The evidence that Greensboro City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba is quietly but efficiently defunding the police is piling up.
The City Council voted to raise the starting salaries for police officers to $57,000, in order to make Greensboro competitive with surrounding jurisdictions.
Jaiyeoba’s budget, despite increasing spending by $60 million, only raised police starting salaries to $52,400.
To put this in perspective, Jaiyeoba works directly for the majority of the City Council, not individual councilmembers. In this case, Jaiyeoba’s employer, the City Council, directed him to raise the starting salary for police officers to $57,000 and he did not.
At the Tuesday, June 6 meeting, the City Council was told that the Police Department was down to one backup vehicle.
Assistant City Manager Larry Davis said, “One fender bender and we are out of police cars.”
The reason given was that Greensboro had ordered Ford hybrid cars and Ford didn’t deliver. The idea that the only possible car a Greensboro police officer could drive is a Ford hybrid is absurd on its face. Mayor Nancy Vaughan questioned the wisdom of that decision. But no further explanation was given.
After Jaiyeoba had been city manager for four months, he presented his first budget, which included the equivalent of an 11.69-cent tax increase. When the City Council balked at that huge tax increase, Jaiyeoba lowered the tax increase to the equivalent of 8.69 cents – still the largest in the history of Greensboro – and cut funding and personnel from one Greensboro department: The Police Department had eight positions for sworn officers cut.
This year Jaiyeoba made that eight officer cut look like small potatoes by cutting 30 sworn officers from the 2023-2024 budget and converting 10 sworn positions to unsworn positions – for a total reduction in the authorized force of sworn police officers to 40. So, over two years, Jaiyeoba has reduced the number of authorized sworn police officers by nearly 50.
Over a year ago, on April 7, 2022, the City Council voted to spend $1.1 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to upgrade security at Police Department facilities. This was to include more cameras, lighting and fencing.
The City Council action was in response to a police car being set on fire and an officer being assaulted at Greensboro Police Headquarters.
The fencing is still tied up in engineering and inspections, according to Assistant City Manager Trey Davis. As most developers can tell you, a project can get tied up in engineering and inspections for eons. Projects can also sail through engineering and inspections if the wind is right, and the wind is usually right for city projects. So what is holding up another directive from the City Council?
In another instance that boggles the mind, in November 2021, several months before Jaiyeoba became Greensboro City Manager on Feb. 1, 2022, the City Council voted to buy 20 additional police cars in order to begin a five-year process of providing take-home police cars for all patrol officers. So far, according to Davis, 40 cars have been purchased, but in over 18 months not a single car has been provided to a police officer.
This takes slow-walking an initiative to an entirely new level – perhaps no-walking would be more accurate.
To sum it up, Jaiyeoba has reduced the number of authorized sworn police officers by 48 in his 18 months as city manager. On his watch, the city has not been able to put one take-home police car on the street and is down to one back-up police car for the entire force. And for some unexplained reason, police facilities cannot even get security fencing despite the City Council authorizing it over a year ago.
Understand that this is what the city council really wants but is afraid to say so publicly.
Evidence is mounting that John Hammer is a QAnon member.
No, evidence is mounting that Jaiyeoba is a BLM member (closeted).
The worst part of all this is the (National Socialist) Democrat Party majority City Council will try to give him a slap on the wrist, tell him “bad manager, bad manager, no treat”, put him on double secret probation and leave it at that.
City residents, all I can say is ‘you asked for it, you got it’
So happy to NOT be a GSO citizen
It’s still a shame to see Greensboro become a mini Soviet Socialist Republic though.
So sad.
Perfect examples of council and city manager being a total POS. You citizens voted in these jokes…enjoy!
Well then get rid of Tai and we will have more money for police and police cars! Its not like he is doing anything to “help” the taxpayers of Greensboro….
So please enlighten me- why is Mr Jaiyeoba being paid $280,000 a year?? To do what exactly?
It’s more than that, incredibly.
Hit men always get paid well to do someone else’s dirty work. Plausible deniability does not come cheap.
He’s a black Marxist!
Since when does the City Mgr. override the direction of City Council? Especially when the CC has directly placed itemized needs for the city residents and business protection. I’d be furious with this guy. I don’t live in the city limits of Greensboro, so my law enforcement needs come from the Sheriff’s Dept. I can’t weigh in on this with the City Counsel, but the citizens of Greensboro should be.
Does this clown even live in Greensboro?
If you rent, life is cheaper than paying the ridiculous property taxes. Soon, we will all become renters because we can’t afford to pay for this absurd agenda. Speak up Citizens! Do something to keep our neighborhoods safe.
You do understand that the landlord passes those increased costs to you, the renter, right? Landlords and businesses don’t eat costs, the consumers do. Just look at how high rent has rocketed in the past few years. Come on now.
Seems like the City Manager is running the City Council and they are afraid to call him out for ignoring their directives. Increased taxes for us that does not include competitive wages for the police Is idiotic. That is the best place for our money. Just look at all the crime in Greensboro. If the City Council does not rework this budget, they need to go. My opinion.
In the real world of business, this behavior is known as insubordination! It’s a basis for termination!!
He has knowing ignored his bosses, so he either corrects the problem or is fired!!
I agree!
Well, no duh! He needs to be sent packing.
Several of us have been saying this for months. Council is ultimately responsible because the city manager is their employee. Ask them how many homicides occurred this weekend. Council (at least certain members like the mayor) constantly tout how their number one priority is public safety. It obviously is not-actions speak louder than words. You vote on the budget next week-put your money where your mouth is council.
The City council best fire this man and soon.
Thia is beyond ridiculous. This man has gone against the orders of the city council and apparently not even one member is willing to take him to task. What is wrong with these people.? Do they not have any backbone at all? He should be fired immediately. Until that happens the citizens of Greensboro will continue to suffer.
The City Mgr is disobeying his employers and endangering all of our citizens.He needs to be fired immediately based on his actions/inactions.Who the heck does this guy think he is?
Don’t forget that over 30 officers have also left the agency so far in 2023. That’s on pace to lose between 60 and 70 for the year….and they are already down a mysterious number of officers that could be anywhere between 70 and 130, depending on who’s doing the math. I’m sure it will be fine though. A moderately competitive pay raise and a sprinkling of “take home” cars to eventually share around should fix it.
Sounds like insubordination and good cause for placing the city manager on some sort of administrative probation with a warning that further evidence of not following the Council’s directives would be viewed as a reason to termination the city manager for cause.
Please refresh our memory didn’t the city manager get a substantial pay raise at his yearly review? Clearly, he is having difficulty following the directive of he City Council to which he directly reports ! Sounds like the problem is not only the manager ?
In January City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba got a raise from $280,000 to $300,000. Former City Manager David Parrish’s salary was $217,000 when he resigned in 2021.
Shame on the city of Greensboro for assuming this risk of the safety of everyone. It is time for a change Greensboro. The City Employees have been noticing this for a while but are afraid to voice their concerns. Citizens must speak up in hopes of finding management in line with core values of Greensboro. Please keep our City safe, offer competitive salaries, and take care of our first responders. It is dangerous to reduce funds for our police force.
Does the City Council not pay attention or care? They are not doing what they were elected to do, and that is to look after the city and its citizens.
This city manager is ruining the city and the more he does, the worse things will become. All city departments are important, but our police and fire departments protect us and are the most important.
All council members need to read your article as well as others the Rhino has printed. Plus, pay attention to their own notes and meetings.
This man, city manager, is the worst and must be fired immediately.
Come on City Council, you are in charge. FIRE HIM!
The odious African Marxist is clearly doing this on purpose.
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A shrewd bureaucrat knows what to say, and what not to say – particularly if he knows his beliefs are offensive to the majority of the population.
Jaiyeoba was instrumental in facilitating a massive BLM (Black Lives Matter) mural in the center of Charlotte. If asked, he will deny that he supports that group – obviously But people do not always answer honestly, do they?
This creep is a communist, a statist, and a racist.
He ought to be fired – stat.
This is insubordination on the part of the City Manager, pure and simple. And it’s time for the City Council to grow a pair and get aggressive and illustrate to everyone that there are consequences for defying direct orders.
Time to fire this City Mansger
I think we need a new city manager.
Some politicians don’t learn. Seattle and Portland are teachable moments but not Greensboro. No surprise Vaughn didn’t speak up. Maybe they think walking beats are viable. What if you dialed 911 and no one came-no cars?
Of course we are defunding the police. We have been over policed for far to long. They are city employees nothing more nothing less. The faster we implement the secondary response units the better we need not only body cameras but other public officials on scene at every traffic stop to make sure the right questions an protocols are being adhered to not even a ticket or question is asked without the secondary unit. That will make sure that “probable cause” isn’t abused. We will lead the way on justice policing and amend how it has been done. A better future for the city doesn’t include more police officers.
You are a liberal moron
Just look at Portland and what happened when the police were not to do their job. The city still hasn’t recovered
What language are you writing this comment?
Agree with SSGB. Don’t need more police, we need better trained police. Start protecting citizens. Quit trying to generate revenue from victimless crimes when you aren’t filing reports on crimes you didn’t prevent after the fact.
Btw, Portland & Seattle were a mess before 2020. Yet NC has more welfare recipients than Washington. And Washington as a state contributes a heliva lot more to federal coffers than it receives….
What is coming much more apparent is Greensboro needs a new City Manager.
The council needs to fire him immediately. Another bad hire which GSO has a long track record of poor hires.
Question is, who hired him? The apathetic and uninformed voter is ultimately responsible.
Not only should this idiot be fired, he should be deported.
Did you know that if the city didn’t have to transfer $3 million to prop up debt payments on the two new parking decks then they would have enough money to increase starting police pay to $57k w/o a tax increase this year. That’s pretty interesting.
Just because you guys can’t spell Jaiyeoba doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. He clearly told the council it would take a 6 cent tax increase this year to make the police pay a reality.
He needs to go but he won’t . This is what the folks in our city want then they complain about the crime truly laughable . Also they keep voting these looney liberals into the city council and the mayor. So they can enjoy this is what they wanted . He does not deserve 280 forget 280k that is an absolute waste of tax payers dollars .
Ssgb336@yahoo.com, who is “we” that is defunding the police? Are you a part of the decision makers or just one of the many whiners about the police. Please provide examples of the wrong questions being asked by police officers. I thought body cameras were to be used to validate the legitimacy of traffic stops, events and arrests. Are you saying that we now need non police individuals at a scene to observe closely the police officers and to monitor police questions?
I think all of them should be fired because they are obviously not doing the job they are supposed to do. The crime is ridiculous in this area and getting rid of police officers definitely is not the answer.
The city manager has got to go. He is not acting on behalf of the Greensboro tax payers. Send him back where he came from. Hire a Greensboro person. We have people who are qualified and capable who will do a good job for all of us.
“Little Portland” soon. It’s everyone for themselves. Get out now.
The very last chance coming up in the next election.
“Don’t let the truth get in the way of good story” Am I right, John? Eight police officers were cut from the FY23 budget because of the growing vacancies — these were eight positions that had been planned to be added from the year before, but they were just going to sit there vacant and inflate the budget. And now, the idea to cut 30 positions and convert 10 came directly from Chief Thompson! As for other increases, I’m not sure if you’ve heard about this thing called “inflation”, but it means that costs go UP. And there are still major supply chain issues with all vehicles. Council can vote on their pipe dreams all day, but unfortunately a lot of their big ideas are either not fiscally responsible or just plain unrealistic. It’s not unlike a child saying they want a pony. Shame on you for encouraging them and getting your readers worked up over a bunch of half-truths.
You sound like you know what you’re talking about.
The chief gave up the positions so he could spread that salary among the officers that are at GPD so they do not continue to leave, so the bleeding will stop. It is not because Greensboro doesn’t need the officers. Unlike most others in city government the chief is falling on his sword to try and get the money for people to stay and not go to agencies like Burlington. The city needs to find the other half in the budget that has gone up $200 million in two years. Your statements, although true, leave out the reasons why he offered up the positions that will never be filled. They will never be filled because GPD is so far behind other agencies they cannot fill a class. They cannot match salary, benefits, and cars.
When the city managers house gets broken into, and the suspect is inside his home, but there’s no police officers available to respond, maybe he’ll think twice about reducing the police population in Greensboro. When someone hits a police car and they’re down that police officer because there’s not any cars available and they have to put that officer at the PD doing desk work with 3 other officers because there’s no cars for each of them to drive and calls are stacked that night shift won’t handle them all, with one being the city managers breaking and entering, maybe they’ll get some new cars. When the ones that make the decisions are inconvenienced, it’s only then will something be done. Only then. You may get what you want, but you may not want what you get. Just wait and see if it comes true.
Of course the real problem all along has been the city council. They need to be “fired.” But, this is Greensboro. The same voters put the same people in office and we get the same results. Very disappointing. At some point, the only choice is to move out of the city.
I must borrow from a TV ad. The City Of Greensboro is not on your side. The rest is fill in the blank.
The City of Greensboro is not on your side unless u r _______? or u r _________? or u r _____________? The list goes on and on. Interested in the readers response.
We all know who the favored folk are these days Maurice, and straight white males are not among them.
Despite suggestions of the Greensboro Police Dept. being defunded, their wings were clipped years ago! Why? They were instructed not to enforce traffic laws, conduct aggressive searches for illegal guns, drugs, and criminals! The sad state of lawlessness in Greensboro didn’t happen overnight, this groundwork was laid years ago!
Jim Donaldson
You are so right. Many serious crimes are detected through traffic stops. Blacks have long argued against traffic stops, calling them discriminatory. Blacks know they cannot win this argument when the driver is guilty of a violation. However, if you can prevent the traffic stops completely by defunding the police, a perfect solution.
The City Council is hiding behind the City Manager who is doing exactly what they want but for political reasons are not willing to go on record with Defunding the Police, increasing the budget, etc. They increased his salary to $300.000 so that he can take the heat.