One takeaway from the Greensboro City Council work session on Tuesday, March 23, is that the eight women on the City Council really don’t like lone male City Councilmember Justin Outling’s attempting to take action.
At the work session, Outling made what was a reasonable request. He asked City Manager David Parrish to let him know, by Friday, how many additional police officers the Greensboro Police Department needed.
Police Chief Brian James had previously said that the staffing study, which was supposed to be started in March 2020, was finally complete and needed approval from Parrish to be brought to the City Council.
The staffing study presumably has far more information than the number of officers that the Police Department should have in 2021, and Outling was asking only for the number of additional officers the Police Department needed.
The request also wasn’t out of the blue. Outling had asked James if having more authorized officers would provide him with more money to pay officers overtime to backfill the open positions in the department until more officers could be hired and trained.
James agreed that with more authorized positions he would have a larger budget for overtime.
Outling has said that he wanted to take action to assist the Police Department with the rapid increase in homicides.
Following the City Council work session with James on Dec. 7, 2020, the City Council talked about taking immediate action to assist the Police Department, but since then the City Council has taken no action.
But after Outling made his request, Councilmember Sharon Hightower questioned why Outling would need information before the staffing study was released and said, “Throwing money at it is not simply going to be the only answer.”
Councilmember Goldie Wells said, “I don’t think the manager can rush the chief when the chief says he needs more time.”
Wells said, “If we had the answers to stopping homicides, we would do it.”
Wells added, “There is no need to build up false hope.”
Councilmember Michelle Kennedy said, “I feel the way that other people do. Saying that we want a report on Friday is the opposite of what we are trying to do.”
Councilmember Yvonne Johnson talked about the need for safe and affordable housing.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said they would approve any overtime the police chief requested.
Sounds like a bunch of hens clucking just for the sake of it.
All this is “defund the police”. There are two choices: throw the bums out, or leave the county.
Good luck with the apathetic and uninformed sheep who vote for this c&%p.
Those “ladies” better understand that alot of the citizens are SICK AND TIRED of their yap. Get it done or get OUT.
Greensboro needs to fix the problem now. If we need more police make it happen, that’s what your job is. Stop the banter and do something. Our town is going down to crime and homicide as you continue to delay.
“if we had the answers to stopping homicides we would do it”?????Really?-
Why don’t you have the answers?
When do you think you might get some answers?
Since you dont have answers,where will you get the answers?
Does anyone you know have any answers?
Would you mind trying to find the answers?
We know you are very busy,but with so many homicides occurring-How about doing your job-or resign???
Perhaps someone else could GET SOME ANSWERS!
Wait-one answer would be if all of you except Outling just quit,and let some real thinkers give it a try!!
Pitiful.Dont worry yourself-no one is building false hope-or any other kind of hope at all.You have met expectations.
lol! All those incumbents getting their panties in a wad over one question.
No action. Just idle political talk.
Outling for Mayor!!!
“Saying we want a report on Friday is the opposite of what we are trying to do.” Michelle Kennedy.
You’ve got that right. They do not want to authorize more police before election. Doesn’t sell on the east side.
How dare a man interrupt the meeting of the broody hens’ high & mighty social club with something resembling real action or official business! I’d say Outling made his point & pretty much sealed the deal. Meet your new mayor. It is now just a matter of crossing off days on the calendar.
Who does this guy, Outling, think he is asking honest and logical questions?
This bunch of women on the council are dumber then a box of rocks. We have to”HAVE TO” get rid of them ASAP. Outling is the ONLY one that can find his — with both hands.
According to the article, the staffing study is complete! There is no reason that it could not be provided by Friday this week. I guess I am not surprised by Hightower especially and the others, but I guess this is the state of city government.
And still zero action. Mandate Mayor with a swing and a miss. Again.
An agency surviving by throwing out overtime to fill vacancies is a dying agency. I hear they cannot even get officers to fill all the obertime spots theyvhave now. They jave to address the problem, which is a combination if the anti-police attitude rocking the nation and city government as well as GPD’s blatant lack of pay and benefits to make them regionally competitive with other police forces.
Keep throwing out half baked solutions and watch officer vacancies blossom. Sure you cam authorize GPD for 100 extra positions, but you cannot fill them. Nor can overworked officers be relied on to work even more to cover the growing holes.
News flash, a new cop at GPD makes $18 an hour. Overtime would pay $27 an hour. Regular off duty work rates pay up to $40 an hour. Why would they answer calls for $27 when they can sit at a grocery store for $40. Pure genius city council. Genius I say. Keep up the half-brained strategies.
Go Justin!!!
PAY our police and keep your nose out of their business.oic our chief is not doing his job -Fire him.So he apparently is doing a decent job or you(city council) would be second guessing everything he is doing.People of Greensboro you have seen how an all Democratic council has run our ship ashore,why not vote in a full council with all Republicans-what do you have to lose??????????!!
Stopping the homicides should not be difficult. Just throw almost a million dollars to an insider for a “Cure Violence” program. I mean, it works so well, right?
As an alternative, we could ban all unemployed black males between the ages of 18 and 34 from the county. That should cut the number of murders (in Greensboro) by more than half.
The situation proves that women can NOT run a town. Without WHITE MEN things will get beyond control. The city should be shut down until there are intelligent members of the City Council that will be willing to make decisions that will keep us safer and help us all to know that WE ALL matter!!!! STOP painting MY streets that I payed for with my tax money cowardly yellow, I didn’t approve of your actions and I DO have the right to do that. YOU DON”T. Hire better persons for positions that require knowledge and experience for the jobs and not because of race. Studies DO NOT accomplish anything and do NOT make YOU look better either, YOU just thing we ALL are NOT smart enough to know that. Greensboro is going down the drain fast and thing must improve. ITS YOUR FAULT!!! DO SOMTHINGS NOW!!!
Hold up, Martin. IF I actually lived within the City limits and wanted to “pick a little, talk a little” with the females on the Council I’m one woman who COULD run a town! The police would be funded properly, their selection process would have higher standards based blindly on qualifications (including the choice of Chief), there would be no hand-holding programs, honest officers would feel supported and dishonest ones would quickly leave, money would be used for improvements not for programs. There’s too much to say here but the issue isn’t about “women” it’s about liberals. As long as the City votes for liberals the situation will continue. Be wary of Outling because he is a liberal but a tad right of these ladies.
News flash to 8 out of 9 council members. Your Proctologist called, she has located your HEAD.
Holy sexism, Batman!?!
That’s nothing, Robin. We really need to watch out for intersectionality. Those that identify themselves as both sexist AND racist.
Batman! Those are THESE PEOPLE!!!
{sad trombone music plays as the Jokers hide in the shadows}
I hope the electorate is taking notice and throws the bums out. Everyone but Justin, that is.
Before we all jump on the “Outling for Mayor” bandwagon, can we please all take a breath and remember that just this past summer he was just as anti police as the rest of council? An associate of his complained that their son was stopped very briefly on the Greenway because police had been called there in reference to an armed subject. Outling started a massive campaign against the agency, questioning processes and procedures because one of his friends’ teenaged kids got stopped for about two minutes and didn’t like it. Even though even he admitted that the stop was conducted professionally, he immediately jumped on the race train assuming police are racially motivated in their actions.
Outling may currently be the “least anti-police” councilmember, but that does not make him “pro-police”.
Take a look back at a couple articles if you don’t believe me and I am sure there are more:
https://www.rhinotimes.com/news/council-work-session-held-on-policy-behind-police-stops/
https://www.rhinotimes.com/news/police-stop-on-greenway-may-lead-to-city-council-work-session/
Don you are correct. Outlying needs to not speak out both sides of his mouth. Friend or not he should let the system takes its course. As a lawyer he knows the process.