THE AMENDMENT
Section 1. The Charter of the City of Rocky Mount is hereby amended to provide that all members of the City Council shall be elected by the qualified voters of the entire City of Rocky Mount.
Section 2. The City shall continue to be divided into seven wards for residency purposes only. Each Council member shall reside within the ward from which they file for election but shall be elected by all qualified voters of the City.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect beginning with the municipal election following its ratification by the voters.
Charter amendments and signatures can seem like a civics class with no books. Still, I remind myself: everything that has ever changed for the better began with one person who believed it could. (With all of us believing)
I may not know exactly how to gather the signatures or navigate the legal steps just yet, but I do know how to begin, by asking questions, by finding allies, by keeping faith that what is right can, in time, be made real.
If you believe changing how we vote can change our success, share these three posts, let’s get people talking and considering if this change becomes a solution for what ails us.
I believe this change is the right one, and overdue. The path feels like climbing a steep hill with no handrail to hold, but, it can be done, and should be done as part of the solution to our leadership needs.
Maybe this is where a blog like Main Street finds its truest purpose, not just in talking preservation, restoration and repurposing, but in helping rebuild trust.
If the city is ever to rise to its full measure, we need leaders who see beyond personal agendas, and toward the shared good of Rocky Mount. Change rarely comes easily, but it begins somewhere, with a conversation, a blog post, and people who still believeRocky Mount is the place to be.
Main Street Rocky Mount 
Pros
There’s hope that in this way, a more objective view of the people’s needs will be heard and properly addressed. It makes it seem that the Council will be functioning as a whole and not by ward. A voter might favor Ward 3’s representative over its own ward’s rep. if they believe that rep will be best. Maybe without divided wards, Rocky Mount will look at itself as that—Rocky Mount. Not Rocky on the Nash side or on the Edgecombe side (which isn’t fed the same).
Cons
What if biased judgments still occur, under-addressing or omitting all-together, certain areas. If a ward is left without representation, then will the Council be short and can it still function? Also, changing the way we vote and are led by Council, does not change anything if our leaders aren’t being up-front and honest. In the end, we’re just playing musical chairs.
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Here is why ‘come let us reason together’ is important.The Pros and Cons you list are helpful towards a solution for this leadership malfunction we keep having. I appreciate your contribution to what a solution can look like. Thank you!
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Stephany,I hope this finds you well. I hope this is a positive but with a 80 percent populati
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I will be one of the first to sign a petition to change the charter. I have thought this for a long time. I think there are a lot of the citizens of Rocky Mount that will sign it too. Something has to be done if we want our city to grow and stop the corruption by our city leaders.
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