Legal Political Visit - City Council Meeting

Greensboro, NC

I attended the October 16th Greensboro City Council Meeting. The City Council Meeting opened with a moment of silence and the Pledge Allegiance to the Flag. I’m not really sure what the moment of silence was for because I do not recall them stating the reason. This meeting followed such a strict set of guidelines that it almost seemed comical at times. The Mayor and the Council members are most definitely in the performing stage of teamwork. Everything, and I do mean everything, had to be voted on at this meeting. One of the Council members was not there and they had to vote on his absence. The same Council member came in late for the meeting and they voted to allow him to join the meeting. I thought this was absolutely ridiculous. The Mayor, Keith Holliday, then introduced a new county employee – Veronica Covert, from the Water Resources Department. After the introduction of the new employee, they moved on to entering into resolution the deaths of two prominent members of the community. Once that was done, the Mayor recognized a boy scout that was in attendance. The mayor then asked if anyone from the floor would like to speak. Honestly, I was losing interest fast and beginning to wonder what any of this had to do with rural healthcare. And then, after a very lengthy discussion about the need for a traffic light, Carmen McAdoo stood and introduced herself as being a representative of Teens Taking Action. This is a teen advocate group. Ms. McAdoo, who is also a teen herself, reminded everyone that October was “Lets Talk Month”. The group she represents wanted to emphasize the communication of teen sexual activity, teen pregnancy and teens with AIDS/HIV. Carmen reminded everyone in the council meeting to go home and talk to their children about the topics listed above and told them that teens want to be talked to about such things by their parents. After this brief discussion, there were no more discussions about healthcare or any health related topics. I do think, however, that if there were any, they would have been given the same respect and consideration, as was anything else. The city council spent much of the time on issues such as land use and new city ordinances. All topics of discussion were discussed and voted on by all members of the city council. I feel certain that any health related topics would have been given an equal amount of time. I have a better appreciation for the city council than I did before having attended this meeting. I know now just how much time and effort goes into the simplest changes. And I also know now that nothing is done without careful consideration and a vote.