beauty madam mary you're muted darn it okay from the top um good evening and welcome to the october 5th meeting of the greensboro city council i would like it to take a roll call vote to confirm attendance this is high tower uh president dr wells president mr outling president mrs hoffman president mrs thurm president mrs abuzawader president and mr halston president um i am here mrs johnson is not with us tonight so we do have eight in attendance the council will be returning to chamber with a hybrid format at the november 1st 2021 meeting this will be a partial opening of the council chambers residents will be welcomed inside the chamber for specific items of interest attendees will be required to wear masks to remain in compliance with the guilford county order voting will be conducted this evening by a roll call vote and by use of the electronic voting system platform via escribe as council considers ceremonial and consent items each member of council must vote unless there is a direct conflict all council members should remain muted to minimize distracting background noises councils should request to speak by physically raising their hand to prevent multiple people speaking at one time council will verbally make a motion in a second we do allow and welcome speakers to address counsel at the public forum meeting council respects the right for the public to speak about matters of concern that can be addressed by council each speaker will be allotted three minutes zoom participants are requested to mute their microphones until they are called upon to speak the city of greensboro is committed to promoting an environment that is free of discrimination bias and bullying thus harassment words jokes actions or comments based on an individual's sex sexual orientation race ethnic background age religion physical condition or other legally protected characteristic will not be tolerated in order to be considered written comments must be submitted online through the city's website www.greensborohyphennc.gov we do have a consent agenda which are items e1 through e10 that are a grouping of agenda items that are voted on with one single vote to expedite what are believed to be routine and non-controversial items any council member may withdraw an item from the consent agenda due to a conflict of interest or for the purpose of voting no items removed from the consent agenda for discussion will be placed on the october 19th city council business agenda this meeting does include closed captioning depending on the length of tonight's meeting we will take a short recess around 7 30. this is the time for our ceremonial and presentation items item c1 is a resolution honoring the memory of the late melanie louise hyatt rodenbow miss abuzawader thank you madam mayor resolution honoring the memory of the late melanie louise high at rhodenbo whereas on wednesday june 30th 2021 this community lost one of its outstanding community leaders with the passing of the late melanie louise hyatt rhodenbo at the age of 65. whereas mrs rodenbeau was born on november 30th 1955 in asheville north carolina whereas after the passing of her mother in 1964 mrs rodenbow at the young age of eight went to live at the presbyterian home for children the children's home in black mountain north carolina whereas mrs rodenbow was the first female from children's home to attend college she went to keene college now king university in bristol tennessee where she toured with the school chorus and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and history whereas mrs rodenboe secured funding from the children's home and a work-study grant from the university of north carolina at chapel hill to attend law school at unc chapel hill school of law she earned a juris doctor degree whereas mrs rodenboe served as a public defender in guilford county north carolina whereas mrs rodenbeau continued to serve the public in greensboro north carolina as president of the parent teachers association of wiley elementary school peeler elementary school and a now swan middle school and as president of the parent-teacher student association of grimsley high school supported the grimsley high school orchestra program the greensboro youth chorus and provided leadership to boy scouts and girl scouts of america troops whereas mrs rodenbow led the greensboro islamic community outreach efforts organized letters of support into multiple anti-muslim times and hosted a traditional covered dish meal with members of the islamic center to break the ramadan fast whereas mrs rodenboe supported numerous food drives for reading connections for the second harvest food drive a simple gesture the islamic center pantry and bread for the world whereas she visited undocumented immigrant detainees at the stewart detention center in lumpkin georgia provided health legal and educational resources to newcomers at as well as chaired the board of faith action international house the greensboro organization established to serve and advocate for newcomers turning strangers into neighbors and she advocated for many other worthwhile causes whereas mrs rodenberg joined her husband in establishing the rhodenbo family scholarship fund for underrepresented minorities at the unc school of law whereas mrs rodenbow was for 40 years a faithful member of guilford park presbyterian church in greensboro where she served as a youth group leader an elder a long time member of the choir a mentor to young mothers a co-founder of the preschool a frequent book study and discussion group leader and most recently as the founding chair of the church's justice and peacemaking committee whereas mrs rodenbo loves singing hymns cooking towers of pancakes ice cream at yum yum's better ice cream and hot dogs bird watching cherished rhododendron blooms on road mountain tennessee and sunrises at holden beach north carolina so there now for be it resolved by the city council of the city of greensboro that the city council wishes to express its condolences and offer its sincere appreciation and gratitude for the many years of dedicated service rendered by melanie louise hyatt roddenberg her legacy will be remembered by the outstanding contributions she made to the community that a copy of this resolution shall be delivered to the family of the late melanie louise hi rodenbow as a symbol of the gratitude of the people of greensboro i would like to move this resolution and mention that i worked with um melanie on the faith action board and i just tell you she was an amazing amazing dedicated lady so um i'd like to make that motion madame and i will second that and we do have does everybody have the electronic voting system up no yes all right then we will take a roll call vote um mrs hightower uh yes dr wells yes mr outling yes mrs hoffman yes thurm yes mr boosa waiter yes mr halston yes and i am a yes that passes eight to zero and madame there may be someone from the family who might want to say a few words i know several are on the call i'm not sure if they wanted to um and say something and mayor i'm uh beau rhodenbo you know melanie's husband of uh 40 years and i just want to thank the council on behalf of my son andy and my daughters anna louie anna libby and mary kate for this uh this honor that you've bestowed on our our wife and mother melanie never did anything for the recognition or the honor of it but she was a tireless advocate for all of us and i think that she still watches down from heaven over all of us and guides our actions to seek justice and act with mercy and uh i appreciate them and thank the council on on behalf of my family for this hour well i will miss her columns on sunday she always had insightful comments and good words of thought and i enjoyed standing with her at faith action i know that she was a woman of very deep convictions and this community will sorely miss her thank you for sharing her with us thank you and we will make sure that you get the hard copy of that resolution moving on to item c2 is a resolution to support resettlement of afghan refugees miss abusa waiter thank you madam mayor whereas after the collapse of the afghanistan government and the taliban takeover kabul afghanistan's capital city many afghan citizens are leaving the country and seeking asylum whereas thousands of afghan citizens supported american and allied forces standing side by side with our service members diplomats and aid workers serving as interpreters engineers logistical service providers and more whereas thousands of afghan refugees who need to be evacuated and resettled include women and girls journalists civil society leaders lgbtqia individuals targeted ethnic and religious minority groups former government employees and others all of whom are at risk whereas the united states has a historic bipartisan tradition of welcoming refugees in keeping with our national values and respect for human rights whereas the city of greensboro north carolina has historically welcomed refugees escaping war and political violence whereas church world service and north carolina african services coalition the organizations responsible for resettling refugees in this community as well as numerous other community organizations and religious institutions have declared their support for resettling refugees in the city of greensboro and surrounding areas whereas afghan refugees are currently arriving in north carolina including at least 250 in the city of greensboro for resettlement and now therefore be it resolved that the city of greensboro city council declares its support for the resettlement of afghan refugees and hereby notifies the united states federal government that the city of greensboro of north carolina stands ready to welcome afghan refugees mary katie you want to make that motion i will make that motion thank you madam mayor thank you and that is seconded by ms thurm i do want to say i believe that is up to 250 refugees and that is based on our current capacity and when they are deploying the refugees they are taking things into consideration like housing and we all know that housing is a challenge but that will be part of the equation on how many refugees we can um we can accept so i'm sorry also yes they will be placed throughout guilford county it's uh that the resettlement agencies are here in greensboro and uh you know as we've seen in the news lately a lot of organizations have come forth to assist yes um so uh let's see mrs hightower your vote thank you madam mayor for uh answering my concern around the housing piece of it um because i don't want to see what happened before happen again and i hope they'll be closely monitored and protected and with that being said i'm a yes thank you dr wells yes i voted electronically yes thank you mr outling yes um mrs hoffman yes mrs thurm yes mrs abusa waiter yes mr halston yes and i am yes that passes eight to zero um and we are going to try to convene some of the service providers and other institutions who are interested in the afghan refugees we know that there are a lot of people doing a lot of good work right now and they're um you know doing it in their own silos we i think the city are going to try to pull everybody together to see where there are the overlaps and the gaps in services and how we can help facilitate that item number c3 is a resolution declaring the month of october 2021 as domestic violence awareness month mrs abuzawader thank you madam mayor whereas during national domestic violence awareness month we reaffirm our dedication to creating a culture of safety and hope in our community where no one suffers the hurt and hardship caused by domestic violence we recommit to doing everything in our power to uphold the basic human right to live free from violence and abuse and recognize our shared responsibility in ending this pervasive problem whereas domestic violence impacts women men and children of every age background and belief and is rooted in a pattern of power and control whereas physical marks and scars are often the most obvious sign of harm however the extent of the pain goes much deeper and can impact one's mental physical emotional and financial health whereas the coven 19 pandemic has intensified the pressures that couples and families experience the need for full community engagement to support those are who are hurting and being hurt is paramount as the incidents of violence and abuse and domestic violence related homicides are on the rise whereas the guilford county family justice center has been a beacon of light during the pandemic remaining open and assisting over 15 000 individuals in person through coordination and also essential services including advocacy law enforcement and civil legal services whereas children and older adults impacted by domestic violence are even more isolated because of the pandemic creating an even greater need for innovative collaborations like the fjc's pathways and camp hope program for children and the fjc's elder justice committee coordinated community response whereas in a community partnership the fjc has successfully brought together 17 agencies in one place to provide victims with easier access to comprehensive resources this diverse and unique partnership provides hope and healing to victims of abuse and works diligently to hold offenders accountable whereas since the opening of the family justice center in mid-june of 2015 over 50 000 residents have been served and on average an individual will work with five different organizations when visiting the fjc for the first time whereas by working together getting involved and through promoting awareness we can restore hope stop the violence and make our community safer for everyone and now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of greensboro that it does hereby declare the month of october 2021 as domestic violence awareness month and urges residents to increase their awareness and education of this destructive force which deeply affects many families in our state and local community each year and it become part of the efforts to stop violence in families i'd like to move that resolution madam mayor moved by miss abuse waiter second and seconded by dr wells um uh mrs hightower yes dr wells yes mr outling yes mrs hoffman yes mrs therm yes mrs abuzawader yes mr halston yes and i am a yes that passes eight to zero thank you madame era believe uh catherine johnson is here or john or someone catherine sonja i believe her yes sonia okay good evening um thank you madam mayor and council member abuza waiter and all of council for welcoming us back again i'm in the room safely with just a few people sonya desai who is the supervisor over the family justice center in greensboro sergeant dale nix who oversees the greensboro police department's family victims unit that is housed at the family justice center and then one of the fjc navigators gabby marcoshia who is here and then we have multiple partners who are tuning in from home once upon a time we would have bought a big group together we don't do that these days for lots of reasons but i just wanted to take a moment to just share a few thoughts and i know this is an annual opportunity to recognize domestic violence awareness month and also for me to share just a little bit about um our work and what's currently going on is that okay madam mayor yes okay thank you um so we you know have been on this incredible journey here in guilford county and in greensboro creating a multi-directional place of resource and hope and we are working hard to meet the needs of children of abuse and domestic violence sexual violence talking and elder abuse and at the family justice center we really see ourselves as being a homicide prevention initiative that provides resources and works to hold offenders of these crimes accountable and as council member abuser waiter read we've helped over 50 000 individuals since the center open and that number is tremendous but we also know that that number represents 50 000 stories and if we are to think about the people that live in homes with those survivors and how huge that impact here is right here in greensboro and we know that the only way we can address complex challenges is through partnership and complex solutions and are proud of the work that we're doing together with the city of greensboro and lots of partners throughout guilford county to work together last night i spoke at the purple tree lighting which is this year was the seventh annual event that the commission was status of women put together and it's always a wonderful event and i talked about four kind of things that we're dealing with and i know i spoke with council in june as well um the first challenge that i see in this next year of thinking about domestic violence awareness month is the first being the lack of long-term solutions for survivors where are they getting hope and healing beyond the crisis we know emergency response is not enough and so how do we challenge ourselves as systems and i mean big systems not just the systems of crisis response to think about what full and ongoing care looks like to families experiencing violence and abuse the second is is that we continue to see major gaps in the criminal justice system which allows offenders to get away with crimes the lack of accountability is breeding future violence and fueling offenders thought that they are in control the third is that the burnout rate amongst those on the front line and i think this has been even more exacerbated since i talked with you all and june is just astronomical people on the front lines are worn out and this is during a time when the demand for services is on a rapid incline the intensity of what's happening to members of our community is really really bad and those services and resources aren't increasing as a matter of fact due to high turnover and lots of vacancies and services like law enforcement legal services advocacy partners are being forced to do much more with a lot less and that's a real concern when you see folks leaving their careers to go and do something totally different when we lose someone of 10 years of experience and start with someone with one month that's a big impact to the safety of our community and so i'm appreciative by the partners in this room and the partners that come to work every day because i know what they're dealing with caseloads are busting and i know that's happening across all disciplines but the safety and health of our community is really important and then the final thing i shared last night is just the general low level of understanding of how deep and wide the problem is far too often we classify domestic violence as an issue of private violence when we know this is a public health and safety issue and covet again has just blown that even bigger so as i think about that and that's just in closing i know that we continue to navigate hard things which we are having we're in hard times through partnership through awareness through accountability and through full community engagement so it's on all of us because it impacts all of us so i want to thank you for this recognition i want to thank the helpers i want to thank the leaders i want to thank the doers because we need more people doing and just appreciate the opportunity to be in partnership with the city of greensboro in this capacity thank you so much thank you catherine we appreciate the good work that you and all your colleagues do every single day um we will now move on to item number c4 which is a resolution recognizing the achievements of north carolina agriculture and technical state university track and field team members in the summer olympics held in 2021 in tokyo japan mrs hightower thank you madam mayor and certainly this resolution was uh is presented by myself and mayor pro tim johnson even though she's not able to be with us tonight but she is in 100 support whereas the worldwide pandemic canceled many outdoor seasonal competitions and postponed the 2020 summer olympics in 2021 to 2021 whereas four track athletes from the north carolina agricultural and technical ncant state university qualified to try out for the united states of america usa olympic trials and two members qualified to represent the usa in the 2021 summer olympic games whereas track and field teammates trevor stewart and randolph ross jr became north carolina aunties first i repeat first olympic gold medalist in the men's 4 by 400 meter relay in tokyo japan whereas the men's team posted the fastest time in both preliminary heats with a time of two minutes and 57 seconds recorded as the fastest preliminary heat in olympic history whereas this event marked the first time again the first time two north carolina and t athletes competed on the same thing for a single olympic event whereas stuart and ross are the first olympians from north carolina a t since troy douglas and ruth morris competed in the 1992 barcelonia games whereas trevor stewart was also the first aggie to earn an olympic medal for the united states securing bronze in the inaugural four by 400 meter relay and became the first athlete from a historically black college or university hbcu to to meddle in the 2021 summer olympic games whereas the city council wishes to extend their congratulations to trevor stewart and randolph ross jr of the north carolina a t men track and field team for their notable achievements in the 2021 summer olympic games in tokyo japan and now therefore being resolved by the city council the city of greensboro that it hereby recognizes trevor stewart and randolph ross jr of the north carolina agricultural and technical state university track and field men's team for their successes in the 2021 tokyo olympics and for representing north carolina a t state university the city of greensboro the state of north carolina and the united states of america with their historic accomplishments congratulations and i move the item thank you mrs hightower do we have a second seconded by dr wells um let's see mrs hightower yes dr wells yes mr outley yes um mrs hoffman yes mrs thurm yes mrs abusa waiter yes mr holston yes and i am a yes that passes eight to zero we do have speakers okay we do um if they would like to um unmute their microphones and put on their videos we would i believe we have um one minute mr hilton thank you madam mayor we are joined by head coach mendarf ross who will speak for the team but on behalf of the department of athletics we are so grateful for this generous recognition and so excited for the success of our young men in our track program and how they represented us in the united states in this year's summer olympics coach ross are you available yes i am thank you so much for that uh and madam mayor thank you as well miss hightower and the other council members uh we are very uh very proud of these young men they work hard uh they are also honor students in the classroom uh so they're doing their part on the track and in the classroom so thank you so much for this honor i'll make sure i pass it along to a mr stewart who wasn't able to join us this afternoon but my son is on randolph ross if he wants to thank you personally he is welcome to do so hi hello welcome i'm just getting back from practice so i'm sorry but i do want to thank um everybody in the greensboro area and on the meeting as well for all the support and we will continue to do our best in representing the country and north carolina ant as well as the state of greensboro we'll see you in greensboro thank you we just want to congratulate you um for for your great run no pun intended um and welcome back we'll be happy to see you in the city and i'll just say aggies do so congratulations to trevor and randolph um first for your accomplishments uh on and off the field um aggies do and aggies have done well all across this country um and so thankful that you have joined um your fellow aggies in the past for outstanding accomplishments and this is historic so i'm very proud to be living in this city with the number one hbcu who's got two number one olympians as well as many other um sports uh participants and i just want to say it's a great recognition my honor to recognize you all for the great work you do and the way you represent our community we are so proud of you and so thank you for being here with us today and i'll make sure you get these uh resolutions for both of you but coach i would like to see you put it on the wall there in the hall of fame uh down the hall so we can see so everybody can come and see it yes ma'am i'll make sure we do that all right perfect thank you so much and i did get it i attended the reception for the um honoring those students for their accomplishments and we just have our hats off to the coach and and to that team over there at a t you made us really really proud congratulations thank you item item c5 is a resolution of the greensboro city council proclaiming the week of october 10th through october 16 2021 as neighborhood development code enforcement officers appreciation week in greensboro mrs thurm whereas code enforcement officers prepared for the safety health and welfare of the citizens in this community through the enforcement of building codes and regulations zoning rules building code violations moving inspection reports abatement orders construction permits occupancy permits animal control fire safety environmental and other codes and ordinances whereas code enforcement officers are often not credited for the jobs that they do in saving lives and improving neighborhoods whereas every day assisted by support and program staff they attempt to provide quality customer service to the public for the betterment of the community whereas too many times their efforts go unnoticed even after code compliance has been accomplished due to their efforts and expertise whereas code enforcement officers are dedicated and well-trained and highly responsible individuals who take their jobs seriously and are proud of their department and the local government with in which they serve whereas the city of count the city of greensboro's code enforcement officers are dedicated professionals who serve with pride and integrity and work tirelessly to help residents obtain compliance whereas the greensboro city council appreciates their hard work and recognizes the valuable valuable service they provide to the community and now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of greensboro that it does hereby declare the week of october 10th through october 16 2021 as code enforcement officers appreciation week in the city of greensboro north carolina the greensboro city council recognizes the efforts of the greensboro neighborhood development code enforcement officers for their positive impact they have on our community and city council encourages residents to thank a code enforcement officer for all they do to keep our city clean and safe move the item second and seconded by mr holston mrs hightower yes dr wells yes mr outling yes mrs hoffman yes mrs thurm is abusive waiter yes mr holston yes and i am a yes that passes eight to zero madam mary believes that there are um members that would like to speak we do i think we see the head of neighborhood development michelle kennedy who is no stranger to this format and we see troy and his great um team with him as well so all yours so i just on behalf of uh the neighborhood development department i want to say it's nice to be at a council meeting from this side of the diocese and uh i'm going to hand it over to troy and i think brian sims is going to accept on behalf of our inspections thank you madam mayor council person thurman and city council members for recognizing our role in the community and allowing us to inspire change and positive impact lies in his great city of greensboro thank you i i know that we all appreciate how much work code enforcement does it's always under very difficult circumstances but it's you know you're you help people get in a more stable position i know that it's been very difficult this year with provide and being able to carry out the inspections and also the meetings that are so important so we just want to say we thank you very much for all of your efforts thank you thank you so now um we move on to the public comment um portion of our meeting the first speaker is um ethan mcgelde or mcelveen madam clerk did he sign on yes ma'am um it appears that he has left the meeting though thank you um we have russell rierton and leticia latarcher miller your microphone is off oh i apologize for that thank you all for having us madame mayor the rest of the council meeting my name is russell reverton i'm the founder of a non-profit organization for we got you um within two months we created um the beautiful organization within that two months we had two fundraisers a 303 basketball tournament and north shore community outreach coming up to the coming up to these events um we realized that these kids just don't trust us and we believe that is due to lack of resources which is creating the inconsistency so you already had organizations from winston-salem reach out to us to join 18 18 programs um we also um we also we we also um excuse me i got caught up for a second we are willing we are willing to do the work we just need the resources i had two friends that got killed in gun violence one is still in the wheelchair you know so we are really here to do the work we just need the resources so i just ask please help us help you so we can help them and also we did come to the city council a few months ago before we started the event i don't know if some of you remember us i'm russell's sister latasha and we came in we did get nc works came out to the event they had a truck there fox 8 news was there also as well we did reach out to our police department asking for some type of police presence there just to keep the peace we never got a phone call we went up to our local presents we never got um any feedback back and we just look at it as our children need help when we spoke to some of those children out there at the tournament they were letting us know that people always say they're going to come and help they don't come back they don't show up that is why they don't trust people trying to help them but these children need help those at-risk youth 12 to 18 i did a lot of research i researched i have sat in our juvenile court over at guilford county we are in trouble those kids need an outlet and they need some help we are doing everything we can but we can't do it alone those people invited us to winston-salem after they seen our two broadcasts on the news after the mount tabor shooting they want us to come down and help with their teams well we we don't mind doing that but we want to help our city the city we live in and we like to have some of those same resources too so if anyone has any information or anything you can do to help us help these children please let us know that park we were at those kids are out there every weekend we would love to help them out at windsor rec center those basketball courts are so old the gates are rusted it's got to be something we can do to help those teens even if it's not just basketball softball there were girls who showed up out there that wanted to play basketball and softball and baseball they don't have the resources others do and i think we can help we just need a little resources from our city to make that happen thank you for your time thank you and we appreciate your hard work and uh the noble cause that you have um mr bill marshburn madam mayor um one thing for them again i'm wondering why did you flip your um screen well i don't know how i don't know why it's upside down well sorry about that okay um i was wondering why july august and september um uh city council meeting videos aren't available uh if you could check into that i'd appreciate it they they are available well not on the site or at least they haven't been for well those months i called the um you're all or i called the melvin building and a fellow put me on how to do it but i never was successful and they're still not shown well i have checked today uh where they normally are any event let me just say that the um the link has changed and maybe you're looking in the wrong spot um but if you go to the city's web page and up on the top it says council meetings click on that um and it shows um past council meetings and that's where all the videos are yeah and then i was told to uh go down and click live feed but it never really worked for me so why not just put them back where you normally have them i think that would be a good idea but in any event i won't carry on more about that unless you need to comment more of course go ahead all right may i again now i will in my three minutes speaker from the floor in january and april mayor vaughn said she disagreed with the facts i laid out she found the facts disagreeable to her stance on coded mandates she made no comment on whether the information supplied was factual or not because any cognizant human being would could and should view the indisputable facts now mrs abuser waiter your request for the resolution for re settlement for afghan refugees did you think of a resolution condemning the colossal independence that caused the refugees being here did you think of a resolution for the homeless people who camped at the back wall of the building you were in and months later were removed what about a resolution for the 80 000 illegal migrants pouring across our southern border and with a hundred thousand more on the way financed by whom they were bussed into the border the migration being after the presidential actor invited them in how about a resolution condemning the fall of our ally australia as a democracy condemning the wanton violence of their despised tyrannical regional governments using violent force against disarmed unarmed peaceful people why no sister city we have one in china how about that miss goody two shoes if that is what you were trying to be that is my sentiment to the lot of you on the council the county commissioners voted themselves our health care givers and later the majority voted to kill us off with inoculations they were not misguided by false information they selected false information the world's economy is being destroyed locally here by the threat of arbitrary astronomical fines we are being set against each other faxed and unboxed we are all victims of most grievous transgression the violation 30 seconds for instituting inoculations the commission of council received printed out of thin air blood money from the federal government you know the one that pillaged the south in the war of northern yankee aggression the yankees were a separate group from the northern citizenry be it noted remember the phrase from foreign countries yankee go home it wasn't americans go home to anyone listening everyone is going to get covered we are truly time has expired well i'll finish it off at another time thank you did the mayor get kicked off i don't know no i'm here i said mr chambliss sorry we didn't hear you i didn't hear you i didn't hear you okay i'm sorry uh my name is uh bruce chambers by the way uh good evening to everyone uh madam mayor and all the council members my name is bruce chambliss i reside at 12 wilmington lane greensboro north carolina i've lived here for 21 years and in the 21 years that i've lived here it was a church constructed in the back of my house as you can see the building if you look at the video in the back it was a church constructor there first it was the uh evangel fellowship then it was pastor wilson and nice impact church and somehow this church has opened a business for autistic children and they have uh built a playground in my backyard which is 20 feet from my fence and every day i hear children screaming and yelling and the instructors screaming and yelling with them uh there is no peace in my house also there's a gem gymnasium located directly in the back of my house which is a fabricated building has no sound barrier or anything in it but they have to play loud music based music to play basketball which is also a nuisance to myself my neighbors and i'm speaking on behalf of my neighbors i've written the city i've called code enforcement i've written district council person i have uh called the police but the police said when they get there it's not loud or no sound so there's nothing they can do and i know that it's on the bottom of police response as i used to be a police and so uh it has become an everyday uh nuisance to me and my neighbors i went over and talked to them they had stopped for a while not the children and i i don't know why they would put a playground directly in the back of the community houses when they have all that room on the side and in the front and i had i had experience with autism children in my family and i know they can get rambunctious they can get loud um but when i hear the instructors yelling as well as the children i sit in my son room and i'm constantly uh ran out of there because i can't stand the nose when i'm sleeping upstairs in my bed i hear bass uh this is not doing church hours i understand noah's doing church seconds but this is everyday event and i would just like uh for something to happen or get feedback from someone because i've written all these people and i have not heard anything from thank you and y'all have a blessed day thank you um the next speaker is marcia fouch hi there can you hear me yes okay um just hoping my dog will bear with me here good evening my name is marcia fouch and i reside in greensboro i'm here once again to talk to you about the marcus smith case members of the community have really come to you and asked for you to settle the smith civil lawsuit but there's been no movement other than to spend more than a million dollars of taxpayer money on private lawyers on september 2nd a coalition of groups sent a letter to the department of justice requesting a federal investigation into the patterns and practices of the greensboro police department and the city for inadequate supervision discipline and training i'm pretty much at a loss for words but i feel to be silent would be to be complicit in the cover-up and modern-day lynching of marcus smith there are videos of 50 incidents of maximum restraint commonly called hog time taking in the nine months prior to marcus smith's death which show a pattern in practice of hog time people the reason the city has given for not releasing these tapes is because they include nudity and people having mental health breakdowns among other things in one instance a veteran officer says that every time he uses a rip hobble which is used to hog-tie people he has to get a new one because it's covered in blood this is really worse than i imagined um the longer this case goes on the worse it looks for the city and i'm at a loss to understand how this system works in the favor of the people of greensboro we pay taxes which fund the greensboro police department we elect you to oversee the police department when there's police abuse of power your response is to hire private lawyers to defend the police i'd like to yield the remainder of my time to anyone on the city council who can explain how this system benefits the community okay our next speaker is christine hoffner often i'm sorry it's okay so you can hear me yes i'm christine hoffner i moved to greensboro a few months before the second anniversary of marcus smith's homicide by the greensboro police department i was shocked to hear that homicide and have been shocked again every few months as the city's lawyers bring another outrage against both the smith family and greensboro residents as they enable city council to avoid its responsibilities this summer we learned that city council was unaware of nyon 300 hog times by gpd over four years this is clearly the kind of lack of city oversight the smith family points out is responsible for mr smith's death not only did the council not know gpd was practicing racist brutal hog time they did not know gpd was using the rip hubble device to hogtie contrary to the company's explicit instructions that's some serious indication of the city's inadequate supervision discipline and training the city's the council's failure of oversight is also shown by their insistence on remaining ignorant of the worst instances of the 50 hog times that occurred in just the nine months before mr smith was killed even i know the council could view these incidents individually so to say they can't view 176 hours of video is a real flimsy excuse even if the body camera videos aren't released as the city persist in fighting the case they must know that descriptions of those most brutal hog times are getting out a month ago 20 some local groups sent the descriptions to the department of justice so all those folks here sure know the truth now and now folks in washington do too and action by the federal government gets national attention in some city council's ongoing fight against the smith family costing over one million dollars so far shows how blind they are to gpd's actions if city council knew how brutal and racist gpd's hog tying and overall practices have been they would know how solid the smith's case is the city council's blindness nails its negligence in overseeing gpd keeping in mind elections are coming up i'm looking for city council members to take a stand now to acknowledge and to commit to correct the overall egregious behavior including cover-ups by both gpd and the city council itself this would mean the city will enforce policies that regulate police abuse of power and hold police seconds and substantively settle the smith's family case to show that greensboro can live up to its righteous legacy of civil rights and affirm today that black lives matter thank you um i believe our last speaker is paulette montgomery hi good evening i am paulette montgomery a lifelong resident of greensboro it has now been over three years since marcus smith's life was taken by greensboro police officers over 1 million in taxpayer dollars to defend this case when all evidence shows overwhelming culpability by the greensboro police department i'm here to address some of the reasons for having to request help from the department of justice of the 50 body-worn camera incidents produced in this case 76 of victims were black while the vast majority of the hog tires our gpd were white at 84 percent 48 of the victims were women and the majority were hogtied by male officers or by a majority of white officers let me read a couple of officers comments a veteran officer said that just about every time he's had to use a rip hobble he has to go back and get another one because it's covered in blood okay take a minute to think about that you have someone tied so tightly that they are bleeding enough to soak the rip hobble really so the black woman that was hot tied with her legs at less than 90 degrees from her body on the ground for more than five minutes with her breasts exposed yelling and screaming in pain did they have to turn that rip hobble in too because it was so bloody where has the common decency gone in this city or did the officers enjoy the humiliation they caused our neighbor and community member while her breasts were fully exposed what about the pregnant black female that was hog-tied for more than two minutes while the officer had his knee on her neck just like george floyd this woman is pregnant placed on her stomach with an officer's knee to her neck having air supply cut off to her unborn child while she is being republed what if that was your daughter sister or mother will the child have any issues at birth from this hog time maybe maybe not we'll never know and that's just completely shameful or the elderly woman suffering from dementia that was rip hubble while she repeatedly complained that the officers were hurting her arms she is crying on the ground face down with her dress up throughout the entire rip hollowing once again think about it marvan what if this was your mom or maybe your mom mr watts is this police brutality okay for your family members i'm pretty sure it wouldn't be so why is it okay for the rest of this community greensboro assistant city manager and former gpd commander nathaniel trey davis recently admitted that there was some racial disproportionality as to who was hogtied well former chief scott admitted to supervising 125 to 200 hog time 30 seconds our current chief ron james he was the command super supervisor who over the officer hogtied marcus smith approved the report that exonerated those officers the cover-up is so blatant it's hard to believe council is still towing this line and honestly is this the greensboro you really want appears we have tons of money for business development but not for our actual community members that need housing food and mental health support not sure how either how y'all sleep at night knowing this is how you run your city business services that should be the new slogan of greensboro love to hear what mrs holstein thinks about all of this thank you yeah i just want to say something um it was said earlier that we could have watched the videos when we wanted to in fact we only got the ability to watch the videos um i believe last week some of us have watched some of the videos and i would caution the speakers to um just reiterate things that the plaintiff attorneys have said none of you have seen the videos and all you are doing is reading the plaintiff's words um and that's all i'm going to comment at this point so madam mayor you kind of can um convey some of my concern because and you answer the question because i'm wondering has anybody seen these uh videos outside of we had to go to court to be able to see them and if they have how do they see them yeah i would say if any of the three speakers have seen the videos please feel free to tell us that right i would really like to know because in the videos no one including you guys until last week which is piss-poor no because that is when we have the ability from the judge to watch them and i would say i would caution people who just parrot the words of the plaintiff's attorneys so now we can move on to our consent agenda items e1 through e10 move the consent agenda moved by dr wells seconded by mrs hightower um mrs hightower yes dr wells yes mr outling yes um mrs hoffman yes mrs thurm yes this is abusive waiter yes mr holston yes and i am a yes the consent agenda passes eight to zero um we would now um move on to uh are there any board and commission appointments today mrs therm i have one i would like to appoint byron robinson to the library commission to replace jim bennett who resigned recently okay do we have a second second um and i guess we will say all in favor by affirmation yes okay yes yes it passes any other board appointments all right then quickly if there are council comments um mrs um hightower um no i don't think so well it's been a slow week that's all i say um i guess i am still proud of amt though um for the athletes um representing us bringing back gold medals um i think they were going to show us the gold medals uh hopefully i'll get to go see them personally touch one of them might be the closest i'll ever get to an olympic gold medal doing anything uh sports wise um so i wanted to say that we also attended uh ant who opened up i believe the pavilion uh on the farm uh it is a new building and um i think we attended that a couple weeks ago did we do that did we talk about that one the last time goldie yes we did okay i can't remember if we did i i can't remember all these things are running together um so i would say to everybody please out there if you're not vaccinated please go get vaccinated i am very concerned about the health of my people my black people who are not getting vaccinated and who are making statements that have no scientific proof a lady told me that one vaccine put metals in your body and she actually talked about the vaccine that i took so i said i'm still waiting to attract other metals i haven't done that yet um and so i kind of dispel that uh misnomer if you will but there are things out there being said uh that are very concerning to me and if you aren't you know a chemist and biologist and you know you you don't know the compositions of the drug i would really caution you to be careful on how you spread rumors so but please investigate um someone told me the other day they asked somebody who came to them to the doctor's office said i want a cortisone shot and but yet they went to get a cortisone shot but it wouldn't take the vaccine you want to know well if you don't know what's in the cortisone shot and you take that uh you know you just concerned that you wouldn't take the vaccine and protect somebody's health so i just asked my community to please weigh your mass and social distance but get that vaccination also it will protect that 92 year old lady that's scared to leave her home anymore um and so i i would say please do that so thank you thank you dr wells uh i'd like to thank those of you who attended the district 2 town hall last thursday night a fellow councilman that tuned in and and made comments because it made it even better um and on this thursday i think we we did learn a lot and on this thursday night at seven the concerned citizens of northeast greensboro will be having their monthly meeting and they are going to deal with redistricting and voting reparation and and of course the police report so if you can uh i'll be sending out those um the link the zoom link for the uh concerned citizens of northeast greensboro and then on the ninth which is uh saturday we're going to have love love your uh block and it's a neighborhood cleanup for the folks who live in neal town kings forest woodmere park and we're asked to bring all your hazardous uh waste and bulk items to the truck and the trucks will be located at 2500 phillips avenue it's in the parking lot of the baseball field at mcgirt hardin library so across from mcgirt horton library so if you have those things that you need to get rid of old tires and and pain and pesticides and tvs and computers bring them on on saturday from eight until three thank you madam mayor thank you dr wells mr outling yeah thank you i'm excited to share that the next java with justin will be on october 15th at noon via facebook live at j outling be in the handle as many council members obviously know for the course of the past many years i've hosted a weekly town hall drop-in session this is an opportunity for community members to come together discuss any topic they would like um relating to the city of greensboro so i encourage people to tune in on october 15th at j outlane on facebook live ask her questions hear about the things that might be of importance at the next greensboro city council meeting a couple tuesdays from now so thank you thank you um mrs hoffman um i would just like to thank greensboro beautiful and uh and the city as well for a really wonderful um part in the arboretum on sunday it's a beautiful fall day of course and a great turnout so again a wonderful event here in the city thank you um mrs um the only comment i have is about an upcoming event this coming sunday october 10th the new garden guilford college community alliance is leading a ghost walk at 3 p.m along a stretch of friendly avenue will be on the sidewalks but they're going to highlight some of the historic sites that currently exist and exist at one point in time along that walkway um the walk will be led by max carter and david fagan's and they'll be starting at the kimrie hayworth house at 5307 west friendly avenue so anybody that would like is welcome to attend that walk mr carter had asked that i share that with the public um other than that i'm done yesterday sunday was a wonderful event thank you arts greensboro um friends were beautiful for the arts in the arboretum sorry thank you um mrs abuse waiter thank you madam mayor uh just a couple of things um this week is also mental health awareness week and on thursday october 7th if you can remember to wear green uh that is the color of mental health awareness week and uh it's just one week and uh i was contacted yesterday by a service provider and asked if i would mention that because it would mean a lot to them if council members you know take your photo and send it to jody lorenzo at the sanctuary house she would really appreciate that um last evening as was mentioned was the purple tree lighting i wanted to thank dr wells and council member hoffman for coming i did find out later that unfortunately somehow the invitation did not get out to all councils so for that i will apologize and we'll make sure it is in the future it's always uh uh very well attended and um very memorable moment when the the trees and and green street deco light up purple to bring awareness to domestic violence so i thank you all for that support the last thing i'll mention i think many of you remember that mark friedman was one of those murdered uh in greensboro his family set up a foundation mark's angel foundation over the weekend they had a gala monday they had a golf tournament they raised over 25 000 for crime stoppers and i would certainly like to challenge other foundations uh the goal of crime stoppers we just raised with the city council each of you voting to give funds but we would love to see more funds in and hopefully someday raise those rewards to 7 500 or 10 000 but i do want to give a special out shout out to them for working so hard in memory of mark uh his uh reward right now is up to 23 000 and um that is being sent out on social media and on the greensboro guilford county crime stoppers site so just wanted to make everybody aware of that that went on over the weekend and was truly truly a wonderful memory for him i did want to say to the couple of the mothers standing against gun violence came to the event they were guests of the marx angel foundation and they spoke very eloquently about how the grassroots people going and going in neighborhoods is really going to be what it takes they commended crime stoppers gpd so very memorial more memorable weekend so uh thank you madam mary that's all that mary kay as you always say in the 40 years that crime stoppers has been in business yes in greensboro crime stoppers has been in business for 40 years and not one person who called in at a tip has ever been identified by anyone the police staff no one people are given a code number and it is up to them to call back in and see about the status of that case then they are given a code number to go to a non-specified financial institution none none of us are there there is no staff from crime stoppers or police there and they are given their reward money and uh it looks like you know every time we do the walk says the mayor knows she's been on many of those um we usually get tips in right after those walks so crime stoppers really is an asset to this community and it's all over the nation so thank you madam mayor thank you mr holston yes uh thank you madam mayor i want to reiterate a little bit of what councilwoman hightower said about vaccines also want our residents not to forget about those third doses and those booster plots and also those flu shots all those will have a positive public health outcome for all of us which will help to drive our economic development it will help help us to get back and to stay back at school at work and at play uh i also want to thank councilwoman wells for the hospitality and welcome and allowed me a little bit of time at her town hall thank you so very much i do appreciate it and madam mayor that completes it thank you um the madam mayor before you start your comments um and i just turned my notepad over and saw my this very quarter note it's not a bad note i'm going to have a town hall meeting district 1 we'll have a town hall meeting october 28th uh at six uh and so there'll be more information forthcoming but we've already set the topic the hot topics are rezoning um because we know that that has really been a touchy touchy subject in southeast greensboro i think we all understand that uh and to a deal with comments made and re and things said um that need to be uh verified and uh but it will also be around economic development what is economic development what does it mean uh when we say it because it's a loose term we say a lot um and yet sometimes it really has no substance to it what does it mean for a community um and so we will be focusing on uh really a couple of those items uh mr host and i'll be filling you in more uh district one uh is something that we will be talking about you certainly be invited to be part of that and all council is but you particularly as you reside in district one understand some of our challenges too from that regard so um that is forthcoming so i just did want to bring that up um and not forget it before i left it tonight thank you thank you um just to reinforce the comments about vaccines 54 of guilford county has received both shots another four percent on top of that has received one shot so we are slowly inching up but we've got a long way to go and shots are still very readily available i've had my two pfizer as soon as i can get the booster i will i didn't i personally didn't have any ill effects and i'm grateful that we have the partnerships that we do with guilford county health department and prone health and our other nonprofits to make getting the shots so easy um i want to remind council of the change in date in november that we're moving the meeting to the 17th um instead of the 16th we're going to have the meeting that wednesday and i just wanted to make sure everybody knew that the arp application is online um if people are interested in they can still do the simulator but if they have a business a non-profit that they think are worthy of the arp funds the application is online there will be opportunities for people to meet with staff either remotely or in person the the matrix is online as well and it will be a hard cut off of november 5th so if anybody is thinking about um you know funding they should look at the website now um mr city manager do you have anything not this evening um mr city attorney yes ma'am i do have one comment i want to make um i'd like to reinforce uh your comments really about accepting what the plaintiff's counsel have said about the the video uh without any pause um context is everything uh certainly having a restraint restrain a citizen is never going to be an attractive situation but the context is what provides an understanding of why it became necessary uh these restraints are used generally when a restraint is needed to protect the person the officer or other members of the public plaintiffs do not speak to context in any of the examples that they refer to in their pleadings or the letter that has been referenced i also wonder if all the folks who signed that letter had the benefit of seeing the actual video and understood the context of each of the situations to which plaintiffs refer if so i'd like to understand how they got to see those videos when we had to go to court to get the right counsel to be able to see them but if not then i think it's interesting that they would give plaintiff's counsel the benefit of the doubt uh that what they have referred to is a fair depiction but not not those who serve in the public interest right on the point thank you yeah i appreciate your comments uh if there is um no further comments do i have a motion to adjourn without um objection to um we are adjourned thank you