Honoring the Past, Building a Future
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
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
In my last blog, The Narrowing of Leadership, I wrote about how leadership can become confined within a single way of seeing, how a frame, once set, begins to limit what is noticed and what is allowed to be questioned. I suggest that Rocky Mount's City Council shows evidence of this tendency, and this needs … Continue reading Continuing the Discussion of Leadership: The Little Dutch Boy on the City Council
What has unfolded in Rocky Mount over these past weeks has been a civic burden for everyone. The audit’s language, a lack of leadership, a lack of oversight, has stirred more than concern. It has stirred a kind of impatience. You can feel it in the conversations, and certainly across social media, where the question has … Continue reading Rocky Mount, NC: The Narrowing Lens of Leadership
Before commenting on the Council meeting I need to tell you a bit about my mother-in-law for this to make sense. She was a Jackson, Mississippi girl, an Ole Miss graduate, belonging to the Chi Omega sorority. As she grew older, her southern accent became more pronounced. Put these things together and you know a … Continue reading Monday’s City Council Meeting – 3-23-26
In traditional masonry construction, the cornerstone is the first stone set when construction begins. It is placed at the corner where two walls will rise. Everything that follows depends on that stone. The cornerstone fixes the position of the building on the site. It establishes the angle of the walls. Masons measure outward from it, … Continue reading A Sunday Message From Stepheny: Resetting the Cornerstone in Rocky Mount
