The number of Greensboro City Council meetings has increased dramatically.
The City Council held its annual two-day retreat on Thursday, Feb. 2 and Friday, Feb. 3. The City Council also held a work session on Thursday, Jan. 26 and has scheduled a work session for Thursday, Feb. 16.
The regular first meeting of the month is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 7 in the Katie Dorsett Council Chamber beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The first meeting of the month is the only meeting where the people are allowed to speak on non-agenda items, and the main purpose of the meeting is to hold that monthly “public comment period” and for ceremonial and presentational items.
At the second meeting of the month, the public is invited to speak on agenda items but may not speak on items that are not on the agenda.
The city continues to encourage people to participate in the meeting remotely, but those who choose to speak via Zoom have to sign-up by 5 p.m. on the day prior to the meeting. Speakers appearing in person may sign-up to speak up until 6 p.m. on the day of the meeting. After the last speaker on the list has spoken, Mayor Nancy Vaughan usually asks if there is anyone in the Council Chamber who wishes to speak but did not sign-up.
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, along with hearing from the public, the City Council will have a short business agenda.
The consent agenda for the Feb. 7 meeting includes 13 items. These are supposed to be routine and noncontroversial items and are all voted on with one vote. Councilmember Sharon Hightower often has issues with items on the consent agenda and finds items that are supposed to be “routine and noncontroversial” to be controversial.
There are no public hearing items on the agenda.
However, there are seven items on the general business agenda and six of them deal with the Greensboro City Council Legislative Agenda for 2023.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said these resolutions would be revised before the meeting.
Don’t waste your time on Feb 7 public forum, this council does not want hear what the tax payer has to say, if they did they would not have passed the largest tax increase in the history of GSO or be pushing for a prepared food tax. One of the council members lives in a high end retirement facility that is a non profit and pays no city or county taxes so she pays no city or county property tax but she continues to vote on how tax payer money is allocated. This council is as close as we will come to a socialist, pet project , waste of tax money council that have ever had.