So, what’s in a name? A lot, if you ask Franklin mayor Bob Scott, who recently began efforts to transition the municipal government’s identity from a Town Board of Aldermen to a Town Council.
The Town of Franklin’s elected officials have donned the title of ‘aldermen’ for decades, but soon that may all change, if Mayor Bob Scott gets his way.
“’Aldermen’ is a pretty old, archaic term. When you talk about an ‘alderman’, and then you try to talk about an ‘alderwoman’, it gets pretty awkward.”
While these days an ‘alderman’ is technically a member of a town council, the term actually has its roots in Old English, and means “old man”. Instead, Scott recently proposed Franklin’s Town Board of Aldermen now go by ‘Town Council’. The change, he says, would better reflect the town in the modern age.
“I think it’s just time to change. More and more women are getting into public service. Women are serving in the military, even in combat roles. It’s just to become gender neutral when referring to our form of government.”
Having women serve in local government is nothing new for Franklin. In fact, there are two women serving on its town board today. However, both went on record at the last town meeting that they aren’t offended by the current title.
Nevertheless, Scott says the time has come for Franklin to buck the status quo.
“Franklin’s changing. We’re a high-tech center, we have a couple of businesses in here that are very, very high-tech, electronic-wise. We basically are a regional medical center now, a tourist destination, we’ve got restaurants—it’s just a new era for Franklin. We want to welcome diversity. We really do… Or at least I do.”
There are seventeen municipalities in North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties, and nine of them refer to their elected officials as “aldermen”, including Franklin. Officials of the small Jackson County town of Dillsboro actually goes by the term “alderperson”.
Currently the town board is evenly split on the issue, according to Scott, who says the whole change could cost the town as little as $18.50, and at the very most, $8,000, yet that figure was highly unlikely.
“It’s not like we are destroying an historic building in Franklin. It’s very nebulous, it’s nothing more than a change that brings us more in tune with progressive municipalities across the state. But I have to recognize that, for some reason, some people are very tied to the term ‘aldermen’. We’ll see where the chips fall when we vote on it.”
