Kinston council votes to withdraw from Eastern Carolina Council
The Kinston City Council voted Tuesday night to withdraw from the Eastern Carolina Council, with city leaders saying the regional organization is no longer providing enough value to justify continued membership.
The council’s agenda identified the item as a proposed withdrawal from the Neuse River Council of Governments, doing business as the Eastern Carolina Council, or ECC. In a letter to the mayor and council included in the meeting packet, Interim City Manager Ralph Clark said the organization’s current condition had raised serious concerns.
“The current situation of the ECC tells me that the ECC is basically down to a skeleton crew and the cash situation is not much better,” Clark wrote. “When I review this and consider the services that a normal Council of Government as compared to what ECC is able to offer its membership, I find little benefit in the city being a member.”
Clark also wrote that other governments in Lenoir County were expressing similar concerns and said the organization appeared to be dealing with a leadership problem that would need to be resolved before it could become successful again. He told council he would hope the situation could change in the future, but recommended withdrawal for now.
During the meeting, Clark expanded on that recommendation.
“The COG is really struggling,” he said. “It’s been struggling for some time but little by little they’re down to basically a skeleton crew.”
Clark said the city needed to act Tuesday night if it wanted to leave before becoming responsible for another year of dues.
“If we’re going to withdraw, we have to do it tonight,” he said. “I have to give a 60 day notice to the other members.”
The resolution in the agenda packet states that, under state law and ECC bylaws, any member may withdraw at the end of a fiscal year by giving at least 60 days written notice to each of the other members. The resolution authorizes the city manager to prepare and send that notice and complete any other documents needed to carry out the withdrawal.
The packet also included a March 30 memo from ECC President Edward Riggs Jr., who acknowledged financial losses, depleted funds and a possible cash flow problem beginning July 1, 2026. The memo said ECC hoped member governments would continue to support the organization and avoid dissolution.
Still, Kinston’s council voted unanimously to leave. The motion was made by Councilman Sammy Aiken and seconded by Councilman Les Lipford, according to the meeting transcript.
