District 1 community meeting
Greensboro City Council member Dianne Bellamy-Small hosted a community forum Saturday morning at Barber Park, though she wasn't the one doing most of the talking or answering most of the questions.
Joined by a host of city staff - including City Manager Mitchell Johnson, both assistant city managers, the police and fire chiefs and several other staffers - Bellamy-Small let the staff answer many of the questions from the several dozen people in attendance.
One of the things she asked Johnson after his hiring last year was to make the city's management staff more visible in the community.
"We have the folks here to answer your questions," she said.
And as questions were asked on topics ranging from street lights to abandoned housing, city staffers came to the microphone to answer and then frequently went into the audience to get more information from their questioners.
Bellamy-Small also laid out some of what she wants to see in District 1, including grocery stores and other amenities like movie theaters. She's also working with Assistant City Manager Ben Brown to develop a five-year strategic plan to guide the district's development.
She also encouraged residents to organize themselves by neighborhood, to form neighborhood watches and make themselves heard by speaking at City Council meetings.
"We need to hear your voices," she said.