The Greensboro City Council is in for a long night at the special virtual meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14 beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The main purpose of the special meeting is to hear from the people who have nominated themselves for the open at-large City Council seat.  Each nominee will be given three minutes to speak to the City Council via Zoom.  The deadline to submit an application is Thursday, Sept. 9 at 11:59 p.m., so the final count isn’t available, but reportedly over 40 people have already completed the online application. 

If the meeting goes like clockwork and each nominee speaks for their full three minutes that’s over two hours of speakers. If councilmembers are allowed to ask questions the time could easily double.

There is currently a lot of lobbying going on by nominees and people who support certain nominees in an attempt to line up the necessary five votes before the meeting.  However, with the current eight-member City Council it is possible that there could be a number of nominees who can get four votes, but not the five necessary to be appointed.

Although choosing a new councilmember to serve out the rest of the term of former City Councilmember Michelle Kennedy, who resigned to accept the job as director of the Neighborhood Development Department, is the main purpose of the meeting, it’s not the only item on the agenda.

Since Sept. 14 is the first meeting of the month, it is also the meeting for the virtual public forum where people are invited to speak on any topic they choose for three minutes.

Plus there is a public hearing on spending the $59.4 million in American Rescue Plan funding the city is slated to receive.  Greensboro received about $28.2 million in ARP funding in May and is scheduled to receive the remainder of the federal funding no later than May 2022.