OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting: March 23, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, March 23, 2026
BodyWinston Salem, North Carolina
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, March 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:20:47

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Good evening, everyone.

0:03

I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem.

0:05

It's my pleasure to call to order this March 23rd meeting of the Winston Salem City Council.

0:09

And ask the city clerk to call the role, please.

0:12

Councilmember Joyner.

0:13

President Councilmember Clark.

0:15

Councilmember Andrew Bowen.

0:17

Councilmember Scipio.

0:18

Mayor Perthem Adams.

0:20

Councilmember Taylor.

0:21

Councilmember Hall.

0:22

President.

0:23

And Councilmember Burke.

0:25

Thank you very much.

0:26

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

0:40

Thank you.

0:41

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

0:47

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:51

And we stand up.

1:03

Thank you.

1:07

Thank you for being with us tonight.

1:08

And our fire marshal for tonight is Fire Marshal Quincy Jackson.

1:11

Thank you for being with us as well.

1:13

Mayor.

1:14

We were totalized that it's meeting live tonight on TV 13.

1:17

And the city's YouTube page.

1:20

And it will be replayed tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

1:22

and again Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

1:26

So with the tomorrow it's a Wednesday morning.

1:33

The previous meetings are always available online.

1:35

Go to the city's website and just click on the watch meetings online option.

1:44

Thank you, Mayor.

1:47

One just to let the public know we did this past week.

1:51

We were able to attend the National League of Cities meeting in Washington, D.C.

1:55

with Mayor Britann Adams, Councilmember Andre Bowen, Park, and Joyner.

2:00

Assistant City Manager Dr.

2:01

Rylanier also joined us and Dr.

2:04

Shaley Miller, our intergovernmental affairs directors.

2:07

We were able to visit with our U.S.

2:10

representatives at Harriet and with the briefly with uh Representative McDowell as well as members of their staffs.

2:18

And also had the opportunity to meet with uh Senator Tillis and Senator Buddh and their staff members uh as well uh to find out on the federal side what was what we thought would be impacting us and how we could help them better provide services to our community.

2:35

Uh as you're aware, Senator Tillis announces return at the end of this term, and so uh Councilmember uh Audrey Boyman did uh attend a joint city's sessions with him where he was able to address the senator and express uh on behalf of the city our appreciation for what he had been able to do for us as uh in Winston Salem.

2:55

Uh also as a reminder of the council we will be doing the same thing with our state legislative group starting this uh with a Friday morning uh breakfast with them uh this week.

3:07

A couple of recognitions.

3:09

One Assistant City Manager uh Chair Boyd recently completed her requirements for the International City County Manager's credential manager designation.

3:18

This is a multi-year process which requires them to do management assessments in 14 areas related to effective local government management and leadership.

3:27

It's a peer-reviewed credentialing program, meaning that all the local government professionals uh have reviewed and evaluated her portfolio deem her worthy of this honor.

3:38

So there's about 15 uh hundred ICMA members who actually have this designation at this time, um, including myself and ACM uh Dr.

3:49

White Lanier.

3:51

As part of this uh for all of us and in our office, we all adhere to the organization's ICMA's code of ethics, and our we commit to additional hours of professional development annually.

4:03

Another recognition is this past weekend, two of our city employees were recipients of the annual Winston-Salem Ambassadors Everyday Award.

4:12

Sure Floyd and our neighborhood services uh department and Andy Shabbat and our keep as a part of Key Winston Salem Beautiful as part of our sustainability uh office.

4:23

Ms.

4:23

Foley was nominated for her work as a housing programs manager, which includes connecting individuals and families experiencing homeless, experiencing housing instability with resources that help them move towards stability.

4:37

And she's very passionate about that work.

4:40

Uh Ms.

4:40

Sabat was nominated for her dedication in protecting the city's natural spaces and helping residents take pride in keeping Winston Salem clean and beautiful.

4:49

And we're going to be doing some additional efforts on that in this upcoming year.

4:52

And if you're out on our website, you can see uh uh Ms.

5:00

Sabat on all kinds of videos showing residents how to how to keep our community better looking.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Housing Justice████████████████████20%
Procedural██████████████14%
Transportation Safety██████████████14%
Active Transportation███████████11%
Fiscal Sustainability███████████11%
Economic Development██████6%
Affordable Housing████4%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Disability Rights███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Winston-Salem City Council Meeting: March 23, 2026

The Winston-Salem City Council met on March 23, 2026, at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting covered consent agenda items, public hearings on zoning and transit, bond approvals, and public comments on housing, transit, and parking. All consent and general agenda items were approved unanimously (8-0).

Consent Calendar

  • Approved amendments to Chapter 46 of the City Code relating to noise (second reading).
  • Approved a public hearing date (April 20, 2026) for annexation of Brookberry Farm Phase 9, Lot 650.
  • Approved Mayor Allen Joines' reappointment to the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority (term through June 2029).
  • Approved Brenda Fullmore's reappointment to the Community Appearance Commission (term through February 2029).
  • Approved the summary of minutes from March 2, 2026.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • WSTA Route Changes (Public Hearing): Eight speakers expressed support for proposed transit network changes, citing economic mobility, reduced commute times, and fiscal responsibility. Jennifer Kent (Crystal Towers resident, blind) supported changes but raised concerns about sidewalk accessibility, TransAid difficulties, and neglect of the Southeast area. Olivia Doyle requested multilingual outreach (Spanish, French) for affected communities.
  • Public Comment Period (12 speakers):
    • Michael Rominger criticized the new app-based parking mandate downtown, calling it confusing and harmful to local businesses.
    • Cynthia Herson, Coleen Rhody, Samuel Grier, Gwendolyn Hay, Jennifer Kent, and Carol Sabbagh (all Crystal Towers residents) detailed poor living conditions, lack of transparent relocation plans, retaliation by management (Aspire), and fears of homelessness. Gwendolyn Hay (age 81) asked for clear timing of renovations or demolition.
    • Melvyn Brown raised issues with TransAid responsiveness and a hazardous sinkhole on Thurman Street.
    • Matthew Mayers suggested the city present public data on energy savings from LED streetlights, EVs, and solar panels.
    • Miranda Jones and Olivia Doyle (Hate Out Winston) demanded a full public breakdown of the SOAR program budget, citing only four graduates in the last cycle, and requested a meeting regarding treatment of youth at recreation centers.
    • Marilyn Mendiola Lacunza (non-constituent from Mebane) urged immediate inspections, accountability for property owners at Crystal Towers, and better street lighting in South Winston.

Discussion Items

  • G-1 (Zoning W-3674 – S.G. Atkins CDC): Rezoning from RS9 to RM8-S (0.51 acres at Bloomfield Dr. and Wilbur St.) to allow co-housing for single mothers. Rasheeda Shankle (Honorable Youth, Inc.) described the nonprofit's project, funded since 2018.
  • G-2 (Zoning W-3675 – Sprout Ventures): Rezoning from LI to PB (0.23 acres on Brookstown Ave.) for unspecified uses.
  • G-3 (UDO-CC32 – Mechanically Stabilized Slopes): Text amendment to remove retaining wall height regulations from UDO, placing oversight with city/county engineering review.
  • G-4 (WSTA Route Changes): Director Jeff Fansler presented proposed changes: increasing frequency on eight routes from 60 to 30 minutes, discontinuing seven low-performing routes, adding two crosstown routes bypassing downtown, and introducing a potential microtransit pilot in the Southeast for ~$700,000. Councilmember Taylor noted staff would bring a Southeast microtransit option for the April 6 vote.
  • G-5 & G-6 (Bond Issuances): CFO Kelly Latham presented:
    • $10.44 million in two-thirds general obligation bonds (Series 2026 A & B) for streets, sidewalks, parks, public safety, facilities, and housing.
    • $37.8 million in refunding bonds (Series 2026 C) – contingent on market rates; current estimates show savings below city policy.
    • $80 million in water and sewer revenue refunding bonds (2016 bonds) – still favorable.

Key Outcomes

  • G-1 (W-3674): Approved 8-0 (Councilmember Scippio requested information on Honorable Youth, Inc.).
  • G-2 (W-3675): Approved 8-0.
  • G-3 (UDO-CC32): Approved 8-0, with a corrected restated motion for the Statement of Consistency.
  • G-5(a) & (b): Approved resolutions for bond facts and public hearing notice (8-0). Public hearing set for April 6, 2026.
  • G-6: Approved bond order for water and sewer refunding bonds (8-0); no public hearing required.
  • Mayor/Council comments included praise for the WSTA plan (Councilmember Adams, Councilmember Andree-Bowen) and a reminder that the final vote on WSTA changes will occur April 6, 2026.
  • Public comment period adjourned after 30 minutes; all items listed were heard.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. I'm Alan Joins, Mayor of Winston Salem. It's my pleasure to call to order this March 23rd meeting of the Winston Salem City Council. And ask the city clerk to call the role, please. Councilmember Joyner. President Councilmember Clark. Councilmember Andrew Bowen. Councilmember Scipio. Mayor Perthem Adams. Councilmember Taylor. Councilmember Hall. President. And Councilmember Burke. Thank you very much. Would you please join the City Council meeting in a moment of silence? Thank you. Would you please join the City Council meeting the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And we stand up. Thank you. Thank you for being with us tonight. And our fire marshal for tonight is Fire Marshal Quincy Jackson. Thank you for being with us as well. Mayor. We were totalized that it's meeting live tonight on TV 13. And the city's YouTube page. And it will be replayed tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. and again Wednesday night at 9 p.m. So with the tomorrow it's a Wednesday morning. The previous meetings are always available online. Go to the city's website and just click on the watch meetings online option. Thank you, Mayor. One just to let the public know we did this past week. We were able to attend the National League of Cities meeting in Washington, D.C. with Mayor Britann Adams, Councilmember Andre Bowen, Park, and Joyner. Assistant City Manager Dr. Rylanier also joined us and Dr. Shaley Miller, our intergovernmental affairs directors. We were able to visit with our U.S. representatives at Harriet and with the briefly with uh Representative McDowell as well as members of their staffs. And also had the opportunity to meet with uh Senator Tillis and Senator Buddh and their staff members uh as well uh to find out on the federal side what was what we thought would be impacting us and how we could help them better provide services to our community. Uh as you're aware, Senator Tillis announces return at the end of this term, and so uh Councilmember uh Audrey Boyman did uh attend a joint city's sessions with him where he was able to address the senator and express uh on behalf of the city our appreciation for what he had been able to do for us as uh in Winston Salem. Uh also as a reminder of the council we will be doing the same thing with our state legislative group starting this uh with a Friday morning uh breakfast with them uh this week. A couple of recognitions. One Assistant City Manager uh Chair Boyd recently completed her requirements for the International City County Manager's credential manager designation. This is a multi-year process which requires them to do management assessments in 14 areas related to effective local government management and leadership. It's a peer-reviewed credentialing program, meaning that all the local government professionals uh have reviewed and evaluated her portfolio deem her worthy of this honor. So there's about 15 uh hundred ICMA members who actually have this designation at this time, um, including myself and ACM uh Dr. White Lanier. As part of this uh for all of us and in our office, we all adhere to the organization's ICMA's code of ethics, and our we commit to additional hours of professional development annually.

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