City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter left no doubt that she is back at the Greensboro City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 19.
When Abuzuaiter answered the roll call at the beginning of the meeting with “present,” she received a big round of applause. It was the first meeting she had attended in person since Feb. 17. Abuzuaiter spent 33 days in the hospital in Washington, NC – four of those in a medically induced coma – after having diverticula rupture and going into septic shock.
But by the end of the meeting, Abuzuaiter may not have received quite such enthusiastic applause after she didn’t hold back on why Greensboro is losing so many good members of the senior city staff. Former City Manager David Parrish resigned on June 30 last year, Assistant City Manager Kim Sowell resigned in March, and then, this week, Police Chief Brian James announced he was retiring on May 31 after less than two-and-a-half years as chief.
Abuzuaiter said that she didn’t know how the city was going to replace James since he had been doing such a good job as police chief, reaching out to all the different communities in Greensboro.
Abuzuaiter said, “I would really like for us to have a few minutes at a work session to see why, when we have the most perfect people in positions, that they either decide to go ahead and retire or they get another position someplace else when they haven’t been in that position very long.
“I know what I hear through the grapevine, and not one of the people who have left or who are retiring will ever say it, but I hear through the grapevine that it’s because some people on council micromanage, and I really think we need to address that.
“I know that a couple of years ago Mr. Wilson [Assistant City Manager Chris Wilson] sent out a memo that if we had a concern if something was going on, we were to contact one of the assistant city managers and they would put us in touch with the department head or someone else.
“You know, for instance, the chief is not our employee to be berated or yelled at or told that his initiatives are no good. The city manager is his boss – only the city manager. Our two employees are the city manager and the city attorney. So I really would like for us, if Mr. Jaiyeoba would agree, at a work session some time, we really need to sit down and talk about this because I can tell you in the last two years we’ve lost three or four good department heads who were good people who would help carry this city through to the next level and I just think we really, really need to discuss this.”
Amen, Marikay. You seem to be the only one with a reasonable attitude. Competent people do not want to work for the city of Greensboro. People who are educated and/or have other opportunities are leaving.
She’s right.
Lol..finally, is someone awake?
As Gomer Pyle used to say “Surprise Surprise Surprise “
How many GSO Staff have resigned since Nancy Vaughn has been Mayor.?
a.k.a. Unilateral parking deck administrator!
Mrs Abuzuaiter is 100% correct. And this is the way it has been for quite a while. We will continue to bury ourselves in crime and mismanagement as long as there are three or four of the Council Members who want to run the city from the dias.
It would be nice to have live meetings with community input where the taxpayers could actually voice their opinion. Covid Will never end with runaway demigods in charge.
Same thing happens at Guilford County. Some commissioners aren’t fazed at all about calling a department director. One of the biggest offenders was Carolyn Coleman. If one of her “constitutents” called her complaining about their supervisor, she’d call the supervisor versus talking to the County Manager. She felt she could do what she wanted, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re thinking about naming a street after her.
Seems it won’t be long before everything in Greensboro will be tagged with a black name
Could this involve the recent retirement announcement by our dedicated Chief of Police, Chief Brian James?
Only took him two years of suffering the micro management by the current City Council?
Question?
That would certainly be a good question to ask in an exit interview.
I sent this to the City Council – in support of your article – FYI
Dear All ,
Can you imagine the next time that President Biden has an important message he wants to communicate to the American People that he is told that the TV and other journalists covering the event would have to gather information to deliver to the People our Country from a “closet” where it is hard to hear and hard to see our President deliver his message. No, we wouldn’t stand for it and we would be well within our rights .
We have recently allowed a situation to occur in our City Council Meetings where something similar is happening . For thirty years ( I assume this to be correct ) people of the Press have been” in the room” where the City Council Meetings take place so that they could report to the People of Greensboro on how their elected officials are conducting the People’s business.
Now the the Press will be put in a balcony with a board obstructing their view – hard to call this Freedom of the Press.
The People of Greensboro deserve to have the Press who keep them informed of how our government is working given clear access to the City Council Meetings . In addition , the City Council Members who work hard to prepare for these meetings deserve to have their words heard and understood clearly and accurately.
Please let the People know how this issue can be resolved .
Thank you for your time Carl Pelzel