🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. Tammi Thurm is Eager for a Third Term on Greensboro’s City Council
2. Letter to the Editor
3. The Agenda
4. What We’re Reading

‘I Know My District’

Incumbent District 5 Representative Tammi Thurm is running for her third term on the Greensboro City Council. First elected in 2017, Thurm is running in the aftermath of another Trump presidency, something that spurred her to action eight years ago.

While the Greensboro City Council is nonpartisan, Thurm is a registered Democrat.

In the lead up to Election Day, Thurm talked to The Assembly about her tenure on council, her proudest moments, and what else she hopes to work on if re-elected.

-Sayaka Matsuoka

Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

Editor’s note: This is a letter to the editor submitted by Mayor Nancy Vaughan and City Manager Trey Davis in response to sponsored content published in The Assembly and The Thread earlier this month. This piece was not edited or commissioned by The Assembly. 

After reading the recent sponsored content from “North Carolina Taxpayers for Jobs” published by The Assembly, we felt it was important to address the numerous inaccuracies and omissions that present a distorted picture of Greensboro’s progress.

We fully understand the purpose of sponsored content and the revenue model it supports. However, when a paid advertisement crosses the line into politically motivated messaging, presented under the banner of journalism, it becomes misleading to readers and undermines the credibility that The Assembly has earned through thoughtful, balanced reporting.

This sponsored content read more like a news story than a commentary. In reality, it was an advertisement masquerading as journalism. What was missing was balance. The statistics were misleading, the framing was selective, and the “reporter” effectively hid behind a political action committee to advance a one-sided narrative rather than inform readers with facts.

Read the full letter here.

Good morning! As All Hallows’ Eve draws near, city government meetings for the week are just heating up with a spooky-ish agenda—multiple zoning cases for the city of Greensboro and a finance meeting for the city of High Point. Read on if your curiosity is piqued!

City of Greensboro

Board of Adjustment meeting

Monday, Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m. @ Melvin Municipal Office Building in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber, 300 W. Washington St.

Tonight’s meeting will focus on discussion about three zoning requests for variances—which would allow for exceptions to deviate from the area’s zoning rules for that property.

On the agenda:

  • A variance request for 106 Millikin St., which will be addressed as 106-A Millikin St. upon final subdivision approval. Ramon Vasquez requests a variance to allow the lot width of a proposed lot to be 47.4 feet when at least 50 feet is required. This property is zoned as R-5 (Residential Single-Family).
  • Laura Upstill is requesting two variances for 1102 Parish St. that would allow the lot’s accessory structure building coverage to be 614 square feet when no more than 600 square feet is allowed, and to permit an existing house to encroach 2.4 feet into a required 5-foot side setback. The house is 2.6 feet from the side property line. This property is zoned as R-5 (Residential Single-Family).
  • A variance request by Thomas and Kimberly Berry for 4323 Four Farms Road that would allow the lot’s accessory structure building coverage to be 3,198 square feet when no more than 2,416 square feet is allowed. This property is zoned as R-3 (Residential Single-Family).

Historic Preservation Commission meeting

Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. @ Melvin Municipal Office Building in the plaza level conference room, 300 W. Washington St.

The commission’s meeting has a full agenda, complete with opportunities for public comment as well as a public hearing: 

  • Applications for certificates of appropriateness: After-the-fact removal of a pecan tree at 704 Magnolia St., installation of hardscape features and tree removal at 700 N. Elm St., and construction of a two-story outbuilding and driveway at 321 E. Hendrix St. All of these homes are located in the Fisher Park neighborhood.
  • A public hearing for a contract with ASJ Wilson for streetscape improvements in the College Hill Municipal Service District.
  • Other items include an update on a civil rights grant and learning about a proposed local historic marker program. 

City of High Point

City Council Finance Committee meeting

Thursday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. @ 211 S. Hamilton St. Watch the meeting live on the city’s YouTube channel. 

This meeting’s agenda hasn’t been posted yet. Check here this week.

Links to local board meetings and agendas:

Guilford County – Board of Commissioners

Guilford County – Board of Education

Greensboro – City Council

Greensboro – City Calendar

High Point – City Council

— Gale Melcher

What We’re Reading

Looking For Answers: The family of 22-year-old Mircedezes Edwards is left with questions after she was killed with what they said was an AR-15 rifle Oct. 17. The shooting at the Brassfield Park Apartments at 1921 New Garden Road is under investigation as the city’s 29th homicide this year. The News & Record has more.

The Match for Mayor: Greensboro Mayoral candidates Robbie Perkins and Mayor Pro Tem Marikay Abuzuaiter met last week at a forum held by the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad, WFDD reports. 

(Fire)man’s Best Friend: The Greensboro Fire Department has its first-ever therapy dog, an 8-week-old golden retriever. The department is looking for help naming her. Fox8 has the story.

Gale is a Report for America corps member and Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She previously covered local government and community issues for Triad City Beat. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from N.C. State University.

Sayaka Matsuoka is a Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She was formerly the managing editor for Triad City Beat, an alt-weekly based in Greensboro. She has reported for INDY Week, The Bitter Southerner, and Nerdist, and is the editorial/diversity chair for AAN Publishers.