It was standing room only during at least a portion of Monday evening’s Henderson City Council meeting, thanks in large part to a contingent of local business owners present as Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Ronald Bennett presented council and city leaders a letter outlining concerns for the city and the negative impact that “tolerance of criminal and undesirable behavior” could pose for the future.

Bennett addressed the mayor, council members and other city staff Monday evening as he formally presented the letter, endorsed by 21 community business leaders named at the close of the document. In what he described as a “call to action,” Bennett said he hoped for an alignment between business and city leaders to address the issues of violence and crime that has been plaguing Henderson. He specifically mentioned the exchange of gunfire that occurred at an Andrews Avenue business over Memorial Day weekend.

“In the following weeks, many members of the business community began talking with each other on how the increase in local violence would impact our business growth, and how it would affect our already struggling recruitment of workforce personnel and the future growth of our Henderson and Vance County economic development efforts,” Bennett explained.

A group of about 20 business leaders formed a Business Roundtable and have met twice in recent weeks, resulting in identification of five focus areas:

• Neighborhood and Business Code Enforcement
• Drugs and Crime
• City Messaging
• Business Friendly
• Promoting Churches, Goodwills and Non-Profits

In an email response to questions from WIZS News, City Manager Terrell Blackmon said Tuesday that overall, the letter was well received, but some members felt that more could’ve been done initially to meet with or at least include council members and staff in the dialogue before sending it.

“Conversations were very constructive after the meeting and the consensus by both sides is that we can better address these issues by working together,” Blackmon said.

“I firmly believe as city officials that we should be held accountable and that citizens have the right to ask questions of their government,” Blackmon continued.

“However, some feedback is difficult to digest when fingers are pointed and assertions made with no full understanding of some policies and how they are administered and/or enforced.  The requests made by the group were not totally unreasonable and the city has already addressed or has begun addressing many of their concerns,” he continued, adding that he and Mayor Eddie Ellington had shared some of the updates and issues of concern at the Chamber’s recent “State of the City” event.

“Many of the speakers admitted to being absent, but now see the need for more citizen involvement and accountability from government,” Blackmon said. “We need the community to not only bring us problems, but also help us identify solutions.  The city will respond by meeting with these business leaders and hopefully developing a task force that can assist the city with developing solutions to the issues mentioned in the Chamber letter,” he said.

Chamber President Michele Burgess was present at Monday’s meeting and told WIZS News Tuesday said she thought things went “great.” During the recent “State of the City” event sponsored by the Chamber and the Henderson Rotary Club, the mayor and city manager had commented on the need for business involvement, Burgess said. “Last night, most of the speakers said that they would help, now we have to find out way we can all be involved,” she said.

Mayor Ellington, however, expressed disappointment during the meeting about the context behind the letter, according to City Clerk Esther McCrackin, who is responsible for taking minutes at the council meetings.

“He said it’s easy to criticize, condemn and complain but he hasn’t seen most of those in attendance ever present at a City Council meeting before,” McCrackin wrote in a statement Tuesday afternoon on Ellington’s behalf.

Council member Melissa Elliott’s perspective focused on the positives. In a written statement to WIZS, Elliott said she sees nothing but opportunities. She said those who spoke at the meeting, as well as the others who signed the letter, stated “they wanted to help so as I see it, it could be a phenomenal partnership between public and private sector to help our community, help our citizens have a better place to live, work and play. We can always be better and doing it together makes it much easier… no one entity can change this community alone,” Elliott said.

Brian Boyd was one of those who spoke during Monday evening’s meeting. He told WIZS News Tuesday afternoon that “Henderson is at a place in time where the decision has to be made to either defend the current state of things that are detrimental to our community, or defeat them. The challenges are real and can only be overcome with strength through unity identifying the real root of the problems, and no longer exhausting our resources on byproducts and symptoms caused by the main problem.”

He praised the council members for the way they “lead with heart, compassion and care” for the citizens they serve.

It isn’t enough to simply point out problems and expect others to fix them. “The next step was to show up and clearly state that this mission is not intended to be acted on alone, but with the engagement and cooperation of the citizens and businesses of the community,” Boyd said.

“Engagement from the community has now presented itself as a necessary ingredient to the recipe.  There is great hope here and it is because of the true love that we have for Henderson,” he added.

Newly sworn in council member Lamont Noel reserved comment on the letter, saying that he would like to have a chance to discuss with his fellow council members. Noel did tell WIZS that he was “glad to see others wanting to get involved.”

Council member Garry Daeke said Tuesday that he believed the individuals who submitted the letter “are sincere about the issues and say they want to support our efforts. It will take community to solve most issues, so this should be a great collaborative start.”

For Council member Sara Coffey, however, the contents of the letter sound familiar. “They basically are asking us for the same thing we’ve been asking them for years,” she told WIZS News Tuesday, especially with regard to code enforcement and substandard rental houses.

“We’re willing to work with the landlords, willing to work with any of the people who came before us last night,” Coffey said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “What they’re stating in the letter is a fact that we all know: that crime is bad, housing is bad. But we’ve been working on that for years.”

She said the letter is requesting action on issues that council members also have asked for. “They state the part (about) violence and the disrepair in the (city’s) homes,” Coffey said. “To me, that’s something that’s been obvious for years. And it’s also something the council has worked on for years. It’s been the same problems. We’ve worked and worked to try to eradicate guns, which we’re doing every day. But more are being brought in.”

Although she was somewhat critical of the group for being late coming to the council with the concerns, she said she was glad the group addressed council “because what they’re asking for is the same thing we’ve been asking for for years from them – the “them” being landlords.

“We want the houses where the people can live in them comfortably…we don’t want them put out of houses if they file a complaint. We just want them to fix up their houses. If they rent to tenants here in the city, then make the houses liveable,” Coffey continued.

During Monday’s meeting, Ellington noted that the city’s $1.5 million investment in two redevelopment areas, along with the upcoming Unified Development Ordinance are two positive steps in the right direction for the city. He encouraged all leaders and others present to participate and return to City Council meetings, board and committee meetings and concluded his remarks by challenging each and every one to do their part, reminding them that “tomorrow begins today.”

See below a cut and paste of entire letter.

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July 5, 2022

Henderson Mayor and City Council Members
City of Henderson
P.O. Box 1434
Henderson, North Carolina 27536

Dear Honorable Mayor Ellington and Members of the Henderson City Council:

Goodwill and order in a community is achieved through the fair and consistent administration of laws and ordinances by elected leaders and appointed officials. When unlawful activities, behaviors, and violations of city codes are tolerated without penalty, and these violations overwhelm our current systems, the community suffers.

Thrive becomes Survive
Affordable becomes Deplorable
Contribution becomes Consumption
Appealing become Appalling

If we, the community of local citizens and businesses, have remained silent for too long, please forgive our absence. We believe that Henderson has earned an undesirable and unhealthy reputation of being an unsafe place to live or visit. If we continue to appear that we have tolerance of criminal and undesirable behavior, our city’s future is somber. We can no longer afford to rely solely on the hope that things will just get better on their own. It is time for concerned citizens, business leaders, elected leaders, and appointed officials to align by acknowledging the following points:

1. Neighborhood and Business Code Enforcement – The lack of enforcement of our written codes has led to the significant decline in the appeal and safety of neighborhoods and the central business district. These unsightly areas are now growing to become main focal points around the city, with the safety and quality of structures being extremely compromised. The vegetation overgrowth, substandard living conditions, junk that is being allowed to remain, abandoned homes that remain in deplorable condition, have all created an environment of oppressed poverty and crime. We believe it sends the wrong message that our city is content with status quo and we do not care enough to make improvements.

2. Drugs and Crime – The continuing violence and crime creates a perception that Henderson is not a safe place to move to or locate a business. To some outsiders, Henderson is now considered to be a business friendly city, but unfortunately, to only one type business, and that type being the illegal drug dealer business. Many neighborhoods are at a level of severe poverty and blight and the local justice system has proven itself to offer slow-to-no enforcement of penalties, thus creating a perfect illegal drug business culture. If this continues, we fear businesses and jobs will flee, or just stay away. This type of community will only take and consume from the next generation that has to survive within it. We must work together to stop this downward spiral of rampant drug use and criminal behavior within our community.

3. City Messaging – It is important for city officials and law enforcement to take immediate action identifying the neighborhood streets with suspected drug houses, abandoned house hang-outs and gang activity, and then add a police presence to protect lawful citizens living there. Placing an immediate priority on, (1) holding the current property owners accountable for not meeting the housing codes and (2) taking immediate steps to condemning those houses where drug deals are being made, is the only fair and law-abiding action. Please research and use creative measures that allow you to take immediate action. Our community cannot tolerate a year-long wait to go through the long, red-tape processes of doing so, as it compromises accountability and promotes negligence. We encourage you to take a bold stance with a consistent message: “This activity will not be tolerated and those that act in this manner will face immediate consequences. Henderson will be a clean and safe community for all who live, work, visit and shop here!”

4. Business Friendly – In order to grow our local economy, we need an efficient system in place for developers beginning the process of starting a business, renovating an existing building, or finding an appealing location to purchase property. Attracting employers, services, and goods to Henderson are integral to creating a vibrant and strong community where citizens can thrive. There are several issues of code, process, and communication hindering progress in this area. Those who want to invest need to know the city departments, city-required processes, and needed permitting up front. Having clear and concise city regulations as a guide, rather than a guard, is the best way to make sure we have a community open for solid, quality-of-life contributing businesses. Also, having a streamlined system in place ensuring equal enforcement of code and compliance standards for existing businesses and structures, and for new start-ups is essential.

5. Promoting Healthy Churches, Civic Organizations, and Non-Profits – There are already many active organizations providing help and hope to Henderson citizens, above and beyond what government is doing. These organizations are local and made possible because of the generous, volunteer spirit of neighbors, caregivers, and people who love this city. These are resources that do not get put into a city budget because they are supported through the time and investments of their volunteers. This type of collective impact is a model of problem-solving which involves different entities (both governmental and non-governmental) working to address a specific social problem. Identifying and promoting these organizations are crucial to a healthy and growing community.

We are grateful to all city staff members for the quality work and service they provide daily. In order for a vibrant and thriving community to exist, we must rely on the City Manager and the City Department Heads to oversee the diligent enforcement of the established laws, codes, and ordinances, many at dangerous and critical levels. In this way, we are a contributing society rather than a consuming one.

We hope you receive this message with a renewed sense of purpose, urgency, and focus. We must address the violence along with the multitude of underlying factors to move from the mode of survive to thrive.

We want to work with you to transform our city into one that will effectively Thrive, Appeal, Afford, Contribute, and Educate. Together we can begin now with a renewed sense of action to address these challenges faced by our community. Please accept these requests willingly and with the knowledge that our community will respond with encouragement, support, and active participation.

Sincerely,

Concerned Business and Community Leaders in Henderson and Vance County

Gerson Morales Argueta
Ronald Bennett
Brandon Boyd
Brian Boyd
Charles Boyd
Mary Boyd
Michele Burgess
Greg Etheridge
Dicky Flye
Faye Guin
Heather Hodge
Stephanie Hoyle
Angie Jacobs
Amanda Pearson
Tommy Roberson
Cliff Rogers
Dr. Abidan Shah
Curtis White
Margier White
Sandra Wilkerson
Michelle Wood