The Thread: Shots Fired in District 4 City Council Race

🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. Shots Fired in District 4 City Council Race
2. The Agenda

Shots Fired in District 4 City Council Race—Before Filing Has Started

Filing won’t officially open for Greensboro City Council seats for another month, but one race is already getting contentious.

In District 4, where candidates Nicky Smith and Adam Marshall have already announced, dueling campaign e-mails reveal growing tensions in the last two weeks.

In Greensboro, council elections are technically non-partisan—candidates don’t run under political affiliations and traditionally play them down.

“There’s no Republican or Democratic way to fill a pothole,” is a favorite saying of Robbie Perkins, the former mayor running to return to that position again this year. Avoiding partisanship is traditionally a strong move for Republicans like Perkins when running in a Democratic majority city like Greensboro.

In a May 23 e-mail to his mailing campaign mailing list, Smith, a Republican, went the other way.

“The liberal establishment is already mobilizing to keep their grip on Greensboro City Council – and they’re targeting our District 4 race,” Smith wrote.

The e-mail went on to criticize Marshall, a Democrat, for his ties to current District 4 Council Member Nancy Hoffmann and former Congresswoman Kathy Manning. Smith included pictures of Marshall with both women, who Smith wrote were “quietly working behind the scenes to elect another career politician who will rubber-stamp their failed agenda.”

“This race will determine whether Greensboro continues down the path of liberal governance or gets the conservative, business-minded leadership it desperately needs,” Smith wrote.

“They’re counting on conservatives to sit this ‘non-partisan’ election out,” Smith wrote in a postscript. “Don’t let them win by default. Your $20 donation today sends a message that we’re fighting back.”

On May 28, Marshall fired back with his own e-mail, titled “Setting the Record Straight.”

“First, for seventeen years I have been a successful attorney with a statewide practice,” Marshall wrote. “This has provided me with plenty of real-world experience. Recently I was given the NC Lawyers Weekly ‘Leader in Law Award’ in recognition of important contributions made to the practice of law in the state and to the local community generally.”

“Second, I am a political newcomer making my first run for Greensboro City Council,” he wrote. “That said, one of the ways I have found to be involved in a meaningful way has been service on various city boards and commissions – as a volunteer. In the process I have learned what it will take to be an effective city council member. I am proud of my volunteer (advisory, unpaid) service. Volunteers are the lifeblood of what makes Greensboro great.”

In interviews this week, both candidates said the e-mails were necessary.

“I think when he had a fund-raiser with Kathy Manning, who I like and who is a neighbor of mine, that made his campaign partisan,” Smith said. “That says you’re aligned with the Democratic establishment and you’re going to continue their failed policies.”

Tying him to Manning and Hoffmann seemed a strange political move on Smith’s part, Marshall said. Manning was a popular member of Congress who served until Republicans redrew her district, giving it a more conservative lean. Hoffman is so popular she’s never lost a race in District 4.

“I’m not sure that helps him the way he seems to think it does,” Marshall said.

Nevertheless, he said, he felt compelled to correct Smith’s mischaracterization of him as a “career politician.”

“I’m proud of having served on boards and commissions as a volunteer in Greensboro,” Marshall said. “I don’t think experience is a bad thing.”
“What I was trying to say is I’m a true political outsider, not someone who has been involved in all of that,” Smith said. “I think that’s what people want right now. They want change.”

— Joe Killian

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.

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The Agenda

Local government touches our lives every day and there’s no better way to stay in touch with it than attending a local meeting. This week, tune in to meetings held by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, Greensboro and High Point city councils, and Greensboro’s Redevelopment Commission.

City of Greensboro

City Council meeting
5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3 @ Melvin Municipal Office, 300 W. Washington St. in the Katie Dorsett Council Chambers. Watch online here.

City leaders will vote on a grand total of 26 items, including:

Selling the property that previously housed the Bellemeade Street Parking Deck—currently being torn down due to structural issues—to Carroll Co. for $1.85 million. The company will create a new surface parking lot on the property and operate it for at least five years. Within five years of the closing date, the company “commits to provide a conceptual Redevelopment Plan for the Deck Property showing private capital investment in excess of $50,000,000.”
Approving a grant project budget ordinance for a grant of $4.7 million awarded to the city by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will go toward addressing lead-based paint and other home health hazards over the next 48 months in an estimated 149 housing units occupied by low-income households. Those with children under six will be prioritized.
Authorizing a $2.2 million contract with Ross Innovative Employment Solutions Corp. to provide workforce development services for adults, dislocated workers, and youth in the NCWorks Career Centers.

Tuesday’s agenda includes three public hearings—one regarding the city’s proposed 2025-26 budget and two to remove multiple properties owned by Eric Robert and Sidney Gray from the Business Improvement District. This meeting will also include a public comment period where speakers are invited to address the council for three minutes. Sign up to speak here.

City Council work session
2 p.m. on Thursday, June 5 @ Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St. in the plaza level conference room

This agenda has not been posted yet.

Redevelopment Commission meeting
Online at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4

The commission will discuss 1524 Randolph Avenue and receive a staff report.

Interested in attending and/or participating? Email Kelly Larkins by 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 3, for the meeting link.

Guilford County

Board of Commissioners
5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5 @ the Old County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. on the second floor. Watch online here.

The county is hosting a public hearing for County Manager Michael Halford’s recommended annual budget, where residents will be able to make comments on the county’s proposed spending for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Their agenda includes:

A $204,689 software contract renewal
Adopting an emergency operations plan
Approving installment financing to replace fleet vehicles

City of High Point

City Council meeting
City leaders will meet twice on Monday, once at 4 p.m. for a special meeting and again at 5:30 p.m. for their regular bimonthly meeting @ 211 S. Hamilton St. Watch meetings online here.

These agendas have not been posted yet.

Community Development Committee meeting
4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3 @ 211 S. Hamilton St.

This agenda has not been posted yet.

Prosperity, Livability, and Safety Committee meeting
9 a.m. on Thursday, June 5 @ 211 S. Hamilton St.

This agenda has not been posted yet.

Links to local board meetings and agendas:

Guilford County – Board of Commissioners

Guilford County – School Board

Greensboro – City Council

Greensboro – City Calendar

High Point – City Council