Editorial

Why was a Greenville TV station more concerned about Kinston's problems than the city's elected leaders?

WNCT (Channel 9) invited representatives from the city, churches, schools, and residents living in the Macon-Orion neighborhood to a community forum at Rochelle Middle School on Thursday night. The evening's theme was "Fixing Kinston," and residents had plenty of ideas about how to do it.

The Macon-Orion neighborhood was the area where two people were fatally shot and five others were wounded June 23.

The Channel 9 news crew reported that more than 100 people showed up to talk about what's wrong with Kinston. Unfortunately, only one City Councilman made an appearance - Joe Tyson. State Rep. Stephen LaRoque made a special trip back from a legislative session in Raleigh to hear what residents had to say - and since the area isn't even in LaRoque's district, no one can accuse him of trolling for votes.

It's hard to say how much of an impact the gathering will have on City Hall. Tyson's reports undoubtedly will be accurate, but there's nothing like hearing it for yourself.

East Kinston residents talked about the fear they felt that evening. Many were pleading for help.

Heaven only knows what will come from the meeting, but at least people in that part of town know someone cares - even if it's someone from Greenville.

The mystery is this: Why didn't city officials hold the meeting, listen to residents and try to alleviate some of their fears? It was the perfect opportunity to show East Kinston that it isn't forgotten, except when crime gets out of hand.

Channel 9 can't fix the problems. Maybe City Hall can't either, but at least our city's leaders could have shown some interest.