If there was any doubt, Senate Bill 9 proves that the Greensboro City Council doesn’t have much if any influence in the North Carolina legislature.
Senate Bill 9 amends the Charter of the City of Greensboro to create a Civil Service Board, a move that the City Council not only didn’t request, but strenuously objected to as soon as the City Council was informed about the bill – which was after the bill had already been passed by two House Committees and then the full House on May 26.
After finding out about what was then House Bill 470, councilmembers expressed strong opposition to the creation of a Civil Service Board and on May 2 passed a resolution by 5-3 vote in opposition to the bill. Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Councilmembers Tammi Thurm and Zack Matheny voted against the resolution. Councilmember Hugh Holston was absent.
In the discussion about the resolution, Matheny said, “Sending a resolution to the state will probably get this passed in the Senate as fast as it passed the House. It will fly through the Senate as fast as humanly possible.”
Matheny may have been wrong about the speed, but right about the final outcome.
The majority of the City Council opposed the bill that establishes a five-member Civil Service Review Board, which will have the power to review and overturn demotions, terminations, reductions in pay and other disciplinary actions for city employees.
When the House Bill passed on April 26, it was without any comment from the Greensboro City Council for the simple reason that the City Council had no idea that a bill amending the Charter of the City of Greensboro was before the House.
For the first time, the City of Greensboro has an employee whose job is to keep track of what is going on in the legislature and lobby for the City of Greensboro – Intergovernmental Relations Manager LaToya Caesar-Crawford.
At the City Council work session on Thursday, April 27, one councilmember after another said they had no idea that House Bill 470 to create a Civil Service Review Board was coming up for a vote in the state House.
At that meeting Caesar-Crawford said, “Apparently we had plenty of time for public input, but we had no idea that it was being calendared so quickly and that it was going to be pushed through. It has been stated that Greensboro has not been there to support or oppose the bill.”
Caesar-Crawford also said that she only found out about the public hearings on the bill minutes before they were held and so did not have time to notify councilmembers.
In the end, the bill creating a Civil Service Review Board passed the state House with no comment from Greensboro and then passed the state Senate with opposition from Greensboro.
About normal for this bunch. Usually in the dark on everything but increased taxes and funding their pet projects/ pockets.
Once again our civil servants don’t perform the job they’re paid for yet somehow don’t get fired as would anyone in the private sector.
About time!!! Let us all hope this corrects our current city council so that they have to listen to the taxpayers and not their base.
Which party is going for power grab? Ohhhhhh…it’s the Republicans. Again. Paint me shocked.
I mean when you can’t be trusted to maintain essential services like police and fire I would hope the state would come in and correct the issue
Did you call the Police Citizen Review Board, which gives a committee that is appointed by the council oversight over external decisions made by the police, a conservative power grab? Then why would you call a Civil Service Review Board, which gives a committee that is appointed by the council oversight over internal decisions made by the police, a power grab?
At least make some sense dude.
Bingo.
First item on the agenda of the City Council after opening the meeting…
Whaaaaa! Whaaaaa! Whaaaaa! I want my lawyer!!!
They don’t like this because this would take their power to make political examples of people like the fire chief who they terminated without clause. Basically the state is saying we don’t trust that you are well intended with the power the citizens give you. Not sure they didn’t do this to themselves.
That state is doing this in response to the council and city manager firing the fire chief. The state doesn’t trust the council to act in the best interest of the city.
This is a response to the council firing the fire chief and their anti police agenda in 2020 and 2021 when they striped resources from GPD which has crippled the dept and have made them ineffective currently. This should be a wake up call to voters that the state doesn’t trust the power the council has specifically in their handlings of our essential services.
Ceaser-Crawford was hired by the new city manager to a position he created, kinda odd because she had no previous government experience makes one wonder if maybe there’s something else behind the scenes. The current council asked no questions about this hire It’s time to replace all the women on the council
LaToya Caesar-Crawford has no experience related to her current position, which is evident when she was clueless about the proposed civil service commission, except that she appears to have some connection to the city manager. Maybe they will add more people tfor her to oversee and have them do the work she was hired to do.
Truth be known, the idea of a Civil Service Board for Greensboro started a long time ago. A board such as this would have been helpful during the David Wray fiasco. The police department has not recovered because the City Council is still filled with Blacks who do not trust White people, a feeling without justification.
Racist much? The GPD problems from 20 years ago have nothing to with a Civil Service Board now. Quit living in the past.
Caesar-Crawford’s position was created for two reasons: Chuck Watts wanted to lose responsibility because he is lazy, and a position was created to give Caesar-Crawford a job. Another black face in the manager’s office.