Lawmakers react to special elections ruling
BY CASH MICHAELS
WftTHfi'TPONICUE
There's no question incoming Democratic Gov. Roy
Cooper will be dealing with entrenched Republican super
majorities in the state House and Senate when he takes
office, but that could change.
Thanks to a federal court order issued last week requir
ing North Carolina's legislative districts to be redrawn by
March 15,2017, followed by primaries in late August or
early September, and then November 2817 elections.
The 2017 special elections are required, the court said,
because 2011 redisricting maps drawn by the Republican
led NC legislature unconstitutionally "stacked and
packed" the state's black voters into a handful of districts,
otherwise known as racial gerrymandering, so that they
could not influence races in other districts.
As a result, the court ruled that 28 state House and
Senate districts had to be redrawn, effectively meaning
that virtually the entire 2011 legislative map the 2016 gen
eral elections were based on must now be thrown out, and
the new map approved by the federal court and put in
force for the special elections for the 2017 primaries and
November elections.
State lawmakers will then have to immediately pre
pare for the regular 2018 mid-term elections, which
Democrats must do well in in order to control the legisla
ture in 2020, and with it, the redistricting process.
Republicans, who are now appealing the court order to
the U.S. Supreme Court, predictably blasted the ruling.
This politically-motivated decision, which would
effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians
just days after they cast their ballots, is a gross overreach
that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for
voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms,"
Sen. Bob Rue ho, (R-Mecklenburg) and Rep. David Lewis
(R-Harnett) said in a joint statement. "We continue to
believe the maps drawn by the General Assembly, pre
cleared by the Obama Justice Department and twice
upheld by our state's elected Supreme Court."
Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-District 75- Forsyth) agrees.
"I do find it very curious and concerning for this small
judge panel to wait until after we just finished a very com
petitive election in which we were elected for two-year
terms to now decide to force us to another election.," Rep.
Lambeth told The Chronicle. "But I will seek election
under whatever terms are set forward. Tax payers are the
losers as elections off cycle are very costly and usually
very low turnout."
But Democrats say if the current districts are unconsti
tutional, then they must be corrected. But that doesn't
mean there aren't still questions.
"Exactly how this will affect us as legislators is yet to
be determined because we haven't seen [the redrawn
maps] yet," Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) told The
Chronicle. "It should be better [for Democrats] in terms ol
... there should be less [racial] gerrymandering. I'm pre
pared to work with the decision that the courts have
made."
State Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dan Blue said, "
We are elected to these offices and hold these offices to
serve the citizens who elected us, not to serve our own
purposes. The court found, rightfully so, that these dis
tricts were unconstitutional because of the way they
packed African-American voters in as few districts as pos
sible. That is a constitutional violation, and you want to
remedy a constitutional violation as soon as possible."
Sen. Blue continued," The citizens of North Carolina
deserve to have people representing them who are elected
from constitutional districts. So since it's about the citi
zens and not about us, even if it's a little inconvenient to
run two years in a row, the benefit it bestows the people
that we represent far offsets any kind of inconvenience it
might cause the [candidates] running."
"My sentiment is with the voters," says Linda Wilkins
Daniels, president of the African-American Caucus of the
N.C. Democratic Party. "Voters should choose their repre
sentatives, not vice versa. A 2017 election will be costly
and tasking, but is the remedy for GOP overreach."
Low,
Dr. Virginia
Newell gains
AAUW honors
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem
Branch of the American
Association for University
Women (AAUW) held its
annual Fall Luncheon at
Five Points Restaurant to
honor
D r .
Virginia
Newell
for 50
years of
leader
ship and
support
i n
AAUW's
efforts to
empower women and girls.
Also, she was honored
for community activism
and her foundational work
while serving as a profes
sor at Winston-Salem State
University (WSSU). Dr.
Newell is currently a
retired professor emeritus
who has been credited as
the single force behind
acquiring computers for
WSSU and creating the
foundation for a computer
science program at the uni
versity.
At the luncheon. Dr.
Betty Alexander, who also
retired from WSSU, pre
sented Dr. Newell with a
framed Honorary Life
Member certificate.
Dionne Jenkins, JX).,
?
was the keynote speaker at
the Oct. 2 event. As gener
al counsel for the Winston
Salem/ Forsyth County
School System, she is an
example of today's women
in leadership. One of her
duties as General Counsel
is to oversee compliance to
Title IX. She brought
AAUW up to date on Title
IX in local schools.
"We are pleased to
know that our girls and
young women have equali
ty in access, equipment and
personnel as they partici
pate in sports and educa
tional programs," an
AAUW official said.
The Winston>-Salem
Branch also partnered with
a Title I elementary school.
South Fork, and its media
coordinator to assure on
Nov. 18 that every first
grader receives a book. The
project is titled, "Love
Your Book Project" led by
Norma Bernhardt and Judy
Atkinson.
"We are pleased to have
strong leadership with
Ellen Morris and Dr.
Vanessa Duren-Robinson
as co-presidents. Through
our branch, we help shape
the lives of the next gener
ation of women leaders,
and advocate for policies
that advance social justice,
equity and equality for
women and girls," an
AAUW official said.
Dr. Newell
WSSU Giving Tuesday
campaign raises $48,000
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
For the second consec
utive year, Winston-Salem
State University (WSSU)
has set a record for Giving
Tuesday, raising more than
$48,000 in 24 hours.
This year's campaign
surpassed last year's
amount of $35,100 by 38.7
percent. The largest con
tributing group this year,
by a wide margin, was
Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, turning in
$13385.
"Just as our theme said,
contributions were 'more
than a gift,'" said Regina
Craven, WSSU's Annual
Fund interim director and
Giving Tuesday coordina
tor. "We really wanted this
to resonate with our
donors, and we sincerely
thank everyone involved in
making Giving Tuesday
tremendous this year!"
Giving Tuesday, the
daylong giving campaign
on Nov. 29 this year, is
designed to harness the
collective power of indi
viduals, communities and
organizations to encourage
philanthropy.
Michelle Cook, WSSU
vice chancellor for
University Advancement,
said all the money raised
during Giving Tuesday
will go direcdy toward the
university's General
Scholarship Fund.
More than 80 percent
of students at WSSU are on
some form of financial aid.
To contribute to the
WSSU General
Scholarship Fund, go to
http://www.wssu.edu/admi
nistrat ion/university
advancement/donate
nowaspx.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest]
H. Pit! and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing
Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C.
27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
Longtime coach and mentor
remembered for inspiring youth
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
There were few empty seats left
inside Ambassadors for Christ
Revival last Saturday afternoon as
more than 200 people filed into the
church on the corner of Harriet
Tubman Drive and East 15th Street
to celebrate the life of Hansel Hentz.
A 1963 graduate of Anderson
High School, Hentz was a standout
athlete in both basketball and foot
ball. Although he loved the game of
basketball, Hentz used the game of
football to earn a scholarship to
Fayetteville State University. That
passion for basketball stuck with
him, however. After graduating,
Hentz returned to the city to work
for the Winston-Salem Recreation
and Parks Department. There, he
used the fundamentals of basketball
to teach life lessons. Hentz also
started the popular summer basket
ball league at 14th Street Recreation
Coiter that featured some of the
city's best high school and college
athletes.
In 2012, Hentz earned the
Northwest YMCA Strong Award,
wnicn is award
ed annually to
individuals who
demonstrate
exceptional vol
unteerism.
As evident
by the crowd on
Saturday, Dec.
3, Hentz
touched hun
dreds of lives.
During the cele
bration of life, a number of people
said they saw Hentz as a father fig
ure. City native Carlos Gregory said
although he was strict, Hentz
inspired him to strive for perfection
both on and off the court.
"He would always say, don't lis
ten to how I'm talking to you just
make sure your getting the mes
sage," said Gregory. "This man
pushed me to be great."
"I really believe he touched
Hentz
everybody's life he came in contact
with."
The Rev. Gwatney Leak, a close
friend of Hentz for more than 60
years, said Hentz was a God- fearing
man who genuinely cared about the
well being of others. He mentioned
Hentz played a major role in bring
ing the annual Christmas Breakfast
to the 14th Street Recreation
Center. Each year the event feeds
hundreds of people on Christmas
morning.
"He had a real passion for giving
and looking out for others," Leak
said. "He will be missed, but he will
live on through the people he
touched." I
Before delivering a powerful
eulogy, Joseph Cobbs, senior pastor
at Gethsemane Hope Missionary
Baptist Church, said he was honored
to be in Hentz' presence. Cobbs
mentioned even in his last days,
Hentz was in great spirits.
He said, "He was a great man
and a good member of Gethsemane
Baptist Church."
School board looks to appoint
previous member to fill seat
Marie Johnson's
seat will be open
BYTEVIN STINSON ?
THE CHRONICLE
The local school board
has begun the process to
replace board member
Marie Johnson, who defeat
ed incumbent June
Atkinson in the race for
state superintendent of
public instruction last
month. By the next meet
ing, Tuesday, Dec. 13, the
board wants to bring on a
former school board mem
ber who left the board in
2014.
After the meeting on
Tuesday, Nov. 29, board
members held an open
briefing session to discuss
the steps they will take to
replace Johnson, who
joined the board in 2014.
Although board members
are elected to four-year
terms by a public vote,
when replacing a board
member in the middle of a
term, the board has the
power to decide on the new
member.
After a short discus
sion, the board decided
they would appoint the
new board member instead
of going through an appli
cation and interview
process, similar to what
happened last year when
Lida Calvert-Hayes joined
the board.
A number of board
members mentioned
because there isn't much
time left before Johnson
leaves the local board for
his position with the state,
appointing someone to fill
the vacancy would be the
best decision for the dis
trict. With big decisions on
the horizon for the board
concerning the school
bond, which was approved
by 95 percent of voters,
board member Deanna
Taylor suggested everyone
take into consideration
how long the application
process takes to play out.
"One way to look at it
is how soon do we want
someone in here," said
Taylor. "The process we
used earlier in the term
took awhile. The question
is how soon do we want
someone in here and we
should let that determine
the process."
Board chair Dana
Jones agreed with Taylor.
She mentioned the board
will begin the year with a
number of extra meetings
and it would be best to do
so with a full board.
"We have extra meet
ings with building and
grounds because of the
bonds so there are a lot of
things that are going to be
happening." Jones said.
"We're right in the
middle of a busy time."
Board members also
discussed a candidate for
the vacant the position.
Because Johnson is a
Republican, Jones said the
vacancy had to be filled by
a registered member of the
GOP as well. Considering
the requirements and the
road ahead for the board,
vice chairman Robert Ban
suggested former board
member Marilyn Parker
fill the vacancy.
Parker, a graduate of
Tennessee Tech University
with a degree in early
childhood and elementary
education, served four
terms as the board chair for
the local school district in
the mid-2000s. A mother
of four children who grad
uated ex- currently attend
school in the district,
Parker also served on the
board of directors for N.C.
School Board Association.
"We're at a critical
place where we need to get
someone on this board that
hopefully all of us is com
fortable with so we can
keep this thing going,"
Jones said.
Ban mentioned Parker
has a feel for what's going
on in the classroom. He
said, "With Parker, the
board will get someone
who has a reputation of
being in schools, someone
who is actually on the
ground in the classrooms."
"Someone like that
really excites me." Barr
said.
Longtime board mem
ber Elizabeth Motsinger
said, "After serving with
Marilyn for many years,
there is nobody who will
do a better job."
"She knows the dis
trict, she loves the district,
and she stayed involved in
the district even after get
ting off the board. I think
she's a fabulous choice."
Sometime before the
Dec. 13 meeting, the board
is expected to reach out to
Parker. A media report says
she is interested in the job.
According to Jones, if she
accepts the position,
Parker will serve about two
years, until the 2018 pri
mary election when all the
board seats are up for
grabs.
In the event that Parker
doesn't accept the position,
the board will hold another
meeting to suggest candi
dates. Parker's decision is
expected to be announced
during the last school
board meeting of the year,
which will also be
Johnson's last meeting
with the board.
"I will reach out to
Mrs. Parker. We have a
meeting December 13 and
I will make sure we have
an answer," Jones said.
The school board meet
ings are held at the
Education Building locat
ed at 4801 Bethania
Station Road. The open
session usually begins at
6:30 pjn.
Johnson
Parker