Stepping on ilfl Ph4r?hs
The Chronicle
Volume43,Number30 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March 31, 2016
^^^^1 Mftll Hft^l Mii
Candidate Lynne Johnson
Bolstered by landslide
victory, candidate pre
pares for the November
General Election
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Even Register of Deeds
Candidate Lynne Johnson said she
was surprised by the results of her
primary race.
'To be honest, I was hoping for a
1 close race," she said. "I was just
blown away by the margin, I really
was."
Far from a close victory, she gar
nered
69.81
CAMPAIGN
j| v o te
A*' ^ oppo
KSHhMhBmhMBI nent
the
Democratic primary, current Register
of Deeds Norman Holleman, got only
30.19 percent. She attributes her vic
tory to her many supporters.
"I am thankful that I had so many
people who supported me, and 1
believe they wanted a change and
were ready for a change," she said.
Johnson, 35, grew up in Wilson,
N.C. She came to Winston-Salem to
attend college at Winston-Salem
State University, where she graduated
with a Bachelor of Aits in English in
1982. She had a friend working at the
Register of Deeds who asked if she
was interested in working there. She
accepted and started in 1986 in an
entry level deputy register of deeds
position in the real estate intake divi
sion. She said she initially took the
Job for its good pay and benefits, but
also found that she enjoyed the work.
See Ready on A2
Forsyth County
Commissioners
honor Parmon
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth County Commissioners honored the late
Earline Parmon with a resolution during its Monday meet
ing.
Parmon, who passed away March IS, was a local
activist and politician. The resolution listed her long histo
ry, including serving 12 years as Forsyth County commis
sioner beginning in 1990, being elected to represent
District 72 in the N.C. House of Representatives in 2002,
and becoming the first black senator from Forsyth County
when she was elected to the N.C. Senate in 2012. She left
the Senate in 2015 to work as outreach director for U.S.
Rep. Alma Adams.
"Her legacy had been her efforts to help the voiceless,"
the resolution read. .
mow ay tooo luck
County Commissioners Everette Witherspoon and
Walter Marshall hold the resolution honoring
Earline Parmon.
A copy of the resolution was presented to County
Commissioners Everette Witherspoon and Walter
Marshall. The original resolution will go to the Parmon
family.
Marshall said his friendship with Parmon went back
long before they served together as county commission
ers. He first met her in the 1970s and started working with
her to register voters in 1982. He said she was a great
county commissioner who he worked closely with, sup
porting things like the Downtown Health Plaza.
"We had an agenda for East Winston," he said.
Marshall said many of the voting rights the state
gained and are now being fought over in court, like same
day registration, were things Parmon fought for in the
General Assembly.
Witherspoon is Parmon's godson and described her as
a modern day freedom fighter.
"She had a passion for fighting poverty, health out
See Panm* on A2
* ?
Photo by Todd Luck
HB 2 opposition crowds City Council
Attendees at Monday's City Council meeting hold up signs showing their opposition to House Bill 2 and
Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed it into law. SEE THE STORY ON PAGE A8.
City Council considers Southeast
Plaza funding, Business 40 path
Also explores possibility of a
new Waughtown Street library
BY TODD LUCK
tub rmriNiri n ?
During the the Monday, March 28 City Council meet
ing, many matters were discussed.
The City Council voted unanimously to make a
change to the funding for forgivable loans received by
Southeast Plaza for renovations. Part of the loans used for
the project more than six years ago were federal Urban
Development Action Grant (UDAG) funds, which the city
discovered would require paying prevailing wages
retroactively to all laborers on the project. This would be
difficult to do since several contractors on the project are
no longer in business. The UDAG funds have now been
substituted with Revitalizing Urban Commercial Area
(RUCA) funds and Economic Development Project funds.
Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke said she was
impressed by what she'd seen at the plaza, which is on
Waughtown Street and home to stores like Compare
Foods.
"The developer should be complimented.because most
of the spaces were occupied," she said.
In October 2010, Southeast Plaza was among five
project areas the City Council approved RUCA funding to
rehabilitate. The plaza received a $200,000 low-interest
RUCA loan, two forgivable RUCA loans totaling
$1,209,000 and a UDAG loan for $250,000.
Private investment in the project totaled $7.2 million,
when Southeast Plaza Investor, IXC (SEPI) asked for
additional funds from the city. Plaza owner Jose Isasi's
request for funds to do additional rehabilitation was con
troversial, as he promised that SEPI would invest another
See Funding on A2
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