SALISBURY — Residents from across Rowan County came together Thursday night to voice their opinions on issues in the state legislature. The event was a town hall held in the Mission House by Common Cause.

Common Cause held town halls in seven cities across North Carolina before coming to Salisbury. These town halls were put together in collaboration with local organizations in order to allow residents of different communities across the state an opportunity to voice their concerns about policies and their hopes for the future of North Carolina.

The central question for the event was “what do you want the future of North Carolina to look like?”

Quite a few citizens at the event answered that question in the same way, that the future of North Carolina looked like the people that came together to discuss the issues in that room.

“What do I want the future of North Carolina to look like? It looks like this room to me. I see multi-generation, multi-race, multi-gender. I love what I hear when everyone is speaking up and saying their piece and what is motivating you to get more active and get more engaged. So this is what North Carolina needs to look more like,” said Rachelle Salo, an organizer with the Indivisible Project.

Others spoke up about specific issues in the state legislature that they had opinions about. Because the event was set up to speak about statewide issues, Common Cause invited all four members of the legislature that represent Rowan County. Reps. Julia Howard, Harry Warren and Kevin Crutchfield along with Sen. Carl Ford were all made aware of the event, but were unable to attend.

Howard said that she was unable to make it because the House of Representatives was in a legislative session until late Thursday afternoon. Neither Warren, Crutchfield or Ford returned a request for comment by the Salisbury Post’s deadline, but Ford did let Common Cause know before the event that he most likely would not be able to attend because of a scheduling conflict.

Gino Nuzzolillo, campaigns manager for Common Cause NC, told the crowd in his opening address that the event was non-partisan and citizens should make sure to keep the discussion civil. Neither became an issue, as those that voiced their thoughts were mostly in consensus on the issues facing North Carolina and the Rowan County communities.

Residents raised concerns about bills that have been vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper and then had those vetoes overturned by the state legislature. One bill was HB 574, which requires transgender athletes to participate on the team that aligns with their gender assigned at birth. Another brought up was HB 40, which is designed to increase punishment for rioters. Speakers at the town hall worried that it could be used to punish peaceful protests.

Discussions also took periodic turns into local issues, such as the rising homeless population in Salisbury or the lack of community engagement at Rowan County Board of Commissioners meetings. Geoffrey Hoy, chairman of the Rowan County Democratic Party, did not address any issues. Instead, he told the crowd the meeting times for commissioner meetings and reminded them all that they should attend if able.

Hoy also noted that the Democrats are currently lacking for challengers to the four state legislators, who are all Republican. The only potential candidate Hoy could point to was Tangela Morgan, who also ran against Ford in 2022. Morgan was not present at the event either, but her husband was present and video calling her so that she could listen in.

Outside of Hoy’s call for candidates, the event served as a way for residents of Rowan County from all walks of life to vent about and discuss issues in the state legislature. Nuzzolillo opened the event with questions such as who wants their tax dollars they spend to come back into their own community or who wants excellent public schools for their children. All of the questions returned universal answers.

“There is more that we agree on than we disagree on. There is more that unites us than divides us. So why am I asking you these questions? Because 200 some days ago the North Carolina General Assembly gaveled into what is known as the long legislative session. How many of you have an opinion on something that happened in the General Assembly this year? We’re here tonight because we’re going to hopefully hear all of your opinions on these issues,” said Nuzzolillo.

Nuzzolillo noted that despite the lack of attendance by the county’s representatives, Common Cause took videos and notes of all of the participants’ questions and concerns and planned to bring them directly to Crutchfield, Ford, Howard and Warren.