engaged, seniors can come out here, they’re engaged, and they’re focused on their health and wellness while having fun. This has been nothing but a goldmine… Now, fast-forward, eastern Wake County is deemed one of the healthiest communities. These pickleball courts are literally named after you. How does that experience—working with the community and seeing measurable change from the project you made together—help you as a state legislator today? Is there anything you can pull from this in your legislative day-to-day? JR: Yes, and I have. I don’t think, when you leave local government, that you’re veering off too much. There’s that connection, that partnership, between local government, county government, and state government. So, this has afforded me the opportunity, now that I’m in state government, to continue to work on some of those objectives and goals that I started out with as an elected official on a local level. However, I get to elevate that by supporting my community and my district from a broader perspective. Which is great, because serving as the mayor of Knightdale or as a council member, we focused on things in our municipalities. Well, the obesity part … it wasn’t just a Knightdale Connecting the Dots: State Rep. James Roberson BEN BROWN NCLM Communications and Multimedia Strategist CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS, HIS PRIOR ROLES AS A MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER, THE FASTGROWING SPORT OF PICKLEBALL, AND HOW IT ALL RELATES It wasn’t just the clean, spring weather that made the pickleball courts at Knightdale’s Harper Park so active on the day Southern City pulled up for a visit. The easy temperature and sunny vibrance commanded outdoor fun, yes, but there was something extra about this city-developed spot and its rhythm of racquet pops, sneaker swishes, friendly trash-talk, laughs, and handclaps. “This was like a ghost town,” said state Rep. James Roberson, who was looking over the busy courts and recalling the days before their development at what is one of Knightdale’s oldest parks. “I saw an opportunity to bring something online to possibly get family members and their kids off the sofas, out into the community, where they can spend quality time with each other but, more importantly, to focus on the health and wellness.” There was also a lack of activities for seniors in town, noted Rep. Roberson, formerly the mayor of Knightdale, while too noting the rapid ascension of pickleball among all ages in the United States. Clearly, the James Roberson Pickleball Courts at Harper Park—the facility was dedicated to him—have been a hot addition to town’s portfolio and new-resident draw. For the former local leader, it all involves a healthy environment of communication that he practices today with the communities in his district, to set partisanship aside and talk about what’s desired and achievable. While the goodtime pickleball games carried on, Rep. Roberson sat down with Southern City at a courtside shelter for some Q&A about his time in municipal government and what continues to motivate him as a state lawmaker today. ˘˘˘ Tell us more about what this place represents for Knightdale. How is this more than just a parks-and-rec project? JR: When we brought this online, the community rallied behind it, started out with seniors coming out, and now, if you see what’s around you, you have folks from all various backgrounds, all ages. And the wonderful thing about this is being able to see family members spend quality time with each other, because so often you may have a parent that’s working two or three jobs. And the kids, when they get home from school, they sit in front of the video games and that’s where they park themselves. And then they begin to develop these bad habits of eating the wrong types of foods. Well, now, family members can come out here, they’re I saw an opportunity to bring something online to possibly get family members and their kids off the sofas, out into the community, where they can spend quality time with each other but, more importantly, to focus on the health and wellness. SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 2 2023 14
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