At-large City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter plans to participate in the Tuesday, April 5 City Council meeting.
Abuzuaiter, who rarely misses a meeting, saw her attendance record take a hit last month. She missed both City Council meetings in March and watched the City Council retreat on Wednesday, March 23 and Thursday, March 24, but the retreat in the ACC Hall of Champions at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex was not set up for remote participation.
The April 5 meeting will be what the city terms a “hybrid” meeting where councilmembers, city staff and the public can participate in person in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber or remotely via Zoom.
Abuzuaiter said that after spending a month in the hospital she was not ready to attend a meeting in person but would be participating in the meeting from her home.
She said, “I’ll be Zooming in on the council meeting Tuesday.”
Abuzuaiter became ill when she was on the Outer Banks with her husband, Isa, and ended up in the hospital in Washington, NC, which is where she was for both the March 1 meeting and the March 14 meeting.
What put Abuzuaiter in the hospital so far from home was diverticulitis and a ruptured diverticula, which can be life threatening. She arrived back in Greensboro on Wednesday, March 23 and said that while still weak she is recovering well.
Abuzuaiter said, “I’m well ahead of where they thought I would be right now.”
Abuzuaiter also said that once she got back to Greensboro, she got back to work. She said, “I’ve been doing city business. I’ve still got constituents reaching out to me and I do what I can for them.”
Abuzuaiter, who is currently running for reelection, was first elected to the City Council in 2011 and won reelection for two-year terms in 2013 and 2015. In 2017 the council terms were increased to four years and those terms were extended when the City Council elections set for October and November of 2021 were delayed and then postponed to May 17 and July 26 of 2022.
The present City Council will serve until the July 26 election returns are certified and the new City Council is sworn into office.
