SOUTHERN CITY Quarter 4 2022 22 LONGTIME PARTNERS, MOLDOVA AND NORTH CAROLINA HAVE ACHIEVED SUCCESSES IN A NUMBER OF PUBLIC SERVICE CATEGORIES. NOW, THE FOCUS HAS TURNED TO CITIES. JACK CASSIDY NCLM Communications Associate Standing atop a landfill with seven members of the local government delegation of the country of Moldova, two observations come into focus. One, there exists in plain sight a network of public services that, despite giving shape to day-to-day life, are consistently overlooked and underappreciated. And two, the work that creates these public services is nothing short of a marvel. These Moldovan mayors and municipal professionals recognize both points immediately. It’s a privilege for citizens to enjoy these local government services without much fanfare. Behind the curtain, a much more impressive and complicated picture emerges. The Moldovan delegation are here to get that glimpse, as part of a decades-long partnership between their country and North Carolina, in which ideas, lessons, trainings and support are exchanged. They’re here to figure out how to make this happen back at home, and their detailed, attentive questions reveal their sincerity. How much soil is needed to cover the garbage? How dense can this landfill hill become—how much garbage per square foot is being crushed Municipal Diplomacy The Growing, Fruitful, and City-Focused Relationship of Moldova and North Carolina into the earth? What about odors, regulations, separation of hazardous waste and construction debris and mattresses and batteries? These are not the inquiries of tourists, but rather of students and practitioners. Today it’s the matter of waste management, but on other trips it has been other questions concerning the structure and operation of local government more broadly. Moldova faces geopolitical and economic issues that the United States does not, and yet the function of North Carolina cities offers the country a model for how to begin establishing the reliable and strong public foundation that is local government. It’s a stability that has eluded Moldova since its independence. However, the current makeup of city officials in the country of just over two million residents represent a tremendous chance at progress and a new way forward. They are young and idealistic, and their studies on the operation of a landfill are only the beginning of a long list of curiosities that all have the same ultimate intention: to better Moldova by adopting the best of North Carolina.
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