By T. Dianne Bellamy Small

The following is a letter to the editor has been submitted by District 1 Greensboro City Council person T. Diane Bellamy Small. We believe in lieu of a story on this topic that it is most fitting to provide Council person Small with a forum where she can express herself directly to the people of Greensboro and her constituents in District 1.

After further careful consideration of my filing for Mayor of the City of Greensboro and more discussions with the constituents in District 1 and in Greensboro, I have decided I can strategically be more effective on the City Council as a part of a tactical team to bring sensibility back to city government by rescinding my filing for Mayor and becoming a candidate for District 1 for a fifth term. I have however received a lot of positive feedback for running for mayor and I thank the citizens for that support and ask for their support of my candidacy for District 1.

Let me be clear, I am as qualified as anyone running for mayor. To be mayor is just one way to lead. I choose to run for District 1 where I have been an effective representative for the past eight years. My influence as a member of the council is known and well regarded. I want to be a part of the greatest opportunity to have a positive and affective team on the city council to lead Greensboro forward to a fair and positive future. King stated in 1967, “And so we shall have to do more than register and more than vote; we shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have moral and ethical principles we can applaud with enthusiasm.” I will continue to do my best to be an effective voice on the council for the people. There are those who have and will say this was a ploy to get publicity. Those who know me know I don’t seek publicity for myself, but to focus on the issues. This municipal election has to be the issue for Greensboro if there is to be a change for the better.

The importance of this municipal election must be abundantly clear to voters of Greensboro. If the voters have truly been discouraged and disgusted with the leadership of the current council, there has to be other options in candidates who seek to be on the council and we cannot just accept that only one group, sex or race is capable of governing the City of Greensboro. Every seat has to be looked at and the new council needs to reflect respectful, responsive and responsible government for the people.

As mayor or the District 1 representative, I have one vote and my constituents want to have that vote counted. I have never intended to “abandon” District 1. I live, work and play in District 1. And I have fought and will fight for the greatest good for my District as well as the City of Greensboro. East Greensboro must engage itself in a more effective way at the polls and in the governing process. In November, 2009, the 11 percent and 15.5 percent voter turnout in Districts 1 and 2 were not good enough. We must vote discriminately and strategically to correct the autocratic behavior of the council for the last 2 years. Again, King said, “In the final analysis, if first-class citizenship is to become a reality for the Negro, he must assume the primary responsibility for making it so. The Negro must not be victimized with the delusion of thinking that others should be more concerned than himself about his citizenship rights.” And this relates to any group who has felt disenfranchised by the current city council.

By filing for a fifth term for District 1, I intend to be a part of a strategic team to reverse the negative impact of the current council. I am as entitled as anyone to reconsider and change a decision if I feel it will better serve the people I have represented and want to represent. I have not given up. I am still “unbossed and unbought”. Finally, I am a servant leader and I will always work as hard as I can to speak for the everyday folks of Greensboro. I am thankful to District 1 and the citizens of Greensboro for their continued support for me and ask for their votes in the upcoming elections. I ask the voters to mobilize, be informed and vote for best representation they can have on the Greensboro City Council.

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