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Thursday evening, the Kings Mountain City Council met for its monthly workshop session.  It was a packed house, as one of the topics of discussion was the Dixon Ridge development.  Before we get to the meeting recap, we would like to say how refreshing it is to see a large turnout for a Council meeting.  … Continued

Regardless of where you live in Kings Mountain, you’ve probably heard folks talk about the ETJ – the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction that extends the City’s authority in certain matters to two miles outside of the City Limits.  People who live in the ETJ live under a special circumstance, where they’re subject to many of the planning … Continued

This week, it was announced that the Department of Defense has awarded Albemarle Corporation a $90 million grant to restart their lithium mining operation in Kings Mountain – along perhaps the only source of hard rock lithium in the United States.  Our new City Manager Jim Palenick said that “we’re definitely going to look out … Continued

Kings Mountain has a looming housing crisis – driven by years of restrictive policy, ignorance and arrogance, and inaction on the part of the Council and the developers who’ve tricked them over and over again.  In Kings Mountain, housing prices are at an all-time high – up 11% in the last year – and inventory … Continued

There was a central theme in the first City Council meeting of August… transparency. The new City Manager has ushered in an era of transparency and open discussion, much to the discussion of several long-term Council members and the Mayor. The professionalism of City staff and management is clearly on the rise – and a … Continued

Have you noticed that your power bills keep going up in Kings Mountain?  Keep seeing that “Fuel Surcharge Rider” on your bill and wondering what it is?  Would it surprise you to find out that negligence and mismanagement on the part of the City Council and former City Administration played a role?   Well, here’s the … Continued

On Tuesday, the City Council had their Regular Session for the month of July.  It was a packed agenda, but there was a lot of unanimous agreement on issues that came to a vote, some important discussion about how building owners should be held accountable and business owners should be treated (and accommodated) when it … Continued

With the arrival of new City Manager Jim Palenick, the management and transparency of City business has taken a dramatic turn in a professional direction. Beginning with the establishment of a regular public session for Council workshops – rather than behind closed doors – Mr. Palenick is showing the Council and the community a new … Continued

After each meeting of the Kings Mountain City Council, we are going to create a report card to share with the community what went on in the meeting and how your elected representatives are performing. This week’s meeting, on June 8th, was a Work Session – a meeting recently implemented by our new City Manager … Continued

We’ve spent a lot of time recently talking about our current Mayor and City Council and what they have done (or, in many cases, failed to do). Some of you have asked – what should we look for in a Mayor and a City Council representative? Here are a few things that Mountaineers For A … Continued

Recently, we did an educational piece on how Kings Mountain is managed in the Council-Manager form of government. Since then, we’ve had a few people ask the question: so what exactly is the Council responsible for overseeing? The simple answer: apart from the day-to-day operations of City government, quite a bit. Our Council-Manager form of … Continued

Over the last month, the Kings Mountain City Council has been developing its budget for the next year.  It will be presented and discussed at the June 15th Council Meeting and voted on at their meeting on June 27th.  A key component of this budget…  A TAX HIKE. And not only a property tax hike, … Continued

A new casino in Danville, VA opened its doors earlier this year. But in 2020, when voters approved the casino plans, Caesars presented the city of Danville with a $15 million check – and a new police station. While obviously a slightly different situation, similar local improvements have been made using gaming revenue since Harrah’s … Continued

Kings Mountain is organized and administered by its charter.  This charter says that our town is to be run by a Council-Manager form of government.  In this system the elected City Council oversees policy and decision making.  In turn, the City Council hires one person, the City Manager, to run the functions and administration of … Continued

When we launched our petition to improve how we elect our City Council, we expected some push-back from those who have been benefitting from the status quo.  And that’s exactly what we are getting.  The problem is … this push-back is completely lacking in self-awareness and, if anything, underscores our argument  – that we need … Continued