This week the Greensboro City Council should be getting thank you notes from Guilford County and High Point.
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners is expected to accept a Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) of $250,000, which is $136,900 for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and $113,000 for the High Point Police Department.
Originally, $138,000 of that grant was awarded to the Greensboro Police Department, $61,000 to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and $51,000 to the High Point Police Department.
However, on Jan. 21, 2020, the Greensboro City Council voted 5-3 to turn down the JAG from the US Department of Justice because a member of the Working class & Homeless Organizing Alliance (WHOA) said that accepting the grant would mean that the Greensboro Police Department had to turn over immigration information to the Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement Agency (ICE).
It was explained to the City Council by Assistant City Manager Trey Davis that the Greensboro Police Department didn’t collect immigration information on people it arrested, but five members of the City Council – Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Councilmembers Yvonne Johnson, Michelle Kennedy, Sharon Hightower and Tammi Thurm – voted to turn down the federal grant anyway.
Three members of the City Council voted to support the Police Department and accept the JAG – Councilmembers Justin Outling, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Nancy Hoffmann. Councilmember Goldie Wells was absent.
Vaughan said she was voting to turn down the money because, while the Greensboro Police Department didn’t collect immigration information, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department did. So as the result of that vote the Greensboro Police Department received no money and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department received an additional $75,900.
Vaughan said last week that public safety was a “top priority” for the City Council.
Since January 2020, the City Council has in fact changed its tactics and voted several times to accept JAG money. Why that particular JAG was found so offensive by the City Council when subsequent JAG money is acceptable has not been explained.
Not a surprise at all! Anothet brain infarction by city council.
TUVM for the article. If you want a logical ‘splanation, there ain’t none. All of this is political posturing by the City Council, and/or they really don’t know what to do to keep their voter base happy.
I am confident the Guilford County Sheriff Department thanks the ignorance of the Greensboro City Anti-police councilwomen! Your lack of research and listening to a person who has NO knowledge of how this program works has cost you and our city thousands of dollars. We the citizens cannot fix stupid, BUT WE CAN VOTE YOU OUT OF OFFICE!
Just think of how much money you could have given to the Cure for Violence program or donated new trucks ( with car seat) to councilwoman Kennedy’s program?
One more instance to support that the select majority of councilwomen refuse to listen to those who are knowledgeable with consistently showing their ignorance to programs that are established and set up to assist the city.
…….”has not been explained”…….because there is no plausible explanation.
Amazing, is it not?
This bunch of Dam-o-rat women are dumber then a box of rocks. God please help us until we can vote this evil out of our city.
Clown world!!!
This just confirms that the mayor and her chicks need to go! They believe someone they don’t know over their own staff, the Assistant City Manager in fact. It’s no wonder no one want to work for the City of Greensboro. It’s not just the salary, it’s the ridiculous Mayor and her little followers. At least Outling, Abuziaiter and Hoffman have the intelligence to vote against the mayor occasionally. Grants don’t come easy and Mayor Nancy Vaughan has no idea what she’s doing. She is catering to one specific community and has rest of us….the middle income and higher income people. We pay the taxes. We want a safe Greensboro for everybody too. But we have brains enough to fairly evaluate offers from federal agencies. It’s time that all of the citizens, except that little group that has Nancy’s hand… gather and bring on a new leader for ALL of Greensboro because we ALL count.
A gentle reminder of how fickle, how conditionally anti-police some of council are. Voter beware. I mean who could support them at this point? If you were pro-police, you would be against the half that voted against accepting the money back then. If you were anti-police, now you have to vote against that same group because they have started accepting the money again. It’s like they don’t want anyone’s support. Consider me sold on that idea.
Whines out of one side of their collectivist mouths about crime, then does nothing to help stop it. Truly an ignorant electorate in this here Idiocracy.