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GREENSBORO — City Council candidates covered campaign funding, the police department, open government and other subjects during a forum at the Greensboro Public Library.

They threw verbal jabs at each other and spoke well of Greensboro to an audience assembled Monday by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress in a forum moderated by Marsh Prause.

“I moved here, I retired, here, this is a wonderful place to live,” said Art Boyett, a District 5 candidate challenging incumbent Trudy Wade.

Wade was not at the forum but sent a representative to say that she was out of town.

Other candidates dropped into weighty subjects.

A way to support economic development would be to keep money linked to special interests out of politics, said District 3 candidate George Hartzman, who is challenging one-term incumbent Zack Matheny.

“Pass pay-to-play ethics rules,” Hartzman said.

Matheny, one of the most successful council members at raising campaign funds, sees his donations as a sign of support.

“I worked hard, and I’m proud of it,” he said.

Others challengers took aim at each another.

On the city’s communication efforts, candidates generally said that it was good but could be better.

District 4 candidate Joel Landau accused his opponent Mary Rakestraw of being unprepared. He said that after a recent report on an update to the city’s planning code,

Rakestraw later asked for an information update.

“There had been a full briefing of it,” Landau said.

Rakestraw, a sitting at-large councilwoman, looked up at Landau with her mouth agape, but did not respond.

Rakestraw spoke after the meeting.

“It was a very long, laborious report, and we weren’t able to finish our entire briefing,” she said.

District 1 incumbent candidate T. Dianne Bellamy-Small spoke on the removal of benches behind the Urban Ministry shelter on West Lee Street, visible from South Eugene Street.

“The benches are not the problem,” she said, adding that outside political pressure against her led to their removal.

The city took them down Oct. 2 after complaints that they were a place for loitering, drug use and prostitution.

Nearby neighbor complaints partly drove the issue. After the benches were gone, Bellamy-Small stopped by the area.

“And there were two brothers sitting under a tree and they were smoking a cigarette, and this was not a Newport,” she said, implying that it could’ve been drug use. “So what are we going to do? Dig up the trees?”

Her opponent, Luther Falls Jr., was not present at the time; he left after answering one question on job growth.

“There is nothing else that is more important than economic development and job creation,” he said.

District 2 candidates Jim Kee and Nettie Coad are fighting for the seat that Goldie Wells will vacate at year’s end.

Coad and Kee agreed on better planning and preparation for economic development, and neither would reopen the White Street Landfill in their district. Both supported minimum housing standard enforcement in the city as well.

Kee appears more focused on small business development.

Coad spoke about increasing hands-on community work and opportunity for the district.

“Kids in school or kids that can’t get jobs,” she said. “Housing and revitalization and jobs and kids.”
 

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com