Such as it is, this is Dred’s Discussion, a look at HP city government from street level. Juneteenth was celebrated in HP at the old Brentwood Street School. Though several city and county officials participated the city did not officially support the event. Traffic and crowd control was handled by Guilford County Sheriff Department. The HP Enterprise published pictures of the recent demonstrations and marches as well as the Juneteenth celebration in the city showing participants wearing masks. The City Council has been juggling Budget items recently while the Mayor has remained quiet on PPE as other Triad Mayors have come out in favor of PPE. The HP Market Authority returned $300K to city coffers from its yearly budget, only receiving $700K from the city. Open Door Ministries closed the gate after the cows got out. After 8 residents tested positive for Covid-19 the facility was closed for deep cleaning and residents quarantined for 14 days. HP Police Chief Ken Shuliz retired in the midst of reform talks with City Council. Shultz told the committee ‘all 8 prniciples (of the reform initiative) have long been in the department’s general orders.” We wish he had said in the operating orders. Councilman Johnson contended with Chief Shultz on the subject of police substations in the city. Shultz stated substations did nothing to drive down crime in the past. “Nobody came to them.”, he said. Instead of officers sitting in the substation, allocate one patrol car for rapid response and determent and one bicycle for patrolling the community and familiarizing with residents. Council members praised Shultz’s handling of the protests and marches in the city but this writer believes it’s the organizers who deserve the praise. Shultz’s retirement garnered front page coverage as City Councilman Chris Williams lavished praise on Shultz’s performance as Chief. Statistics 101, you can make the numbers say what you want. The numbers do not reflect the reality of Shultz’s tenure. Community relations, particularly in the Black community, is at its lowest under Shultz. Ken Shultz refused to work with several local black organizations to reduce gun violence in our city. If Council Williams was more connected to the Black community he would know this. The fact that there was “no high-profile use-of-force controversies” can be attributed to the HP Enterprise lack of objective reporting. Also, Williams was part of the Council that approved the illegal appointment of Shultz as Chief. The city’s requirement that all departments heads reside in the city was totally ignored in appointing Shultz. Perhaps this gave Shultz a sense of, I can do what I please. I’m not sure who HPCAV Director Jim Summey is speaking of when he applies “us’ in his remarks. Or what partnerships he is talking about. Shultz’s retirement comes on the heels of Greg Demko’s resignation as City Manager, another controversial appointment by a past City Council. Mayor Jay Wagner has remained quite on Demko’s resignation, Shultz’s retirement, city protests and demonstrations, Covid-19 in the city, could it be he has not received his marching orders from his puppet masters? HP represented 26% of reported cases of Covid-19 in Guilford County and 27% of all county Covid-19 deaths. Where are our city leaders? The Covid-19 virus has presented city leaders, city non-profits, volunteers and citizens the opportunity to create unique and sustainable programs to deal with lack in our city. I have often said when you fill all boards with the same faces you get the same ideas or stagnation. Not only is change necessary in HP law enforcement but also in HP government, HP philanthropy, HP volunteerism, and HP citizens participation. As COVID-19 and BLM dominate the headlines, our mayor has been deafeningly silent. He is the only Triad mayor who has not made a statement pertaining to COVID-19 or BLM. A new state-of-the-art bookmobile arrived at the High Point Public Library to replace a vehicle that had served the community for almost 19 years. The project was supported by a state Library Services and Technology Act grant with matching funds provided by the city. The way police do their jobs has been a hot topic nationally, and High Point leaders are digging into the issue as well. Councilman Michael Holmes and Councilman Chris Williams spoke publicly on the subject recently. HPPD kept busy on the Fourth of July answering calls related to fireworks. Wesley Drive, Kroll Lane, Gavin Drive, Waynik Street, Walnut Street, and Green Drive got the most attention. An unnamed business is proposing to invest $65 million create 120 jobs in southwest HP. Until next time, such as it is, this is Dred’s Discussion.
Dred’s Discussion
