OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting - May 5, 2025

Meeting Portal — Monday, May 5, 2025
BodyWinston Salem, North Carolina
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, May 5, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 31:56

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good evening, everyone.

0:01

I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem.

0:03

It's my pleasure to call into order this May 5th meeting of the Winston Satan City Council and ask the city clerk to call the roll, please.

0:09

Councilmember joyner, present.

0:11

Councilmember Clark.

0:12

Here.

0:13

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

0:14

Here.

0:15

Councilmember Scipio present.

0:16

Mayor Pro Tim Adams.

0:18

Councilmember Taylor.

0:19

Present.

0:20

Councilmember Hall.

0:21

Present.

0:21

And Councilmember Burke.

0:23

Here.

0:23

Thank you very much.

0:24

Would you please join the City Council with me in a moment of silence?

0:41

Thank you very much.

0:42

Would you join the City Council and meeting the Pledge of Allegiance?

0:47

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:55

One nation under God.

0:59

Liberty and justice for all.

1:04

Thank you very much.

1:05

We'll recognize our Sergeant at Arms tonight.

1:07

It's Lieutenant Victoria.

1:09

Help me with the last day.

1:11

Arms.

1:12

Thank you, Lieutenant, for being here.

1:14

And our fire marshal tonight is Micah Bodford.

1:17

Michael, thank you for being with us tonight as well.

1:20

Let me recognize our city manager, please, for his uh update.

1:25

Uh thank you, uh Mayor.

1:27

Uh several items tonight, but first let me uh introduce you to our new marketing and communications uh director, uh Deborah Clark.

1:35

Uh she's Ms.

1:36

Clark is over 20 years of experience working in marketing and communications for public and private organizations.

1:43

She served in that capacity for a variety of local governments, including the City of Greenville, the City of Concord, Charlotte Housing Authority, and the Charlotte Area Transit System.

1:53

She was most recently the external communications supervisor for electoral cities.

1:58

And we're looking forward to having her lead our internal and external communications efforts.

2:02

I'm I I get you come up to the to the podium and I I offered her a chance to say a few words to very good.

2:09

Thank you, Mr.

2:10

Manager.

2:10

Uh Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, and Council members, thank you for the opportunity for um accepting this position with the City of Winston Salem.

2:18

I'm looking very forward to telling the story, the great story of all the things that Winston Salem offers to the community, the residents, and our key stakeholders and those who come to enjoy everything about the city.

2:30

So thank you very much for this opportunity.

2:32

I look forward to working with each and every one of you in the future.

2:35

Welcome aboard.

2:41

Thank you.

2:41

Um as um uh several of you know, um several of us are down at the North Carolina League of Municipalities uh City Vision uh conference this past uh week, and one of the things that we looked at was a variety of or taught about a variety of bills that are going through the General Assembly.

2:58

So just a couple of things I wanted to highlight uh for council uh of areas that we're paying particular attention to.

3:05

I know everybody's seeing a lot of publicity on uh House Bill 765, which is regarding local government development regulations.

3:15

We we have sent uh information about that bill uh to the league of municipalities and to our representatives.

3:22

There are some parts of that bill that are supportive of council's efforts to create more workforce housing in the community uh through some density and some other matters, but there's also a uh quite a bit in that bill that is disruptive to local governments and would take away your power to look at what your constituents would like to see in development processes in the community.

3:49

So we're continuing to monitor that and and look at ways that we can influence taking part of the bad parts out of the bill if the if the bill does move forward.

3:59

So we'll continue to keep you informed on that.

4:01

I know council has some strong opinions as to trying to make sure that we're keeping local government authority where it needs to be, and then doing the things that will help uh increase housing in our community.

4:16

Also, and that that bill did not come up for vote yet, so it's still we're still reviewing that in the in the house.

4:23

House bill 171, however, did pass that is a bill that eliminates uh basically DEI and state and local government, and so that's been sent to the Senate for review.

4:35

Uh we again we're monitoring that very closely, but if that bill does pass, it will change how we'll have to operate in certain manners of uh particularly in our contracting um in our there's uh a lot of restrictions on how we promote things that we're doing as a community.

5:00

I think we understand what our core values are and want to will maintain loyal and true to those, but there will be some changes if this bill passes and how we market some of the things that we do and how we uh deal with uh some of the DEI measures that have been commonplace.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████25%
Historic Preservation█████████████████████21%
Procedural████████████████16%
Personnel Matters████████8%
Public Engagement████████8%
Public Health████████8%
Fire Department Operations████████8%
Parks and Recreation████4%
Zoning██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting - May 5, 2025

The Winston-Salem City Council met on Monday, May 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM at 101 North Main Street. Mayor Allen Joines presided. The meeting included a city manager update, an honorarium for Historic Preservation Month, approval of a consent agenda with multiple affordable housing initiatives, and two general agenda items. The meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.

City Manager Update

  • City Manager introduced new Marketing and Communications Director Debra Clark, who has over 20 years of experience.
  • Discussed state legislation: House Bill 765 (local government authority) and House Bill 171 (eliminating DEI in state and local government). The city is monitoring both and opposing disruptive parts.
  • Reported that the Senate budget includes a cut of $50 million in Powell Bill funds for municipalities over 150,000 population, which could cost Winston-Salem $7 million for street maintenance if enacted.
  • Winston-Salem was recognized for the third straight year by Livability.com as one of the top 100 most livable cities for small and mid-sized cities (top 5 percent nationally).
  • The city was recognized at the NC League of Municipalities City Vision conference for its commitment to civility.
  • Upcoming events: National Bike Month, Neighborhood Services open houses (May 6 and 8), public art RFQ for Brunson Elementary.

Honorariums

  • H-1: Resolution declaring May 2025 as Historic Preservation Month. Presented by C.J. Idol, Chair of the Historic Resources Commission. He highlighted the commission's work including certified local government grants for historic Bethabara repairs, the local landmark program, and the historic signs program. Approved unanimously (8-0).

Consent Calendar

The consent agenda contained 14 items and was approved unanimously (8-0) after Council Member Adams requested a summary. Items included:

  • Permanent financing for three Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) rental developments: Sage Pointe Apartments (60 units for families, North Ward), McClain Crossing (72 units for families, South Ward), and Tulip Commons at Old Vineyard (60 units for seniors, Southwest Ward) — totaling $4.965 million in gap financing.
  • Sale of city-owned lots with gap financing for single-family homes: C2 Contracting (5 lots, $175,000, East Ward), Denton Construction (10 lots, $350,000, East and Southeast Wards), and Switzer Homes (7 lots, $195,000, East, North, and Northeast Wards).
  • Directive to file preliminary assessment roll for demolition of an unsafe nonresidential building, with a public hearing set for June 2, 2025.
  • Approval of prequalification process and criteria for Historic Bethabara construction projects.
  • Contract with Ricoh USA for managed print services, mail delivery, and network printer support.
  • Budget ordinance amendments for FY 2024-2025.
  • Appointments: Opal Juneau to Tourism Development Authority (term expires October 2027), Janna Bailey to City-County Planning Board (term expires February 2026), and Tara Brown and Ronald C. Frazier to Community Sustainability Program Committee (terms expire May 2026 and 2027, respectively).
  • Approval of minutes from April 21, 2025, as amended by Council Member Hall to correct a seconder on a motion.

Prior to the vote, Director of Neighborhood Services Shantell McClam noted that the three rental projects have rent schedules below HUD requirements and the developers are present in support.

Public Hearing and General Agenda

  • G-1: Public hearing on a petition to close and abandon a portion of Flag Street (East Ward). No members of the public spoke. Motion to approve carried unanimously (8-0).
  • G-2: Resolution authorizing conveyance of 2220 East 24th Street to Michael Gantt for $140,000 as his primary residence. The home was rehabbed under a city pilot program at a total cost of $65,955. The property is subject to a 15-year affordability period requiring resale to income-eligible buyers at appraisal value if sold early. Approved unanimously (8-0).

Other Business

  • Firefighters Association Comments: Ashton Parrinello, President of the Winston-Salem Firefighters Association (Local 682), spoke about concerns regarding proposed cuts to sick and vacation time benefits. He stated that the fire department is about 7% below neighboring municipalities in benefits, and cuts would harm recruitment and retention. He noted the department burns an average of one structure fire every 36 hours. He urged the council to make the fire department a destination department.
  • Council Member Scott Andree-Bowen announced a park cleanup at Bolton Park on Saturday, May 10, at 10 AM.

Key Outcomes

  • All votes were unanimous (8-0).
  • Approved Historic Preservation Month recognition for May 2025.
  • Approved over 190 units of affordable rental housing and 22 lots for single-family homes with gap financing and affordability restrictions.
  • Authorized street closure and property conveyance for affordable housing.
  • The meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem. It's my pleasure to call into order this May 5th meeting of the Winston Satan City Council and ask the city clerk to call the roll, please. Councilmember joyner, present. Councilmember Clark. Here. Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Here. Councilmember Scipio present. Mayor Pro Tim Adams. Councilmember Taylor. Present. Councilmember Hall. Present. And Councilmember Burke. Here. Thank you very much. Would you please join the City Council with me in a moment of silence? Thank you very much. Would you join the City Council and meeting the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. One nation under God. Liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. We'll recognize our Sergeant at Arms tonight. It's Lieutenant Victoria. Help me with the last day. Arms. Thank you, Lieutenant, for being here. And our fire marshal tonight is Micah Bodford. Michael, thank you for being with us tonight as well. Let me recognize our city manager, please, for his uh update. Uh thank you, uh Mayor. Uh several items tonight, but first let me uh introduce you to our new marketing and communications uh director, uh Deborah Clark. Uh she's Ms. Clark is over 20 years of experience working in marketing and communications for public and private organizations. She served in that capacity for a variety of local governments, including the City of Greenville, the City of Concord, Charlotte Housing Authority, and the Charlotte Area Transit System. She was most recently the external communications supervisor for electoral cities. And we're looking forward to having her lead our internal and external communications efforts. I'm I I get you come up to the to the podium and I I offered her a chance to say a few words to very good. Thank you, Mr. Manager. Uh Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, and Council members, thank you for the opportunity for um accepting this position with the City of Winston Salem. I'm looking very forward to telling the story, the great story of all the things that Winston Salem offers to the community, the residents, and our key stakeholders and those who come to enjoy everything about the city. So thank you very much for this opportunity. I look forward to working with each and every one of you in the future. Welcome aboard. Thank you. Um as um uh several of you know, um several of us are down at the North Carolina League of Municipalities uh City Vision uh conference this past uh week, and one of the things that we looked at was a variety of or taught about a variety of bills that are going through the General Assembly. So just a couple of things I wanted to highlight uh for council uh of areas that we're paying particular attention to.

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