Simkins PAC endorses Bellamy-Small and Wade

YES! Weekly has obtained the Simkins PAC's endorsements for Greensboro City Council. They were sent by e-mail by a staff member on behalf of lawyer Steve Bowden, who currently chairs the PAC.

That the political action committee named for the late dentist Dr. George C. Simkins Jr., which exercises significant influence over the votes of many in Greensboro’s black community, would endorse Yvonne Johnson for mayor is no surprise.

Here’s their stated reason: “We have the opportunity to elect the first African-American mayor of the city of Greensboro. Yvonne has served the community as an avid spokeswoman for 14 years, 12 were as mayor pro-tem.”

The two surprises are District 1 incumbent Dianne Bellamy-Small and District 5 challenger Trudy Wade.

Bellamy-Small famously ran afoul of Simkins PAC member and NC Rep. Earl Jones in 2005 when she voted to remove the NC A&T University homecoming vendors from Lindsay Street. The political action committee gave its endorsement to Luther Falls Jr. in that election.

When I interviewed Jones in March for a cover story about Bellamy-Small, he suggested it was unlikely that Bellamy-Small would get the PAC’s nod this time around. We had talked about the many controversies that had beset Bellamy-Small since her 2005 reelection.

Here’s what he told me then:

“You can speculate. All I can tell you is we did not endorse her in the last election. None of the issues that you were talking about had come up. You draw your own conclusions.”

Here’s the official reason given for the endorsement:

“Dianne continues to work to empower District 1 in economic development, addressing crime and violence and strengthening neighborhoods.”

Wade is also a curious pick. She’s promised stronger oversight of City Manager Mitchell Johnson if elected to city council — which is understood by many of her white supporters as code for punishing the manager because he held former police Chief David Wray accountable for reported problems related to black officers being harassed and tripped up by their white colleagues, as well as reports of black officers being subjected to more stringent disciplinary measures than their white counterparts.

Incumbent Sandy Carmany, in contrast, has backed Johnson’s handling of the Wray affair. On the other hand, Carmany has probably estranged some black Greensboro residents by voting to oppose the truth and reconciliation process.

Here’s the official reason for Wade’s endorsement:

“Trudy is a proven quality. She spoke out when the NAACP was attacked by a commissioner and she is willing to work for all of Greensboro.”

Chairman Steve Bowden declined to explain how the PAC settled on Bellamy-Small and Wade.

“Each member of the PAC has one vote and those folks had the majority,” he told me by phone today. “I won’t get into the deliberations. None of the candidates gave us the exact answers we’d like hear, but we just thought Trudy Wade and Dianne Bellamy-Small were the better candidates.”

Bowden would not discuss who or how many persons comprise the voting membership of the PAC with me. It’s widely known that the PAC is made up of the black leadership of Greensboro. I’ve previously reported that NC Rep. Alma Adams, the Rev. Cardes Brown are members. I think I know who some of the other members are, but I don’t have the reporting to confirm it. If readers want to fill in the blanks, feel free to do so on this blog.

The PAC distributes its endorsements in predominately black areas of the city. Otherwise it has little visibility. It has no website, [and as it makes no campaign contributions it is not registered with the NC Board of Elections (In fact, the Simkins PAC is registered with the NC Board of Elections; corrected after publication — author)].

For the three at-large council seats, the PAC endorsed Robbie Perkins, Sandra Anderson Groat and Marikay Abuzuaiter. Not much surprise there.

The remaining district race endorsements were also to be expected: Incumbent Goldie Wells for District 2, Zack Matheny for District 3, and no endorsement for District 4, where incumbent Mike Barber is running with hardly a challenge from David Crawford.