Interesting Winston-Salem Journal editorial on City Council member Derwin Montgomery’s “vision” for east Winston-Salem:
Montgomery, a minister and development analyst with Winston-Salem State University, exudes confidence. His proposal for the “New East Side” can be successful, he said, if residents, city officials, Winston-Salem State University, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem, the community development corporations, businesses and churches pool their resources and commit to creating new businesses in the East Ward.
At a community meeting Tuesday night, he rolled out his plan for an East Ward Development Coalition that will consist of residents and others willing to devote time and money to projects and an advisory board that would be made up mainly of East Ward leaders and business owners and Montgomery, the Journal’s John Hinton reported.
The Journal adds “(s)ome residents have long said that the city’s predominantly white power structure hasn’t given them their due, although blacks have long served on the city council.”
That prompted a response from regular commenter FrankSnappaZappa, who says the “white power structure in WS has bent over backwards for over 30 years to create an environment in this city in which all people are treated with decency and respect. I think that for the Journal to imply that this is not the case is irresponsible.”
I guess ZappaSnappa is also implying that W-S has a ‘white power structure.’ The politics seem pretty PC to me, but in my mind, more disturbing is the council’s willingness to hand over taxpayers’ money. The two go hand in hand, don’t they?
