Marikay Abuzaiter named Greensboro’s mayor pro tempore with a council vote split along racial lines

Featured photo: At-large Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter takes the oath of office alongside her husband, Isa, and her son, Michael. (Photo by Gale Melcher)

Someone parked in the late Greensboro city councilmember Yvonne Johnson’s parking spot on Tuesday night. 

But her seat at the dais was empty.

The longtime civic leader passed away on Dec. 4 at the age of 82, after many years of service as  city councilmember, mayor and, most recently, as an at-large councilmember.

Tuesday was an emotional evening for the eight remaining elected officials at the city council meeting — many voices broke.

The last few weeks “have been really challenging,” District 3 Councilmember Zack Matheny said.

But part of their job on Tuesday night was to select a new mayor pro tempore, the role Johnson had filled for many years.

And two people wanted the job.

Ultimately, the councilmembers’ votes split along racial lines — with Black councilmembers Sharon Hightower and Hugh Holston voting for District 2 Representative Dr. Goldie Wells, while the city’s white councilmembers — Nancy Hoffmann, Tammi Thurm, Zack Matheny, plus Mayor Nancy Vaughan — supported At-large representative Marikay Abuzuaiter.

Wells lost in a 3-5 vote before Abuzuaiter ultimately secured the role in an 8-0 vote.

How did it go down?

The latter group centered their arguments around the fact that Abuzuaiter’s seat represents the entire city, just as Johnson’s did.

But for the Black councilmembers, it was about representation.

Wells cited the city’s plan, GSO 2040, wherein one of the goals is to be “committed to equity, diversity and inclusivity.”

“It is my feeling that we should show that we are a community that recognizes diversity,” she added.

And Greensboro is a majority-minority city, Wells noted. 

“I believe that its leadership should reflect that truth,” she said. 

That’s why, she said, she was suggesting that a minority councilmember serve in the leadership role of mayor pro tempore “to demonstrate our embrace of the vision of our city and our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusivity.”

In a city of nearly 300,000 residents, more than 115,000 are white while nearly 124,000 are Black. And more than 30,000 are Hispanic or Latine, and more than 15,000 are Asian and Pacific Islander. But with Johnson’s passing, only three out of the city’s eight leaders are Black, with the two highest offices — mayor and mayor pro tempore — filled by white people. 

“We’ve always had a Black person for the last years sitting here. When you look at our leadership now, it’s not going to show that,” Wells said.

Hightower noted that while the role has traditionally gone to at-large councilmembers as it did to Johnson, councilmembers vote on every issue, regardless of whether it’s an issue in their district. Hightower likened Wells to Johnson, saying that Wells has “a heart for the community and to serve everyone.” Holston noted that his support “simply has to do with the work Dr. Wells has done for the community.”

What they had with Johnson was a “balance,” Hightower said. Johnson hailed from the east side of Greensboro, but she also represented the west side.

“Yvonne’s balance wasn’t necessarily built on race as much as it was her integrity and love for this city,” Matheny said. And that balance is “not replaceable,” he added.

Due to the “immediacy” of filling this role, Vaughan threw her support around Abuzuaiter as an at-large representative. Just like the mayor represents the whole city, so does the mayor pro tem, she argued. So do at-large representatives, like Abuzuaiter, who has held the seat since 2011.

But for Wells, this is about “vision versus tradition.”

“If a tradition is the right thing, then you continue it,” Thurm stated.

“The things that have happened in this city, of our history and the diversity, we’re achieving it,” Matheny said, adding, “One vote does not break any of that. It does not break that vision.”

Throughout the night, councilmembers quoted past conversations with Johnson.

Abuzuaiter noted that around a year ago, Johnson started giving her “all of her duties to do.”

But Hightower said that many councilmembers had been asked to fill in for her on various occasions.

Abuzuaiter said that Johnson “mentored” her.

“I feel like she was my true mentor,” she said. “She’d tell me, ‘Be accessible. Be there for people. People just want somebody to talk to and they want you to help them find a solution.’”

And she also claimed that Johnson “saw no color.”

“She didn’t care if you were Black or white or Brown, she would help you,” Abuzuaiter added.

But race is in “every element that we do,” Hightower rebutted.

“Whether we agree tonight or not, it is something that we cannot walk away from. When people look at me, that is the first thing they see,” she said.

The elected body will also need to select a new at-large member by the end of the month on Jan. 28, when candidates will have a chance to give a five-minute presentation. 

Johnson’s son, Vernon Johnson, is among those who have thrown their names into the hat.

The new councilmember will be sworn in on Feb. 4. The application portal closes on Jan. 17.

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