Gathered in a small conference room in Port Wentworth City Hall, Artlise Alston-Cone sat with one other city council member, At-Large Post 1 Thomas Barbee, and their partners as they looked over a survey to distribute to teens aged 14-19 in the community.
The survey, which will be available online through the city’s website by January 2025, was one of the action items in a long-term plan to get that particular age group more involved in the city with opportunities to attend events, learn a trade and more.
The meeting on Friday evening is part of a long-term plan to get the larger Port Wentworth community involved in civic engagement. Held at 6:30 p.m., the third Friday of every month in city hall, the Port Wentworth Citizen’s Input Council seeks to give residents a chance to be heard outside of a formal setting like a city council meeting, which limits the general public only two to three minutes to speak on a particular issue.
But as Port Wentworth continues to experience a surge in industrial and residential development, and divides continue between pre- and post-annexation residents, city leaders continue to bump up against a lack of trust and a lack of communication. Alston-Cone created the input council, in part, to bridge the gap.