news-record.com

Speaking of the city manager search, consultant Colin Baenziger has irked some council members.

Some in the Gate City did not appreciate that he said Greensboro is like another fabled southern city.

“But what is the real reason to live in Greensboro?” reads the background info on the city on the consultant’s Web site, which will be used to recruit the next city manager. “That is easy – it is all the people who live here. Although the third largest city in the state, its residents affectionately characterize it as having a Mayberry mindset.”

Not everybody took it as a loving comparison.

“I guess it makes some people think that we’re backwards or country bumpkins,” Councilwoman Trudy Wade said.

Council members agreed his description – which he compiled after meeting with business leaders, members of the public, and council members – should be tweaked.

“I looked at Mayberry most of my life and I liked it,” said Mayor Yvonne Johnson, “but I don’t know if that’s they way we would like to describe ourselves.”