The East Ward race is one of two Winston-Salem City Council races that will in all likelihood be decided in the Democratic primary election Sept. 15; there are no Republican candidates. Joycelyn V. Johnson, who won the seat in 1993, faces challenges from fellow Democrats Donald L. Scales, Harold Lee Hairston and Derwin L. Montgomery. We believe that Johnson has earned a fifth term.
Scales, 60, is a carpenter for city/county schools. He missed the deadline to be interviewed by the Journal editorial board, despite several reminders. He has told the Journal's Laura Graff that he is concerned about crime in the ward and would focus on economic development.
Hairston, 65, grew up here. He is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, and is a retired technical manager for Lucent Technologies. He said he's running to help the East Ward with economic development and a greater police presence. City taxes don't flow back to his ward, which lacks retail stores, restaurants and jobs, he said.
The Dell computer plant, for which the city approved millions of dollars in incentives, was a good deal but was managed badly, he said. There was no public push for the downtown baseball stadium for which the city council has approved millions of dollars in financial support, he said.
Hairston was an unsuccessful candidate for the East Ward seat in 2005, and an unsuccessful candidate for a seat on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in 2006.
Montgomery, while the youngest city-council candidate at 20, is a promising challenger. The South Carolina native is a senior at Winston-Salem State University, where he has been the president of the NAACP chapter. He mentors at-risk youth and is a Baptist minister.
He wants to increase economic development in the East Ward through an incubator for small business, improve housing options and reduce crime. Incentives, such as those the council approved for Dell, are necessary for the city to stay competitive, he said. He said that the stadium project looks a lot better now that more stringent oversight has been put in place.
He has a Web site business, upliftnation.TV, which promotes minority social and economic development. He wants to study law and divinity at Wake Forest University.
Johnson, 60, has spent all her life here. A graduate of Bennett College, she is a community outreach coordinator for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Johnson, the chairwoman of the council's public-works committee, is low-key, soft-spoken and hardworking.
For example, when the Alder's Point apartment complex fire last month displaced almost 100 residents, Johnson was one of the first people to arrive at their temporary shelter at the Sims Recreation Center. She has continued to help the fire victims find permanent housing.
When she talks about what's been accomplished since she was first elected to the council, Johnson speaks in terms of "we," as in what she and her fellow council members and ward residents have accomplished in economic development, community development and revitalization. She wants the city to put more money into job training, so that it can enhance its work force to attract more business. She's among the most candid council members when talking about the Dell and ballpark deals. While she says both projects will succeed, she adds that the council has learned lessons about the need for greater oversight and more community input from the start.
The Journal endorses Joycelyn V. Johnson in the Democratic primary race in the East Ward.
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