Category: Rocky Mount NC City Government

Part 1: When Ownership Fails Main Street

There are buildings on Main Street that are not failing because time defeated them. They are failing because ownership did. Let us begin with what absentee ownership is costing Rocky Mount, NC. These owners are not walking the street. They are not seeing the peeling paint, or the water beginning its work along a parapet … Continue reading Part 1: When Ownership Fails Main Street →

Saluting The Work Of United Community Ministries

This is 'Clapp Your Hands' kind of blog. This week, the bumper sticker I imagine, would read, Save our homeless families and children, United Community Ministries. Not polished, not clever, but direct. In the wake of the recent audit, as Rocky Mount looks at budgets and reductions, one consequence is significant. Nearly three hundred thousand … Continue reading Saluting The Work Of United Community Ministries →

The Making of a Leader, Then and Now

Following the state audit, in meeting rooms, at the kitchen table, and across social media, Rocky Mount has turned to questions of leadership and oversight. I'm interested in how leaders are formed before they ever step into responsibility, what expectations shape them, what habits of mind they bring when decisions begin to matter, and what … Continue reading The Making of a Leader, Then and Now →

What Can Actually Be Done Now About Rocky Mount’s City Council, NC

We all seem to be in agreement that expecting the Council to now solve the problems they themselves have created feels unrealistic. ‘Off with their heads,’ as the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland would say, is not a realistic option either.” So what are we to do. There are, in truth, only a … Continue reading What Can Actually Be Done Now About Rocky Mount’s City Council, NC →

The Rocky Mount Concerned Citizens Facebook Page

But first, a Stepheny story: A few years back, driven beyond my patience, I abruptly stood at a City Council meeting and called out, “Point of order.... Mr. Blackwell can go on and on while the citizens only have three minutes to speak.” The mayor informed me, nicely, “There is no point of order for … Continue reading The Rocky Mount Concerned Citizens Facebook Page →