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Friday, March 29, 2024

Sharing perspectives for stronger decisions

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Vivian Seigler Wright was not trying to make history when she ran for a seat on the county commission in 1972. She simply thought she could do the job better than sitting board members.

Wright does not remember what item of business she brought to commissioners as a member of the county board of elections, but she remembers her response to the experience.

“We had an issue before the board of commissioners, and after we went before the board of commissioners, I figured I could do better than those five men. So I ran for election,” Wright said. “I’m not sure I could remember [the issue] now, but it upset me enough at the time that I left the board of elections and ran for the other.”

Wright was the first woman to serve on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, more than 50 years after women earned the right to vote. Two more women, Ellen Carraway Williams and Karen Eckberg Gottovi, joined her on the board in 1976. Wright took her duty seriously and worked hard, an effort she said anyone can make.

“I tried to be prepared, to study the things that were on the agenda. I think that’s where some of the men on the board fell short, because they didn’t put the time in,” Wright said. “That’s the big thing about it. It doesn’t much matter whether you’re a man or a woman. If you know what you’re doing, and you’re faithful about learning the things that are coming before the board, then anybody can do it.”

When current vice chairman of the board Beth Dawson was elected in 2012, she invited Wright to her seating ceremony. Dawson said she is proud to be one of eight women to serve as county commissioner, but like Wright, she said she brings more than her experience as a woman to the board.

“I may have different perspectives on certain issues, but I don’t know whether that necessarily comes from being a woman, or from my life experiences, my service on other boards and commissions, my business background in banking,” Dawson said. “It’s a combination of a lot of different things.”

When Jonathan Barfield Sr. campaigned in 1980 to become the first African-American elected to the board since the 1898 coup d’état in Wilmington, he pledged to use his experience in the African-American community to better serve county residents. He said stronger decisions are made on important issues when different perspectives are considered.

“That’s what diversity does. I’m going to play you a mindset from the black community that you would not understand, and a guy might bring me a mindset from Wrightsville Beach that I wouldn’t understand. If he has credibility with me . . . I’m going to listen to what he’s saying, and nine times out of 10, I’ll support it,” Barfield Sr. said.

Barfield Sr. and his son, current county commissioner Jonathan Barfield Jr., are the only African-Americans to serve on the board since 1898. Barfield Jr. said he learned how to share and discuss different perspectives by observing his father, a skill he said is important to serving the community.

“Diversity has many different forms. It can be racial, by political party, in work experience. I think all those factors play into making a board stronger, because everyone has different gifts and skill sets,” Barfield Jr. said.

County commissioners discussed a switch to election by districts, instead of election at-large, during the 1990s, said former county commissioner and Wrightsville Beach alderman Bill Sisson, to secure more diversity on the board. Dawson and Barfield were both skeptical of the need for election by district because of New Hanover County’s small size.

“When you run countywide, you reach out and meet people, as I did, from Kure Beach to Castle Hayne and everywhere in between. I think the folks that live in the northern or the southern parts of the county recognize that we serve all areas, all citizens,” Dawson said.

Sisson said it is not impossible for county commissioners to represent needs specific to certain communities, like the beach towns, but it is improbable.

“I’m not saying the county commissioners aren’t capable of representing the beaches, but basically, it’s a matter of mindset. If you don’t live in a beach community, then you don’t think about the same things in terms of disasters, sewage, water, trash because you’re not in the same situation,” Sisson said.

Barfield Jr. doubted election by district in New Hanover County would ensure racial diversity.

“I don’t know if you have that kind of a pocket here, where you could draw lines to make that happen,” he said. Both Barfield Jr. and Dawson said they try to secure more diversity to the board by serving as mentors and encouraging people to serve.

“I am constantly reaching out to individuals in our community to encourage them to get on boards, get on committees, attend county commission meetings, to get involved,” Barfield Jr. said. “For me, it was a decision I made for myself, but at the same time, I recognize that others need to be groomed, to be introduced to the process.”

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