tomorrow – The Amendment
Main Street Rocky Mount 