Residents raise polling-site safety and traffic concerns, and other community issues, at Harnett County meeting

HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. — Multiple residents used the Sept. 2 public-comment period at the Harnett County Board of Commissioners meeting to raise local concerns, including polling-site safety and traffic at Western Harnett, volunteer litter removal, allegations about prison staff conduct, and opposition to shortening the public-comment period.

Larry Mitchell, a volunteer litter picker, praised Soil and Water Conservation District employee Morgan Pope for coordinating cleanup efforts with the N.C. Department of Transportation and the sheriff’s office. Mitchell said volunteers reported large amounts of dumped debris, including mattresses, hubcaps and dozens of D-sized batteries at a site on Nursery Road; he said DOT responds when notified and that deputy contacts have investigated severe dumping.

"Miss Morgan Pope is vital to us volunteers who report this," Mitchell said.

Kaitlyn Polanski, a five-year resident and first-time commenter, criticized a recent joint meeting among the commissioners, the board of elections and the school board about using schools as polling places. Polanski said that meeting was "short on facts and very long on opinions" and that officials did not present statistics she expected, such as rates of violent incidents or traffic accidents at polling locations. She said the concerns at Western Harnett primarily involve traffic mixing vehicles, buses and pedestrians during early voting and recommended engineering, education and enforcement measures.

"When you address traffic concerns, you use the 3 E's: education, enforcement, and engineering," Polanski said. She added that if the sight of a deputy at a polling place causes fear among community members, "then there is a broken relationship between law enforcement and our community."

Alan Longman raised several claims about the COVID-19 vaccine and described an allegation of a female inmate being assaulted by a male guard at the county jail; he named a guard he said was involved and asked officials to investigate. Those statements were presented as the speaker's assertions; the board did not announce any response or investigation during the meeting.

Jerry Rivas objected to shortening the public-comment period from five minutes to three and criticized the county for a prior wrongful-death settlement involving a deputy. Rivas called for more open listening from commissioners and said the change in allotted comment time amounted to "a thinly veiled attempt to suppress free speech." He also referenced a public settlement paid by the county; the settlement amount and legal findings were discussed by Rivas as his perspective during public comment.

The chair closed the public-comment period after 30 minutes. No formal board action on the topics raised in public comment was taken at the Sept. 2 meeting.