GREENSBORO, N.C. — The first partially in-person Greensboro City Council meeting took place Monday night. The meetings went virtual in the summer as the delta variant spread.
Several city workers showed up before the meeting to have their voices heard. A little more than a dozen city workers showed up beforehand with signs and megaphones to let everyone know they want to be more valued.
Some of their concerns include pay, staffing shortages, retention, and recruiting.
Several of the people who came out Monday are with the city's water resources and field operations, which includes parks and recreation, trash pick-up crews, and other clean-up crews.
"Try to hear us out. We're really crying for help and they are the ones who can determine to make it better," city worker Chris Yancey said.
He said it was a big win for them this summer when the council approved a step plan in July. The step pay plan replaced the annual merit raises or cost of living increase employees get.
Yancey said he feels they deserve more.
"I know it's a process. We don't expect things to happen overnight or in a day we're willing to come together and see what can happen," Yancey said.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan and other city leaders said they were surprised to hear some workers are not satisfied with the program.
"I think we need to hear from the city managers and the department heads to figure out what happened between the vote and this discussion," Vaughan said.
The council meeting also came after a violent weekend in Greensboro.
Police Chief Brian James spoke at the meeting. He said Greensboro is on track to meet or exceed 2020's record of 63 homicides. He also said this year has already set a record of more than 1,500 guns found by police.
James said he needs new ideas and more manpower to try to bring down those numbers.
"There's something that's happening early on in society in our community that causes people to pick up guns, and we've got to figure out something that we can do differently to try to solve this," James said.
City council voted to revisit police staffing concerns in December.