The Winston-Salem Finance Committee met on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 4:00 PM, chaired by Council Member Robert C. Clark. Members present: Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams, Council Members Annette Scippio and James Taylor Jr. Also in attendance were Mayor Joines and Council Member Burke. The committee reviewed four consent items, with one removed for discussion. The agenda also included an update on the DRIVE program, a lease agreement for a DIY skate park, and the sale of shelter structures at Liberty Street Park. The meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.
Dr. Kena Cofield Jones, Director of Human Resources, presented the contract extension. Mayor Pro Tempore Adams expressed concern about the lack of detailed information regarding temporary employee numbers, departmental breakdowns, and average length of employment. She noted that in FY25-26, the city hired 1,012 temporary workers, with 617 assigned to the fairgrounds. She requested additional data be provided by email before the next meeting and indicated she would not vote without it. Council Member Scippio asked whether any temporary employees receive benefits and about the cost savings of using temps versus hiring staff. Council Member Burke reported that temps at Evergreen Cemetery lacked necessary skills to complete required work and stressed the need to ensure the contractor provides qualified personnel. The item was held without a vote, pending more information.
District Attorney Jim O'Neill, Assistant District Attorney Jane Garrity, Program Director Veronica Nesbit, and Legal Assistant Tre'Quan David presented an update on the Driver's Restoration Initiative and Vocational Expansion (DRIVE) program. The program assists Forsyth County residents who have had their driver's licenses suspended for reasons other than DWI or pending felonies. Since its launch, the program has helped restore licenses by dismissing court fees and failures to appear. In the 25-26 fiscal year, 559 cases were dismissed and 520 failures to appear were struck. The September 2026 session includes 25 participants, with 107 failure-to-appear cases to be dismissed and an estimated $30,000 in fines to be vacated. The program is funded through one-time city appropriations totaling roughly $175,000 annually, with a requested increase to a little over $200,000. Existing funding will expire in November 2026. The presenters emphasized the program's success and its replication across the state, urging continued city support. No action was taken, as this was an information item.
Assistant City Manager Ben Rowe presented a resolution to lease city-owned property (nine parcels totaling 0.6 acres, bounded by 7th, 8th, Spruce, and Marshall Streets) to Colab, Inc., a nonprofit, for the development of a do-it-yourself (DIY) skate park. The proposed lease has a base term of 10 years with an option for a 10-year extension at an annual rate of $12. Colab would be responsible for fundraising, construction, operation, and maintenance, and would indemnify the city against liability. Brian Ledbetter and Jerry Cooper, community organizers, spoke about the park's benefits: providing a safe space for youth, promoting physical activity, and offering an alternative to organized sports. They noted over 1,700 residents signed a petition supporting the project. Council members voiced support, with Mayor Pro Tempore Adams highlighting the need for innovative youth activities. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval, referring the matter to the full City Council on October 5, 2026.
Ben Rowe presented a resolution to declare the two shelter structures at Liberty Street Park as surplus and authorize their sale by public auction. The structures (one open-air, one conditioned) were built in 2013 as part of a vendor market, later rebranded as Liberty Street Urban Farmers Market. The original cost was $395,000; the current depreciated value is $284,000. The city intends to clear the site for future redevelopment, including a community center requested by residents of the adjacent Choice Neighborhood. A company will oversee the auction, with a minimum bid likely set. If the structures do not sell, the city may need to consider demolition or relocation, which would require additional council approval. Council Member Clark abstained, expressing concern about the loss of the investment. Council Members Adams and Burke emphasized that the community had asked for a community center and that the structures were underutilized. The committee recommended approval (3 in favor, 1 abstention) and referred the item to the City Council on October 5, 2026.
Imposso not take home take me home take me on to me if muscle not take home take me home story by my past and future has a bow to kiss her I don't give you life ball for his glass let you make your monographs chandeliers and crazy cars paid for with my time wake up in your car champagne from the back me back give me gone feel me in waste my life all the time and check out your view breaking hops round this town making fools of all you clowns raises it my life a beam the life of which you never see up in your car from the waste my life all the time you're watching WSTV digital media just do a refresh one of these I did two coffee now do you do it all right see three we ready I'll call to order the what month we in September Finance Committee meeting thank everybody for being here today we do have a fairly full agenda so we will get going as always we will do the consent agenda first are there any items anyone would want pull and Miss Adams would like C three pull or the any others can I get a second second second we have a motion to second approved the balance of the consent agenda all in favor say aye any opposed likewise we will now read the city clerk will please read C three Item C three resolution awarding contract extension for temporary staffing services to the resource company estimated amount of three point five million Miss Adams yes thank you very much uh yesterday in general government we had a pretty long living discussion about our parts and recreation center and uh the staffing uh was also mentioned there Likewise. We will now read the city clerk will please read C three. Item C three resolution awarding contract extension for temporary staffing services to the resource company. Estimated amount of 3.5 million. Ms. Adams. Yes, thank you very much. Yesterday in general government, we had a pretty long lengthy discussion about our parks and recreation center and uh the staffing. Uh it was also mentioned that we use temporary uh services to help staff, not just parks and recs, but sanitation, the cemeteries and vegetation and on and on. Uh my question is okay, with this, there were questions asked that could not be answered. That's they told us they would have to get the information to us. But my concern is again goes back to what we were talking about yesterday, and I sent the email this morning uh asking what is the number of temporary employees with the city, what is the breakdown of the temporary employees by department, and what is the average length of time of our employees working. And I also made a comment in my email that you know, in the world we live in now in the new world of work, we may have to look at how we onboard and hire people and how we market getting jobs out, and without the council knowing how many open spots and temporary physicians that we have, we have again no idea of what we have. So, my thing is with this contract, how long have we had it? I read the car, but again, my my concern is 3.5 million dollars. Where are we spending that money at? How many? Wow. Great question, Mayor Partem. I'm gonna defer to Dr. Jones to give you some numbers on that. I have some dollar figures, but afternoon. Good afternoon. Um, so the information that uh we were able to provide at this point over this is from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. So last fiscal year, there was a total of 1,012 temporary workers hired. Um, and that number may seem high, however, more than half, 617 were for the fairgrounds. So that was during um during the fair and all of those events that take place there. So when you subtract that number out, it's about just 400, a little under 400. So that's the total number. Um they range from outside of the fairgrounds, it ranges from and leaf collection had 79 during that particular seasonal event. Um, it ranges from one to about 60 persons for various projects. Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate that information, but that is really not enough information for me. I don't know about my peers, but uh when we ask again, when we are brought these cars and these things that we're to vote on, when we're not given enough information, I I mean, and we do this all the time, but it's getting kind of tiring now for me, that we're gonna ask the council to vote on 3.5 million dollars, and we just passed a budget uh in June, and we have no clue any of us could not tell you how many employees we have at this point that are full-time, part-time. I mean, we see the graft that we get uh in the budget, but it makes me wonder if it's real numbers. And and I'm not saying again anybody is trying to do anything, but I I have to know because my citizens that they they expect us to know, and this again, when we put these carts together that we're supposed to vote on, and we're not given enough information or information ahead of time, so we can't. I I could ask this question uh Thursday probably or Friday, but again, I went back and reread and opened it, and I was looking for an attachment that gave me a chart that would have given me a chart that told me the city of Winston Hayes Salem has how many employees total do we claim we have? What's the number? 2400 roughly. Yeah, I'm sorry, I was a little confused. Are you talking about employees or the temporary? I'm talking about employees total. When we tell people the city has X amount of employees, how many is that right now? It's about 2500. 2500. Of the 2500, none of those are temporary. No. Okay. Again, so we're really talking about with add-ons.