Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan was re-elected in a November landslide. She becomes the city's first two-term mayor since 2007.
Neal Charnoff sat down with Mayor Vaughan in WFDD's studios to talk about what she hopes to accomplish in the next two years. The conversation touches on the Greensboro Police Department, General Assembly redistricting, economic development, and food insecurity.
Interview highlights:
On a recent New York Times article alleging racial disparity in traffic stops by the police department:
"I believe that our police department, in conjunction with community groups, that we're going to come up with a good solution moving forward to have better police-community relations, and that we hope a year from now we're going to be on the front page of The New York Times showing that we were able to solve this very important issue."
On lawmakers attempting to gain local control of Greensboro redistricting and the role of the mayor:
"I was very surprised that it happened in the city of Greensboro because nobody had complained that our form of government wasn't working [with the current City Council configuration]... when a neighborhood or somebody comes before the City Council with a concern, they get to know that they control the vote of a majority of the City Council. I think going to this new form of government really waters down accountability and transparency."
On The Guilford County Economic Development Alliance:
"We're going to look at economic development from a regional approach. We are not going to compete against High Point. We know if somebody locates in High Point, it's good for Greensboro. Conversely if someone locates in Greensboro it's good for High Point. We want to show the state and people that are coming in that we are united in economic development."
On the high rate of food insecurity in Greensboro:
"I think we've really stepped-up to try to figure out what we can do to address food insecurity. We changed our ordinances so we can have urban farms within the city, and I think you'll see similar things like that happen over the next two years."
On challenges facing the city:
"We have issues that are coming down from the Legislature that I don't think have really taken into consideration what is happening to the urban centers. So that is a story that is out there. I think we as a city, the city of Greensboro, we have to do a better job of telling our story."