Bellview – What’s the most pressing need in the Cherokee County? It depends on where you live.
The board assigned to identify the county’s most pressing needs and how to meet those needs has identified nine areas to focus on.
The county’s NASA (Needs & Solutions Advisory) board met at the Bellview Community Center on July 11 for two reasons: to hear about local concerns there and work on the interim report it is scheduled to submit to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners in August. The board sketched out a framework and assigned members to committees to work on the report.
During its first six months, the board has met in Hiwassee Dam, Texana, Ranger, Bellview, Andrews and Murphy. Issues reflect an urban/rural divide in perceptions about what is wrong in Cherokee County.
Near Andrews and Murphy, drug abuse and homelessness dominate the conversation. Outlying communities express concern about internet connectivity, high taxes and proximity to garbage drop sites. Also on the list was education.
The board’s monthly meetings have been sparsely attended, with a few residents attending to listen or speak, plus appearances by officials representing Murphy and Andrews, county economic development and competing plans for school consolidation.
While education has been a major issue, especially over consolidation, it has not been brought up by non-elected citizens who have attended the meetings.
The board identified three broad areas each with three sub-sections. They are:
- Infrastructure. Wireless and broadband internet, roads, and water and sewer;
- Community. Schools, housing and health care;
- Economic development. Jobs, training/skills and business development strategic planning.
The nine-member board, appointed by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, divvied up the nine subjects depending on personal and professional expertise.
Margaret Ackiss, for example, works for AT&T and pushes for widespread broadband internet. Sue Lynn Ledford, executive director of Four Square Community Action, has expertise in housing and homelessness. Board Chair Mark Kephart is a retired U.S. Army military police sergeant major who works in construction and has broad interest in multiple areas.
Two original members on the board who later resigned have been replaced by Doug Clement, county director with N.C. Cooperative Extension, and Veleda Jackson, a social worker with Four Square.
Among new members, Clement has professional interest in agriculture, while Jackson wants to assure representation of the Texana community and the county’s African-American population.