by staff

Creation of a new Central City police district, replacement of aging police, fire and public works vehicles, emphasis on community appearance and further pay adjustments to address attrition in the Police and Fire departments highlight the $442 million budget for 2016-17 that City Manager Lee Garrity has recommended to Mayor Allen Joines and the City Council.

Thanks to growth in sales taxes and the tax base, the recommended budget addresses pent-up demands in the areas of personnel, equipment and facilities that were put on hold during the economic recession.

“The city has reached a critical point,” Garrity said, “where more investment is needed in our employees, facilities and equipment to maintain our excellent city services, enhance the quality of life in the community and position the city to be more competitive in attracting jobs and growing economically.”

The proposed budget allocates $326.5 million for operations, $41.5 million for debt service and $74 million for capital improvements. The property tax rate would be 58.5 cents for every $100 of value, an increase of 2 cents.

In his budget message, Garrity noted that even with the 2-cent increase, “Based on the current tax rates of the other large cities in North Carolina, Winston-Salem’s rate would remain in the middle of the group.”

He noted that tax increases in recent years, with the exception of the bonds passed in 2014, simply made up for revenue lost through actions of the General Assembly and did not actually address these needs.

The City Council’s Finance Committee will begin reviewing the budget June 7 and will hold a public hearing June 9. The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on the budget on June 20. By state law, the council must adopt a budget for 2016-2017 by June 30. The budget would take effect July 1.

Garrity is recommending that the city add a net gain of 40 more employees (45 new positions and five eliminated) to implement a broad range of improvements:

• The Police Department would pick up 14 positions. Five positions would allow creation of a fourth police district that would reduce response times in the central part of Winston-Salem and improve coordination during special events downtown. Five positions, paid for by the county, would result from consolidation of the Sheriff’s Department forensic services staff into a combined city-county forensic services unit. Four positions would be added for crime analysis and information systems.
• The Fire Department would add five positions: three fire training and safety officers, a fire truck mechanic, and the first of three fire inspectors to be hired over the next three years. The latter would eliminate the need for firefighters to conduct fire code inspections, giving them more time for training and other duties.
• Stormwater Management would add a civil engineer and four-person drainage crew that would work with citizens whose property is affected by stormwater runoff.
• Property and Facilities Management would add six positions to create two crews that would collect litter along roadsides and in city parks.
• Six positions would be added for facilities built with money from the 2014 bonds: three in recreation to maintain new spraygrounds, and three property maintenance personnel to maintain new buildings, such as the district police stations.
• A total of nine other positions would be added to a variety of departments, including Transportation, the Fairgrounds, Utilities, Human Resources, and Community and Business Development.

The operations budget would include raises for city employees. Police officers and certified firefighters would receive a 2 percent increase in January, on top of the 2 percent increase and the 7.5 percent increase in starting salaries they received in February. To address continuing attrition among experienced police officers, all officers with 5 to 15 years of service would receive additional pay raises, effective July 1, ranging from $1,200 to $2,300.

Garrity is recommending that all other city employees receive a 3 percent pay raise to make city salaries more competitive with the private sector. All city employees, including police and fire personnel, would also be eligible for a merit-pay increase of 1.5 to 3 percent based on their performance. “The city’s pay plan continues to lag behind average actual salaries in our market,” Garrity said. “As a result, we constantly experience challenges with retaining employees.”

To improve employee retention across the board, Garrity is also recommending that the city initiate a 401(a) supplemental retirement plan under which the city would put an amount equal to 2 percent of each employee’s pay in a retirement account that would become vested after five years of service. If approved, it would take effect Jan. 1.

The proposed budget for capital improvements includes $3.54 million in lease payments to replace aging police cars, fire trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks and other public works equipment, as well as computers and other equipment used by city employees, all of which have been kept in service longer than planned.

It also includes $56.1 million for water, sewer and stormwater projects and $550,000 to continue upgrading the fiber-optic network that connects city facilities. The capital budget does not include the bond projects that voters approved in November 2014, which were handled in a separate appropriation.

User fees would remain the same except for Utilities Division fees: Sewer rates would increase 3 percent, water rates would increase 1.5 percent and the bimonthly base charge for residential water and sewer service would increase $2.49. Landfill fees for high-volume users would increase 50 cents per ton, to $32.

The proposed budget includes $544,270 for downtown improvements, financed by the 9 cent levy recommended by the Downtown Winston-Salem Business Improvement District Advisory Committee. The money would be spent in five areas: improving cleanliness, increasing safety, improving marketing, accelerating development and enhancing downtown appearance.

How to participate in the budget process:

• Copies of the proposed budget will be available for review at public libraries, city recreation centers and City Hall, 101 N. Main St. Suite 30. The proposed budget will also be posted online at www.CityofWS.org.
• The City Council’s Finance Committee will hold workshops on the budget at 3:30 p.m. June 7 and 4:30 p.m. June 13 in the Council Committee Room (Room 239) on the second floor of City Hall. A workshop will be held at 2 p.m. June 14, if needed. These workshops are open to the public but are for the purpose of allowing council members to study the proposed budget. Citizens may watch these workshops live on WSTV on TimeWarner Cable channel 13 and AT&T U-verse channel 99 in Forsyth County. WSTV can also be viewed live online at CityofWS.org.
• The Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. June 9 in the Council Chamber (Room 230) on the second floor of City Hall. This hearing will be televised live by WSTV.
• The Public Safety Committee will review the budgets for the Police, Fire and Emergency Management departments at 6 p.m. June 13 in the Council Committee Room. This meeting will be televised live by WSTV.
• The mayor and City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. June 20 in the Council Chamber before voting on the budget. This hearing will be televised live by WSTV.
• Citizens can also phone in comments about the budget on the city’s Citizen Feedback line, 734-1400, or submit comments through a form on the city website.

By Staff

This is part two of a two part series on the 2016 State of our City Report. This part covers infrastructure improvement and economic development. You can read Part 1 HERE.

Income Disparity and Poverty

Tommy Hickman, Vice Chair of the Winston-Salem Foundation, spoke next and provided a stark look at numbers related to income disparity and poverty in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County. He thanked Forsyth Futures for gathering the data he used in his presentation. Mr. Hickman first turned to poverty – and what he had to say was at times disheartening. 20% of the residents in Forsyth County live in poverty. 29% of those under the age of 18 live in poverty. The poverty has disproportionately affected the black and Latino communities. 28% percent of the the black population in Forsyth County are living in poverty, while 47% of the Latino population are living in poverty and 11% of the white population is living in poverty.

According to statistics, location- where you live- in Forsyth County also determines your chances of living in poverty. There are “concentrations of poverty” in our city that tend to also be heavily populated by minorities, while the generally “white” areas have better outcomes and mobility. What are considered “Poverty Census Tracts” are areas where 40% of the population lives at or below national poverty levels. 14% of our entire population lives in these areas. 17% of our children under the age of 17 live in these areas. 2% of those in High Poverty Census Tracts are white, 22% are African American and 60% are Latino.

Homelessness remains an issue, but still only hovers at about 2.7 homeless for every 10,000 residents.

According to Mr. Hickman the median household income in Forsyth County is $45,220. 20% of our households make an average income of $19,067 or less. 40% of households make $36,646 or less. 60% of households are getting by with $57,051 or less and 95% of our population in Forsyth County makes $166,984 or less a year.

Mr. Hickman reported that the low infant birth-weight still hovers around 9.5%, or one in 10 births. That would be babies being born below five pounds, eight ounces or less. 14% or 1 in 7 African American children were born with low birth weight, 6% of Latino babies and 8% of white children. This is a metric often looked at as an indicator of overall women’s health in a given community. It can indicate access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices.

The suicide rate was approximately 11.5 per 100,000 residents which is not a big change from previous years.

Another quality of life indicator is the level of education for citizens over the age of 25. There is a direct connection between education and the chances you’ll be living in poverty. A more educated populace is a more prosperous populace. 13% of our population has less than a high school degree. The poverty level for those folks is 34%. Another 26% of our population has a high school degree or its equivalent, and 18% of those live in poverty. 21% of our population has some college, but no degree, and 15% of those folks live in poverty. 8% of our population has an associate’s degree and just 8% of them live in poverty. 20% of the population has a bachelor’s degree, and only 5% of those individuals live in poverty. 11% of our population has a professional or graduate degree, and 3% of them live in poverty.

Arts & Innovation

The next up was President of the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County, Jim Sparrow. Mr. Sparrow informed the audience about the major art initiatives that are underway to improve the quality of life here in Winston-Salem and to make us a more attractive location for business. For projects designed to further Winston-Salem’s aesthetic realization of the Arts & Innovation ethos, Mr. Sparrow highlighted the following initiatives:

For public Art:

• Commission on Public Art has been appointed in 2016
• Creative Corridors- Vargrave scheduled to be completed in 2016 and plans are moving forward with creating a land bridge joining Winston and Old Salem.
• Highly Visible private investment- Artivity Park

For crafting a creative, welcoming vibe:

• Efforts to coordinate activity to be more than the sum of our parts.
• Public gatherings & community- multiple Festivals, SSO4, Salute, Gallery Hops, and the greater “Metro” parks series.

The Arts Council is working to be the engine behind creative entrepreneurship by expanding community engagement grants. There are efforts to use the Arts Innovation Lab as a tool to bring various disciplines together. The Kenan/UNCSA Arts Entrepreneurship Lab, the Center for Creative Economy/Flywheel, Swerve, South East Arts Accelerator, and Startup weekends are targeted at trying to bring some venture capital into local, arts based entrepreneurship.

Education

Dr. Beverly Emory, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Superintendent, gave a presentation that should have been the most critical of the meeting, considering that the conclusions the other speakers were coming to is that everything begins with education. To understand what Dr. Emory told those assembled is to recognize that our schools are in serious trouble. While she stressed that the infrastructure is in place to make real changes, but often the money and budgets are not there to meet even the most basic needs. Slashing budget cuts out of Raleigh over the last few years seem to be at the root of many of the system’s woes. Our system is home to eleven failing schools and our Cook Elementary is the school with the worst outcomes in the state of North Carolina.

Dr. Emory stated goals by 2020 of having 90% of our third graders on reading level and be graduating 90% of the students. By 2018 the system hopes to close the achievement gaps between subgroups by 10 percentage points while increasing the overall performance of all subgroups.

Graduation rates over the year did increase from 83.5% to 85.4%. Among those schools where the graduation rate have risen are Glenn High School, Kennedy High School, Parkland High School, Reynolds High School, Walkertown High School, and Winston-Salem Prep Academy. There were decreases in graduation rates at Carver High School, Mt. Tabor High School, North Forsyth High School, Reagan High School, and West Forsyth High School. Most of these had not, however, fallen below targeted goals of 90%.

“Our reading outcomes were not good,” Emory stated. “We seem to be on a flat, ten-year trajectory.” They saw a decrease in third grade reading scores from 58% overall to 56%. The K-3 READ 3D Composites for all district elementary schools now show reading growth in all but two schools. This still does not bring us up to desired levels, or even really close. Elementary schools with a +10 increase in Read 3D scores included Bolton Elementary, Kimmel Farm Elementary, Konnoak Elementary, Mineral Springs Elementary, Old Town Elementary, Rural Hall Elementary, and Sedge Garden.

On closing the achievement gap, Dr. Emory said that they have not “lost ground, but we have not made huge improvements.” According to Dr. Emory the system has made significant progress in closing the achievement gaps in several areas including:

• 4th Grade reading
• 6th Grade reading & math
• 7th Grade Math I
• 8th Grade Math I
• 8th Grade Science
• Biology

Dr. Emory then indicated that there is work underway in addressing these issues, including training teachers how to better teach to children living in poverty. She stated that the district culture is that, “Yes, there is poverty. No, poverty can’t be an excuse for us to not be doing the most we can in these classrooms to make sure that kids learn.”

Even with these innovative programs, Dr. Emory pointed out, without support and competitive salaries the school system will continue to struggle with hiring quality teachers. She stated that as of right now the district needed 73 school teachers (30 of these elementary teachers) for positions they cannot currently fill. She pointed out that these positions have traditionally been the easiest to fill. Singling out Cook Elementary, however, Dr. Emory said that they had 124 applicants for 25 positions in that very challenged school. She went on to highlight several expanding programs from summer school to hiring more reading interventionist for elementary schools that they hope will begin to address these inequities faster.

In closing Mayor Joines reiterated several points. Among them:

1. It will take time to absorb past losses and move on up indexes.
2. We should view these new initiatives as planting seeds for the future. For instance Whitaker Park has a potential for 10,000 jobs.
3. Our poverty rate is unacceptable.
4. We are in need of more entrepreneurial and innovation space. We have a shortage of already built industrial space.

“We’re an old manufacturing city,” Mayor Joines said pointing out that a recent Pew article clearly outlined the decline of America’s middle class. “Here in Winston-Salem we are having to replace those jobs and we are absorbing the losses of these jobs.” It’s going to take time to get over those losses, the Mayor stated, but we are heading in the right direction.

By Chad Nance

“I want to be clear. The City has called for the release of the footage.”
City Councilman James Taylor (Chairman of the Public Safety Committee)

Winston-Salem stands at a precipice. It has been years since we have faced this kind of community challenge. On December 9th, Winston-Salem resident Travis Page died after being handcuffed by four WSPD officers. Only those who were there that night can definitively tell us what happened. Investigators with the SBI and the State Medical examiner’s office and the Forsyth County District Attorney’s office remain involved in the investigation. Due to professional ethics rules, they have not, at this time, released any of the evidence, including information gleaned from the autopsy, toxicology, or the video files from the three body cameras worn by officers. (One of the officers was a trainee and per WSPD policy did not wear a body cam on the night of Page’s death.)

While it is a fact that the City of Winston-Salem and the WSPD do have their own copies of the body cam video, they do not have the authority to release this to the public. That authority rests with District Attorney Jim O’Neill. For his part , Mr. O’Neill has indicated that he is unable to do so because of North Carolina State Bar professional rules which do not allow a supervising prosecutor to make what are termed “extrajudicial statements”. This means prosecutors are prohibited from releasing statements or evidence outside of a court proceeding.

Jim O’Neil refusal to release the video is based on North Carolina State Bar rules that read in part:

“Rule 3.6… prohibits extrajudicial statements that have a substantial likelihood of prejudicing an adjudicatory proceeding. In the context of a criminal prosecution, a prosecutor’s extrajudicial statement can create the additional problem of increasing public condemnation of the accused. Although the announcement of an indictment, for example, will necessarily have severe consequences for the accused, a prosecutor can, and should, avoid comments which have no legitimate law enforcement purpose and have a substantial likelihood of increasing public opprobrium of the accused.”

CCD spoke to a representative of the NC State Bar, as well as several local criminal attorneys and they agreed with Mr. O’Neill’s assessment of these professional rules and responsibilities. Not only could the District Attorney face personal sanction or admonition, he could place at risk his law license, although the attorneys we spoke with said that this result was unlikely and the penalty would be no more than a sanction or censure.

The NC State Bar is not a professional organization that makes recommendations. It is not a “Bar Association”. Attorneys practicing in North Carolina are required to be members of the State Bar and its rules are enforceable like those of any other state professional regulatory agency.

The criminal attorneys did comment that the release of the body cam video, if considered by a judge to be a violation of the professional rules, would give any defense ammunition to demand a change of venue or even possibly have the body cam evidence stricken during a possible trial. Nothing is simple about this situation and according to legal experts some elements of “transparency” in this particular investigation could put at risk any eventual prosecution.

One attorney said that there is a possible way around for the D.A., stating “Someone could sue Mr. O’Niell and then he could comply with an order from a Superior Court judge. That would also put him in compliance with the State Bar rules.”

At a press conference called Friday afternoon by the Minister’s Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (Joined by Councilman Taylor and Sen. Earline Parmon), community and church leaders called for calm, reason, and transparency while the investigation of the death of Travis Page remains ongoing. Specifically, they are joining City officials in asking for the results of the autopsy and the body cam video files to be made public. The SBI Special Agent in Charge, Scott Williams, has indicated that the full autopsy results, including critical toxicology tests, may not be available for several months. This apparent delay however does line up with the reputation of the State Medical Examiner’s office and the fact that a single lab does the blood analysis and toxicology statewide.

Rev. Alvin Carlyle opened Friday’s press conference stating that the Minister’s Conference is “Pressing our leaders to recommend to Jim O’Neill to the release the body camera footage.” He expressed the Minister’s Conference support and prayers for Page’s family, since no matter what is finally learned about the events of December 9th, his family has suffered a painful loss.

Minister’s Conference president Bishop Todd Fulton pointed out that the Minister’s Conference represents 50 multicultural churches in Winston-Salem and speaks for a large segment of the community. “We do not want what has happened across this country to happen here,” Bishop Fulton stated, referring to civil unrest following incidents of police violence and lethal force against African American males that have gained more public notice because citizen journalism made possible by the proliferation of social media and the availability of inexpensive, video recording cell phones.

Bishop Fulton was unequivocal regarding the Minister’s Conference request. They are not making or passing any judgement at this time. They simply want to see the video evidence in the hopes that it will give some indication as to what happened, whether it exonerates the officers or Page. “The criminal justice system works the same for the officers as it does for Mr. Page,” Fulton said. He went on to point out that the Minister’s Conference is only asking for transparency and has no direct dispute with the WSPD. “There is not enough information to take issue with,” he stated.

Reverend John Mendez spoke of the upwardly trending number of police violence cases that have come to controversial light in the last few years, stating, “I think the tone has been set. We are not that blind to the trends that have taken place. The anxieties and fears of this community reflect the fears around the country.” Reverend Mendez pointed out that the community’s experience with the WSPD has been a “Mixed bag”. He reminded reporters of the Darryl Hunt and Kalvin Michael Smith cases and how those investigations and prosecutions involved direct cover-ups, evidence tampering, and profound secrecy on the part of authorities. “The bottom line is, we don’t know. We don’t want to speculate. We want the facts. Facts are stubborn things… Our experience is there have been cover ups and distortions. That’s why we are pressing so hard for information,” said Rev. Mendez. “There is no witch hunt here. Just a push for information.”

City Councilman James Taylor was also in attendance and reiterated his call for the release of the tapes and told reporters that he, Derwin Montgomery, and Mayor Allen Joines are all in agreement that they would like to see D.A. Jim O’Neill release the body cam footage. On Friday Councilman Taylor posted the following on facebook:

“As Chairman of Public Safety, I have already met with the people of the community, the Ministers Conference, Police Administration, the Mayor, the City Manager, the media, and some members of the Winston-Salem City Council. We stand united in calling for the release of the police footage from the District Attorney as quickly as possible. I encourage the community not to rush to judgement, and to wait until all of the facts have been released. We have the best officers in the country and the best citizens in the country. We are working, we are waiting, and we will be watching. This will be handled correctly.”
The Minister’s Conference has contacted the District Attorney’s office and is seeking to have an in person meeting with him on Tuesday, December 15th. (The results of this meeting will be provided when available.)

Councilman Dan Besse added his support for the release of footage in a facebook post made on Saturday:

“I join with my city council colleagues in sorrow and sympathy for the family of Travis Page, and for the Winston-Salem police officers who experienced his to all appearances accidental death during the arrest process. I also join in the call for transparency and rapid public release of body cam video and 911 recordings associated with the incident. We have no reason to believe that doing so would impede or compromise the thorough and professional investigation of the incident… Based on the information which has been provided to city council members at this time, I have no reason to believe that our officers acted other than professionally and with due care. Especially in light of legitimate public concerns raised by problem cases from other cities around the nation, our District Attorney should use his sound discretion to release as much information as possible sooner rather than later. As attorneys, we should keep in mind that one of our professional responsibilities is to ‘further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority.’ (From the Preamble to the NC Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys.)”

What do we know for sure regarding the death of Travis Page? Very little. Here is what we know from authorities* and public record:

• At approximately 7:28pm on December 9th the WSPD received a 911 call reporting shots fired at the Family Dollar location on Rural Hall Rd.
• The person who called in the complaint described a suspect fitting Travis Page’s description.
• The suspect was described as being six-feet, four-inches tall, heavy set, and wearing a blue shirt and dark shorts.
• Responding officers were 20 year veteran, Corporal Robert Fenimore, 22 year veteran Officer Christopher Doub, 3 year veteran Officer Austin Conrad and trainee Officer Jacob Tuttle.
• Officers found Page a short distance from the Family Dollar. According to the WSPD he ran when police approached.
• According to an officer on the scene recorded in a citizen video (Taken sometime after the confrontation and the arrival of Forsyth County EMS, but before Page had been taken to the hospital) Page was running away from police when he fell.
• According to police, Page ingested a controlled substance at this time. The particular substance that he allegedly ingested has not been identified at this time.
• The WSPD’s report indicates that Page resisted arrest and the officers had to use pepper spray on him. The officer who administered they spray has not been identified.
• Officers have indicated that once Page was handcuffed he became “Unresponsive”.
• According to the police report, the responding officers and Forsyth County EMS attempted to use life-saving measures to revive Page. They have not been specific about what these measures entailed.
• Officers claim that they found a gun and controlled substances on Page before he was taken to the hospital.
• Travis Page was pronounced dead at the hospital.
• According to public records Travis Page did have a criminal history that included assault on a police officer and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon while on probation.
• Page’s mother told local media that her son had a variety of medical conditions including bronchitis and gout. Travis Page’s medical records are protected by HIPPA laws and that information must be considered anecdotal at this time.
• The SBI is now handling the investigation into the death of Travis Page and the officers have been placed on administrative duty as is common procedure in these kinds of cases.
• WSPD’s Lt. Catrina Thompson has stated publicly that the body cam footage will not “Embarrass Winston-Salem.”

This is all that is currently known as fact in this matter. Until the investigators release information or until a verified eyewitness comes forward, this will be all that we do know.

There are gaps and questions in the known facts. What, exactly happened when officers caught up with Page? Was Page put into any sort of restrictive hold? Did officers apply life-saving measures correctly and with full vigor? How much or how little will the body camera evidence tell us right away? All of these questions and others will be answered with a thorough investigation. While we all may want a quick and definitive resolution to this tragedy, there simply may be no easy answers. Seeking justice does not always require only speed, but also thoughtfulness and dedication.

Any untimely death is a tragedy, for the dead, their family, and the community at large. Hopefully this tragedy will not compound itself through a rush to judgement or adoption of conspiracy theories founded on little information. The truth must be discovered, however, so that our community can seek justice and move on and heal.

As Rev. Mendez stated at the press conference Friday, “Let’s keep this alive and keep this on the top of the agenda because what affects one, affects us all.”

*CCD is choosing not to use any information regarding this incident given to us from sources who were not direct witnesses the the events that occurred on Rural Hall Road on the night of December 9th. Any other comments, including those of Page’s family and friends, are anecdotal. Giving the community sensitivity and the importance to the Winston-Salem community regarding the outcome of the investigation, we have chosen to be as methodical and possible considering the implications of this case.