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GREENSBORO — The city’s at-large council race changed the council’s composition Tuesday night with the exit of the two-term mayor pro tem, the victory of a newcomer and the return of a popular former council member.

Sandra Anderson Groat was ousted from her seat by an electorate she said wanted change.

“People are really dissatisfied with City Council because of all the bickering and long meetings and not being able to get things done,” she said. “There was a sense of 'We just really need to start over.’ ”

Groat said she plans to get her real estate license and will finish a book she has been writing.

Nancy Vaughan had the strongest showing in the six-candidate field, tallying 18,010 votes. Those numbers likely will make her the next mayor pro tem.

Widespread support across ideological lines and throughout the city helped return Vaughan to the council she left in 2003.

“I think people know the work I’ve done in the past, and they trust me to work hard and have an independent mind,” Vaughan said as she was surrounded by celebrating supporters. “I’m obviously extremely gratified by the results and am ready to get to work.”

Vaughan said she wants to see the new council, which will be markedly more conservative, finally put to rest the controversy in the police department.

She said settling lawsuits based on racial bias shouldn’t be part of the plan.

“If there is institutional racism in the department, then we should go in there and examine it and fix it,” Vaughan said. “I don’t think settling does that.”

Vaughan also said she’d like to see the city address its open-

record policies, making city government more transparent.

Incumbent council member Robbie Perkins took the second most votes in the at-large race with 16,035. He said he believed appealing to people citywide rather than playing to certain sections helped him make a strong showing.

“We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs on the council in the last two years,” Perkins said. “Through all of that, I tried to be a reasonable and positive voice, taking stances I believed in and being a voice for jobs. That’s probably why I stuck.”

Perkins said he believed the new faces on the council will make for a shift in ideology and in how business is done.

“Obviously, it’ll be a much more conservative council,” Perkins said. “But I hope we won’t be in such a 'we’ and 'them’ situation. We got into a lot of score-keeping in the last two years. I’d like to just get back to a council where we run the issues through the process and get things done.”

Perkins said he, too, wants to see the council address the police department — but doesn’t want to unnecessarily open old wounds.

“I’m not interested in revisiting all that again,” Perkins said. “We need to move forward and improve the police department we have today. And the city manager should take the lead as opposed to a micromanaging City Council.”

Newcomer Danny Thompson won 14,729 votes to join the council Tuesday.

He said his campaign represented the sort of change voters were looking for.

“We tapped into the right message of changing the tone and tenor of Greensboro,” Thompson said.

He said he offers enthusiasm, leadership and vision. ”People voted for a new direction for Greensboro,” Thompson said.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert @news-record.com