GREENE COUNTY
Jontavius Smith, 35, was sworn in at the Greensboro City Council meeting on Nov. 21 as the newest councilman on the seven-person board.
He won November’s election by a wide margin over second-time challenger to the seat, Jeff Lister. Smith is a Greensboro resident and owns and operates a small personal care home. This will be the second time Smith will serve on the council.
Smith was first elected in 2017 for a four-year term. He lost the second election to Morris Miller but now rejoins him on the dais following this election. He is credited with securing video recordings of city meetings.
“I am grateful to the voters for electing me,” Smith said. “I spent a lot of time knocking on doors to confirm votes and answering citizen concerns and questions. I expect to instill confidence in the city with our public. I worked hard to instill better relations with government officials and residents.”
Several key agenda items were discussed including a quick recap of business to date with Festival Hall. According to Nicole Chillemi, executive director, the hall has seen a resurgence in use year to date, generating 13,000 ticket sales and several bookings.
A $31,000 grant secured funds for the restoration of the 1939 historic building first used as Greensboro’s auditorium. Councilman Morris Miller asked that Chillemi and the city revisit rates to rent the facility to ensure its bookings and profitability.
The Meadowcrest Road extension needed for the new school was discussed by City Manager Larry Postell, who acknowledged that all supply chain issues were addressed. The Greensboro Board of Education, which recently won the renewal of ESPLOST, pledged $1.2 million toward the project. More than 8,000 feet of necessary piping lines will be installed.
A $100,000 budget adjustment was approved for the city’s efforts in securing a new finance manager for a total of $120,000 expected in salary for the position yet to be filled.
In what is becoming a standard feature of public comments, Greensboro resident Maria Wayne was applauded for making several requests last week.
She focused on the city to explain why it took out a $1.4 million loan on the old Greensboro BB&T bank building. According to the city, the old building will be refurbished and made the new facility for City Hall.
“An amount like this should have been voted on in a special referendum,” she said. “Where does it appear in a budget and where and when have the funds been allocated? It appears there has been significant wasteful spending by the council and very limited information exchange with the public. It really needs to stop and for the city to become more transparent to the citizens.”
Wayne had more concerns to address with the city’s Economic Development team, Kendrick Ward and Cail Hammonds, who she claims are difficult to work with and have not brought in any significant business to the downtown sector in some time.
“Where is it acceptable to give a $3,000 bonus to these employees who work part-time at a combined salary range of over $100,000? Our hard-working full-time law enforcement in the city make very little and only received a $1,000 bonus. Where is the logic there?”
Other public comments included the increased need for more accountability from the city with renewed efforts at posting all pertinent information on the city’s website, including council minutes and important notices regarding budget allocations, expenditures and improvements.
The Lake Oconee News has been submitted under the Open Records Act documents for documents supporting city grant requests and funding, targeted city projects, and use and documentation of all funds received for calendar years 2020-22.
City attorneys are working with the city to construct a formal request procedure, a timeline of expected completion and any associated costs to secure the information.
Further requests are expected of the city by the newspaper.