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Morning, gang.
Last week Mayor Nancy Vaughan gave her final State of the City address. Vaughan is proud of the progress of which she’s been a part during her tenure, and the strides the city has made in the last year. But, as reporter Sayaka Matsuoka reports, at least one prominent critic feels the city is ignoring some of its failings.
Vaughan’s exit from council after 12 years as the city’s most visible leader is just one way the city council is set to change in the next year. Last week, Richard Beard joined what promises to be a crowded race for one of the city’s three at-large seats. Beard is best known as a developer, real estate consultant, and president and CEO of the Greensboro Sports Foundation. This will be his first run for public office and we caught up with him to talk about it.
Let’s get into it.
— Joe Killian
Greensboro Leaders Tout Successes, Get Criticism for State of the City
Images of city monuments and iconography flashed across the screen last week as Mayor Nancy Vaughan took the stage at Piedmont Hall:
The Windsor Chavis Nocho Community Complex.
The city’s new hockey team, the Gargoyles.
Pickleball courts.
Top Golf.
The Tanger Center.
During the hourlong presentation Vaughan and other city leaders, including members of city council and City Manager Trey Davis, spoke about the year’s theme: the pathway to progress.
“As the mayor of this great city, I am proud to say we are realizing the mission for the city of Greensboro,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan highlighted many economic wins—a contract with semiconductor business IQE, a $305 million investment that should create more than 100 new jobs; Syngenta’s $140 million lab and office expansion as part of its 70-acre campus.
But not all those who watched the presentation agreed with the shiny outlook on the city.
Read the full story here.
— Sayaka Matsuoka
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Cone Health CEO Steps Down
Dr. Mary Jo Cagle, who saw the system through the pandemic and the recent Risant Health acquisition, is stepping down in May.
Read the full story here.
– Joe Killian
Read this newsletter online or contact The Thread team with tips and feedback at greensboro@theassemblync.com.
Richard Beard Enters the Political Arena
Last week a prominent name entered what promises to be a crowded race for one of three at-large seats on the Greensboro City Council.
Richard Beard has been heavily involved in the life and politics of the city for decades. He’s been a developer, real estate consultant, former Senior Project Manager for economic development with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, and President and CEO of the Greensboro Sports Foundation.
But with big changes coming to the city council this year, Beard told The Thread he knew it was time to make his first run for office.
“Five seats possibly coming open on the council at the same time—I don’t think that’s happened in my lifetime, and I’m 63,” Beard said. “We have an opportunity to kind of refocus our city council and have some new blood in there and have some new opportunities. Because I just see so much potential for Greensboro, and we need to take the next step to reach our potential in a lot of areas.”
Every city wants to be a great place to live, work, and play, Beard said.
“Greensboro has certainly been on a trajectory and in the positive direction with all these jobs coming in,” Beard said. “We’re in a much better place than we were 10 or 15 years ago on the job front. So the living and playing part, I think we need to begin concentrating on those.”
Making progress on affordable housing should be a top priority, Beard said, as should tackling repairs and deferred maintenance on many of the city’s parks and recreation facilities.
“Those are really assets that we haven’t kept up, haven’t taken care of,” Beard said.
The city has unused bond money that was approved nearly a decade ago, Beard said. The longer it takes to use it, he said, the more inflation of rising costs chip away at its real-world value.
City Council elections are technically non-partisan, but politics and political ideology often play into what the council pursues and how it does so. Beard is registered as unaffiliated but has voted almost exclusively in Republican primaries. The exception was in 2020 when he chose the Democratic primary. He says he became unaffiliated because he was frustrated with partisan politics.
“I’ve had people who have asked me to run for office on a state level and I just don’t think you can get as much done there, because of the politics,” Beard said. “I don’t think that politics should really be a part of government at the local level, and the local government means the most to daily life. Local government touches you every day—more than national politics, more than state politics.”
Though filing doesn’t officially begin until this summer, Beard said he’s expecting the at-large field to be crowded with as many as 15 or 20 competitors. Hugh Holston, an at-large council member, is running for re-election. But with Marikay Abuzuaiter expected to run for mayor and the death of Yvonne Johnson, Holston could be the only incumbent in the at-large race. The top three vote-getters will take the available seats.
“I truly believe that if you look at my history and you look at my qualifications, there’s no one who will be as qualified as me,” Beard said. “I’m confident of that.”
— Joe Killian
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Around the Region
Former GPD Officer Sentenced: Former Greensboro Police Officer Joshua Oliver was sentenced to over 90 years last week. He was convicted on four counts of statutory sex offense and four counts of indecent liberties with a minor and sentenced to 16-24 years consecutively for each count. Oliver’s wife was also found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of delinquency of a minor. WFMY has the story.
SBI Investigating N.C. A&T’s Police Department: The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations of mishandling or misappropriation of state property by the N.C. A&T University Police Department. The News & Record has the story.
Louis DeJoy Resigns as Postmaster General: Greensboro’s own Louis DeJoy resigned from his position as Postmaster General Tuesday after a five-year term defined by challenges like the pandemic and controversies like his dramatic restructuring of the service. Time magazine has the story.
Around the State
The Politics of Defining DEI
Republican Labor Commissioner Luke Farley eliminated a DEI metric in employee evaluations to gauge whether […]
Griffin Takes His Case to His Court of Appeals Colleagues
The Republican state Supreme Court candidate floated familiar arguments to his colleagues.
Run, Roy, Run?
Democrats are putting pressure on former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to run for senate.
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