Community Involvement
Greensboro Board of Adjustments
Member
Appointed by Diane Bellamy-Small
The Greensboro Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial body responsible for hearing and deciding appeals, variance requests, special exceptions, and interpretations of the zoning regulations. In doing this, the Board is charged with upholding the purpose and intent of the development ordinance when there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships that result from carrying out the strict letter of the law. In serving on this Board, my eyes have been opened to the very clear need for broader representation of citizens on Greensboro’s various Boards and Commissions.
Named one of the 2009 “40 Leaders Under Forty” by the Triad Business Journal
Southside Homeowners Association
President
Southside is an award-winning neighborhood that continues to play an integral role in the revitalization of downtown Greensboro.
Southside Community Watch
President
Uniting residents and working directly with the Greensboro Police Department allowed me to establish best practices for the neighborhoods watch program. The community watch program has made it clear that community involvement in programs of this nature can result in great success.
Greensboro Community Watch
Founder
While leading the Southside Community Watch I realized that there was a line of communication missing between the various watches around the city. Neighboring communities rarely shared information pertaining to criminal activity and that was a huge flaw in my eyes. To bridge the gap, I launched the Greensboro Community Watch (GCW) on March 17, 2009. The purpose of the GCW is to allow neighborhoods across the city to share information in an attempt to stop crime before it gets started.. The program is backed by the Greensboro Police Department.
Adopt-A-Street Program
Participant
By adopting three streets in Greensboro, I have played an active role in cleaning up the city. One of my adopted streets is the section of Lee Street extending from Eugene to Bennett College and I’ll never forget the first time I picked up trash on this stretch of road. I spent nearly an hour in front of an abandon home right next to Lee’s Curb Mart and remember stopping and thinking to myself, ‘why are people throwing all of this trash on the ground?’ I looked around and quickly realized there weren’t any trashcans anywhere to be found. The next day I called the city and asked for cans to be put out. I was told, “The people won’t use them,” but was persistent and said, “please test them for a month and if they aren’t used you can pick them back up.” Two days after the cans were put out I called the city and asked them to come out and empty the overflowing cans. It’s all about giving people a chance.
2008 City Academy
Graduate
A government works class put on by the City of Greensboro that allows participants to touch all parts of local government. By participating in City Academy I was able to get a first hand experience at the various aspects of local government – from budgeting to trash collection. It was a great experience and would highly recommend the program to others.
Impact Greensboro
2009 – 2010 Participant
Impact Greensboro “provides the opportunity for individuals to work together with others to understand the issues and challenges of our community and to forge new ways to address them. This unique combination of education, skill building and small group work, allows for the thoughtful examination of the dynamics of diversity, leadership and community building. The outcome of IMPACT Greensboro is to create leaders who will engage in civic opportunities to strengthen our city.”
GreensboroPolitics.com
Founder
In an effort to bring residents nonpartisan factual information pertaining to the political landscape in Greensboro, I created GreensboroPolitics.com. The site has successfully maintained its integrity since its inception and has been visited nearly 90,000 times. It has proven to be a successful portal for residents, current Council members and the City of Greensboro.
