Little's big job begins today

After nearly a quarter of a century as a councilman, Steve Little is ready to become the next mayor of Marion.

Little, 58, will take the oath of office this evening at the regular December meeting of the Marion City Council. He succeeds Everette Clark, who is stepping down as mayor and will return to his old position as a councilman.

Little was first elected to the City Council in 1985, the same year that Clark was elected mayor. For the past 24 years, Little has been a member of the council including 16 years as the mayor pro tem.

"All that means is once or twice a year, I would preside over the meeting if Everette was out of town," said Little.

He adds that Clark has been very conscientious about not letting his schedule conflict with the regular City Council meetings. But after 24 years as a councilman, Little has gotten a lot of experience with city government.

"I think I will have a very short learning curve," he said.

A graduate of Wake Forest University and Wake Forest School of Law, Little has worked as an attorney for 32 years in Marion. The first five of those years he spent as an associate with Everette Carnes. He has maintained his own practice since 1983. The law offices of Little & Lattimore are located at 20 N. Main St.

When he takes over as mayor, Little said the first thing he wants to do is improve communications between city government and the people.

"I think we have not communicated enough to the people of the city all the things we have been doing for the people of the city," he said. "I think every problem and every misunderstanding is ultimately based upon ineffective communication. I think that is true for individuals and it is true for governments."

A good example of this happened at the last council meeting. Just before city officials were about to vote on the proposed streetscape plan, they heard some concerns from local business owners like attorney Russell Neighbors, jeweler Bill Griffith and Joe Jones of McDowell Distributing. Neighbors was worried about the streetscape plan eliminating too many parking spaces on South Main Street. Jones was concerned that the plan did not have a loading zone for his business.

Little said the city could have done a slightly better job describing the plan to these business owners and what it would do and not do to their operations.

"We could have helped (Jones) avoid that stress," said Little. "We didn't communicate that effectively."

Little sees other areas where the city can better communicate. "Even though we thought our Web site is pretty good, by current standards it needs a lot of upgrading," he said, adding the cable channel can be used more effectively too.

In many ways, the city of Marion is doing a good job for the taxpayers, he said. "There will be no radical changes, that much I can say," said Little. "All the conversation I heard during the campaign was that the main services provided by the city were done well. But that doesn't mean we're perfect and we can't improve. Of course, we can."

The focus of any municipal government must remain providing the basic services of police and fire protection, water and sewer and street maintenance and repair. Beyond that, the city can also strive to provide such services as brush and leaf pickup, parks, recreation, street festivals, parades and buildings for community events.

"We have a little bit less revenue to work with," he said. "When we have to stretch our dollars, we have to make choices."

But Marion has been able to provide much for its residents and business owners.

"People don't realize what is going on," he said.

Little said he wishes more folks could have attended the recent E-3 Forum, which focused on education, economic development and entrepreneurship. The forum series is about innovation and what our community can do that is innovative, creative and can provide jobs. The first one featured a presentation by officials from AdvantageWest, the economic development group for 23 western North Carolina counties.

Even though he's had years of experience in local government, Little said he learned some things himself at the Nov. 13 forum.

Little also feels that downtown Marion is doing better than some people think. "I am really excited to see a few new stores coming into the downtown," he said. "I would encourage anyone who doesn't think there's anything in downtown to walk from the post office to City Hall and look at what's on both sides of Main Street."

And downtown Marion is not just Main Street. It is also Court Street, Logan Street, Garden Street and the five lane as well.

"We do have some very nice restaurants downtown," he said. "Our downtown is not a dead place."

But more needs to be done. Little said he would love to see something done with the old Winn-Dixie building. He also feels that Marion could support another movie theater, one with updated equipment and stadium seating.

The first step for economic development is a person with a good idea, he says. It is the city's job to help that person make that idea into a reality. "Looking for ways to say yes and not no," said Little.

"Another thing I want to do is to restore a good healthy working relationship with the county commissioners," he said. "We need once again to communicate."