In service of the Guilford for All People’s Platform that declares a new vision of our County and reflects the hopes and dreams of everyday people, we are excited to announce the first set of 2022 Greensboro City Council candidates that our members have voted to endorse. That said, not everyone who filled out our survey and had an interview with our organization received an endorsement from Guilford for All. We know that running for public office takes courage and want to acknowledge that even if we are not endorsing them.
It matters who leads our City and County. In 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, the majority of our County Commission decided to continue underfunding our schools by passing a $300 million dollar school bond, less than 20% of the funding that Guilford County Schools actually needed to repair our school buildings as our students experienced no heat or air conditioning, moldy buildings, and more. That year, Guilford for All endorsed candidates like Mary Beth Murphy and Carly Cooke, and flipped the balance of power on the Board of Commissioners. This year Mary Beth and Carly were a part of the voting majority that put the full $1.7 billion school bond that is urgently needed on the ballot this fall.
Lastly, we are grateful to all of our members and leaders who led us through this endorsement process and reviewed survey responses, lead political education sessions, interviewed candidates, or voting on the proposed endorsements.
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Guilford for All Endorses:
For the City of Greensboro:
Cecile Crawford for City Council District 2, Greensboro
Cecile Crawford is a long-time member of Guilford for All and resident of southeast Greensboro is ready to fight for any point on our platform. After surviving cancer and navigating Greensboro’s social safety net as a single mother, she believes that too much of our local policy is geared to help the rich get richer instead of prioritizing working families, especially on the predominantly Black East side of town. She wants to create an eviction defense fund, create social housing, get rid of some of the barriers low-income homebuyers face in using the city’s current homebuying program, that uses homes in disrepair for affordable housing. Community safety is a priority, she would like to see the police focus on the violence and not on things that should not be criminalized, like mental health crises and addiction.
Tammi Thurm for City Council District 5, Greensboro
Tammi Thurm spearheaded the effort on City Council to require police officers to get our written consent if they are going to search us without cause. While that effort lost, she followed through on what she would say she would do, even after encountering resistance. We believe it’s important for our elected leaders to keep their word and fight to make Greensboro a better place for those of us who live here.
Franca Jalloh for City Council At-Large, Greensboro
Franca Jalloh, an immigrant from Sierra Leone, leads a company which serves low-income immigrants in need of immigration assistance, employment, and social services. She is moved by the need for safe housing, aiming to hold bad landlords accountable, and incentivize good landlords. She advocated at City Council for 18 Latinx Hiatt Street families at risk of displacement, would ask police to reallocate their funds to work with the resources they have, and also supports a more equitable pay plan for city employees.
Yvonne Johnson for City Council At-Large, Greensboro
Yvonne Johnson, served as Greensboro’s first Black mayor and is our current Mayor Pro Tem. She is a steady vote for workers, supporting the step pay plan for city workers and an early adopter of $15 per hour, and is willing to move to $22 per hour (the local self sufficiency wage for 1 parent and 1 child). She is in favor of laws to reduce police violence in addition to taking a range of actions to reduce gun violence in our city. She supports settling the Marcus Smith case at an amount respectful of the family, has a track record of organizing around affordable housing, and supports requiring new developments to set aside a percentage of below-market rate housing in addition to using city properties for more affordable housing.
Tracy Furman for City Council At-Large, Greensboro
Tracy Furman has a background of small business advocacy. She had strong policy alignment, and was willing to forward most of our platform. Championing ideas like encouraging small businesses to move into long-vacant buildings needing renovation and not charging them property tax for five years to make updates. She is very interested in permanent supportive housing, creating more affordable housing and in ending the militarized training of police. She also wants to prevent housing from being condemned and instead wants the city to help people maintain and stay in their older homes.
For Guilford County
The Full $1.7B School Bond and the Sales Tax
We believe in fully funded and resourced schools for everyone who calls Guilford County home. One part of that is making sure our facilities have the resources that they need to be safe places where children can have the access to powerful educational opportunities regardless of their families’ income. We endorse the full $1.7B school bond and the fraction of penny sales tax and encourage people to vote YES on both.
Brenton Boyce for District Attorney
Brenton Boyce is running to be the District Attorney, and wants to make our communities safer by addressing violence, instead of locking people up for minor non-violent offenses. He sees too many people locked out of jobs and educational opportunities and wants to help people who need to rebuild their lives after being incarcerated.
Lu-Ann Wilkinson for Clerk of Court
Lu-Ann Wilkinson wants to make the Clerk of Court’s office work better for everyday people who are not attorneys, by having extended hours for people to pay court fines, making it easier for people to make phone calls from the courthouse to get childcare and transportation, and having staff who speak different languages in the Clerk of Court’s office. She is an advocate for survivors of Domestic Violence.
Therron “TJ” Phipps for Guilford County Sheriff
Therron “TJ” Phipps will be a sheriff who will prioritize fairness, racial equity, engaging with the community, and keeping us safe. He is a career law enforcement officer who wants to use his years of experience to lead the department more effectively. He wants to partner with community organizations and local government to address problems at the root.