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GREENSBORO — The City Council gave City Manager Mitchell Johnson a $5,228 raise Tuesday, boosting his salary to $179,478.

It's a 3 percent raise, a half-percent higher than the one he received last year.

The increase came during his annual evaluation, which was held in private. The vote was 6-2. Council members Sandra Anderson Groat and Mike Barber voted against the raise. Barber said the new salary and benefits would combine to make Johnson too highly paid for a city the size of Greensboro.

Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small was absent.

All nine council members have supported Johnson's handling of the crisis in the police department, including the departure of former police Chief David Wray.

Wray resigned in 2006 — three months after Johnson was named manager — after allegations that the department's special intelligence unit targeted black officers for unfair internal investigation.

Wray supporters say Johnson gave in to black leaders and overreacted in disciplining Wray, and scores signed a petition demanding Johnson's resignation. Some in the black community say the city manager waited too long to discipline Wray, letting unfair treatment of African American officers fester.

Several council members again took the opportunity to praise Johnson's handling of the situation.

"If nobody's upset with you, then you're not accomplishing much," said outgoing Mayor Keith Holliday. "The first two years (of Johnson's tenure) — talk about trial by fire."

Councilwoman Sandy Carmany, who lost her bid for re-election, said, "I think our manager did the right thing, not the easy thing."

In other business, the council also voted to give $750,000 in federal grants to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The money will be distributed over three years and won't be funded by local property tax money.

But there was plenty of debate. Council members Mike Barber, Florence Gatten and Tom Phillips opposed the plan.

The federal money was designated for Willow Oaks, a low- to mixed-income community in east Greensboro, which is why Phillips said he voted against the plan.

Barber cited the 13 years that museum organizers have spent raising money and renovating the old Woolworth's building on February One Place and South Elm Street. The lack of progress points to larger issues, he said.

"The Empire State Building was built in 18 months," he said.

Barber said his opposition isn't an issue of race, but rather an issue of "incompetence, ineptitude and insincere motives" on the part of museum organizers.

But other council members defended the project, saying that it's important to honor the sit-in movement with a museum.

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or mbanks@news-record.com