The Greensboro City Council has a lot on its plate coming up on the final two months of the year.
Monday, Oct. 25, the City Council met in a virtual closed session most of the day to interview candidates for the job of city manager, a task the council hopes to complete by the end of the year.
Thursday, Oct. 28, the City Council will hold a virtual work session beginning at 2 p.m. The virtual work session is a regular work session where the City Council hears reports and discusses programs in a more informal setting than a City Council meeting. Votes are not usually taken at work sessions, but decisions are often made by consensus. The agenda for the Oct. 28 work session has not been released.
On Monday, Nov. 1, the City Council will hold its regular first meeting of the month. The main purpose of the meeting is to hold a public forum where people are invited to speak for three minutes on the topic of their choosing.
The Nov. 1 meeting will be the first since July that will be held in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber and where a limited number of people will be allowed to attend. Speakers will have the choice of attending the meeting and speaking from the podium or speaking virtually.
While the main purpose of the first meeting of the month is the public forum at the Nov. 1 meeting the City Council is expected to approve new City Council districts for the 2022 City Council election.
Judging from comments made at the Oct. 19 meeting, where the Citizens’ Redistricting Committee recommended one map and presented two other maps, making this decision could generate a good deal of council discussion. Councilmember Sharon Hightower expressed objections to all the maps presented.
Yet another indication of the strange times in which we live, the Nov. 1 meeting is on Monday rather than Tuesday, because when the City Council meeting schedule was set, Tuesday, Nov. 2 was the date of the City Council election. Since then the City Council election was delayed until either April or May, but the meeting wasn’t moved.
The City Council also has a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2, which will be another closed session to interview applicants for the job of city manager.
“Virtual work” is what they do.
Speakers may come in, but they will do as they wish anyway. They are careful not to allow another demonstrative conservative speaker.