March 2009 The Shoreline Page 3
J and EMS Director Bill Matthias (center) makes a point as he outlines the functions of his department for the
mi itary officers on the other end of the telephone hookup. Town Manager Brian Kramer and Mayor Joan Lamson are at left Bv
increasing their knowledge of local government in the U.S., members of the military group seek to be more prepared if called
upon to help officials in places like Iraq establish stable local governments capable of providing necessary serviLs.
PKS Officials
Continued from Page 1
situation are vastly dissimilar. In the case
of a North Carolina community like PKS,
essentially deriving its authority from the
state, it has years and years of experience
and precedents to fall back on and well-
developed standards that guide it and that
it has to meet.
In Iraq, where a far different culture,
ethnicity and religious influence prevail,
there is no such road map. Essentially
there is a blank slate, signaling where do
we go from here?
Army Infantry Major Matthew Brown
got right to the point when he asked those
on the PKS end of the line what they would
do first if they were faced with a situation
where public services were intermittent,
often interrupted, or non-existent. To a
man the PKS participants opted for pure
water and sanitation first, a position voiced
earlier by Public Services Director Ernie
Rudolph who noted that maintaining and
protecting the municipal water supply
was one of the most important duties PKS
officials had to perform and that a parallel
probably existed in places like Iraq.
The second choice of the PKS participants
was security, and that led to comments
that you would have to pursue both goals
simultaneously if you hoped to succeed.
Collaboration seemed to be an important
point with the Fort Leavenworth group,
one of them asking if towns like PKS had
any interaction with similar communities.
PKS Mayor Joan Lamson pointed out
that North Carolina communities have
many conduits for interacting with other
communities, regularly exchanging
information and experiences through
the League of Municipalities and other
organizations. It was also noted that
neighboring communities support
each other in the public safety area,
particularly with fire department mutual
aid programs.
CoUaborationisstressedinCommandand
General Staff College classes. Participants,
averaging about 16 per class, are picked for
their diversity in experience and military
specialties. Marzano's classmates include a
submariner, chaplain. Air Force navigator,
civil affairs officer, two quartermasters
and two international military students,
one from Morocco the other from the
Republic of Georgia. The idea is to create
an environment of different viewpoirits
in which people learn how to think, not
what to think.
How you pay for what you want to
do was also on the minds of the Fort
Leavenworth group. The answer in PKS
is that while the town derives its powers
and some funds from the state it raises
the bulk of its finances locally through
property taxes. The local officials agreed
that the ability to levy taxes was the most
important tool communities have.
In Iraq, the host country is listed as one
of the resources from which support for
stabilization will come. Asked how the
national government of Iraq is performing
in this regard, one of the military officers
reported that in a recent tour in Iraq he
found "light years" of improvement in
the way financial support is now filtering
down from the top to the bottom as
opposed to when he was there in 2003.
All in all, the military
group was optimistic
about the future of stability
efforts in Iraq, in which
the military is playing
a leading role. By the
time the cross-country
telephone conference came
to a close, participants on
both ends of the line had
a great deal more food for
thought.
PKS Women's
Club
By Veronica Stanley
The Pine Knoll Shores Women's Club
met on January 23 at town hall. President
Gail Halada's theme for 2009 is "Things
Will Be Fine in 2009." She thanked Donna
Belanger, Pat Filan and Barbara Bagby
for the hospitality and refreshments
they provided for the social prior to the
meeting. Elaine Temple donated a vest
and Mary Kanyha donated a plant for
the scholarship raffle items. In addition,
members contributed funds to the
Scholarship Fund in memory of deceased
member Doris Blackwell.
Priscilla Livingston of Crystal Coast
Wines, Morehead City, spoke on the
topic, "Wine Makes the Meal." She gave
an informative talk enhanced by the wine
sampled.
This month s meeting will be March
27 at town hall with a social at 9:30
a.m. The meeting convenes at 10
a.m. Martha McAdams of Crystal Coast
Crafters will demonstrate "Stained Glass
Creations." The Supper Club will have
an Irish dinner on March 15. Contact
Pat Ruggiero if interested. Cook's
Night Out will meet at Floyd's 1921 in
Morehead Cityat 6 p.m. on March 27.
Contact Barbara Bagby. All PKS women
are invited to join the club.
Book Clubs
The Beach Book Club will meet at Sue
Walsh's house March 12 to discuss Conald
McCaig's book, Rhett Butler's People.
Between the Bookends group will meet
March 9 at the home of Liv Stephens with
Moni Bottlinger leading the discussion of
Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors.
In Memoriam
Marie Bernice Garry
George Riggs
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252-659-2659