Town hall empowers residents to keep elected officials in check
State Sen. Kandie Smith, left, state Rep. Shelly Willingham, center, and Susan Perry Cole, president and CEO of the North Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations, right, speak during a town hall meeting at Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. The event covered issues like redistricting and DMV operations.
TARBORO, N.C. — There are elected officials who aren’t showing face right now. The political stove is too hot. Politicians don’t want to get burned.
North Carolina Rep. Shelly Willingham and state Sen. Kandie Smith, on the other hand, were here for the smoke.
“We are in some very unprecedented times,” Smith told constituents during an Oct. 23 town hall at Edgecombe Community College.
It was the day after legislators in North Carolina’s House of Representatives voted Senate Bill 249 into law. The legislation will dilute Black voting power in the state’s 1st Congressional District. It won’t prevent Black people from voting, but the likelihood of them electing a candidate with shared values is diminished because voting lines have changed to favor Republican candidates. A Democrat has represented the 1st Congressional District for three decades.
“We’ve not been here before, but our forefathers have,” said Smith, who represents Edgecombe and Pitt counties. “They fought. They didn’t give up, which allowed us this opportunity to even be in these seats to serve you. So you have to make sure you continue to fight — and to hold us accountable.”
That last part — “hold us accountable” — was something Rocky Mount resident Richard Petway didn’t need to hear twice.
Demanding answers
“I got a question about DMV, and that is about why did they cut so many people out of DMV?” asked Petway, referring to staff shortages.
Trying to get an N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) appointment has frustrated the state’s residents to the nth degree, wait times revving reactions resembling road rage.
“When everybody goes and gets their licence, they have to wait two and three days — sometimes as long as two and three months — before they can get their license,” Petway said. “What can you do about that?”
“I can tell you we’re in the process of taking care of that now,” said Willingham, who represents Bertie, Edgecombe and Martin counties. “We’ve already been hiring more people.”
State Rep. Shelly Willingham, left, and state Sen. Kandie Smith speak during the town hall at Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
In May, the N.C. Department of Transportation announced Paul Tine as the new DMV commissioner.
“He’s a former legislator. I know him. So things are looking better. I can tell you that,”
Willingham said. “You will see improvement.”
Accountability.
More than eight-in-10 U.S. adults believe most elected officials don’t care what people like them think, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey. Smith and Willingham were demonstrating otherwise.
Hot stove
Edgecombe United, North Carolina Black Alliance (NCBA) and Community Empowerment Alliance sponsored the town hall. NCBA program director Jovita Lee moderated the session and took questions from the audience. One person wanted Willingham to explain why he didn’t support Rep. Rodney Pierce’s protest against Senate Bill 249. Both Pierce and Willingham are Democrats.
“One of the things I’ve learned is I don’t sign any protest bills,” Willingham said. He said he did it back in the day, and “it got me into a lot of trouble.”
Another person wanted Willingham to deal with why he voted to override vetoes by Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat.
“Let me explain how I make my decisions in voting,” Willingham offered.
Willingham said when a bill is on the table, lobbyists on both sides of it offer pros and cons. He said he takes that perspective and factors in what lobbyists don’t know, stuff to which he’s privy by virtue of being a legislator. Willingham said he also mixes in his experience with the issue at hand.
“And then I look at how that affects the situation as it is at this timeframe, and then I make the decision,” Willingham said.
“You didn’t answer the question,” blurted a lady, backed by a choir echoing her sentiment.
They were holding Willingham accountable.
“I can tell you I have delivered for this district. If we go back and look at what’s coming to this district, we’ve got more in this district than we’ve ever gotten,” Willingham said. “I think I’ve been effective, and the only thing I can say to you is that if you really think I’ve been ineffective, then, you know, we’re elected every two years, and you can remove me. You can unelect me.”
Murmurs in the audience sounded like folks might take him up on that.