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By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

A community meeting headed by FountainWorks for Davie County revealed positive comments.
Julie Brenman, senior consultant for FountainWorks, told county commissioners last month that 80 percent of residents participating think the county meets or exceeds goals.
“You have very positive feedback from your residents,” she said.
One lacking sector was community awareness, where some 39 percent reported they were well informed of county activities and duties.
“That tell us it’s a big area for the county to work on. It’s a challenge in the environment we live in. There’s not a lof of newspapers and people kind of pay attention to their own circles,” Brenman said.
Commissioner Mark Jones questioned whether they were receiving a broad response, as the groups included 103 out of some 43,000 residents.
Commissioner Benita Finney, who attended the community meeting, said a pattern had been established with guidelines that led to certain answers.
Commissioner Richard Poindexter wondered why people aren’t informed. Folks read the Enterprise Record from cover to cover, meetings are broadcast for all to see, information is included on the county’s website and commissioners are often contacted by residents with questions or concerns.
Brenman said some get information from the newspaper, some from the county manager’s weekly update, and “a lot” from social media.
At the end of the meeting, County Manager David Bone said the county will use Davie Life magazine in an effort to keep residents informed.
Finney questioned the whole process. “I think we sunk a lot of money into an event that really did not display any information we should already know.” She challenged fellow board memers to seek the opinions of residents they normally wouldn’t talk to.
“It’s a disheartening amount of money we spent on that survey,” she said.