'The Office,' Greensboro branch
As I was trying to understand Greensboro City Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small's strange but true recent tantrum over not getting her desired corner office at City Hall, I couldn't help but think of the NBC's superb, dry-witted sitcom "The Office."
Only this was real.
As Inside Scoop reported, Bellamy-Small refused, angrily, to draw lots for council office spaces. She wanted a certain corner office, period, she said, end of story. Even when Tom Phillips surrendered his lot to grant her desired choice, she wasn't happy. She wanted the other corner office.
Bellamy-Small remains an enigma among council members, distant and volatile and hard to talk to.
I have had contact with Bellamy-Small for a number of years and don't remember her always having such a short fuse.
I first met her when she was a community columnist and state youth advisor of the NAACP, more than 25 years ago.
She was smart (apparently still is) and pleasant in those days, as I recall.
Now she has been involved in a string of incidents that raise questions about her temperament and judgment:
The RMA report leak, which she attributes to someone stealing her report.
The refusal to participate in weekly City Council press conferences. (Maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise; she rarely talks to reporters.)
Her tardiness with tax payments.
She is an odd mixture of extrovert and introvert, a singer with a strong voice, a performer, author and storyteller, a conductor of workshops for women and a vigorous promoter of ... herself. But at the same time she is painfully guarded and seems intent on building a thick, high wall around herself.
Seh barely beat challenger Luther Falls in the last District 1 election. Falls appears hell-bent on running again.
Bellamy-Small appears hell-bent on making it easier for him.
Comments (6)
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I agree, Allen. To me, she seems to be imploding.
I was a supporter of DBS during her first run for Council. I liked her (still do) and thought she was plugged in to her community and passionate about doing good things.
Now, she seems to have lost touch with what brought her to the dance.
I think the Don Vaughan question will just about seal her fate this go 'round - that is if she actually bothers to show up to get asked, "Name one of your accomplishments on Council during the last two years."
Posted on February 2, 2007 9:16 AM
Perhaps she may benefit from a stay at the Dot Kearns Correctional Facilty for the Politically Insane.
Posted on February 2, 2007 9:20 AM
A test of one's mettle and character happens not when things are at their best, but when they're difficult.
Dianne's character has been tested this year. The results of this test will surely be seen at the polls.
Posted on February 2, 2007 10:14 AM
Oh, and if the pictures on Sandy Carmany's blog are any indication, those "offices" were hardly worth the fight!
Posted on February 2, 2007 10:15 AM
The office snit was one of those small incidents that's infinitely revealing. Probably most of us could name one or two people--and probably no more--who could even conceivably act this way, and we classify those people as THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE. And you know what, we're right: only THAT KIND OF PERSON does THAT KIND OF THING.
Posted on February 2, 2007 2:53 PM
I was talking with someone at the break and did not even know what the slip of paper thrown on my pile of papers was. I did not know that Diane had refused to take a number. I had not been to City Hall in several days so I didn't know that she had requested the "corner".
When I asked what it was that I had, Florence told me to just say what number I had. It was l. When she passed the paper with the offices, I (maybe because there was something logical to me about the begining point or WHATEVER) I had my pen sitting on the spot. When this emotional outburst occurred, I wrote my name. I did it out of principal...out of the fact that Diane is usually trying to isolate herself as much as possible from all of us ....and that this would be another way to do that...also for the fact that I value my life and all the people at the table around me were saying that they would kill me if I gave it up.
Truly, if the selection had been played out. I would have been happy to approach Diane and tell her that if she wanted to swap, I would be happy to do so.
This is sort of a no win situation. I want for Diane not to feel so defensive and to be a part of the team. I also want Nicholas to have all A's on his report card this period...and for us to have World peace.
Posted on February 5, 2007 9:21 PM