Race, department head qualifications dominate contentious city council meeting
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on February 7, 2017 8:54 AM
Councilman Bevan Foster, District 4
Councilman Mark Stevens, District 3
Councilman Antonio Williams, District 1
City Manager Scott Stevens
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Mayor Chuck Allen
Police Chief Mike West
A heated exchange between several Goldsboro City Council members sent the board into closed session after the police chief was named during a social media policy discussion.
The council, which met Monday for a work session, planned to discuss personnel-related issues, including job hiring requirements, the duties of the city manager and acceptable behaviors of police officers.
At the start of the discussion, Councilman Antonio Williams asked Pamela Leake, interim human resources director, what rules define social media activity for city employees.
Councilman Mark Stevens interrupted the discussion.
"I'm tired of this stuff," Stevens said. "Just stop."
Stevens said the council needed to talk about job hiring requirements first.
The discussion comes on the heels of public concerns about Police Chief Mike West's recent social media activity on his personal Facebook page. A photo of West with President Trump's hair was added to his personal Facebook page, along with his comments, "Making Goldsboro PD Great Again."
Some residents and the Goldsboro/Wayne branch of the NAACP took offense to the photo. They say symbolizes a form of white supremacy. One NAACP leader said she views the wording more akin to "making America white again."
The NAACP branch is calling on city leaders to take disciplinary action against West. No action has been taken, since city employees are allowed freedom of speech rights on their personal social media sites.
The council discussed briefly city job descriptions. Mayor Pro Tem Bevan Foster said a college education should be mandated for department heads making anywhere from $77,000 to $120,000 a year. Foster said the city should replace the word "desirable" with "required" for education on job descriptions.
"I've never, ever filled out a job application that said desirable," Foster said. "It said required. As long as we accept mediocre workers, we're going to get mediocre workers."
Foster also raised the issue of requiring a college education for the police chief.
"Every police chief that I know has a master's," Foster said.
Mayor Chuck Allen suggested and the council agreed to have Leake check with other comparable cities in the region to find out their requirements for city employment. Leake said most jobs with the city of Goldsboro require education and related experience.
The council then moved back into its discussion about the rules and regulations for employee activity on social media. Williams also told West, who was at the meeting, that he could address the council during the discussion.
Within seconds, Allen said the council needed to go into closed session if West was pulled into the discussion.
Williams told Allen, "Don't tell me to hush," and a heated exchange involving Allen, Williams and Foster started.
"That is what this meeting is supposed to be about," Williams said. "I'm getting calls day and night because of something that our chief has done, and we need to get this resolved."
The council continued to wrangle over the issue, with raised voices, after it went into closed session for 20 minutes. At one point, city staff searched for West, who left the area. When West returned, he went into the meeting only to be turned away.
When the council broke for its 7 p.m. regular meeting, it entered the Council Chambers to a full house. Several residents spoke during the council's public comment period, voicing concerns about the police chief's social media activity.
"We had some things that upset the black community," said Pinky Jacobs. "I think the main issue that we have here is that it's a mindset, and we need to definitely work on it. Honestly, when I look at the things, like what our chief posted, what I see is that's a lack of education in our city."
Jacobs said she was thankful for West's social media activity because it surfaced underlying racial division in the city. She also said she did not want to see West fired.
"There needs to be some open conversation about the race issue, and there's needs to be some open conversation about the mentality of our leaders," Jacobs said. "We don't want to hurt people, but we do want understanding."
One resident questioned the chief's judgment not only in relation to the social media activity but also the Goldsboro Police Department's recent acquisition of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected military vehicle.
"I don't see the need for that type of vehicle," said Carl Martin. "For the mere fact that we have a military vehicle here that is capable of carrying a 50-caliber machine gun, to me, is intimidating."
Shirley Edwards said Goldsboro has problems leaders need to face head-on to avoid potential conflict on a larger scale.
"The problem we're facing tonight has been brewing for some time," Edwards said. "We have a race problem. The problem is the leadership won't address the problem. You can't sit up there in that seat and not take action.
"I'm not here to get (West) fired because, I think, he needs to be held accountable for his actions."
After the public comment period, Allen decided to read the city's February proclamations for Black History Month and Human Relations Month. He also added his own perspective from handwritten comments he prepared before the meeting.
"It is my belief that, as mayor and as city council, our job is to work and adopt policies that make Goldsboro more inclusive and better for all our citizens," Allen said.
"It doesn't matter of their color, their sexual orientation, their religion or their income level. It can't take y'all coming up here and fussing at us, It's got to take us having more dialog after this. We've got to be honest with each other. We're never going to get anywhere if we don't have that.
"My pledge to you is, we're going to do everything we can."
Before the end of the meeting, Foster said he was disappointed in the way things have been handled recently by city leaders.
"Hopefully, we can come up with something as a board and you can hold us accountable for that," Foster said.
Stevens apologized to Foster for calling him out during the earlier closed-meeting work session.
Councilman Bill Broadaway thanked residents for speaking out.
"We need to hear bad things, and we need to hear good things," Broadaway said. "Come and tell us. If we don't know, we can't fix it."
Williams said the council needs to address the concerns and work toward resolution. He also said he'd rather see a strong police presence in crime-ridden areas of the city, instead of at large-scale public events, including the recent Carolina Games Summit in downtown Goldsboro.
"There's issues in the city, issues in the county that people just don't want to talk about, and in order for us to get better, we've got to break down these walls," Williams said.
"In order for us to make a difference here, we've got to talk about it."
After the meeting, Foster said the council needs to set accountability standards for top administrators, including the police chief and city manager.
"I think the city manager handled it wrong," Foster said regarding the social media issue.
He also said an investigation also needs to take place to determine if the social media activity on West's Facebook page took place during his off time.
"His actions split the city," Foster said. "We're already divided. I'm not asking for him to be fired or anything specific myself. I'm just wanting that situation to be addressed or there to be some accountability to the situation."