Opinion

The Brunswick County Board of Social Services either doesn’t know the law or is consciously choosing to ignore it—both of which are unacceptable. 

We expect any community member who serves on a public board to know the North Carolina Open Meetings Law. 

We certainly expect the board’s attorney, Gary Shipman, who is billing the county $275 an hour, to know the open meetings law as well as advise board members of it if they do not know it. 

Why are county commissioners paid a salary?

They get paid for attending meetings. They get paid mileage to travel to and from meetings. They get paid to talk to constituents on the phone. 

So, why then, are they paid a salary—$13,858 for chairman Bill Sue and $11,548 for each other commissioner?

Every commissioner we asked seemed to have a different take on what exactly they’re getting paid their salaries for, and what exactly constitutes a meeting. 

We’re not exactly clear what’s going on with Brunswick County’s Department of Social Services, but we have some concerns about the actions taken recently by its board.

On Aug. 6, the board had a meeting where it made a decision to place Jamie Orrock, DSS director, on paid administrative leave. We can find no record of public notice being given for this meeting.

All of our communities must give serious consideration to the development of green spaces in our growing county.

Sunset Beach is no exception to this; however, we do not think investing nearly $4 million into a park property is the best use of taxpayer dollars—especially in light of this challenging economy.

Previously, Sunset Beach commissioners agreed to move forward on the 5.22-acre waterway site only if the town could secure 50 percent of the $3.75 million price in matching grant funding before Sept. 10.

Some local residents are joining together to organize an old-fashioned, family-style fair for Shallotte. 

If all goes well, the midway will light up next year on Sept. 9 and attendees will be treated to rides, food, entertainment, business displays, crafters and more through Sept. 12. There will also be a tribute in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This event is going to take a lot of hard work and will need significant community support, but we think it will be worth all of the effort.

On Friday, as part of Calabash’s annual Town Hall Day celebration, the community’s many restaurants and the people and families who have made them successful will be honored.

It’s a perfect theme for this year’s event, especially in light of recent struggles faced by the local seafood industry—which contributes to the food on area restaurants’ tables—and the struggling economy that has made doing business a bit more difficult than normal.

A recent editorial regarding the newly established Veterans Outreach clinic in Brunswick County clearly forgot the famous words from the beloved Thanksgiving song that says “Count your blessings; name them one-by-one.”

Indeed, let’s count our blessings and the victories for our veterans:

1) Brunswick County veterans were turned down twice by the VA until our petition was granted in 2004. After several bureaucratic and budgetary delays, our veterans’ concerns were finally heard by the VA in our summit on April 7 in Supply.

In a smart fiscal move, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has decided to hold off on a possible countywide curbside recycling initiative until next year.

In light of the slow economy and knowing the county has already had to retighten its belt because of budget constraints, this was a wise decision for this fiscal year.However, as Brunswick County continues to grow and its options for traditional landfill locations dwindle, it only makes sense that in the near future officials will have to tackle this endeavor.

Monday night, the North Carolina Senate passed a bill that would outlaw video gaming entertainment. 

If the same measure were to be approved by the state House of Representatives, it would essentially force electronic sweepstakes operations, like those which have popped up throughout Brunswick County, out of business.