Oriental's Mayors Race Forum

Last night's forum of Oriental's mayoral candidates proved quite interesting.

I won't comment on the performance of individual candidates. As a member of Pamlico County's Board of Elections, I am prohibited from publicly supporting or opposing the election of any particular candidate. I want to avoid even the appearance of support or opposition. Even with that limitation, I think there are useful observations to make.

Interest in the election seems higher than any of us expected. Eighty-eight interested citizens attended the forum. That represents about a third of the expected turnout for a municipal election in Oriental. That's a lot.

A number of the questions from the audience concerned preparation for and recovery from hurricanes. That was to be expected, as recovery from hurricane Irene dominates every resident's daily life and will continue to do so for months.

What was unexpected was a large number of questions on past issues that had been settled or seemed to have been settled. Among the themes:

1. What are the plans for Oriental's police force?;
2. The firing of town manager Randy Cahoon and the disposition of the report that cost the town $21,000;
3. Should the town have zoning? (All three candidates supported the need for zoning);
4. Do the candidates support outdoor amplified music?;
5. What about pool halls?;
6. Closed meetings;
7. Circumstances of the town's non-renewal of flood insurance (I was one of the deciders, and after Irene, I posted a comment on the decision).

All three candidates emphasized that we have a council-manager form of government, meaning that the board hires the town manager. The manager, in turn, is in charge of managing, hiring and firing staff, including police officers.

I think everyone who attended learned a lot about the candidates and about town government.