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A couple of incidents and now all this. Thanks to Ms. Bellamy-Small, Mr. Kee, and Ms. Vaughan for maintaining level heads.

I agree, no more hanging in Downtown Gboro for me. Hello Winston!

What a silly curfew. There are so many holes in it, any smart kid could get around it. "Well, officer, I know it's 1am, but I am exercising my right of free assembly by hanging out with my 22 year old friends in this parking deck!"

And it's the wrong demographic to target anyway.

The lowest common denominator of govt is that it will abuse its citizens regardless of oversight. I sense that Chief Miller more so than usual will ponder how such abuse will play out.

I am definitely against the curfew and believe it is ripe for abuse by citizens and police. This is not Charlotte - Mecklenburg. The citizens of Greensboro are far wiser in this regard.

I was struck that the race card was not played during the debate. In my opinion the vote clearly says that a white life and interests are more important than others in the community. There are far greater problems with life and property in the HP road area than downtown many of which have had significant coverage in this newspaper. In my own opinion it seems like the principals of the downtown establishments led by Council member Matheny are kin to the White Citizens Council of days gone by.

It would not surprise me if one of the first items of business this morning for Chief Miller is that he'll be reviewing the status and training of his CDU Unit (civil disturbance unit).

I hope it is never needed.

Well we all know the point of the curfew which was never discussed. The vast majority of incidents involved people over 18 so why the curfew? If you look at the demographics of the teenagers, the vast majority of them are black. Its all about making other people more comfortable because they are intimidated by groups of young black people walking down the street. Race is the elephant in the room in this case and i'm surprised the pulpit forum and others have not gotten involved. This is just a sneaky way of banning all these young black teens. Councilman Jim Kee alluded to this when he mentioned "concerns about profiling"

But to be honest I don't know how it can be enforced. If hundreds of teens come downtown are the limited number of police officers going to go around asking each one of them for their IDs? meanwhile when they are doing that other crimes are taking place that involves people over 18.

Also I don't understand what additional loitering ordinances will accomplish when there are already laws on the books. They are just not being enforced. For example, there is a law banning the consumption of alcohol in public spaces which would include the parking decks. That law is already in the books. The police just need to go around and arrest these idiots drinking in the parking decks I don't see why more ordinances are needed to take care of that problem. There are also loitering laws in the books as well.

Just another podunk.

This curfew will create the overall perception that downtown is just for over 18 club goers, and those are exactly the people who caused all the violence over the last few weeks.

Title VI anyone?

Totally inane response to the problem at hand...you want to kick somebody out of downtown who is causing trouble? Look at the owner N club....excuse me "Allure" and the other places where the problems have started. But no, they have money and influence...not so for our under 18-year-old residents.

If you tell teens they can't do something, better prepare yourself. I imagine kids are already formulating ways around this law and will drive law enforcement nuts. There are so many loopholes, it's virtually useless:
* "in a motor vehicle, with parent consent, traveling to the city". In other words, if Momma says it's ok for you to cruise up and down Elm Street, you're good.
* "exercising First Amendment rights*. If I were a tattoo parlor, I'd open a local branch of "The Church of Body Modification" downtown, immediately.
* "who is married". Wha? Under 18 and married and you're ok downtown? Genius.
This law is daft. And while the cops are calling moms and dads to find out if Junior has a hall pass, how are they going to monitor the adults who are actually causing the problems?

I don't understand how the police are going to be able to enforce this, don't citizens have a right to refuse showing ID unless they are being detained?

More BS from the ship of fools

They should have started with the Mall!!

Dianne's comments are right on:

"Bellamy-Small said the problem isn’t teenagers, but with irresponsible club owners.

“Teens are not the problem. The time a child comes home should be a parental decision,” she said.

Several residents also spoke out in opposition to the measure, saying it hinders businesses that employ or are frequented by minors."

It is to Greensboro's shame that you need to ban teens from the downtown. Why don't you simply declare the entire dowtown a red light district and then wait for God's inevitable judgment to fall upon our once fine city?

It is both humorous and tragic to see intelligent people like yourselves groping in the dark for a solution when the answer to the wave of violence is so obvious: ban the clubs from Greensboro!

Do they add so much revenue to city coffers that we need to prostitute ourselves by allowing these seedy tawdry places to operate?

Are we so desperate for funds that we need to pimp our public to these joints?

And even if they do bring in revenue, is it worth it when the price we pay is a withdrawal of God's blessings from our city and a rapid descent of satanic curses instead?

Please, Greensboro City Council members, do not worship mammon but love God and respect his children, all the God-fearing citizens of our beautiful city!

In the Name of Jesus Christ,

MIchael Korn

Based on the response on all the blogs, most citizens seem to be against this curfew ordinance. I say we start Greensboro's version of a Tea Party and vote those city council persons out of office. We don't need government interfering in our lives. You can bet someone will sue the city over this.

Way to go Greensboro "leaders"!!! You once again have shown your TOTAL ineptitude, grasp of the REAL problems, and passed more ordinances that have NO chance of working. Here are some suggestions that will work without adding more ordinances. 1. ENFORCE the laws already on the books. Drinking in a parking deck; issue citations! 2.Tell the GPD to pay attention. If the same group of people, regardless of age, walk by the same corner several times, tell them to leave downtown or "risk" getting a loitering citation. 3. Get aggressive in enforcing ALE rules and gun laws in clubs. Also, enforce the fire marshall occupancy limits. 4. Block Elm Street, from Market to McGee, to vehicular traffic, excluding EMS. Also close February One place. No street parking or cruising will cause thug wannabes to have to go to their car to get their gun & walk back to find whoever they're looking for. Also, no cruising Elm Street will make it safer for pedestrians. Try a few of these suggestions, instead of punishing a segment of society that has had no issues with the recent incidents by passing a curfew that looks like swiss cheese with it's loopholes.