Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed a truth and reconciliation commission modeled after ones established in Greensboro and in South Africa during comments at Georgetown University on Feb. 9. A Mississippi Truth and Reconciliation Project, partly modeled on the Greensboro commission, was recently launched, but official Greensboro never officially embraced the truth commission here. The commission envisioned by Leahy would examine the misdeeds of the Bush administration.
“One path to that goal would be a reconciliation process and a truth commission,” said Leahy, a former prosecutor. “We could develop and authorize a person or group universally recognized as fair minded, and without axes to grind. Their straightforward mission would be to find truth. People would be invited to come forward and
share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments, but to assemble the facts. If needed, such a process could involve subpoena powers, and even the authority to obtain immunity from prosecutions in order to get to the whole truth.” Leahy directly referenced Greensboro in his remarks, arguing that Americans’ ability to come together to tackle the current crisis “is no more improbable than the truth that came to light and laid the foundation for reconciliation in South Africa, or in Greensboro, North Carolina.” — JG
Young Democrats look to recruit
Frank Eaton has a clear vision for the future, and it includes young Forsyth County citizens running for local, state and national offices. Eaton, president of the Forsyth County Young Democrats, has issued a call for youthful candidates to toss their hat in the political ring beginning with the 2009 municipal elections. The 2009 municipal elections represent the first opportunity for “the movement” that elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States to make its voice heard on the local level, Eaton said. “The lessons we’ve learned are fresh and our perspective on the community renewed by the experiences we’ve had with voters in the precincts of Winston-Salem,” Eaton said in a videotaped message on the Young Democrats’ website. Eaton said the Young Democrats have enlisted the aid of Tara Orris, one of five Obama campaign field organizers, to “professionalize the chapter and build a rolling campaign.” Winston- Salem City Councilman Dan Besse, 54, is the youngest Democrat on the council, Eaton said, which underscores the need for infusion of new energy and new ideas.
“Forsyth County faces a quiet crisis as its elected leadership ages,” Eaton said. — KTB
Votes for stimulus bill fall along party lines
The US House of Representatives passed President Obama’s $787
billion economic stimulus plan on Feb. 13 by a vote of 246- 183. Hours
later, the Senate passed the bill, known as the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, by a 60-38 margin.
Votes fell along party lines in the House. Democrats gained the votes of three Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, to secure a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) voted against the bill, while Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) voted in favor of the measure. North Carolina’s House delegation voted in similar fashion. Republican Howard Coble, who
represents the 6th Congressional District, said he voted against the
bill because it would not “jump start” the American economy. “Most of
this new spending will be in later years and the tax cuts are not broad
enough to lift us out of this recession. We are burdening future
generations with a massive debt,” Coble said. Democrat Brad Miller, who represents the 13th District, hailed the bill as the first step toward turning the American economy around. — KTB
Complaint review committee changes
A majority of the Greensboro
City Council signaled their disapproval with a police review board with
subpoena power, but city staff has looked into ways of strengthening
Greensboro’s current complaint review committee. Human Relations
Director Anthony Wade presented a new proposed model on Feb. 9
that would give the committee access to “personnel information
regarding officers’ records of complaints, when reviewing a case that
involves them,” authority to initiate its own investigations into
officer conduct, whether or not a citizen filed a formal complaint, and
subpoena power for calling citizens as witnesses.
The draft
states that the police officers can already be compelled to appear
before the committee, but Citizen Review Committee Chairman Wayne Abraham said
in an interview that in his years on the committee he cannot recall
that it has ever done so. The new proposed model would also give the
committee the ability to review outside documentary materials such as
YouTube videos and newspaper articles instead of relying solely on
written complaints and police records. Wade said the complaint review
committee currently is currently reviewing eight complaints, and has
closed 25 cases since 2005. Of those, three cases were referred to the
city manager because the complaint review committee did not concur with
the police department. In two out of the three cases, the manager sided
with the complaint review committee against the police. — JG
Business advocates target Sen. Hagan
Rep. Howard Coble was scheduled to speak at a reception hosted by Americans for Prosperity for a new campaign to defeat union card-check legislation at the Greensboro Historical Museum on Monday. The pro-business group was honoring Coble on Monday, and US Sen. Richard Burr on Tuesday at a similar event in Raleigh for their opposition to legislation that would help labor unions organize more workplaces by allowing them to represent shops simply by having
a majority of employees sign cards rather than winning a majority vote in a secretballot election. Americans for Prosperity noted in a press release that the “Save My Ballot nationwide tour was to kick off in Greensboro — “the home of Senator Kay Hagan, whose vote on card-check legislation is viewed as critical in the US Senate.” — JG
City council extends deadline for Silk Plant Forest committee
The Winston-Salem City Council passed a resolution extending the deadline for the final report of the Silk Plant Forest Citizen Review Committee from March 17 to June 30 during the council’s regular meeting on Feb. 16. City Attorney Angela Carmon addressed the major roadblock the committee has faced in compiling its final report. A motion filed with the court last week to compel DR Williams, the lead investigator in the case, to respond to the city’s subpoena could drag on well past the June 30 deadline, Carmon said. Council member Dan Besse expressed his hope the committee could obtain the testimony of Williams and Kalvin Michael Smith, the man convicted of the Marker assault by a Forsyth County jury in 1997, and include their interviews in its final report. Council member Wanda Merschel cast the lone dissenting vote, saying the committee should compose its report by March 17 and file an addendum with Williams’ testimony at a later date. Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Burke emphasized it was never the committee’s purpose to investigate Smith’s guilt or innocence. “We are not the justice system,” she said. “We are the city council.” — KTB
