Kingstown mayor talks about hopes, projects for 2022

Born and raised in Cleveland County, Janet Gerald always thought highly of Kingstown. Though she spent more than 30 years living outside the town, she has always called Cleveland County home.

Now the mayor of Kingstown, Gerald looks at the municipality named after Martin Luther King Jr. and is hopeful 2022 will provide a glimmer of hope for a community looking to reclaim control.

“We have gone through so much in the past couple years,” said Gerald. “In December 2020, the Local Government (Commission) gained control of the finances in town. At the time, we were two audits behind. Kingstown had been on the watchlist for quite some time. We were not doing a good job of what we needed to do. We had lots of turnover on the council and with clerks. It was one thing after another. We are still fighting to gain control. We never gave up hope.”

The Local Government Commission is a state board born of the Great Depression which aims to address issues in local government finance. It works with over 1,300 municipalities across the state. Kingstown is the fourth small government body to be taken over by the state.

On a positive note, Gerald said Kingstown has signature authority for its checks, a huge feat that signifies the state commission's confidence that the town is headed in the right direction.

“It’s a big deal,” said Gerald. “We didn’t get here over night, and we don’t expect to get out of it overnight. We have been going through different cycles trying to get our stuff together.”

Like several other municipalities, the sewer system has become a growing issue as the town has leaned on Shelby for support.

“With Kingstown being just a little over 40 years old, we have the infrastructure for water, sewer and gas, but oversight of the sewer system has not gone well,” said Gerald. “We own the system, but Shelby maintains it. We’ve had to work hand-in-hand with Shelby and because of all the problems from the beginnings."

Gerald said Kingstown currently owes Shelby a good chunk of change for its services.

Looking at other town projects for 2022, Gerald said she wanted to give residents more things to enjoy in their own backyard.

“I want to see the town grow,” said Gerald. “I want to see infrastructure improve, such as our park facility. That’s one of the only outlets we have in town for the moment for our youth. We need to do lots of improvements.”

Though the area does not support room for abundant growth, Gerald said the town is welcoming of new families and entrepreneurs who want to call Kingstown home.

“Kingstown is only about 1.5 square miles,” said Gerald. “We are limited in land, but there are several opportunities to use that land. We have a couple new businesses in town, and we have three new housing projects that have started. We are slowly growing, very slow, but I look for that to speed up in this coming year.”

Latrice Williams can be reached at 704-669-3339 and lwilliams6@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Kingstown mayor Janet Gerald looks forward to projects for 2022