At the City Council retreat on Thursday, Feb. 2, councilmembers heard a report on the “Community Value Survey & Listening Tour.”
This report was based on the “listening tour” made by City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba in February and March 2022, along with a survey and stakeholder interviews.
The list of stakeholders who were interviewed included:
- Atkins Ole – Asheboro Neighborhood Association
Brent Christensen Greater – Greensboro Chamber of Commerce
- Bradley Hunt, President – Greensboro NAACP Branch 5400
Pat MacFoy – Cottage Grove Neighborhood Association
Board Members – Greensboro Business League Inc.
James Basnight – Randleman Road Association
Bob Davis – Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro
Derrick Joyner – Willow Oaks Neighborhood Association
Franca Jalloh – Immigrant Community
Walker Sanders, CEO – Greater Greensboro Community Foundation
Mac Sims – East Greensboro NOW
Zack Matheny – Downtown Greensboro, Inc
So according to the report, representatives of four neighborhood associations in Greensboro were interviewed, all representing predominately black neighborhoods. Greensboro is a minority majority city, but it appears that in this case the white or majority neighborhoods – which are in the minority in Greensboro – were ignored.
Usually when citywide stakeholder groups are consulted, there is an effort to have equal representation from all five City Council districts. But in this stakeholder group City Council District 1 and District 2 are overrepresented and City Council District 3, District 4 and District 5 have no neighborhood associations listed as stakeholders in what was supposed to be a citywide survey.
District 1 City Councilmember Sharon Hightower and District 2 City Councilmember Goldie Wells would never allow their districts to be left out of stakeholder interviews conducted by the city of Greensboro, but there wasn’t so much as a peep out of District 3 City Councilmember Zack Matheny, District 4 City Councilmember Nancy Hoffmann or District 5 City Councilmember Tammi Thurm about the list of stakeholders interviewed.
The stakeholder list becomes kind of wonky, but it appears that also interviewed were five of the nine members of the City Council and Dawn Chaney. There is a listing for “Former Leader – Chamber of Commerce” and then a separate listing for “Peter Reichert.” It appears this may refer to Peter Reichard, former president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. The stakeholder list also includes “Various Members – Arts Greensboro, Various Members – Board of Realtors, Housing Developer, Real Estate Developer and Various District Residents.
District 5 Thurm represents other districts not District 5! Talk about racism? I agree We’ll and Hightower would be ballistic if there was no minority representation.
Thurm you have a voice to represent your district, use it! You are an embarrassment and a disgrace to those you represent!
Please stop. I’m sure your landscaper is well paid, and your sidewalks perfectly clean. It’s time to focus on neighborhoods that can’t afford your luxuries.
I have no sidewalks and do my own landscaping. Not sure where you think I reside? I agree we need to focus on neighborhoods that require improvements. The money spent on “pet” projects or friends of council could have been used to provide these services. What could $900K that was given to cure for violence have done for these communities? Each council member has a voice. When not used they are not representing those in their respective district.
Y’all white people need to stop crying because before intergration&the separate but equal law of America was overtuned,y’all had the whole cake&ate it all up youself TOO!
And y’all black people need to stop crying because now you get racial preferences over whitey, adoration in the media, and complete immunity from any and all criticism.
If I were black I’d thank God every day that my ancestors were brought to America – or I’d be living in Africa. So y’all just need to stop crying.
Lol Lol missey woodard you sound like such an angry racist person but no worries the good liberal democrats will keep giving you your freebies knowing as long as they do you will blindly vote for them. Here’s wishing you a blessed day from a God loving Southern White Republican
WELCOME TO GREENSBORO!
Clever username. Did you come up with that one yourself?
Thrum & Hoffman are sheep and step in line as to what they are told to do. They poorly represent their districts and fold if the reps from East Greensboro want something. Reverse discrimination is now taking place with this Woke Socialist council. You are correct that the Black representatives would have had a hissy fit if the Black community had been ignored. This council is useless!
What a shame. The silent majority must be asleep. It is just like the election for Mayor and City Council. They are going to get what they asked for. I am one of the silent who is not happy.
Not so much as a peep from District 5 Representative Tammi Thurm? And you’re surprised? I hate to saddle up this old horse again but; The majority of voting citizens in District 5 voted for her.
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
Kathy Manning had her back. Thurm is on the council to vote for any project that may benefit Manning or her husband, Randall Kaplan. Otherwise, she is useless. Do not look to her for leadership. Kaplan needed her vote in 2017 so the hotel parking deck could be built. As far as District 5, take a look at the boundaries and realize the effect of spot zoning by City Council.
Hoffman, Thrum and Manning all belong to the same Synagogue so it is not surprising that they support each other. During the election this Synagogue had a so called candidate forum but all they asked were softball questions that a sixth grader could have answered.
Thank you for that information, Fed Up.
I know a lot of Jews call Greensboro home, but a third of council members Jews? I do not think Jews are 33% of Greensboro population. Over representation? And Hoffman working it by living in a facility that does not pay property tax? What benefit is Hoffman to the city’s tax base? Yet, she votes to increase property tax for others.
Ya think east greensboro city council is a little racist?
Nothing new here. . . .as you said, GBO is a minority majority city. Would this be called racial disparity?
Because they’re rich, you idiot. Great reporting.
I am not rich and live on the west side of town. Never get any representation from Hoffman. Watch a council meeting-she rarely speaks. I cannot name one thing she had advocated for in D4. She did stab the people off New Garden in the back a few years ago by voting to build the apartments near the State Credit Union after she said she would not.
Our council has always been there to advocate for themselves or their friends-not their districts as a whole. It is just now it is more obvious because they have an 8-1 advantage (hello Zack) and do not care because the apathy of Greensboro will continue to keep “voting” them because a tiny percentage of eligible voters actually vote.
Thanks for informing us as to the amount of silly racist things going on. If you stop and think the ones screaming racism are usually the most racist. If you have to put anything in front of your an American, you’re racist. If we’re ever my ancestors came from, I don’t care, I’m an American. Don’t figure they would have come to America if the other place was so good.
Whites are the only ‘race’ that can be openly discriminated against, legally.
Couldn’t agree more.
Majority black city, not majority minority 42% black 38% white they’re are no at risk white neighborhoods in the city of Greensboro the county yes but the liberals in Greensboro have very well kept and very well resourced neighborhoods. They will be ok
42 percent is not a majority.
Predominantly!
Who told you how to spell that big word
I would have expected nothing less from City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba, What’s the process to impeach City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba?
He can’t be “impeached” as he’s hired by the City Council. He can only be fired by the City Council or decide to resign. You must decide to impeach your Councilmembers or vote in new ones which is impossible.
Hoffman is my rep. and she doesn’t do “squat” for her distract!
You get what you vote for.
Minority majority? If the minority is the majority and the majority is the minority, does either term have any meaning at all?
I think the minority whites have the majority of housing. The minority majority.
The minority “whites” as you say, pay the “vast” majority of property taxes as well.
Because we WORK and pay for our homes and taxes to pay for the liberal democrat freebies that are given to the 42% that don’t work in our county.
This is rich from the “we don’t see color” and “the real racism is when people acknowledge racism” crowd. Your own article notes numerous white people who represent white areas of town who were represented – so what if only Black registered neighborhood organizations signed up?
The Rhino Times should just call itself the white citizens council grievance committee
The fact that the “Community Value Survey & Listening Tour” made by City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba purposely left out white neighborhoods in Greensboro as if they had nothing to contribute to the conversation, along with the disturbing comments to this article show the extreme issues that the City and County politicians and social activists have fomented over the years since the Woolworth Sit-in on Feb. 1, 1960. Although those young men wanted to have equal rights and opportunity, it seems that today’s activists want to reverse the roles of racism so that the people who were discriminated against can now be the ones who have the power and control to segregate, separate, and disenfranchise.
Equity is not equality, it’s not based on the individual’s independent qualities or success due to equal opportunity, it’s a false result based on skewed outcomes that are artificially weighted for those who some groups perceive as being somehow disadvantaged. The false premise is that any group can claim that they have been disadvantaged and therefore claim they should be compensated for some type of equitable treatment. Equality means there is only one standard and each individual has the opportunity to obtain that standard regardless of their social plight, which is the ideal goal of our country.
Over years of observing this County and City, I’ve noticed the people get along really well. People of various races are friendly, do business with each other, have friends and acquaintances, intermarry, and more and more are living in mixed middle-class neighborhoods. But what I’ve also noticed is that since the late 1990s politicians and social activists continually have harped on racial issues and the discrimination against black people every chance they get. It’s a constant message from the City Council and County Commissioners, and from important social activist leaders in our area. They rarely have anything positive to say to young black people about the progress that’s been made since 1960, all they tell them is how badly they are treated by white people and how few rights they have, and how awful their lives are compared to whites. And young blacks believe that. Then the politicians want to know why young black men are violent, using guns on the streets to steal and kill, why they drop out of school, why they don’t try to get jobs when they aren’t told that they have the same opportunities and abilities to be as smart and get the same jobs as white men. These politicians and activists are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by making these young people believe that their life is hopeless, worthless, and going nowhere because the white people won’t let them, and now their policy is to reverse the old discrimination and treat the whites the way the blacks were once treated.
That won’t solve anything but make everyone angry, create division, limit success, destroy financial opportunities, and bring destruction to the County, City, and country. That can be seen in some of the comments here. Some are really disturbing. It’s setting up the atmosphere for gang and neighborhood fights, distrust, and tribalism. This is a calculated attack on families, homes, and the country. Don’t give in to it. We have to work as a community of blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, and all other groups. America is made up of all kinds of people, not just two groups. But to be the US we must have similar goals, to be one. We have to agree that our goal is to have equal justice, to have freedom of speech, freedom to worship the way we choose or not at all, and freedom to assemble. We aren’t there yet but these are goals to continue working towards and being from so many places we have lots of people to share ideas as to how we accomplish this. Leaving people out of that conversation for any reason is a huge mistake. Everyone in our community should have a say in how they feel things need to change and what ideas they think would help. I think that leaving people out of these discussions was wrong no matter what the reason. Changes need to be made so people of all races and groups begin talking to each other or those trying to divide our communities will win, and that will mean a loss of our country.
There is a reason all of the makers have fled to Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, and Summerfield. Greensboro will decay like most other cesspit cities because the ones that produce are not represented and leave.
Bingo!
Time to get out of the County, too. Randolph?
15 minutes away from the city limits? Thankyou for your county tax dollars dunce!
A DUNCE calling someone else a dunce you don’t seem to know the difference between a city and county. Living in Randolph county he won’t pay taxes in Greensboro or Guilford County. Take some of the democrat freebies and get an education
It is the apathetic, uninformed, and indoctrinated voter who is at fault for all of this. The Leftist propaganda machine is (woking) well.
The majority of the electorate represents the lowest common denominator of the people of the U.S.