Luther Falls formally announced at a press conference today at Coffee at the Summit that he’s endorsing neither candidate for the District 1 seat in the general election for Greensboro City Council.
“I have concerns about both candidates,” Falls said. “The incumbent has been democratically elected twice and survived a recall. That’s an indication that the voters like her. My thing is to encourage people to vote.”
Falls, a candidate who was eliminated during the primary election after falling 45 votes behind second-place finisher Tonya Clinkscale. The incumbent, Dianne Bellamy-Small won with 701 votes, less than the combined votes received by Clinkscale (496) and Falls (451), so Falls’ endorsement would have given the challenger a boost in the general election.
While withholding support from either of the candidates in District 1, Falls added that he would campaign for Yvonne Johnson, who is running against Milton Kern for mayor.
Falls was accompanied by fellow candidates Charles Coffey and Greg Woodard, who were both also eliminated in the primary. Coffey was a candidate for District 1 and Woodard sought an at-large seat.
The conversation before Falls formal announcement centered on the connection between jobs and political representation in District 1.
Woodard provided the most revealing comment about the district’s challenges.
“District 1 hasn’t had good representation,” he said. “It should have been promoted as an economic gem from Day 1. Highway 220 goes out from there. Interstate 85 goes out from there. Interstate 40 goes out from there. Nobody has taken advantage of it. UPS did. They were smart. Why’s all the development going to the airport and West Wendover? It’s because the council members live there and they’re going to bring the jobs home. District 1 has one councilmember begging for scraps.”
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