Given the fact that both the Franklin City Council and Southampton County Board of Supervisors routinely discuss business that impacts both city and county residents, many people of each locality feel the need to attend both city and county meetings. However, given the respective meeting schedules of each governing body, it is almost a logistical impossibility for an interested party to attend the meetings for both. City Council meets regularly on the second and fourth Monday of each month, and the Board of Supervisors meets regularly on the fourth Monday of each month.

We are not suggesting that these schedules were intentionally established to create conflict. In fact, when these meeting dates were set, the city and county had relatively few business dealings together and consideration of each others’ schedules was almost unnecessary. That is no longer the case.

In the interest of transparent governance and a citizen’s right to be informed, we call on the localities to work together and establish a schedule that would allow individuals to attend any meeting they so choose without being forced to miss another. It should not be difficult to do, and it is the right thing to do.