Acknowledgements

The updated version of this book was made possible through the financial support of the North Carolina City and County Management Association. I thank the members of NCCCMA and especially Brian Hiatt, City Manager of Concord and chair of the NCCCMA Civic Education Committee, for their continuing enthusiastic support of this project.

Jan Boyette, NCCCMA's Civic Education Coordinator, has been responsible for coordinating all the administrative and technical arrangements for making the book available on the Web. Erin Norfleet, my Master of Public Administration (MPA) research assistant on the updated version, located supplementary materials and helped make the book more lively and enjoyable.

Many people have helped me write this book. Their contributions have made it more accurate, more interesting, and easier to read. In the listing that follows, I indicate people's affiliations at the time I drafted the book.

My original research assistants on this project—MPA students Hana Kohn, Tim Leshan, Marcy Onieal, Eric C. Peterson, and Roger Schlegel—located materials and provided many useful ideas and suggestions on various versions of the manuscript. The MPA office staff, Jean Coble and Kathy Frymoyer, helped me coordinate the original project with the NCCCMA. I thank them for attending to the details of project administration.

I also thank my faculty colleagues for their careful review of the manuscript. Dr. Carolyn Grubbs of Meredith College, Dr. Nanette Mengel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill MPA Program, and Professors David Lawrence and Warren J. Wicker of the UNC Institute of Government each gave me valuable suggestions.

Several high school teachers also took time to read earlier versions of the book. I appreciate greatly the help of James T. Coble, Hickory High School, Hickory; Judy Daniels, Hoggard High School, Wilmington; Pat Gurley, Mt. Olive Junior High School, Mt. Olive; Ann Heafner, West Lincoln High School, Lincolnton; Vennie James, Smithfield-Selma High School, Smithfield; Ricky McDevitt, Madison High School, Marshall; Marcie Pachino, Jordan High School, Durham; Peggy Shonosky, Laney High School, Wilmington; and Darnell Tabron, Jordan High School, Durham. Doug Robertson and John Ellington of the NC State Department of Public Instruction provided valuable assistance.

Local government leaders have also contributed. The members of the Civic Education Committee and Reading Committee provided valuable direction for the project. City council members and county commissioners all across the state voted to pay to make this book available to the state's public school students. Many local government professionals also shared their comments on the manuscript. My special thanks go to Raymond Boutwell, Wake County; Margot Christensen, NC League of Municipalities; Debra Henzey, NC Association of County Commissioners; James Hipp, Lenoir; J. Thomas Lundy, Catawba County; R. Lee Matthews, Hamlet; J. Michael Moore, Thomasville; Robert Shepherd, Land-of-Sky Regional Council; Robert Shepherd, Jr., Kernersville; Kenneth Windley, Davie County; and John Witherspoon, Cabarrus County.

Most especially, I want to thank Carolyn Carter, Bob Slade and Brian Hiatt, who each chaired the NCCCMA Civic Education Committee, for their encouragement and support. They provided the leadership that directed and sustained this project.

Gordon P. Whitaker

Gordon P. Whitaker
Chapel Hill