Resident tells Onslow County commissioners: 'You are failing black women'; urges more early-voting access

Ari Rakowitz used the board’s five-minute public-comment slot on May 4 to raise health-care, election-access and civil-rights concerns for Onslow County residents.

Rakowitz said the county is "failing black women even more than I'd realized," citing long waits for OB-GYN services and limited access at Onslow Memorial. They also asked the board to recognize Black Maternal Health Week and the Day of Silence and called attention to policies and practices they said marginalize LGBTQ youth.

On election administration, Rakowitz objected to a plan described in the meeting record to relocate an early-voting site and urged the Board of Elections to add an additional early-voting site at Enso Pines rather than close the Georgetown site, which Rakowitz said is within walking distance for many local Black voters. Rakowitz also said the local Board of Elections is losing two full-time employees and called for the BOE to be funded and staffed at an appropriate level.

Rakowitz framed many points as observations and community concerns rather than formal accusations; several items were presented as requests for the board and staff to address. The public-comment period included only this speaker for the meeting; no board response was recorded during the public-comment portion.

The board heard the comment as part of regular public comment and did not take formal action on any of the requests during the meeting.