Go local: Notes on the February Meetings of the Watauga County Commission

 After the National Indivisible Guide 2.0 stressed the need to connect to local and state systems of government and the Blowing Rock Persisters urged us to monitor our gerrymandered county commission, I began attending the February 4th and 18th meetings of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners. In the past, I've only observed a few public forums where everybody was angry, and I only stayed to hear the angry talk. So this was the first time I really witnessed the work of our local government.

Of course, I was only there because I was angry, unfortunately, because my greatest regret about political engagement in this country is that too often the only way people get involved is if you make them angry. Of course, righteous defense of those who are vulnerable is justified, but the long term challenges we face require genuine discussion and collaboration, as well as the study of sometimes dry topics.

And some of what I saw was dry, but I was startled by how much I learned after just two meetings.

Everything in our community connects back to the County Commission
Here's a snapshot of the variety of community organizations that gave reports or sought support: the Appalachian Regional Library (reporting on programs such as archival memories of the high country, income tax support, tai chi, repair hub, movies, thousands attend storytime, wow!), the Project on Aging (meals, classes, grant to help low-income seniors connect to medicare), Watauga County Schools supplies and need for a weather waiver, the lease for the Red Cross, fire appendices, NC cooperative extension's application for a grant so locals who wish to sell what they grow can lease small farm equipment at no cost, the Sheriff's department honors a retiree and needs to replace two vehicles after Helene. Seeing all of these connection points was inspiring. It made it easier to show up every other week because I was learning first hand what was happening in my own community.

Recovering from Hurricane Helene is a long-term project with the Commission at its center

Hurricane Helene came up often! Watauga County schools needed approval to use state funds to replace technology and other equipment after the storm; the library gave laptops to those affected by the storm through a special program and reported on recovery of its Western Branch; clean-up continues at Mabel School. Valle Crucis school has been especially hard hit with children still taking classes in temporary locations, but they anticipate starting the new year this fall in their own school building.
Some of the Helene-related discussions deserve further comment. The County Commission has to manage not just their funds but state funds and insurance coverage, and it was stated that there was not enough funding right now for all the cleanup that is needed. One challenge has been rebuilding private bridges, a long process of prioritizing and finding funding and time. One commissioner commented that even Samaritan's Purse has been shocked at how much repairs were needed, and there is a concern that if they build a temporary bridge, it might delay the building of more permanent ones. Rebuilding is challenging because the new structures need to be solid enough to qualify for flood insurance and to be more likely to survive future flooding. So a clear theme in all the discussions was the urgent need for debris to be removed from public and private spaces and bridges to be repaired, yet it is a very slow process.

For one part of these damage assessments, there was a plan to use LiDAR, in which a plane can fly over the land using this special technology to take topographical information, a service that would require contracting with a FAA pilot.

A special presentation by Aerostar on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers explained their process in assessing where private properties need debris removed. This presentation revealed the challenges emergency services face because it is essential that they get approval from the legitimate property owners and are sure to only remove the debris the owners wish to have removed. Commissioners discussed how hard it is to get the word out to those affected to apply for this assessment, though the county will send direct mailings to the 6,000 people in the county who applied for FEMA assistance. (Find out more about this and related topics at https://www.wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/Administration/helene.aspx )

One moment was quite moving: The Watauga County Soil & Water Conservation District Board was so appreciative of the help from other counties to conduct a stream assessment after Hurricane Helene that they wanted to set up a formal agreement of Shared Personnel Mutual Aid, promising that our county soil and water employees could help other counties as needed to face similar crises in the future. One can only imagine what it might have been like to witness committed professionals from across the state joining forces to do what they could on behalf of our streams.

Commentary: All politics are local

As a newbie, I had many reflections in the context of the gerrymandering of this county commission and the corruption and destruction taking place at the federal level. 

Government Works: Some of the commissioners spoke--appropriately!-- on behalf of people in the county literally traumatized by the sight of the destruction unchanged for months. The funding and cleanup process is very slow, in part because the government agencies have to comply with safety guidelines, fairly distribute and target all support, and respect property rights--and because the state legislature has been too slow to approve funding. Some might like to claim that this is all simple, that you can take a chainsaw to the government and then everything would work well, but the reality is far different. I was especially struck that even a private and insanely well-funded organization like Samaritan's Purse couldn't do it. This is so important because it reveals the illusion that we can all just do it ourselves (a perspective that is certainly understandable and at times inspiring). But in this case, our literal ability to build permanent bridges depends on the collective work at multiple levels of government and at a budgetary level that's beyond the reach of individuals and even large charities. This is such a great example of how blanket distrust of government undermines our capacity to address major challenges. Oversight and engagement are essential, but it also requires patience and persistence. Acting on cliches grounded in rumor and prejudice does nothing but weaken us.

There are plenty of obstacles to overcome, so naturally the public experiences impatience and stress. Some of that suspicion, though, has been amplified and used as a tool, to the point that we exist within the contradiction of expecting the government to magically fix things when there's a crisis, yet at the same time starving resources and insulting those in public service as if they do nothing. Those I observed speaking to the board are doing their best on our behalf, conscientiously and with an eye to finding the best outcomes possible. The idea that someone with no understanding of these types of work, someone lacking in ethics, generosity, or any kind of moral compass, would come in and fire people in similar roles in order to enact some radical ideology based on lies… is an insult to everyone involved, the workers who serve us and we who rely on them.

When they spoke of the LiDAR system requiring the contract with a FAA pilot, I had to raise my eyebrows. The Republican strategists who engineered this gerrymandered board, effectively putting these commissioners in their seats, also helped empower the current federal administration that is firing and undermining the FAA, putting air safety at risk and creating fresh obstacles for a service we need in the face of this crisis. Indeed, much of what happens in our county depends on federal funding. That is as daunting a prospect as depending on our gerrymandered state legislature. 

Yet all of this is mostly invisible: when I attended, I was one of maybe two people there observing, the rest attending to present formal reports to the Commission. So much of what they do is nonetheless essential to us, woven into the life of this community, yet this current board exists at the whim of State Sen. Ralph Hise, who doesn't live in our county and doesn't have to care what happens to us. What's more, two meetings in, and I already have a better idea of how much money is controlled by this commission, and we need to be confident that the money is spent for the good of us all, not for the profit of a powerful few. If the process to gain seats in our county commission, like our state legislature, is gerrymandered to make fair elections unlikely if not impossible, how can we trust the decisions they make? Let me be clear: I am not saying that everyone on the board or in the legislature is automatically untrustworthy. But they are not accountable to the voters, only to State Sen. Hise and a few others like him, for whom democracy has taken a backseat to the naked pursuit of power.

This was chilling: At both meetings, I had a moment of disconnect, realizing that they held power after successfully denying 22,696 Watauga County voters the opportunity to vote for a representative in the 2024 election. So even though I had moments where if you asked me, I would have said that they appeared conscientious and concerned about Watauga County, in the end, it felt like a play, a performance where no one can give any meaningful input. They can do whatever they want. For the next two years at least, there is no voice on the board to speak or vote in opposition. Every vote was unanimous. There are no checks and balances. We live in Russia now.

And yet…just by sitting and observing (well, that and taking obsessive amounts of notes), I sensed that I could make the Commissioners aware of what they are doing–that what they do may be shared with others, as in this very report. That is important, just as everything I observed at these meetings. It’s not drama, it’s not fireworks, but it is better than that. There is meaning to be found in the quiet work of observing, and I invite more of you to attend when you can.