It was reported that Congressman Greg Murphy met with Craven County leaders last month. Turns out, at least five elected officials were not invited.
U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy, R-NC, met with two elected officials, the county and city managers and staff, the Housing Authority, Hospital Authority and the Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 18, 2025 at Stanley White Recreation Center, according to news reports.
While the City of New Bern was preparing for a winter storm, Congressman Greg Murphy of District 3 met with CC Chairman Denny Bucher and NB Mayor Jeffrey Odham who are also members of the CarolinaEast Health System’s (Hospital Authority) Board of Directors. Also present: Michael Smith, the president/CEO of CEHS and Brandy Popp, director of Public Relations; Kevin Roberts, president of the New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce; Zeb Hough, director of the city’s Redevelopment Commission; Reginal Barner, director of the New Bern Housing Authority and Jennell Reddick the chairman of the NBHA board; City Manager Foster Hughes and County Manager Jack Veit. City offices closed at 4 p.m. on Feb. 18.
WITN reported that “Congressman Murphy on Social Security shakeup while visiting Craven County.” WCTI 12 reported, “Congressman Murphy discusses education, DEI, and more at local roundtable event.” The New Bern Sun Journal reported, “Murphy discusses hot topics with area leaders.” They said topics of discussion included DOGE and Elon Musk, FEMA funding, Social Security, and other things.
Rep. Greg Murphy said on Facebook that he met with Craven County leaders.
Two Craven County Commissioners told NewBernNow.com that they weren’t invited. Vice Chairman Jason Jones of District 2 said he has not had contact with the congressman in some time. “Probably the last time I talked with him was at one of the airports ribbon cutting / announcements last year.”
Commissioner Chadwick Howard of District 6 told us that he didn’t recall any special meetings, but Rep. Murphy is “generally open to meetings with commissioners per our request.” He said he “had the opportunity to meet with Rep. Murphy in DC during the Commissioner Legislative conference.” Commissioners Shevel “Sherry” Hunt of District 5 and Etteinne “ET” Mitchell of District 4, County Manager Jack Veit and his assistant Shane Digan met with Murphy in Washington, DC on March 3.
Aldermen Hazel Royal of Ward 2 and Barbara Best of Ward 5 said they didn’t know about the meeting until it was reported in the news. Mayor Pro Tempore Rick Prill of Ward 1 said he wasn’t aware of the meeting or invited. We asked Aldermen Robert “Bobby” Aster of Ward 3 and Johnnie Ray Kinsey of Ward 4 if they were invited, but they did not respond.
It’s unclear what was actually said as NewBernNow.com wasn’t invited despite being on the city and county media contact lists. We have covered local government for years and would have recorded it and shared it with the public if we were there. It’s not surprising as the mayor has not responded to NBN’s past requests for comments.
During a recent Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Hazel Royal said she learned of the meeting with the congressman by reading about it in the newspaper. She said she had received numerous questions regarding the meeting, and she didn’t have answers for citizens. She asked who Rep. Murphy contacted.
Jeffrey Odham said, Murphy’s office reached out to him and asked him if they would host a roundtable.
Hazel Royal asked, “Who decided who would attend the meeting?”
“I worked with his staff to determine that. They wanted to have some community leaders. They provided a list of who they would like to see invited and asked for suggestions as well,” Odham said.
Royal said the news article said that City of New Bern representatives were present. She didn’t know if her colleagues were present, but she didn’t get the memo. She said, “as an alderman and a city government representative, I was not notified.”
She said she would have welcomed the opportunity to be there to represent not only the citizens of Ward 2, but citizens throughout the city and to voice their questions.
She asked if citizens were invited.
Odham said, “No.”
“I guess that was one of the things that really troubled those that I talked with was the fact that they weren’t invited, and their voices weren’t heard, and their concerns were not expressed to their elected representative,” she said.
She said the article said county and city officials had questions about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
She said she knew that most people have questions about FEMA because they turn to the agency when there are emergencies and perils and other things. She also said people were concerned about the Farm Bill.
Alderman Royal said the congressman said things that are happening in Washington are things that will bring accountability to spending.” She said she totally agreed that taxpayer’s money should be well spent, but she also believes in responsibility in government. When it comes to representation at the local, state or national level, she believes “every voice has value.”
She said she felt it was very, very troubling to citizens who felt they didn’t have an advocate for their viewpoints and needs aren’t heard or expressed.
She said Rep. Murphy was quoted as saying, “it’s important for me to hear firsthand about what’s going on” and she thought that added to what his constituents were feeling.
Hazel Royal said she hoped the congressman would return soon to allow citizens to be heard. She said she wanted to be included in future meetings.
Alderman Barbara Best said she supported Royal’s comments.
“I too, as a city leader, would like to have been at that meeting. I too had questions that I felt were pertinent to ask Congressman Murphy, considering all that’s going on in this country, at this time,” she said.
She said as long as she’s the Ward 5 Alderman, she would like the opportunity to be an advocate and support her constituents. She said she wanted to be made aware if Sen. Thom Tillis, Governor Josh Stein, Rep. Steve Tyson, or any other congressional leaders come to the city.
“I would hope that Foster (Hughes, the city manager), you being the leader of this city, that you would reach out to us and invite us…so that we can have an opportunity to speak as well. I hope that moving forward that that will be an invite or some email or something sent out to us and let us make that decision whether we want to attend or not.”
She thought she should have been made aware that the congressman was coming to New Bern. She said having to read about it in the newspaper was a little disturbing. She said that moving forward the Board of Aldermen should be invited.
City Manager Foster Hughes said, “Just to be clear. I did not set this meeting up and I was invited to the meeting, myself, and I was not aware of what the topics of conversations were going to be until the questions were asked.”
“Some announcement, email, text, something should have come from the mayor informing us board members of an upcoming meeting with one of our representatives,” Best said.
Mayor Odham said, “I’d like to thank Alderman Kinsey and City Manager Hughes for yesterday. Ironically, there was an event in LaGrange. It was breakfast hosted by the East Carolina Council of Government. It had our state legislators there where you could interact with them and speak your comments and ask questions and we had a good time. I was also pleased to see Former Mayor Outlaw was in attendance there.”
NewBernNow.com asked Rep. Murphy’s office if there was an official list of federal grants and programs that have been impacted due to a pause in funding? We also asked if Is there an official list of federal agencies who plan to cut jobs or have already cut jobs? His office has not responded by press time.
In other news
The New Bern Board of Aldermen will meet at 6 p.m. today in the second floor courtroom at City Hall, 300 Pollock St.
Video recordings of official city meetings are available on City 3 TV here and are later available on the city’s YouTube channel here.
Despite quorum requirements, it appears that Mayor Odham is holding private meetings with the New Bern Housing Authority’s board.
Food for thought
Why are elected officials being prevented from receiving information and representing their constituents?
By Wendy Card, Editor. Send an email with questions or comments.