Taking the Field: On the Struggles of Rural Towns

It is no secret that rural North Carolina, and rural areas of the United States generally, have struggled over the last few decades with...

Latest Annual Report: Bright Spots in Hard Times

Challenge is what defines success, the saying goes. Covering part of what would become one of the most difficult periods in modern American (and world)...

Advancing Municipal Leaders

A new continuous learning platform with on-demand courses. Anyone serving in municipal government knows how time-consuming and knowledge-demanding it can be. That’s how it goes....

NCLM Members Approve Municipal Legislative Goals

The process may have been different, but the result will look very familiar to members of the N.C. League of Municipalities. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic...

League Attorney Schwitzgebel Gets Highest of Honors

The longest-serving member of the League of Municipalities’ legal team has been presented the North Carolina Judicial Branch’s highest award. Gregg Schwitzgebel, the League’s...

Speaking Out: The Importance of Common Purpose and Common Policy Goals

Over a century ago, the N.C. League of Municipalities was formed, first and foremost, as an advocacy organization, to promote policies that would keep...

Mark-Anthony Middleton: A Voice Saved, a Voice Used

Mark-Anthony Middleton guides Durham into its next chapter, asking, 'Who's not being heard?' To hear Mark-Anthony Middleton speak—whether it be as a councilman for the...

Partnerships & Placemaking in Western Carolina

Sylva, Webster, Dillsboro, and the rest of Jackson County have developed into one of the state’s premier destinations. In an area surrounded by beautiful...

Trick-or-Treating in the Pandemic

Halloween is a big deal to communities across North Carolina. How to proceed in 2020 offered no easy solutions. Sure, local government and Halloween have...

Census 2020: What Now?

Lawsuits, extensions, pandemics, and uncertainty defined a 2020 census that may still have some storylines to write yet. Barring wildcard changes, the 2020 Census counting...

Talk of Our Towns

Across North Carolina our towns are allocating resources, creating innovative approaches, and doing all in their power to support local businesses and nonprofits. From...

That One Click Can Set You Back 10 Years

NCLM training ups cities' cyber defenses, awareness. It was March 18, a little after 8:30 p.m., when Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford got the call...

Taking the Field: North Carolina Can Wait No Longer for Broadband...

Roughly a year ago now, I spoke to the members of Gov. Roy Cooper’s broadband task force and noted how, from the viewpoint of...

‘Advancing League Leaders’ to Boost Talent Within

New staff advancement program launched in November. Municipal leaders across North Carolina know, among other core functions, the League’s array of programs for general education,...

NCLM Board Forms Racial Equity Task Force

As the challenging year of 2020 comes to close, the N.C. League of Municipalities and its Board of Directors made the decision that its...

Advancing Municipal Leaders

A virtual on-demand education program. Education has been a top-of-the-list priority for the League for decades. For our mayors and council members, we work to...

A Focus on Rural Utilities

When the Pew Charitable Trust’s publication Stateline took a look at struggling rural water and sewer systems around the country earlier this year, the...

Speaking Out: Finding a Better Way Forward

Over the last several months, the NCLM Board of Directors and its leadership have been grappling with questions of how our organization can best...

N.C. Towns Find Ways to Support Residents, Keep Public Systems Afloat

Jacksonville, Hillsborough and cities across the state show how local resiliency and community assistance can be one in the same. As with nearly every aspect...

Race, Policy, Police, Protest: Municipal Officials Reflect

In classroom history books of the future, the year 2020 is likely to have its own chapter, if not several. You can live under...