To the Editor:

I have been told since the days of my youth that if you don’t like the way something is going then you should do your part to help to fix it.

When I retired and moved back here to my hometown, I noticed quite a few things that I didn’t like, things I knew from my 30 years of experience in city government could be done more efficiently. As time has progressed, I also have met some people I wanted to help move into or out of strategic positions of service to my fellow citizens.

Right away, I began to pay attention to my own City Council representative here in the Nansemond Borough and the work he was doing. I noticed that when my neighborhood organization (Nansemond Parkway Civic League) had questions, problems and concerns, there he was. In fact, he was at our meetings when many of our neighbors weren’t. Department heads and contractors alike were (are still are) at our beck and call to address pressing issues.

And then I began to watch City Council meetings, and I began to ask questions of citizens in other boroughs throughout the City. It became evident right away that I had a jewel for a councilman.

I was proud when citizens in and outside of my borough said how effective he had been and continues to be. He is always on the right (citizens’) side of the issues, protecting our rights and our purse strings; he listens to our concerns and works to resolve our problems with or without the help of his counterparts.

But he goes a step further: Without the fear of contradiction, he publicly voices our issues, be they popular or not.

Like us, he supports industry; lower taxes and fees; the public school system; public housing; public transportation; public works; public safety; recreation; and our rights as citizens to be heard.

The City Council’s closed-door policy of decision-making sickens him as well as us and he does not mind being in the minority as long as his opinions and ultimately his votes are in keeping with the wishes of the citizens of his borough and this great City.

What did he get for his continuous work for the common man? He became a victim of the recent redistricting process. But many of us refuse to let him fall into the abyss of great leaders being silenced.

That’s why we support and are working to elect Leroy Bennett as the next mayor of the city of Suffolk. We encourage our fellow Suffolkians to vote for him Nov. 6.

Our great city needs his skill, his devotion and your vote.

Anita L. Hicks
Suffolk