Jones elected chair of Guilford delegation
NC Rep. Earl Jones was elected chairman of the Guilford County legislative delegation by acclaim on Feb. 2, replacing fellow Democrat Maggie Jeffus. — JG
Protest petition bills filed
Legislation to restore the protest petition was filed in both houses of the General Assembly on Feb. 4. Both senators, Katie Dorsett and Don Vaughan, sponsored the legislation in the Senate. In the House, Reps. Pricey Harrison, Maggie Jeffus, Alma Adams and Laura Wiley sponsored the bill, and Rep. John Blust signed on as a cosponsor. Rep. Earl Jones was the lone holdout. “I think it might be somewhat of a conflict right now,” he told YES! Weekly. “I need to look at both sides of the issue. I think it would be a little premature to give everyone officially… I owe both sides a listening while I’m in session before I make a decision.” The House bill passed its first reading the day after it was filed. — JG
NC Senate appointments
NC Sen. President Pro Tem Marc Basnight. Predictably, Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth) was reappointed co-chair of the powerful Appropriations/Base Budget Committee.
Sen. Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford) was appointed vice-chair of Healthcare, Sen. Peter Brunstetter (R-Forsyth) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary I and freshman Sen. Don Vaughan (D-Guilford) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary II. Other appointments include Brunstetter to Appropriations/ Base Budget, Justice and Public Safety and Commerce, Healthcare; Garrou to Commerce, Education/Higher Education and Finance; Dorsett to Appropriations/Base Budget, Commerce, Judiciary II and Rules and Operations of the Senate; and Vaughan to Appropriations/Base Budget, Commerce and Transportation. — JG
Police review and civil service boards off table
The police review board and civil service board, twin reforms proposed by District 4 Councilman Mike Barber, died quiet deaths in a Greensboro City Council briefing on Monday night. District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade and at-large Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw, members of the council’s conservative bloc, voted in favor of requesting legislation from the NC General Assembly to amend the city charter to allow the creation of a police review board with subpoena power and a civil service board the power to discipline police officers, each of which would empower citizen panels to hear complaints and review misconduct allegations. Barber was absent. The council’s three black members — Mayor Yvonne Johnson, District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small and District 2 Councilwoman Goldie Wells — have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of subpoena power in the past even though many of their constituents have called for a police review board over the years. They joined the majority in voting the measure down. Others who voted no were Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat, atlarge Councilman Robbie Perkins and District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny. The vote at the briefing was nonbinding, and an official vote will be taken at the next meeting on Feb. 17. — JG
