news-record.com

I want to commend you for your unexpected castigation of our new City Council for its action in rescinding the open meetings policy instituted by Mayor Bill Knight (editorial, Jan. 25).

But I must ask why you did not think this would be a problem before the election. Mayor Robbie Perkins made no bones about his intention to do the public’s business in private, and you never even considered that in your prior editorials or in your election recommendations. In fact, you criticized Mayor Knight for rowdy meetings, which are a natural consequence of people with different viewpoints discussing public policy.

Thank goodness we have Trudy Wade on the council to at least alert the public when this new council inevitably tries to hide its dirty work.

We already know massive tax and fee increases are in the works. We have been warned that the council is preparing to divert significant grant money to Nelson Johnson’s Beloved Community Center, Greensboro’s own ACORN. And now, they are going to do it all out of sight.

Hopefully, Dr. Wade will tape all of the behind-the-scenes meetings and briefings she is privy to and immediately release those tapes to the public.

Bob Skenes
Greensboro