Residents urge expanded voting access, housing supports; speaker urges multi-story schools and EMS reorganization

During the public-comment portion of the Onslow County Board of Commissioners meeting March 3, two residents urged county action on voting access, housing and homelessness services, and emergency services planning.

Ari Rakowitz told the board she had tried to persuade commissioners to "respect separation of church and state" and urged the county to adopt services that are "accessible, quality...sustainably, equitably, and effectively so that the whole community can thrive." Rakowitz criticized reliance on occasional public-health events as insufficient and urged structural changes to support people experiencing homelessness. She said municipal voter turnout for Onslow County municipal elections can be "as low as 12%" and called for measures to improve access, including an election holiday, early-voting sites for every municipal election, ranked-choice voting, and a "vote of no confidence" option on ballots; she also said the county's Board of Elections building is the only early-voting site for municipal elections and described it as "more…