THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994              TAG: 9412300445
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   62 lines

ELECTRONIC DISCUSSIONS WILL HELP SET STATE GOALS TOWN MEETING NEXT WEEK IS PART OF PLAN FOR COMPETITIVENESS.

How can North Carolina improve its public schools, lower its crime rate and protect its environment over the next 20 years?

Questions such as these will be among those posed at a statewide electronic town meeting next week with Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. and government, business and civic leaders from Manteo to Asheville.

The meetings are part of an effort by the Commission for a Competitive North Carolina to set goals that the state should meet by 2015 in education, economic growth, public safety, environmental protection and overall quality of life.

More than 1,000 people in eight locations will meet and discuss those issues with Hunt and commission members.

At each town meeting, representatives from state agencies, local government, businesses, schools, civic organizations and other groups will use a workbook to identify and discuss the issues they consider to be top priorities and the best ways to solve them.

``To keep North Carolina headed in the right direction, we need to map out a blueprint for action that will set specific goals and hold government accountable in meeting those goals,'' Hunt said in a statement announcing the meetings.

In February, Hunt appointed 40 business, industry, education, civic and nonprofit leaders to the commission, and asked them to develop a ``report card'' that lays out measurable goals the state should meet by certain dates.

These benchmarks could include items such as a lower rate of teenage pregnancy, a higher number of businesses served by telecommunications or a greater percentage of high school graduates enrolling in four-year colleges and universities.

After the commission presents its final report, Hunt will ask the General Assembly to incorporate the benchmarks into the state's budgeting and appropriations process to ensure that the state's money is directed to the areas of highest priority.

``People want results from government. They want it to be more efficient, more effective and more accountable,'' he said. ``Benchmarks can hold government's feet to the fire.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

TOWN MEETING ON NORTH CAROLINA'S FUTURE

The town meeting will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in eight locations,

including Manteo, Greenville and Wilmington. Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.

will speak to the participants at 9 a.m. and will talk with them via

the Internet until 10:30 a.m. Here's a list of the meeting sites in

eastern North Carolina:

Greenville, Brody Building Auditorium, East Carolina University

Medical Center. Information: site coordinator John Durham, (919)

816-3237.

Manteo, Manteo High School. Information: Landra Cartwright, (919)

441-1439.

Wilmington, Westside Hall/Randall Hall, University of North Carolina

at Wilmington. Information: Annette Anderson, (910) 395-3547.

by CNB