GREENSBORO, N.C. — A new year brings new opportunities to improve as well as continue what has been working for different areas in the Triad.
WFMY News 2's Amber Lake spoke to elected officials about what 2023 will look like
Greensboro and Winston-Salem mayors as well as the Guilford and Forsyth County Sheriffs would agree they are doing well in most areas. However, there is still room for improvement and they are all excited to see what the new year will bring.
Let's start with what these elected officials say worked for them in 2022 and that they will be carrying over into 2023.
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said their agency wants to continue with community involvement.
"Some of the things we are going to take into 2023, that we were doing in 2022, is more collaboration [by] trying to make a bigger footprint in the community," Kimbrough says.
The homicide rates have decreased in Forsyth County.
That’s something city and county leaders are able to hang their hats on. However, the work doesn’t stop there.
Winston-Salem Mayor, Allen Joines, said it's something that needs to continue.
"We had a strong effort on reducing gun violence in the city and we did see about a 25 percent reduction in homicide, which is a positive thing. [We] still have way too many so, hopefully, [we're] going to continue to push hard on that," Mayor Joines explained.
Mayor Joines also mentioned continuing the strategy toward affordable housing.
This is something Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan is on board with for her city, among other things.
"Our numbers on public safety will be out in a week or two and they were really trending in the right direction. I need to think our first responders and neighborhood community groups who have really stepped up to send a message that what was going on is not acceptable," Vaughan stated.
Along with those neighborhood community groups, Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers says they will also continue strengthing relationships with community members.
"Without having a relationship or communication with the team members, it’s hard to have communication dialogue with the citizens," Rogers expressed.
As far as what can be improved on, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County has a few ideas.
"We need to improve on strengthening our communities. Without question, strengthening our communities will be priority number one, [along with] making better communities, because when you create better communities, it'll eliminate some of the problems that you see," Kimbrough stated.
"Stay really strongly focused on racing gun violence," Mayor Joines said. "We’ve got a lot of social programs that have started with the cure initiative and others and of course. The police have their own initiatives with regards to the violent crimes task force."
Greensboro/ Guilford County officials also have similar goals in mind.
"Every day our goal is to become a better organization than we were the day before," Rogers says.
"We can make real tangible steps when it comes to affordable housing and people living without shelter. It is something that counsel is really focused on and I think that you’ll see more good programs announced in the coming year," Mayor Vaughan said.