Hugh Holston is finishing his first full term on Greensboro’s City Council—and he’s looking for another.
When former at-large council member Michelle Kennedy vacated her seat in 2021, the council selected Holston to finish her unexpired term. He ran for the seat in his own right in the next election. He won, coming in third behind the late Yvonne Johnson and Marikay Abuzuaiter, who is stepping away from her at-large seat to run for mayor this year.
Holston first came to Greensboro in 1984 with his wife Olymphia. He worked for Wachovia, now Wells Fargo. These days, he’s the CEO of the Greensboro Housing Coalition. A registered Democrat, Holston is sometimes the odd one out on council when it’s time to pass or deny an agenda item, often opting to vote on principle. He cast one of the two votes in favor of keeping loose leaf collection, and one of two votes in favor of fully remediating Bingham Park rather than the less expensive cap-and-cover method.
We sat down with Holston last week to learn about how he operates on council, why he’s running again, and his hopes for Greensboro’s future.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You’re the CEO of the Greensboro Housing Coalition. What ignited your passion for housing, and how did you get into it?
I’ve always had a passion for working in the community. I got that from my parents. They were always engaged with the community—not just living there, but knowing the neighbors on our streets and beyond. They encouraged us to get involved and get to know people, and talk to people. That’s where it started. When I moved to Greensboro, I immediately got involved and connected with nonprofit and civic organizations. I was at Wachovia Bank, now Wells Fargo, and through our Community Reinvestment Act, I was the lead lender for affordable housing. [There were] 10-12 houses that we partnered with to get folks into homes. Back then, the home prices there were about $46,000. I was doing lending for affordable housing on Garrett Street, and also lending over on North Elm in Provincetown. And I remember having two contracts on my desk: One was for a home on Garrett Street, and one was for the construction of windows of a home in Provincetown. The windows by themselves were $50,000. So I’m looking at this saying, what a disparity. So, fast forward, I joined the board of the [Greensboro] Housing Coalition. Eventually, we went through some leadership changes, and the board appointed me. I’ve always had this thing for engaging with the community, working with those who don’t have as many resources as others, and the passion to make the community better every day, and the Greensboro Housing Coalition gives me that.
You filled Michelle Kennedy’s seat when she left. How and why did you apply?
One thing my parents did—rain, sleet, snow, or hail—is they voted. We walked to the polls, [whether it was a] general election, special election, municipal election. I saw the posting, the news articles, who had applied. It wasn’t until we got back from [our son’s] wedding in Charlotte when I sat down and took a breath, and had a chance to review that posting. I thought, I’ve been involved in business, so I understand finances and the like, and I’ve been heavily involved in the community. Why not pull those two together for the benefit of the city as a whole?
What’s your approach to addressing citizens’ concerns and complaints?
I try to keep an open mind and an open heart to understand where you’re coming from. I’m never one to sit back and assume exactly what you’re thinking. So for me, it’s about understanding your perspective, which means that I ask you a lot of questions to try to figure out where you’re coming from. Because I may think that what I believe in is the ultimate and can’t be any better. But you may have built a better mousetrap, and I want to know that. Because if you build a better mousetrap, then let’s go with your mousetrap. I use that same mentality when it comes to the issues or concerns of different groups or individuals within the city. I had a conversation earlier this week with someone I disagree with on a topic. We sat down with a cup of coffee and talked about it. Did we resolve it? No, but guess what? We started to build a relationship where we understand and respect the other, and maybe some change will come out of it one way or the other.
What do you believe the issues are in this race?
I want to make sure people have the resources to have a great quality of life. That’s where the economic development piece comes in. A rising tide raises all the ships. If you don’t have resources, I can put you in a house, but you’re not going to stay there because you can’t pay the bills.
And you’ve got to feel safe. When somebody kicks your door in at two in the morning, you’re not going to call Social Services. You’re gonna call 911. So public safety, making sure we’re protected and served respectfully. Community policing and public safety, working with the community, is the strongest thing you have. When I was growing up, we had neighborhood watch. We put the magnet on the side of the car and we’d drive through the neighborhood. We were helping the police to police ourselves. We had buy-in. And we need so much more of that. I remember the days when we’d borrow a cup of sugar from our neighbors. It was normal. Now you have people who don’t even know each other, who live next door. We’ve gotten so far away from knowing each other. This is the bigger metaphor for life, that when we know each other, it’s not just about the good times, it’s how you get past the bumps that come up.
The at-large race is pretty full with 10 people, and only three seats are available. What sets you apart from the other candidates?
One is that I’ve been there. I’ve had the experience of knowing what works. I know where the pitfalls are. So I’m continuing to hit the ground running, and build on the momentum we have right now.
Next is, I vote my values. I have an independent streak in me. Bring back loose leaf collection. I was one of the two votes to keep it. Bingham Park. I voted to fully remediate; others voted to cap and cover. Just covering it up does a disservice not only to the community that lives around it but to the city as a whole. I think we have a responsibility. Was there a lot of pressure to go along? Yeah, but I wasn’t going to do that. I was voting with my heart. That’s what you get when you get somebody like me.
You’d also be going into a very different council. How would you navigate that?
We have a saying on council that it takes five people to do anything. You want to have nine, but it takes five. It’s critical because some people come onto council thinking that because it’s my issue, I’m going to carry the day. Well, you need to have four other people with you, and if you don’t know how to collaborate and engage, you’re going to find yourself on an island, and all your great ideas are going to go nowhere.
What’s next?
I want folks to believe in Greensboro. I truly believe that the best is yet to come. We have Jet Zero at the airport and the [Toyota battery manufacturing] megasite. We have the opportunity to be the leader in aerospace in the nation. We have these two economic juggernauts that are just getting wound up. There are also communities that have been left behind: Northeast, east, and southeast. We’ve got to do additional investments there. If you have a foundation of a home and half the foundation is crumbly and the other part is strong as ever, well, the whole house is coming down.