Incumbent District 5 Representative Tammi Thurm is running for her third term on the Greensboro City Council. First elected in 2017, Thurm is running in the aftermath of another Trump presidency, something that spurred her to action eight years ago. In the lead up to Election Day, Thurm talked to The Assembly about her tenure on council, her proudest moments, and what else she hopes to work on if re-elected.
While the Greensboro City Council is nonpartisan, Thurm is a registered Democrat.
This interview has been lightly edited for length clarity.
Tell me about your connection to the city.
I first came to Greensboro 50 years ago to attend UNCG in 1975. I have been here ever since. I had the opportunity to move back to the D.C. area 25-30 years ago, and I realized after spending a day up there, ‘No, Greensboro is home. I love Greensboro.’ I’m here for good.
Two years ago, I retired from my full-time job. Now I’m doing city council full-time.
You’re running for your third term on city council. What made you get into politics?
I was a little taken aback by the results of the 2016 election. About a month afterwards, I was with several girlfriends and was talking about how if people were happier at home, we wouldn’t have such drastic candidates elected on the national stage. They mentioned that for my district, the representative had been running unopposed for a couple of terms.
You’re talking about Republican Tony Wilkins, who you beat in 2017 and again in 2021, correct?
Yes. I felt like we needed to field candidates everywhere. Nancy Hoffmann had mentioned it to me years ago, and after much consideration, I was looking at the numbers, and I decided to go for it.
Editor’s note: In 2017, Thurm beat Wilkins by fewer than 500 votes. In 2021, she beat him again, this time by just over 600 votes.
You said you were inspired to run for political office after the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Now, nine years later, Trump is serving his second term as president. Any thoughts on that?
I still believe, as I did in 2017, that good candidates that care about their constituents need to run and need to serve. Candidates that are focused on the people. That’s a core reason that I continue to serve.
Looking back at your two terms, what are some of your proudest moments?
I’m very proud of the economic development wins that we’ve had between the Toyota megasite to Boom Supersonic to JetZero and the Publix distribution center. All of those are great additions to our community. And now that we have those future jobs, we’ve got to focus on how people get those jobs.
I’m proud that we’ve increased support for the police department, so we’re not 130 officers short.
I’m proud of the apology we made for the Greensboro Massacre. That took a lot of focus and concentration. It was a long time coming in our community. I think it was one step in healing our community.
You touched on supporting the police department. Recently, there’s been conversation in the community about [officers needing written consent before performing] searches during traffic stops after a controversial incident earlier this year. Is that something you’d consider as a councilmember?
I am still in favor of written consent, especially now with all of the concerns surrounding ICE stops and what that looks like in communities. I think the more intentional we are, the more we offer instructions in multiple languages, all those things contribute to a safe community for all of us.
Since you mentioned it, can you talk about your thoughts on the federal crackdown on immigrants and how the president is sending troops into cities, often without the support of its mayors or councilmembers?
It’s very concerning. Our immigrant community is part of what makes Greensboro such a great place to live. People should not have to live in fear. We are all less safe, in my opinion, if our immigrant community is living in fear.
If elected for a third term, what things are you hoping to focus on?
I am very excited about permanent supportive housing with full wrap-around services. We finally have a property—the old animal shelter off of Wendover [Avenue] that’s six acres. We anticipate building an apartment building back there, complete with a healthcare center, social work services, perhaps job training, perhaps substance abuse counseling, as well as peer support, and creating a sense of community.
We have facilities for some folks who are coming out of homelessness, but some of those have time tables on them.
We know that the housing-first model is what helps people and addresses the needs of those who are living unhoused. It’s something I’ve been working on for a long time, and something we desperately need. We have a lot of Band-Aid programs, but we need to go further upstream in addressing all of that.
I also think we need to reimagine what public transportation looks like in our communities.
My hope is that eventually we can migrate to microtransit for the whole city. Sharon [Hightower] is spearheading it. It’s like a rideshare program. It operates similarly to Lyft or Uber, but say I’m traveling from my house to the Four Seasons Mall area. I can call and pick up a ride at my door, and there might be three other people who want to go that way, and we’ll pick them up along the way. It would cost approximately the same as a bus ticket, around $1.50 – $2.00. It’s something that Gastonia started a few years ago and has had a lot of success with. District 5 has very little public transportation access, and it’s a constant source of difficulty for some areas of the city.
It’s a long-term goal for me, something potentially years down the line.
This year’s election is a big one with the potential for a lot of turnover. As an incumbent, what are your thoughts on the potential changes?
I think it’s a really, really exciting time. I anticipate that we’ll have a good mix of new people and people with different experience levels.
I look forward to helping our new councilmembers get up to speed quickly. When I came on council, there was no big orientation. I had to learn a lot of it as I went. I think for those of us who have more experience, we will be able to help mentor and bring folks up to speed.
I think it’s important that we have a mix and not an all new council. I think we have good momentum, and I don’t want to lose momentum.
Why do you think you’re the best candidate to serve District 5?
First of all, I want to see the permanent supportive housing project go through. I think that’s desperately needed in our community.
It’s important for us to not lose time to a training curve with a new council.
I think that while my opponent has what she calls city council experience in her former community, her community was a community of [fewer than 2,000 people and overwhelmingly white]. We have a wonderfully diverse community that we need to celebrate. I think it takes knowledge and history of the city to make sure to continue to serve all areas of the city.
I just look forward to serving my district. I know my district. I know the neighborhoods. I know the people. I think I’ve done a good job being responsive to folks.
Early voting runs until Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Voters can look up their sample ballots using the NC voter registration database here. During the early voting period, voters can cast their ballot at any open voting site. On Election Day, voters must go to their assigned precinct. Voters must also show a valid photo ID to vote in this election.
Correction: The original version of this article misstated the totals of the 2107 and 2021 elections in which Thurm defeated Tony Wilkins, reporting primary vote totals instead. It has been corrected to reflect general election numbers.