THE CHRONICLE
• See Opinion/Forum pages on A6 &7 • • See Sports on page Bl*
Volume46,Number 19 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, January30,2020
Local candidates take center stage
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRQNICLIY
Leading up to the pri
mary election, several or
ganizations, including the
Black Political Awareness
League (BPAL), Winston-
Salem Black Chamber
of Commerce, Ministers’
Conference of Winston-
Salem and Vicinity, The
Chronicle, and the local
chapter of the NAACP,
will be hosting a series
of forums to give voters
a chance to hear from the
candidates before casting
their ballots on March 3.
The first of five forums
that will be held at vari
ous locations throughout
the city was held earlier
this week at the Central
Library and was headlined
by the incumbent mayor,
Allen Joines, and chal
lenger JoAnne Allen.
To open the forum,
Incumbent Mayor Allen Joines talks about his plan to bring jobs to the city during
the Candidates Forum on Monday, Jan. 27.
both candidates for mayor
had the opportunity to in
troduce themselves and
give a brief summary of
their platforms. Joines,
who has won re-election
five times arid is the city’s
longest-serving mayor,
said he decided to run for
re-election because there
is still work to be done. He
said, “We want to continue
our efforts to interrupt the
cycle of intergenerational
poverty in our commu
nity.”
He went on to dis
cuss initiatives that he has
helped launch while in of
fice, including a free col
lege program accessible
to all graduates from the
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School system.
Joines also mentioned a
paid internship for high
school juniors and seniors
that he plans to announce
next week, and other ini
tiatives to improve third
grade reading scores and
create jobs in the commu
nity.
Allen, who is a native
of Winston-Salem and
president of Action4Now,
a local activist organiza
tion, said she decided to
run to uplift her home
town and help bring about
change. She said the most
pressing issue facing our
community is the fact that
there aren’t many jobs.
“That’s where all the ■
other issues come in,” Al ¬
len said. “That’s where the
violence, that’s where the
gentrification, that’s where
the unemployment, that’s
where the housing ... all
of this basically starts with
the fact that we don’t have
any jobs.”
Allen said since Joines
has been in office, the city
has given incentives to the
wrong companies who all
left the area after a few
years. She said Winston-
Salem has Some of the best
schools in the state and
we should be using that
to attract companies from
Photos by Tevin Stinson
Earlier this week candidates running for mayor and clerk of court came together to discuss their platforms and
plans if they are elected. The forum held at the Central Library was hosted by the Black Political Awareness
League (BPAL), and several other organizations.
across the country.
“We have to utilize
that,” Allen said. “We have
to make sure that we can
actually reach out across
the country and stop giv
ing incentives to all the
wrong companies because
after an incentive, those
companies can pick up and
leave and we’re right back
where we started and that’s
what has happened here,
we’re down to one head
quarters.”
Joines said that isn’t
the case. He said the job
market has seen a 3.9%
increase over the past two
years, which is equivalent
to 5,300 jobs. He men
tioned that a large part of
that growth has come from
the growth in entrepre
neurship in the area.
“Creating jobs is pretty
simple - it’s three ways
you can do it. You recruit
new companies coming in;
you help existing compa
nies expand that will ere-'
ate about 50% of the new
jobs; then the third piece of
it is helping new start-up
companies that get started
here, grow, and become
part of the fabric
Winston-Salem,”
here in
Joines
a great
got
said. “We’ve
■■Ml
JoAnne Allen, a candidate for mayor, makes a point during the Candidates Forum
earlier this week.
system here in our city
that is making us a strong
area for entrepreneurship.
That’s where the jobs are
going to come from.”
When asked their plans
for the first 100 days in
office, Allen said the first
thing she will do is an au
dit on the different depart
ments to see where taxpay
ers’ money is going.
“There’s no organiza
tion in city government
that will not do an audit to
know where your tax dol
lars is going. Once we find
out exactly where your
tax dollars are going, then
we will be able to say this
doesn’t work, this doesn’t
work, this doesn’t work,”
Allen continued. “We will
be able to come in and
actually do some policy
that’s going to affect not
just gentrification, but
poverty, unemployment,
and homelessness.”
. In his first 100 days,
Joines said he plans to
continue the push against
gun violence. He also
discussed plans to have a
public safety summit to get
input from the public on
how to stop violent crime
in our community.
See Candidates on A2
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