Concern for the safety of Kinston was the public sentiment at the city council meeting on Tuesday. After the public comments, Council members Chris Suggs and Felicia Solomon revisited a tabled agenda item on a town hall type discussion with the community to address concerns about recent crime. 

”What we are looking to do is to continue the conversation that is held in so many of our little private and personal sectors,” said Solomon. ”What we want to do is open up the conversation to all members of the community, from all over the city and even the county.”

After the initial discussion, Mayor Dontario Hardy suggested the proposed meeting take place after the holidays in the month of January. Sugg and Solomon pushed back against that time and reiterated the urgency because school was about to let out for the holidays. 

“One of my hopes, in part of that conversation, we begin to figure out how we hold parents accountable, for some of the lawlessness that we see,” said Solomon.

The proposed meeting, as stated in the motion unanimously approved by the council, will take place at The Gate, with Fairfield as the secondary location if the Gate is unavailable, on December 15th at 6:00 pm. The meeting is to facilitate a discussion between the leaders, stakeholders, and citizens of both the city and the county to address crime and safety concerns. At the time of writing this, the meeting was not yet confirmed for the location of the meeting.

“We have to get everyone involved,” said Interim Chief Keith Goyette. “That is my hope, that everyone is going to be there. We are ready to put our heads together and offer some solutions to the situations we are dealing with.”