SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 4 2022 18 Q&A with Rep. Mitchell Setzer And that’s where it becomes tedious. You have the school calendar bill that passed at like 2 in the morning, when it passed years ago. I didn’t support it then. I think the local entities ought to be able to set their own calendar. We never can get enough steam in this institution to change that back. That’s something that’s always sitting out there… I was here when the lottery passed. That was palace intrigue… It’s never dull here. You can fight somebody like mad on one issue, and then find yourselves joining forces on the next. It ebbs and flows and generally people don’t take it personally. If they start taking it personally, it slows the whole process down, and it’ll drive this entity to a screeching halt. But sometimes that’s not a bad thing (laughter). Anything that has surprised you during your service, or in the past few cycles? MS: Around here, you can expect anything and not be surprised about it when you find problems in statutes—they look good when they’re written, but until something is written and enjoined into the statutes and ratified, when it gets working is when you’ll find some of the trouble… You will find flaws as things start working or as issues hit a constituent—that’s where you’ll find flaws in the statutes. They weren’t written by perfect people. They weren’t passed by perfect people. There are flaws there, but sometimes you don’t find them until they hit bone. Hindsight is 20/20—that’s a perfect analogy for here: hindsight is 20/20. And every session that ends, we always go back in the next session and fix something we’ve done. They call it unintended consequences. Once it all merges together, that’s when a flaw will come out. You can read it back and forward and sideways and never see it, until it actually (becomes law). Do you find serving as a legislator is also a physical challenge? MS: Those all-night sessions are hard. They’re hard on your body. There was a year—it was in ’01—when we were in session for 12 calendar months, and I felt like it took me two months to recover from that. Because we were steady in session. Twelve calendar months. That was hard on everybody: the members, the press, the public. And things are just moving along… It was a lot of struggle. How do you make that work, in terms of decompressing while you’re home? MS: You don’t (laughter). You just roll with it. A lot of people have my cell number. I have it with me at all times if anyone needs me. It’s 828-999-0216. If anyone needs me, I’ve got my cell with me. My municipal entities—I’ve got a meeting with the Troutman town board in December. I talked to the town manager last week and I’m going to go to one of their meetings. Letting them know I’m available. That’s the key function of being here. You’ve got to be accessible to people, and people have got to feel like they can call you. Do you have a good relationship and communication with your municipal leaders? MS: I try to. I don’t bother them, and I truly don’t interfere. But if they need me, they know where I’m at. If they need me, I’ll do everything I can to help them. But I’m not going to micromanage them. I’ve sat behind that desk, and I know how hard that is, to sit behind that desk… There’s always equipment that has to be updated. The fire service, the maintenance. Big city, little city, the problems are the same, it’s just the massive scope. We were a town of 650 people, but it was good experience. Being chair of the board of the United Methodist Church was also good experience. And every now and again, you can help somebody. I enjoy that. My cities, my managers, mayors, boards, they all have my number. I try to be accessible. That lack of communication can have a snowball effect in a negative way, and you don’t want that… The cities are economic engines in their own right, and they have to be protected. Do you find that your previous municipal experience has given you the right color to see how the legislature affects cities? MS: Yes. I’m glad I had some local experience before I came down here. It’s hard enough to learn the rules and procedures as it is, but with being under a municipal entity, the formality is there, the structure. That was extremely helpful. I was thankful I had local experience. You don’t know exactly what to expect, but you have a blueprint in your mind as to how things may run. The concept is the same. My cities, my managers, mayors, boards, they all have my number. I try to be accessible. That lack of communication can have a snowball effect in a negative way, and you don't want that... The cities are economic engines in their own right, and they have to be protected. continued from page 17
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