Bladen Community College hosts statewide town meeting through video

There are plenty of complaints with all of the budget cuts, but the state is in a deep economic hole that’s approaching $3 billion.

Tuesday, the state house held a public hearing on the new budget. There were ten sites across the state where you could participate in the hearing through a video hookup. In our region, it was in Bladen County.

Through the magic of video technology you could hear and watch people in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and eight other locations make appeals to the state house.

Bladen Community College was the only place to participate in southeastern North Carolina.

“This is the first time in history that the state house or senate has asked North Carolina citizens in a public for forum for their opinion on the state budget,” said Bladen CC Dean of Evening Programs Ann Russell.

With drastic budget cuts approaching the Tar Heel state, this town hall setting at Bladen Community College attracted 17 participants. As low as that number may seem, that’s more than the college expected.

All but two of the participants live in Bladen County. A fireman from Robeson County attended, along with Connie Parker who drove up from Wilmington.

“There is a core of school based and school linked health centers in the state that are in danger of closing their doors due to a lack of funding and that’s particularly troubling now due to the increased demand from the uninsured,” Parker said.

Jason Britt, a Bladen Community College student also had to opportunity to address a statewide audience. “I was asking for more funding for the community college here and the community colleges all across the state.”