Sometimes, it’s important just to bring an issue out into the open and see what people have to say. That free flow of information is one of qualities that is so unique about this country, and that’s just what The Smoky Mountain News did two weeks ago in Swain County. As we mark the July 4 holiday, it’s a fitting time to go over our unofficial poll and what we found.

The debate over the North Shore Road has gnawed at the heart of Swain County for six decades. The divide is too great to ever be overcome, but last year the debate was ended when it was agreed by all the officials with a say in the debate that the county would get a cash settlement instead of a road. Just a few weeks ago a bill passed in the General Assembly that would ensure any settlement money be held in trust by the state and the county would get access to just the interest — somewhere between $2 million and $4 million a year.

The only way to change that formula would be by a vote of two-thirds of the county’s population.

So now what? How should the windfall be spent? Instead of hiring professional pollsters, we set up a table at the post office with 10 jars. Each was labeled with a different way to spend the money, and SMN reporters Julia Merchant and Becky Johnson spent the better part of a day interviewing people who had business in the federal building.

The findings were both surprising and, how do you say, par for the course.

We were caught a bit off-guard by the jar that ended up with the most money — teacher salaries. Seems people in Swain County care a lot about education, and they would want this money spent on attracting the best educators around. Swain is one of the few counties in the region that does not provide a pay supplement from the county coffers to boost teacher pay.

Carol Kievet was one who said the supplement was needed.

“Really, that job is the most important one after a mother,” said Kievit.

Second on the list was lowering property taxes. There’s a strong anti-government streak in mountaineers, and in Swain County the feeling is exacerbated by issues like the North Shore Road and the fact that the government owns 87 percent of the land in the county. That leaves little land for the county to tax and get money from. So naturally people think their property taxes are too high, though in reality Swain has one of the lowest rates in the region.

Law enforcement, school construction and recreation were the next three on the list, and after that the numbers dropped pretty dramatically.

Granted, the poll we conducted was unscientific to the extreme, but it was a great lesson in freedom of speech and civic involvement. If a reporter goes up to someone with notebook in hand and begins asking questions, the interviewee very often clams. Put a few pennies in their hand and ask to put them in a jar based on their views, and most people get into the game.

What wasn’t surprising about the poll? Those who still want the road built managed to start a phone tree and send dozens of people to the polling table. When our reporters sniffed out the plan — which would have made our unscientific poll that much more out of whack — they made sure the North Shore Road supporters money went in a separate jar that wasn’t included as part of the final percentages.

Road supporters probably didn’t like that, but, again, this wasn’t a referendum or a binding poll. It was an attempt to get a snapshot of people’s opinions, but we still had to try and protect the integrity of the day’s effort.

What did we learn? That people often open up when reporters try a different method of questioning, and that Americans value — and insist upon — their freedom to speak out. And that education and teachers mean a lot to Swain County.