Local governments affect our lives in many ways. They supply the water we drink. They provide police and fire protection. They operate the public schools, parks, and libraries. They help people in need. They regulate how land is used and enforce state and local laws. They work to bring new jobs to our communities. Local governments are important to you because they help determine how well you and your neighbors live.

This book is about local governments (cities, towns, and counties) in North Carolina. This book explores the ways that local government affects people and the ways that people can influence their local government. This book examines the ways local governments are organized and the ways they operate. This book also focuses on the people who make local government work.

PURPOSES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The purpose of local government is to make life better for the people in the community. Local governments try to do this in three ways:

Photo by the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department Serving people.	Local governments provide services. Water supply, fire protection, schools, parks, and libraries are among the many services they provide. Some services are used by everyone every day. Other services help people with special needs or help people in times of crisis.

Local governments encourage community improvement. The ways they do this include encouraging new businesses, sponsoring community festivals and clean-up days, and organizing human relations commissions.	Photo by the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Improving the community.

Photo by the City of Hickory Police Department Protecting people.

Local governments protect people against harmful behavior. Making and enforcing laws to protect the public are important local government responsibilities. Although the state government in North Carolina makes most of the criminal laws, local law enforcement agencies investigate most of the crimes and make most of the arrests. Crime is not the only kind of harmful behavior, of course. People can also harm others without meaning to do so. Local governments set regulations to prevent this. For example, local governments might restrict factories from locating next to houses, or they might regulate where people park their cars.

NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Often when people speak about "the government" they mean the United States government, but we have several types of governments in this country. We have a federal system of government. National, state, and local governments each have their areas of responsibility and authority. The national government in Washington, D.C. is responsible for dealing with problems that affect the entire country. We often call our national government the "federal government" because it is made up of states. North Carolina is one of fifty states that make up the United States of America. Each state government is responsible for problems within its jurisdiction. Each state also has established local governments to deal with the particular "close to home" needs of the people.

Each government has the responsibility to serve the best interests of all its people, the authority to make and enforce laws and to provide services, and the authority to tax to raise funds to support its work.

Each citizen of the United States is also a citizen of the state in which he or she lives. Citizens of North Carolina are also citizens of the county in which they live. People who live within city or town limits are also citizens of that municipality. Each level of government—federal, state, county, and municipal—is governed by elected officials. Each level of government provides certain services, regulates certain kinds of activity, and undertakes programs to improve public well-being.

The United States; North Carolina; Union County.

The national government makes laws and carries out policies that affect the entire country. The United States Constitution, for example, applies to all residents of the United States and to all governments in the United States. State and local governments may not pass or enforce laws that contradict the Constitution. For example, the Constitution requires that state and local governments provide "equal protection under the law" to all people.

Among the services operated by the federal government are mail delivery, Social Security benefit payments, and recreation opportunities in national parks, forests, and recreation areas. The national government regulates activities such as the manufacture and sale of medicines, the sale of stocks and bonds, and the operation of nuclear electrical generating plants. National government programs for the general well-being include defense, research, and transportation. The Army, Navy, and Air Force provide national defense. The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies support studies of diseases and possible cures. Federal grants support highway and airport construction.

The North Carolina state government also provides many services. It is responsible for building, maintaining, and policing the state's highways. State government provides recreation opportunities in state parks, forests, and recreation areas. It helps people locate jobs, and pays out unemployment benefits to those who are unemployed. The state government regulates such matters as insurance rates, waste disposal, and development along the North Carolina coast. Among the state's programs to improve the general well-being are the recruitment of industry to the state, agricultural research, and promotion of the arts.

In the chapters that follow, you will see that federal and state governments influence local governments. One sort of influence involves mandates by which federal or state governments require local governments to provide a service or to carry out services in specified ways. Mandates say how counties operate programs of assistance like Medicaid and Food Stamps, for example. Federal and state governments also provide grants to help fund some local government programs like police services or housing repairs. Federal and state governments also greatly influence some local governments through their decisions about the location and operation of facilities like hospitals, prisons, parks and forests, and military bases. Closing a hospital or military base, expanding a prison, or changing policies on timber harvest or tourism on state or federal land often has a major impact on the local economy and, therefore, on the local government in whose jurisdiction those facilities are located. In North Carolina, local governments can do only those things the state government gives them authority to do. Thus, the state can also prevent local governments from doing things opposed to state policy.

Local governments focus on local issues. Like other governments, they provide services, make and enforce laws, and collect taxes to support their work. Local governments also have the responsibility to serve and protect everyone in their jurisdiction. They also often undertake programs to improve the local community.

Everyone in a local government's jurisdiction is responsible for obeying its local laws and paying local taxes. This includes not only the residents of the jurisdiction but also people who work, shop, or visit there and people who own property there. Everyone, regardless of place of residence, has the right to be treated fairly by local government officials of every local jurisdiction in the United States.

Often there is considerable overlap between local issues and broader interests. One town's use of a river to carry away its waste water can interfere with the use of that same river as a source of drinking water by towns downstream. Local governments often work closely together to deal with such problems. Most local governments in North Carolina participate in one of the 17 regional councils in the state. Local governments join together in Council of Governments in their area. They pay dues to support the work of the regional council and appoint representatives to meet to discuss problems they share and to work out ways to deal with those problems.

Local governments also cooperate directly with each other. They usually have mutual aid agreements to help each other fight fires or deal with other emergencies. Often a county and the municipalities within it work together in various ways, including building libraries or parks, setting up recycling or economic development programs, planning and controlling land use, and collecting taxes.

In the News . . .
Water over roads are sometimes not the only obstacle to getting aid to other municipalities when natural disasters strike.
Making it easier to come to the aid of neighboring local governments By Eleanore J. Hajian
Tarboro Town Manager Sam Noble can quickly sum up his situation following Hurricane Floyd: no power, no water, no wastewater treatment, no roads and limited food. "It was pretty scary," he said. "You've just got to improvise and persevere." Noble knew what to do about the power. As a longtime manager of a town in the electric distribution business, he had done it many times before. He had to call the regional emergency coordinator for ElectriCities (an association providing technical, emergency and other services to its members), who would find and send help. Getting help with other needs—starting up the water plant, locating heavy equipment, finding police officers and building inspectors—wasn't so simple. Neighboring municipalities couldn't help because they were also under water, and state emergency resources were stretched thin because of the magnitude of the disaster. So Noble did what all people do when they need help—he called his friends, the city and county managers he knew best from other parts of the state. At the same time, they called him. "I'm very fortunate because I've gotten to know a lot of people and almost all of them were concerned and called or e-mailed me to ask if they could help."	Ultimately, Noble found and received the help he needed. He also spent a lot of time and energy getting it. Scrambling to find emergency assistance is a reality managers across the state have faced. Each county in the state has felt the wrath of at least one of the 14 presidentially declared disasters to hit North Carolina. They include eight hurricanes, four winter storms, one flood and one tornado, according to state emergency management officials. But what if Noble had an emergency assistance coordinator to call for municipal help like he did for the city's electric service? "If there were one person to call and say, 'I need five dump trucks and 10 police officers,' and everyone knew to call that one person to offer assistance, it would be much better," he said. "It's great to have people call you directly to offer assistance, but it's really hard to call all those people back when you're up-to-your butt in alligators." Next time, that's all Noble will have to do, if everything goes to plan. A new mutual aid coordinator established through the League and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners will serve local governments seeking and offering assistance to each other in disasters when the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) is activated. Paid volunteers from cities, towns, and counties will serve as mutual aid coordinators.	It is the first time local governments will have one of their own acting as a full member of SERT. Previously, SERT, which is assembled in response to, or in preparation for a disaster, was made up of core emergency responders representing several state agencies, as well as the National Guard, ElectriCities, private utility operators and private relief organizations such as the American Red Cross. But experience with Hurricane Fran and then Hurricane Floyd made the need for local government representation apparent, said John Spurrell, NCLM Environmental Policy Analyst. "Local governments play an integral role in responding to emergencies and assisting neighbors during disasters, and in the wake of Hurricane Floyd it became prudent to have a local government representative on SERT to help coordinate local assistance from one point, rather than to depend upon many informal arrangements," he said. —Excerpted by permission of Southern City August 2000

PEOPLE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

You and the other residents make up the population of your county, city, or town. Together you make up the community that your local government represents. You are the people who most regularly use the services of your local government. Its laws and its community improvement activities affect you. If you have lived in your community very long at all, you probably also identify yourself with your local government and feel some pride in it and loyalty to it.

Any group of people who share common bonds can be thought of as a community, of course. You may also think of yourself as belonging to other communities—a neighborhood or an ethnic or religious group, for example. However, these informal communities do not have governmental authority or responsibility. They play a very different part in your life than do local governments. Local governments have the authority and the responsibility to regulate what people do and to make people pay to support and protect the community.

It is often difficult to decide how best to meet the needs of all the people in a local government's jurisdiction. People may disagree about whether they need another swimming pool or new tennis courts, about where to locate a landfill or sewage treatment plant, or about the need for sponsoring a teen center. They may disagree about the need to increase local taxes to pay for public services.

Elected officials have the difficult responsibility of deciding what the needs of the community are and what the government should do. As representatives of the people, they have the authority for deciding the policies and programs of local governments. Elected officials select local government employees (either directly or indirectly) and oversee their work. In later chapters we will explore the specific responsibilities of various elected officials.

Local government employees carry out the work of local government. They make sure that safe drinking water is readily available. They answer calls for police assistance, fight fires, maintain public buildings, and help those who need public assistance. Local government employees include lifeguards at the public swimming pool, your public librarian, and the city or county manager. Public employees are responsible for putting local government policies and programs into practice. You will learn more about their work in later chapters.

All those who live, work, own property, or otherwise have an interest in a community have the right to request public services from the local government and to let local government officials know about their concerns. To make your concerns known, you can call city or town or county offices; talk to local elected officials; write letters to the local newspaper; or attend public meetings.

You can learn about local public issues by reading the newspaper and by talking to friends. In more and more communities, you can watch local public-affairs television programs or check the local government web page. You can expand your knowledge of public issues and programs by reading materials from the library and by discussing the issues with local government officials.

Voters in local government jurisdictions have a great impact on local government decisions. Voters can affect decisions indirectly by voting for officials who reflect the voters' views and directly by voting in local referendums. In addition to voting, citizens can affect local government decisions by running for and being elected to public office or by telling their concerns to local government officials.

In the News . . .
Photo by Eleanore J. Hajian
Painting a True Picture of Crime By Eleanore J. Hajian
The 12 residents listened intently as the police officer gave a report on crime occurring in their Raleigh neighborhood. On this day, the officer had good news. "Nothing really serious has been reported here in a while," Officer W.L. Norvell reassured. At one time, reports of drug dealing and the violent crimes associated with it would have filled the officer's roster. But long-term residents, many of whom are senior citizens, got fed up with being scared and started a community watch group that regularly draws crowds of 30 or more people. "I got tired of the crime and other people did too," said the group's chair, Mildred Flynn.	Today, the neighborhood's situation has drastically improved, Flynn said. But the regular meetings still remain vital to keeping residents informed, and keeping crime at bay. It helps to know what's really happening in your neighborhood and where, Flynn said. That way, with the help of police officers, residents can figure out what to do about it. Giving residents an accurate portrayal of crime in their neighborhood is a key component of crime prevention, said Officer Lisa Weber-Brglez, who has worked a lot with the group in her job as a crime prevention and community education officer with the Raleigh Police Department. But getting that accurate portrayal across can be hard. With reports of kidnappings, murders, car jackings, bank robberies and school shootings filling headlines, people's perceptions of crime and what crime is actually occurring can be	very different things. Those perceptions alter the way people live, and the steps they take to protect themselves from crime, say law enforcement authorities. Wrong perceptions can cause inappropriate reactions ranging from exaggerated fears to perilous complacency. As part of their crime prevention programs, police departments across the state have turned to community outreach programs and assigned officers like Weber-Brglez to set the record straight. Since 1995, the department has reached out to the community by establishing substations throughout the city, encouraging officers to talk to residents on their beats, dedicating personnel to domestic violence cases, and working with a court-oriented victims' assistance program. —Excerpted by permission of Southern City February 2000

LEARNING ABOUT LOCAL GOVERNMENT

When you need public services, where can you get them? How can local governments help you resolve public disputes? What are your responsibilities as a citizen of local government? How can you participate in making your community a better place to live?

Because local governments affect your life in so many ways and because they should be open to your participation and influence, you need to know about your local government. In the chapters that follow, you will read about how North Carolina's cities, towns, and counties provide public services, how they protect the public from harmful activities, and how they improve the community you live in.

This book includes interviews with some of the people who make local governments work. It also includes excerpts from newspaper stories about local government. The interviews and stories are examples of the kinds of information you can collect about local governments in your own part of the state. Some of the terms used to discuss government may have special meanings or be new to you. The glossary defines these words. Terms listed in the glossary are in bold print the first time they appear in the text. You can see a short definition by placing the cursor directly on the bold-type word. Or you can click on "Glossary" in the Table of Contents. If you encounter a word that is unfamiliar, first check the glossary. If it is not included there, check your dictionary.

Discussion questions at the end of each chapter are a further guide for applying what you learn from this book to your own city, town, or county.

You can also click "For Further Reading" in the Table of Contents for a list of books and magazines about the topics discussed in this book. Many of these books and magazines should be in your school library or in the local public library.

Is your school board considering year-round classes? Is the board of county commissioners considering areas for a new landfill? Is the city council debating what to do about noise complaints? As you watch the television news, read the newspaper, or hear discussions about local government you will notice issues that affect you. This book can help you understand the ways local governments make decisions about those issues and your responsibilities and opportunities for participating in local government.

In the News . . .
Photo by Sonya Reddick / Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department
Special parks add spice to the recreational flavor in Tar Heel communities By Eleanore Hajian and Tara L. Humphries
Most people have to go to an airport to see things fly, but in Chapel Hill people can go to Ryan's World. Few days go by without a young man catapulting himself through the air at the ultra-cool skateboard park. One by one they dive off the ramps, jump over hills and slide down rails. General technique: ignore the law of gravity. (And just in case this technique fails, wear knee pads and helmets.) After years of planning, controversy, petitioning and negotiating for insurance coverage, the town council decided in 1995 to make the park a reality by allocating $50,000 to the project. The council made the move after years of	petitioning by skateboarding fans who wanted a place in town to skate legally. Chapel Hill is among at least nine towns and cities that have made the same decision. Skateboard parks are a trend that has caught on, said Sharon Tebbutt, a consultant with the N.C. State Recreation Resources Service. "Skateboarding is super hot right now," she said. "A lot of teens are into it and they are speaking out and so are their parents." Since opening in November [1999], skateboarders from all over the Triangle have kept it busy, said Frank Noel, concessionaire and operator for Chapel Hill's park. "It's been a steady business," he said. "Skateboarding is a sport and it's a very popular sport. In two years we expect it to become an Olympic sport."	Most of the park's customers are ages 16 and under, but several highly-talented 20-somethings also frequent Ryan's World. Despite the focus on younger teens, the park has already become nationally known among skateboarders. After covering the $75,000 construction of the park, Chapel Hill contracted with Noel to run the park as a business, said Kathryn Spatz, recreation director. The town receives a share of the profit. To skate, town residents pay a $5 annual membership fee and then $5 for all day skating privileges. Non-members pay $7 for a day of skating. Non-resident fees are a dollar higher. The park is open every day except Monday. Eventually the 40-acre property where the skateboard park is located will be a multi-activity complex for the whole family, Spatz said. The town has plans to build a batting cage, two softball fields and possibly an aquatic fun park. —Excerpted by permission of Southern City June 2000

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. In which local governments' jurisdictions do you live?

2. What services do local governments provide for you and your family?

3. Reread the news article about the skateboard park in Chapel Hill. What part did young people play in getting the town to build the new park?

4. Local governments have many programs to improve the community. Identify such a program of your local government.

• Which government is involved?

• What activities does the program involve?

• How are these activities supposed to improve the community?

• Is anyone opposed to these activities?

• If so, why are they opposed?

5. The chart below lists public agencies involved in rescue and recovery efforts in the City of Rocky Mount following Hurricane Floyd, which hit eastern North Carolina in September, 1999. (This summary does not attempt to list all the private businesses, churches, and individuals who contributed their time, talents, and financial resources.) What do you think each agency might have done to help deal with the flooding of Hurricane Floyd and the resulting damage to public and private property?

Local Government in North Carolina, Second Edition- Chapter 1, Local Government and You.
Copyright © 2003 by Gordon P. Whitaker and the North Carolina City and County Management Association.