On Tuesday, Jan. 28, a packed city hall celebrated 19 candidates for the open at-large city council seat. (Photo by Gale Melcher)
Tuesday night in Greensboro’s city hall was a passionate one, as city leaders met each of the 19 residents vying to fill the seat of the late at-large councilmember Mayor Pro Tempore Yvonne Johnson.
That number is what remains of the original 45 applicants, many of whom either withdrew from the process or were ineligible for the office because they lived outside city limits, according to Mayor Nancy Vaughan.
On Tuesday, the remaining applicants made their case to the seated city council during their three minutes of allotted time.
While many assumed that a candidate would be chosen on Tuesday, the council decided to postpone their decision until Friday at 2 p.m., when they will meet again to ultimately vote on a new leader. There won’t be an opportunity for candidates to speak — this will simply be a time for council to deliberate— but they can watch the meeting in person or online.
“This is a lot of information to process,” Councilmember Sharon Hightower said before suggesting that they take a bit of extra time before making their selection — in order to be “considerate and respectful of the people who have taken the time to apply.”
Whoever is selected will serve out the remainder of Johnson’s term. If they want to stay in office, city leaders will have to run for reelection later this year.
Being a councilmember isn’t just coming to the two monthly meetings people see on TV, Vaughan said.
It’s a full time job.
Councilmembers are often called to work sessions where they learn about new developments in the city, or have to go to a special meeting because there’s something they need to vote on and it can’t wait until the next council meeting. There’s also a council retreat next month that all members must attend. City leaders are also tasked with attending ribbon-cuttings, making appearances in the community and going to board and commission meetings — just to name a few of their responsibilities. And unlike district representatives who mostly stick to the areas they represent, an at-large councilmember represents the whole city.
“As you know, we can only select one person,” said Vaughan on Tuesday. “I want to encourage you all to look at boards and commissions for future service….. If you’re not selected, please don’t consider that the end of the road. This is just the beginning of a process for you.”
“We have a lot to consider,” Vaughan told TCB in an interview after the meeting. “Some people who might not have presented themselves well on paper did really good in person.” There are quite a few people under consideration, she said.
“I’m looking for someone who doesn’t think they know all the answers, and that they’re willing to work with city council and staff,” she added. “I think it’s more important right now that people listen…Some of the best advice I ever got was shut up and listen.”
Keep scrolling to see what each candidate had to say during Tuesday’s meeting. They will be listed in the order they appeared at the podium. Click this link to read our deep dive on all 45 candidates.
Todd Turner
Disclosure: Turner works as a contributing photographer for Triad City Beat.
Turner is a “lifelong resident” of the city. He worked with the Special Olympics, taught at UNCG, and has documented the city’s community for years as a photojournalist. Now he works in real estate and has seen the housing crisis “first-hand.” He’s an unaffiliated voter according to NC voter registration records.
Portia LaJoy Shipman
Shipman’s late mother, Gladys Faulk Shipman, participated in the Greensboro sit-ins — a historic protest held at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter — which was replicated across the country and helped usher in the Civil Rights Movement. She also grew up in public housing, she said. For many years, Shipman worked with Johnson, including as a campaign organizer for Johnson’s mayoral bids. She’s also been involved in domestic violence prevention and other social justice organizations. She’s a registered Democrat.
Joseph Williams
Williams is retired and previously worked in commercial shipping. He feels that Greensboro is a “tremendous city” and wants to join the council in order to aid its “continued development.”
Williams is an unaffiliated voter.
Akir Khan
Khan is a lifelong resident of the city. And while it’s a great place, he said, there are “two sides of Greensboro.” That’s why he wants to “make sure all of Greensboro is fed,” and serves as the chair of the Out of the Garden Project, a mission that nourishes hundreds of families in the Piedmont Triad. Khan talked about his father, who is from India and was raised in Pakistan. When his father came to Greensboro in 1968, he had to “make some tough decisions,” Khan said, “decisions in the South that should not be made for anybody,” over which bathroom to use since they were segregated at the time.
“But if you look around, we’ve come so far as a community, so far as a city,” he said.
He’s also worked at multiple local colleges and universities such as High Point University and Guilford Technical Community College. Khan is a registered Republican.
Irish Good
Good is a human resources professional and worked for the city for decades, in both the fire department and the people and culture department. She’s lived in Greensboro on the Northeast side of Greensboro for most of her life, she said. Her purpose and passion is “service to others.”
And her journey has taught her that it’s “not just about policies, it’s about people.”
Good dreams of a Greensboro that is vibrant and inclusive, and noted three key issues for the city: Policing and crime, affordable housing and homelessness. She said she’d like to develop a “comprehensive strategy” to improve residents’ quality of life. Good is a registered Democrat.
Tiffany Luard
Luard, a visual artist who graduated from UNCSA, played a short video during her three minutes that highlighted her background and work in the community. She’s worked with podcasts and local creative agencies, as well as the Happy Hill Community in Winston-Salem. “I’m happy to be here for Greensboro, as an ally and I’m available to help,” she said in the video.
Crystal Black
Black has done extensive work in the community, and has been deeply involved in city projects for years. She touts a breadth of community service and city partnership on multiple projects. She formerly partnered with Councilmember Sharon Hightower to establish the city’s Ad-hoc Committee on African American Disparities, a forum for Black families to outline disparities in their community. She also initiated the Love Your Block program — which cleans trash off the streets and advocates for safer communities — with the Solid Waste and Neighborhood Development departments and served on the city’s Solid Waste and Sustainability commissions. She is currently working with the Greensboro Police Department to establish “safe cultures,” developing programming to address youth violence through sports. Additionally, she’s the founder and chair of the Southeast Greensboro Coalition, advocating for the “health and vitality” of those neighborhoods. Black is a registered Democrat.
Nicky Smith
Smith is the founder and CEO of Carolina Digital Phone, and said that his primary concern is public safety.
He stated that he was a “leader” of the West Friendly Avenue Neighborhood Conservation Overlay. “This experience reinforced my belief that leadership is about listening, about collaboration and results,” he said.
But District 4 representative Nancy Hoffmann said that some of Smith’s beliefs and ideas about the city “concern” her.
She also criticized Smith’s characterization of his involvement in the project, saying that Smith seems to present himself as the leader of that project even though there were many other people involved in leading that movement, and that “acknowledging this as a collaborative effort rather than claiming much of the credit…for yourself might be the right thing to do.”
“City council is a team sport,” she added.
Another thing that was “disturbing” to Hoffmann is Smith’s call for a “moratorium” on annexation, which is the “most important tool” that they have to grow the city and their tax base.”
Smith has also suggested online that the city open up the Greensboro Coliseum at night to house and feed the homeless.
Hoffmann also took issue with that suggestion, saying that the building generates “millions of dollars” for the community.
During the pandemic, Smith was accused of throwing masks at people, and that he and his employees refused to wear them in the Guilford Building. Smith has denied those allegations. However, Vaughan, who used to work in the Guilford Building, said that many people she knew said that he wouldn’t wear a mask in the elevator and would “fake-cough.”
“We lost over 1,000 people in Guilford County due to COVID,” Vaughan said.
Hoffmann also came after Smith’s voting record, stating that he had only voted in two municipal elections, once in 2011 and again in 2022, but not in 2013, 2015 or 2017.
“I feel that voting is a privilege, but it is our most fundamental civic responsibility,” she said.
“I wonder as a businessman if you would hire or retain an employee who showed up only 40% of the time,” she added.
Smith is a registered Republican and a former Democrat, making a party switch in the 2016 primary election.
Anthony Pace
Pace was born and raised in Southeast Greensboro, he said.
It’s a great place to live, he said.
“You really don’t appreciate how great Greensboro is until you move away and have to defend Greensboro to people who don’t understand NC or Greensboro.”
He was a teacher and served in the Navy.
He also talked about how much the city has grown in the last several years. He’s an unaffiliated voter and stated in his application that if selected, he wouldn’t run for reelection.
Vernon Johnson
Johnson is the son of Yvonne Johnson, and served in the Navy.
He started out his speech remembering victims of gun violence in the city. He’s worked part-time in the city’s parks and recreation department for decades, and holds a master’s degree in elementary education from NC A&T State University. He’s worked in schools in Greensboro for nearly three decades.
“With my background working with younger populations, I know I can be that bridge to connecting younger generations to what the city of Greensboro is trying to accomplish in the days to come,” he said. Johnson is a registered Democrat.
Terrell Dungee
Dungee is a community organizer and has been involved in protests around marriage equality, housing inequality and police brutality.
Dungee has worked with the American Friends Service Committee and Down Home NC as a canvasser, as well as for the Carolina Federation and Guilford For All. Dungee has also worked with Keep Gate City Housed, a group of organizers pushing for the city and county to fund eviction prevention. TCB also wrote about Dungee as part of its resistance issue here.
“When you’re too busy working two to three jobs to pay your rent, it’s hard to get to know your neighbor. It’s hard to invest in your communities when you don’t even know if you’ll be able to stay when it’s time to renew your lease,” Dungee said.
Dungee connected the city’s crime rate to its housing crisis, and would move to create housing task forces if selected. Dungee is a registered Democrat.
Melvin Manuel
Manuel, a native son of Greensboro, stated that he’s a “liberal concerning humanitarian issues, and a conservative concerning fiscal responsibility.” He has a degree in economics.
He’s retired, and a registered Democrat.
Irving David Allen
Coming to the council chambers was a “full circle moment,” Allen said.
As a 10th grader at Dudley High School, he came to address the council with his AP US Government class about “concerns that high schoolers had about what was going on in the city of Greensboro.”
Since then, he’s “committed” his life to service in the city, “working for the issues that citizens are concerned about, not citizens from one side of town or the other, but citizens who saw what was going on in their community and felt the need to get engaged and involved.”
He ran for the at-large city council seat in the past in 2017, coming in eighth place at the time.
Now, he’s a community organizer and works for Advance NC.
He’s worked with the city on multiple projects, including helping kids get home safely when the curfew was put in place in 2013, and police accountability.
Allen previously ran for an at-large seat in 2017. He’s a registered Democrat.
Jamilla Pinder
Pinder is the director of community engagement and impact for the Cone Health Foundation and has served on a number of local boards including the Arts Council of Greater Greensboro and the Greensboro Transit Advisory Council, and has been involved in United Way of Greensboro, Greensboro Community Food Task Force and New Hope Community Development Group. She’s passionate about making the city a great place, she said, and grew up in Greensboro. She said her superpower is “building relationships deeply” and that she’s a data geek.
Michael McKinney
McKinney is the CEO of Piedmont Business Capital and has served on multiple city commissions, including the Minimum Housing Standard Commission and War Memorial Commission. He said he’s “deeply committed” to the community, he said.
“My experience in both the private and public sector has prepared me to bridge the gap between business, government and community, to negotiate effectively, advocate for our city and implement policies that address these challenges while ensuring that no one is left behind,” McKinney said. He said he’s “championed” initiatives to expand access to economic opportunity, working with minority entrepreneurs. He’s a registered Democrat.
George Hartzman
Right out of the gate, Hartzman accused the Simkins Pac — the city’s longstanding, Black political action committee, Robbie Perkins — former mayor and currently a mayoral candidate, and the city council of “trying to rig the mayoral election by controlling who they appoint for the open at-large seat.” Hartzman walked out after concluding his speech. He’s an unaffiliated voter.
Colin Tripp
Tripp said that this application process was “quite the learning experience.” He’s from Greensboro, and while he’s lived in other places, there’s something special about the city, he said.
He mentioned that his peers express a “desire to move to Charlotte” for career growth opportunities. “I admittedly don’t have all the answers, but I would like to work on our weaknesses,” he said. He’s an unaffiliated voter.
Linda Waddell
Waddell has served on a number of city boards, including the Minimum Housing Standards Commission, Police Community Review Board and the Commission of the Status of Women.
She stated that she would like to use her “tenacity” to help the city as a councilmember. She’s a registered Democrat.
Lynard Williams
Williams lives on Nealtown Road in proximity to White Street Landfill, a contentious city-owned disposal site. He was also on the solid waste commission before it was disbanded due to “lack of attendance from others.” He’s focused on city landfills, police department reform and the use of artificial intelligence.
If selected, he said he wants to be a “team player” in the future of the city.
“If not, please choose someone who will make their vote work for all citizens,” he added.
He’s a registered Democrat.
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