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GREENSBORO — Mix four seasoned veterans with a political newcomer and what do you get? The newest district representatives of Greensboro City Council.

Returning for second terms, according to complete but unofficial election results, are Mike Barber, Goldie Wells and T. Dianne Bellamy-Small. Former County Commissioner Trudy Wade beat incumbent Sandy Carmany. Political newcomer Zack Matheny won his first two-year term.


Debatables: How do you like the new council?

Three-for-three

Three times Bellamy-Small fought to represent southeast Greensboro.

In August, she overcame a recall election, launched by residents dissatisfied with her first term on the council. Last month, she fended off a field of four challengers to win the primary. On Tuesday, voters in District 1 again supported Bellamy-Small, awarding her a third term.

"And I respect them and appreciate them," Bellamy-Small said amid hugs from supporters. To one well-wisher, she called out: "God is good."

Bellamy-Small took 53 percent of the vote, beating first-time challenger Tonya Clinkscale.

"It was a good run," one well-wisher told Clinkscale.

Bellamy-Small led sometimes by less than 1 percentage point. Clinkscale, a contractor, said the results show the community remains divided. She hopes Bellamy-Small will work to unite District 1.

That's one of her goals, Bellamy-Small said.

She plans to expand her meetings with community members. She has been attending neighborhood meetings and pushing for the Glenwood Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.

She also plans to ask the new mayor, Yvonne Johnson, to appoint her to the council committee for the city's mass transit system, a position once held by Carmany. Many residents in her district rely on public transportation, Bellamy-Small said.

"I'm going to hit the ground running," she said. "And continue to work as hard as I can for District 1."

A new face

If voters wanted new blood, they certainly got it in Matheny in District 3. The 34-year-old will be council's youngest member by far when he takes his seat Dec. 4. Still, his political inexperience — this is his first elected office — wasn't reflected in his ability to raise money or appeal to voters.

Unofficial results gave him 59 percent of the vote against Joe Wilson.

Matheny cruised to victory on a day when other incumbents struggled, an accomplishment that came after he raised more than $30,000 for his campaign. He credited extensive grass-roots campaigning for his success and said he wanted to make "an immediate positive impact" on council.

Matheny, a financial consultant, based much of his pitch on working to accelerate economic development. The city needs to become more business-friendly and simply work harder to recruit new businesses, he says. The recent developments at the airport, with companies such as Skybus and HondaJet locating here, is creating an opportunity to lure even more jobs, he said.

Despite his relative youth, Matheny says he brings experience and leadership skills built from volunteering and becoming involved in community issues.

But those connections — and his prolific fundraising — became an issue in the campaign. Wilson tried to paint himself as an outsider and Matheny as the ultimate insider's candidate. Wilson, a developer, had pitched a message of lowering taxes and streamlining government and took a more critical tone of current city leadership.

Though other candidates had success with that message, Wilson said he could not keep up when being dramatically outspent.

"We were fighting uphill all the way," he said.

Matheny said one of the first orders of business will be getting the city past the controversy surrounding the police department and former Chief David Wray. The key to that will be open communication, he said. Find out the truth, then tell the public.

Wells wins second term

Incumbent Goldie Wells, by about a 3-1 margin, defeated challenger Lance A. Jones, a state correctional officer, to represent northeast Greensboro's District 2. Wells, a retired educational administrator, has said she wants to take a communitywide approach to crime, enlisting schools and churches in the battle.

She won her first two-year term in 2005, replacing longtime Councilwoman Claudette Burroughs-White, who did not run.

Barber retains seat

There was no surprise in District 4, which covers the city's northwest area. Incumbent Mike Barber took more than 82 percent of the vote to retain the seat he first won in 2005.

Barber beat David Crawford, who dropped out a little more than a week before the election but remained on the ballot.

Crawford cited concerns that the race was interfering with his plans to run for Congress.

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jfernandez@news-record.com

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or jhardin@news-record.com