Too many North Carolina cities and counties have concluded that they can't look out for their own interests. Instead they hire professional lobbyists at hefty sums to represent them in Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

That's money that could be put to better use.

Sure, officials in local government (and at public universities) say they need help following legislation at one or both capitals. And they note that a little lobbying can sometimes pay off in a big grant.

Maybe, but municipalities have organizations that represent them, and staff members who are paid to do the public's business. And as Chris Fitzsimon of N.C. Policy Watch put it in a recent op-ed article, "Maybe they could rely on the people in Congress and the General Assembly who are elected to represent them to speak out for their issues in Raleigh and Washington and stop asking the rest of us to pay for people to lobby our own government."

We suspect most legislators would take the mayor's call.