North Carolina House. I understand the layers, so to speak. I understand that when you make a decision at the state level, how it’s going to trickle down and impact the county and the municipalities. Because as I was working in the municipality, I was on the receiving end of that, quite often: when a decision at the federal level or the state level was imposed, how that impacted us. So, given that and your experience in local government, you know how powerful it can be to align communications and understand disparate issues that can come up. How do you view effective communication? What works best between you and the different entities you have to keep open lines with? RP: Well, I was just talking to the Chamber of Commerce folks, about what’s going on, and one of the things that I shared with them at the end is that, you know, I’ve had the same cell phone number since I was the number two guy at the police department in 2002. And I kept that number when I retired and was a county commissioner. And I kept that number when I left the county commissioner and went to the North Carolina House. And I share that with you because I was actually going to Raleigh, it’s been about a year ago, I got a call and it was a gentleman who was having issues. He said right in front of his house there’s water coming out of the road, out of the pavement, there’s a water leak. He said, “I don’t know who to call.” I said, “Well, what’s your house number?” So, he told me, and so after I got his house number, you know, I still got all my contacts. I called the director of public works and said, “Hey, there’s a gentleman over here, really nice guy, he’s having water issues, he’s got a water leak from the house, and he’s concerned about his water being turned off and all that.” He said, “I’ll get somebody over there.” So that evening, I called him back and said, “Look, they’re gonna have somebody take care of it. They’ll be in touch with you. Let me know if you have any other issues.” So that evening, I called him back. I was coming home from Raleigh, it was just a day trip. I said, “Hey, I just want to touch base with you. Did the city take care of it?” He said, “Oh, absolutely. They were over here shortly after I talked to you, and they knocked on my door, said you’re going to have the water off for a while, and they cut my water off, they fixed it, repaired everything, got my water back on, knocked on my door, said I’m good to go.” He said, “I really appreciate you taking care of that. That’s helping people.” I’ve never worked in the private sector. I’ve been law enforcement, and it’s about helping people. The county commission, same thing. I’m helping folks and I look at what I do now is in the same capacity. They’re trying to provide, meet the needs. It’s nice because it’s in recognition that we’re all really trying to help people, even though we may have various styles of doing so. RP: Yes, that’s what it should be about. Our short session is unofficially ended. We still got some dates we’re gonna meet, but we’re out for the summer. My office remains open, and I have an amazing staff that are sitting there. And if you have an issue, and you happen to not have my cell phone number, you can call my office, our staff will shoot me an email ... because I’m telling Legislator Q&A: Rep. Reece Pyrtle continued from page 21 Rep. Reece Pyrtle with Eden Mayor Neville Hall (far left) and Eden Councilman Greg Light (middle). SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 3 2024 22
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