Preston Blakely: Political assassinations in Minnesota call for a reminder of our shared humanity

Preston Blakely: Political assassinations in Minnesota call for a reminder of our shared humanity

Who could have imagined public service could be so dangerous? I became the mayor of a small town in Western North Carolina to serve my entire community. To sit in churches, barbershops, and kitchen tables, and have intimate and honest conversations. To represent and lead the people I meet, even when we cannot agree on everything.

Dalton George: Psst, elected officials — get out there and talk to people

Dalton George: Psst, elected officials — get out there and talk to people

Regardless of party, most people hate politics, they distrust the system, and they feel left behind, unheard, and sidelined. I understood how they felt. So how could I reconcile this with being an elected official? I decided on an “ambitious” idea — aiming to talk to people.

These town halls have very little format, lots of me answering questions, sharing frustrations, and inviting people to help me solve the problems. It’s risky, no doubt, for an elected official to deviate from the script, but to meet this moment it’s also necessary. Opening yourself to a dialogue, answering any question asked can be a challenge, but importantly it also humanizes our decision-makers.

Billy Corriher: N.C. can’t let sore loser candidates undermine our democracy

Billy Corriher: N.C. can’t let sore loser candidates undermine our democracy

The losing candidate — Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin — couldn’t steal the election, but he did immeasurable damage to the public’s faith in our democracy. He challenged 65,000 ballots from voters who complied with all the rules, and four justices on our state Supreme Court agreed to throw out some of them. 

Griffin never presented any evidence that voters did anything wrong in casting their ballots, but it suddenly looked like their votes might not count.