“We need action right away,”
Roy Carroll told Greensboro City Council members last night.
“Downtown has come too far and too much is at stake.
We must take bold and decisive steps
to ensure that all of our citizens have a safe environment
wherever they are not matter what time of day it is.”
Carroll is a prominent developer in Greensboro
whose CenterPointe residential and commercial high-rise is a focal point of downtown.
A handful of downtown property owners,
along with their advocates in Downtown Greensboro Inc., Action Greensboro and the Cemala Foundation,
trooped into council chambers to make it clear to council
that they favored a downtown curfew for people under the age of 18
and tougher anti-loitering measures.
Earlier, about a dozen property owners had met with Councilman Zack Matheny
...along with city and Downtown Greensboro Inc. staff.
Matheny spearheaded the initiative, announcing the new measures a mere six days before they came up for a vote.
Betty Cone, chair of Downtown Greensboro Inc.’s board and a civic volunteer
responsible for the city’s annual Fun Fourth Festival,
asked for all those in favor of the new public safety measures to stand.
About 10 people did so.
On the other side of the issue, a wide variety of citizens both white and black,
including downtown residents, restaurateurs, along with people who frequent the entertainment district,
spoke out against the proposed curfew.
Among the arguments made was that it would unfairly profile youth,
police would have difficulty discerning which young people had a legitimate reason to be downtown...
it would hurt business owners for whom high school students comprise a significant market
and it would be expensive to enforce.
...Two resolutions to crack down on loitering each passed 8-1.
The votes appear to confirm that Greensboro is a rentier regime,
with downtown property owners and their supporters prevailing over other constituencies.
Do how much did proponents of stricter downtown public safety regulations
give to the campaigns of sitting council members during the 2009 election cycle?
Roy Carroll, developer (including family members and employees): $1,700 (total)
• $450 to District 2 Councilman Jim Kee
• $450 to District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade
• $450 to District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny
• $350 to at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins
Susan Schwartz, Cemala Foundation: $300 (total)
• $100 to Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Vaughan
• $100 to Matheny
• $100 to Perkins
Randall Kaplan, Capsule Group: $200 (total)
• $200 to Vaughan
Betty Cone, Downtown Greensboro Inc. (board): $100 (total)
• $100 to Vaughan
Milton Kern, developer: $100 (total)
• $100 to Vaughan
Contributions from this group to victorious candidates in the 2009 election cycle totaled $2,400.
Reflecting more prosperous times,
total contributions from the same group to victorious candidates in the 2007 election cycle
came to $7,740.
How did the votes come down?
Motion to create downtown curfew for those under the age of 18
For: Mayor Bill Knight,
at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins,
at-large Councilman Danny Thompson,
District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny,
District 4 Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw
and District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade
Against: Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Vaughan,
District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small
and District 2 Councilman Jim Kee
Motion to approve ordinance amendment
to prohibit loitering within 50 feet of an establishment that serves alcohol:
For: Knight, Vaughan, Perkins, Thompson, Kee, Matheny, Rakestraw and Wade
Against: Bellamy-Small"
Jordan Green
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