Greensboro City Council heard in detail from former Magistrate Marjorie Davis, a 19-year public service veteran, about the training she has been providing for the new Magistrate Makaila Howard over the last month.
Davis was matter-of-fact about the responsibilities of the position and effusive in her praise of her trainee Howard.
“I am all about the law; I don’t deviate from the law, and that’s what I do,” said Davis. “The position of magistrate is a powerful job. She’ll have a lot of power. She can arrest people. She’s separate from the police but she will work with them.
I have trained her on warrants and complaints. I’ve trained her on how to take bonds and release people. I know the job because I did the job and I can tell she’ll do a good job. I think she will make a good Court Magistrate.”
Jacqueline Long of the faith-based group Live-Your-Dream (LYD) spoke on behalf of her group and asked for the Council’s assistance.
“We are a non-profit outreach looking to provide a structured environment where young people can grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially,” said Long. “We help our children stay engaged in their surroundings. We go out in the community and help the elderly and anyone else who needs our help. We are asking the Council for financial support so we can continue growing our program. We need transportation assistance for our bus. We’re asking the community to invest in us.”
Tyler Fielding, owner of Fielding Construction LLC., presented the Council with his findings and an estimate on the repair work needed for the roof of the Greensboro Recreation Center.
“We examined the roof and it’s 40–50 years old. The roof has asbestos. It would be best for us to go over the old roof with a new roof rather than remove the old roof entirely,” Fielding said. “We can remove the asphalt and other materials and install trusses to accommodate the dips and drops in the old roof.”
Fielding said asbestos was a common building material used for home construction prior to the early 80’s. He said removal of the asbestos is more dangerous than building over it.
Completely tearing down the old roof would send the asbestos into an airborne state and leave the Greensboro Recreation Center inoperable for months if not longer. The entire area would be a quarantine zone, he said.
Fielding said his company could repair the roof for $106,600. His company offers several warranty plans and regular six-month inspections.
Mayor Ralph Howard said he would be speaking with the regional manager of Eastridge Apartments in Atlanta by telephone on Wednesday, February 25th regarding recent complaints from residents and he would relay the details of that conversation on Friday, February 27th. Howard said he has spoken with city attorneys and HUD officials about the matter.
