Irish Good has lived in Greensboro her whole life—and spent much of it working in city government. After a 35-year career with the city’s fire department and in People & Culture (formerly Human Resources), she’s now seeking a seat on the Greensboro City Council in District 2.
Good was one of the more than 40 applicants who vied for the at-large council seat left vacant by the death of Mayor Pro Tempore Yvonne Johnson in December. The council ultimately chose Jamilla Pinder to finish Johnson’s unexpired term. Now Good is one of five District 2 candidates looking to follow Dr. Goldie Wells, who is retiring from council.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me a little about your previous work with the city.
Working in the fire department was really exciting in terms of understanding how that service works for people, the interest that people have in becoming a firefighter, and the impact that has on the community. Because working in the fire department gave the firefighters an opportunity to really get out and engage with people in the community. And not just about fighting fires, but how to prevent fires. And getting out in the community and talking to individuals, especially young youth, about what it’s like to be a firefighter.
So that was very impactful to me because it just touched so many people. Not just the people that [they] came to when they were in their worst moments, whether it be a car accident or a fire, those firefighters were always there in your worst moment. And they were there to make you feel at least a little better. I wasn’t a firefighter, but I trained new fire recruits and got to know a little bit about what that work looks like and experience that through them.
And because there was an outward-facing service that we provided the city, because we were out in the communities, that was really impactful. Which was a little bit different than working in People & Culture, because then that work was more inward-facing. I was providing services for our employees and connecting with them. Which was very rewarding too, because my role there was primarily supporting employees that had personnel issues and things like that. That was extremely important for me, helping them navigate health care, development, or helping them decide on what career path they want, or supporting them when they needed it the most.
So I had an opportunity to look at it from both sides.
What sets you apart from the other four candidates in this race?
I go back to the experience that I have within the city. I understand the operations in the services and the programs that the city has in place. And not only that, I’ve developed strong relationships with people within the city. I understand the dynamics of how they manage services and the initiatives that they offer city employees. So that has really given me a lot of insight, additional insight that I believe I have a little bit more of than maybe some of the other candidates. So that, I think, speaks volumes in terms of how I can kind of hit the road running pretty quickly with a minimum learning curve of what the city services are and how they operate.
What changes would you hope to bring to District 2 if elected?
I want to create a safer neighborhood. I think here lately we’ve seen an increase in crime, especially when it comes to car break-ins and things of that nature. So that is one area that I definitely want to address, is to create safer neighborhoods and communities within District 2.
I want to also look at accessible and affordable housing. That’s another issue that I think we lack in District 2. And also building on economic development in this area. We still do have some areas that are food deserts. There’s just not a lot of well-established grocery stores in this district. Also creating more opportunities and equity in this area. I think there needs to be a lot more focus on how we can create more opportunities and how we can create equity that looks very balanced in terms of when you look at the city as a whole.
So those are some of the pillars that I’ll be addressing if elected to the city council, along with some other areas, because I definitely want to focus a little bit more on providing some strategies for homelessness and how we can move forward with creating those strategies using a lot of compassion. And I think affordable housing would be a part of that as well in addressing homelessness.
What do you believe are the most important issues Greensboro is facing?
I think policing and crime is definitely on the top of the list. I think safety is really important at this time. I have four kids. I have three boys, and I’m always concerned about them in terms of safety. That hits home.
How do we connect and get the community and the policing to where it’s kind of merged as one?
It’s like two drum beats. They’re both singing off the same sheet of notes in terms of how they’re wanting to move forward and making the city safer. Because I think that has to be a partnership. It has to be some collaboration—not just with police, but with the beliefs in the residents in the community. And that’s where trust begins to come to fruition. And that’s where policing can be more effective when you have trust in those communities, in the residents that live in them.
At one time, I owned my own recruitment firm and focused solely on recruiting public safety staff, police, and fire for the city. And my goal was to create more diversity in terms of more women going into especially firefighting. Because we didn’t have a lot of females that were really interested in wanting to be firefighters … So my role in my recruitment firm was definitely a focus on creating more opportunities for more of a diverse service.
It was good in terms of role modeling for kids, because when they saw somebody that looked like them, then that gave them that ambition and the desire to want to possibly one day pursue that type of career. I witnessed some challenges within the fire department that I wanted to address. So that was my business plan: to try to encourage more diversity in those professions. I was recruiting for departments all over North Carolina.
What do you believe the city’s role should be in supplying affordable housing?
I support the city manager’s proposal for 10,000 new homes by 2030. I think that’s an opportunity that the city has to attract businesses and to foster population growth. I think the city needs to look at some zoning opportunities to see if there’s areas that can be rezoned to accommodate affordable housing. Also, just collaborating with companies and agencies to provide employee housing options. There may be companies in Greensboro that may want to offer their employees some type of funding to help them purchase homes. So just looking at a lot of things that could be available in terms of how we can best support ownership for first-time home buyers.
And what should the city’s role be in aiding the city’s unhoused population?
How can the city help in terms of mental health challenges? The city already has a division within the police department [Behavioral Health Response Team – BRHT] to help people through mental health challenges. But even when there’s no involvement with the police, how can the city still support mental health challenges, partnership with other agencies that can provide those services? Also, even agencies that provide substance abuse support or treatment and being able to collaborate with them about what type of initiatives that the city can help support or roll out to address those issues and terms of substance abuse. And I think, again, it goes back to affordable housing. [I know they have Pallet shelters] but I don’t see that as a permanent fix for the homeless … But my main concern is, how do we do that in a compassionate way? And that’s going to be the important thing, that we make sure that those individuals are respected and that we do it with compassion in terms of how we provide these services … We’ve got to go to them. And even if we have to provide some type of transitional housing into permanent housing, I think that’s an option that maybe the city can look at. Do we have city buildings that we can easily upfit to accommodate the homeless?
Recently, the city of Durham passed a resolution making Durham a “Fourth Amendment Workplace,” increasing protections for city workers against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests. It directs city staff to “uphold the 4th amendment at their workplace and city agencies and report back to Council any barriers to effective training on the 4th Amendment for any departments.” What’s your position on what the council’s role is related to ICE and deportation?
Even from what I’m witnessing, from other cities across the U.S., in terms of how they are navigating that situation, we want to make sure that our residents are protected in a way that doesn’t completely victimize them. I know the federal government has their job. I know that’s something that they’re committed to do in terms of immigrants. But I believe that it has to be done in the right way. I don’t know that they’re doing it in a way where those immigrants get due process, that they have a chance to go through a due process to determine whether they need to be here or need to be deported. So I think we just need to make sure that we can protect them the best we can, so that you won’t have ICE personnel raiding your buildings looking for illegal immigrants.