Three Officers not Charged. Barber Calls for Firing. Wells Confident in Bellamy.
May 10, 2008
In short, the DA has decided not to charge the three GPD officers that were accused of sexual assault by a female officer.
From the News & Record, “City Councilman Mike Barber said the burden now is on the police department to handle its own officers — a responsibility he said the department hasn’t taken seriously enough.
“We have hundreds of great police officers, and we have about a dozen rotten ones,” he said. “We’ve seen too many instances in this city of officer behavior where, if this was the private sector, they’d be fired. And that’s what should happen any time they engage in behavior that’s unbecoming a police officer.”
Barber said he believes recent controversies involving Greensboro’s police force have hurt the department’s morale — not because the incidents occurred but because the officers involved weren’t properly punished.
“I think all these issues would stop in large measure if we’d fire a handful of these officers,” Barber said. “These bad eggs need to realize that this behavior isn’t going to be forgotten. … It will be met with termination.”
The police department should “expect excellence” and that begins with Police Chief Tim Bellamy, he said.
“All of this has happened on Chief Bellamy’s watch,” Barber said. “Something has got to change — either the continued behavior of these officers has to change, or their management has to change. And the City Council, through the city manager’s office, is willing to make that change.”"
While Barber spoke of change and dissatisfaction in how things are run at the police department, other council members continued to show confidence in Police Chief Tim Bellamy. “I know that it will be handled correctly, whatever the next step is,” Councilwoman Goldie Wells said. “I am sure that Chief Bellamy will handle it the right way. (N&R)”
Should the department have a stricter termination policy?
Zack Matheny to Host District 3 Meeting
May 9, 2008
Greensboro City Council member Zack Matheny has planned a meeting for District 3 residents at Lawndale Baptist Church’s Christian Life Center, 3505 Lawndale Drive, on Monday, May 19 beginning at 6 pm.
“This meeting is to bring together members of my district’s neighborhoods,” Matheny said. “I want to hear my constituents’ comments, questions, and concerns. This is an excellent avenue for communication and public participation.”
Representatives from some City departments will be on hand to answer questions related to City services. For more information, contact the Community Relations Division of the Public Affairs Department at 373-2723.
Reminder: Business Towh Hall Meeting with Mayor Yvonne Johnson
May 8, 2008
Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson invites members of the local business community to a town hall meeting focusing on the city’s economic future.
The forum, sponsored by Greensboro Partnership, will be held on Monday, May 12 from 6-8 pm in the Greensboro Historical Museum Auditorium. Seating is limited to the first 150 people. Attendees are invited to submit questions in advance and will have an opportunity to pose questions at the event.
I will be attending the forum so let me know if there are any questions you would like to be asked.
Deena Hayes Interview on Racism in School Construction
May 7, 2008
Yesterdays post that highlighted a quote from School Board Member Deena Hayes left a couple questions floating around in my head so I decided to give her a call.
Her quote mentioned that only about 3% of the contractors that were utilized in projects that stemmed from the previous $500 million construction bond were black. To keep the facts clear I felt as though I should ask how many black contractors there are compared to white contractors? Note: Deena does not refer to them as minority contractors and her focus is not on Hispanic contractors which is one of the reasons the word minority is not used.
Hayes: “Far fewer. There are many areas of the construction business where there aren’t any (black contractors) such as HVAC.”
I also asked her how many black contractors put in bids on jobs that stemmed from the previous bond but she unfortunately did not know that number. This number should have been included in the story published by the News & Record.
In regards to using a black contractor even if the price is higher than the white contractor Hayes initial response was that “We shouldn’t go with the higher price, but at some point we have to start building equity.”
My next question was whether or not she thought construction is racial. “It is racial,” said Hayes. She added that “criteria has been predetermined that work against black contractors. They can’t get grow their business to meet the criteria required for the larger contracts. The number one item working against them is the bid bond criteria. They simply don’t have the funds for bond deposits?”
I then asked if this was a racial problem or a result of years of hard work put in by white contractors. She then stated that the main thing that holds back black contractors is financial institutions. “Banks see white people as more credit worthy than black contractors.” Credit scores do come into play when getting loans so education on how to increase your credit score might be beneficial to Hayes cause.
On another note, we had a side conversation and quickly learned that the two of us, unknowingly had a conversation yesterday as we stood in line together waiting to vote. She seems to be a very nice person.
Neighbors vs Developer at Last Night’s Council Meeting
May 7, 2008
Nearly four weeks ago the council was asked to decide whether the Keystone Group could build an additional apartment building that would be an addition to three previously built buildings. The only problem with the idea is that the final apartment building would be less than 300 ft from a single family home in the adjacent neighborhood, a neighborhood built by Keystone. Resident’s complained at the council meeting that they were not told that Keystone was going to build another apartment building right next to their neighborhood and many neighbors feared that their home values would plummet.
This item was continued to last night’s council meeting and residents of the neighborhood will be happy to know that that the request to build the new apartment building has been denied.
Development did not “rule Greensboro” in this case.
Forget Education, Construction of Schools gets Racial
May 6, 2008
I just saw a story on the News & Record’s site titled Black school board members ask voters to oppose bonds and stopped to give it a quick read. From the story,
“On the eve of today’s election, black members of the Guilford County Board of Education asked voters to oppose the $457 million school bonds package on the ballot. Board member Deena Hayes cited the poor academic performance of black students and the low participation rates of black contractors - about 3 percent - in the previous $500 million in construction bonds as the reasons for their opposition.
“Opposing school bonds has been a civil rights strategy for a long time, and we’re employing it today,” Hayes said.”
Some questions that one might ask in regards to the construction comment: Should the use of “black contractors” (PC statement should have been minority contractors) be a deciding factor for something of this nature? How many minority contractors are there compared to white contractors? How many minority contractor put bid in on jobs that stemmed from the previous $500 million construction bond? If someone other than a minority contractor has a lower price, do we spend more to go with a minority? Should construction be racial?
Redistricting Status Delayed
May 6, 2008
I took a few minutes to check into the status the redistricting plan (Plan Q) that Zack Matheny proposed several months ago, and it appears that the approval process has stalled.
Funny enough, former council candidate Bill Knight has also been checking into the plan’s status and he beat me to the punch. Get an update on the plan’s status on Bill’s site.
Robbie Perkins Responds to Allen Johnson’s Greenway Comments
May 5, 2008
Allen Johnson of the News & Record weighed in on the Downtown Greenway again over the weekend and I posted some of his thoughts yesterday. Councilman Robbie Perkins, a Downtown Greenway supporter, left the following comment on that post and I thought I should point it out.
“Greensboro needs to dare to be great. The Greenway is an idea that will last 100 years and give our community a sense of place. The downtown is the only area where the entire community comes together—and everyone feels that they belong. To unify the downtown and connect it to our close in neighborhoods will create a synergy that will result in significant private investment in our downtown. Developers like cool places-and so do the people that purchase or rent from them. One question Allen didn’t ask was how much it will cost Greensboro not to spend the money, to not try to reach beyond traditional bounds, to settle for doing OK. Greensboro has to find ways to get important things done–and the Greenway is one of them.”
Downtown Greenway Cost - Allen Johnson Weighs in
May 4, 2008
$26 million. That is the estimated cost of the new Downtown Greenway that will be publicly and privately funded, but the percentage of public funding that will be needed has not been announced. Allen Johnson of the News & Record once again highlights the cost of the Greenway and also points out that the money could be used for:
“That kind of cash could buy you all sorts of other things.
You could complete construction of the downtown International Civil Rights Center and Museum and have $16 million in change.
You could build another NewBridge Park and have $5 million left for several tons of peanuts and Crackerjack.
One downtown developer wondered if $26 million invested into a loan pool for downtown development wouldn’t make better sense.”
Would you want to give $10 million to a privately owned organization such as the International Civil Rights Museum?
Site Issues
May 2, 2008
If you noticed anything on the site yesterday you were not alone. I upgraded Wordpress and something went seriously wrong. All the problems should be fixed at this point.
Thanks for reading.
Ryan
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Recent Posts
- Three Officers not Charged. Barber Calls for Firing. Wells Confident in Bellamy.
- Zack Matheny to Host District 3 Meeting
- Reminder: Business Towh Hall Meeting with Mayor Yvonne Johnson
- Deena Hayes Interview on Racism in School Construction
- Neighbors vs Developer at Last Night’s Council Meeting
- Forget Education, Construction of Schools gets Racial
- Redistricting Status Delayed
- Robbie Perkins Responds to Allen Johnson’s Greenway Comments
- Downtown Greenway Cost - Allen Johnson Weighs in
- Site Issues
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