By james art Winston-Salem Councilman Kevin Mundy said Thursday that a predominantly black clergy organization is being “used for political purposes” after the group pushed back against his criticism of Northeast Ward Councilwoman Barbara Burke.
Mundy rejected criticism from the Ministerial Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity, which on Tuesday accused Mundy of “planter thinking” for what it called his “personal and public attack on Councilman Burke (Ministerial Conference) and three other prominent blacks women in this community, one of whom has died.
“This is about a council member doing unethical and illegal things,” Mundy said Thursday, referring to Burke. “This has nothing to do with racism. It’s about power and control.”
Mundy’s dispute with Burke is that she has argued that any plan the city creates to build housing on scattered vacant city-owned lots must exclude lots in her area. Burke made the announcement at a Sept. 9 meeting of the city’s housing committee. Burke said a plan has already been developed for her ward and that the city should stick to it.
Mundy and others on the council said no one council member should control those decisions, and City Attorney Angela Carmon says a council-wide vote would have to be held to sell or help finance the creation of dwellings on the plots.
Mundy addressed his criticisms of Burke in an Oct. 21 email to Thembila Covington, former president of the Ministerial Conference, and other members of that group.
The letter prompted a very public response from the Ministerial Conference, which released a statement on Tuesday blasting Mundy for what it called a “condemning and divisive email” that unfairly impugned the work of the group and Burke.
On Thursday, Mundy issued a statement saying he had “tremendous appreciation and respect for the Ministerial Conference,” going back to the 1990s and early 2000s when he worked as community relations manager for Sara Lee Branded Apparel, now Hanesbrands.
“When the Ministerial Conference held meetings online, I participated often to make sure I stayed abreast of their discussions,” Mundy said. “This knowledge has helped me inform the issues and areas of concern within the African-American community, which in turn informs my decisions as an elected official.”
But Mundy said the Ministerial Conference was acting on “limited information” about the housing dispute and accused Burke of using the group for his own political purposes. He said he sent his original email criticizing Burke to Covington and others in the organization because he had developed a personal relationship with them.
Mundy said Thursday that he sent that original letter in hopes of starting a conversation around the issue of housing affordability to the less wealthy. Mundy and some other council members criticized Burke’s efforts to ensure that homes built on city lots have garages and other amenities found elsewhere in the city.
While Burke sees better housing as improving the neighborhood, Mundy and others argue that it raises the price of housing beyond what those in need can afford.
Burke never responded to a Journal request for comment about Mundy’s email exchange.
But Keith Vereen, the current president of the Conference of Ministers, said in an email Thursday that it was not true that Burke wanted full control over housing decisions in her ward.
“Full council approval is required before any council member can move forward with a plan to sell lots in their area,” Vereen said in an email that appeared to reference Burke’s housing plan. “No council member had full authority or independence to finalize a project independently of their peers.”
While he said Mundy’s claim to the contrary was “false,” Vereen went on to say that Burke “has factual evidence that supports her adherence to the program and process that was originally put in place.”
Whatever plans Burke has for Northeast Ward housing, they were developed before the departure of former City Manager Lee Garrity, who retires in the summer of 2023. Burke was among three council members who supported former Assistant City Manager Patrice Toney for the post, but the council named Pat Pate to the position on a 5-3 vote.
In her original email, Mundy accused Burke of promising Toni the job if she would give Burke free rein to run the housing in her ward. He went on to accuse Burke of using false accusations of racism to pressure the Ministerial Conference and others to rescind Pate’s job offer and later to try to damage Pate’s reputation in the city’s black community.
Vereen said every allegation made by Mundy was false “as to any influence, collusion or coercion” by Burke and the Ministerial Conference on issues surrounding the city manager’s work or housing.
“I will make it clear that Councilmember Burke had nothing to do with (our) decision to support a qualified candidate for city manager,” Vereen said. “We worked directly with Ms. Tawney prior to the selection process to address major deficiencies in the housing recovery program in Winston-Salem and witnessed firsthand her ability to get the job done.”
Vereen said the three black women the Ministerial Conference said Mundy defamed were Burke, the late Vivian Burke, Toni and Covington. Vivian Burke was Barbara Burke’s mother-in-law and once represented the Northeast Ward as the city’s longest serving councillor. In her Oct. 21 email, Mundy said Barbara Burke made false allegations of racism and that her mother-in-law did the same.
Pate, asked by a Journal reporter Thursday to provide a copy of Burke’s housing plan, said, “I don’t have a housing plan passed by the Northeast Borough.”
“I would suggest that you ask Councilmember Burke for the documents she mentions,” Pate said.
Meanwhile, a woman campaigning against Burke called a Journal reporter this week to support Mundy’s view of Burke as a “bully.”
Contessa Smith, campaigning for the North East District, accused Burke of saying “nothing that is true about the concerns that people have raised” about her housing plans.
“Barbara loves to lead, but she doesn’t understand that it’s an elected office,” Smith said. “It’s not something where you can throw your name around and bully people. She has more money and the Burke name, but she doesn’t have the heart of the people.
Smith said he is drafting a petition to present to the city council, asking that body to prevent Burke from having control over housing in the Northeast area.
Mundy doesn’t seem inclined to back down from the argument.
“If I’m going to be their whipping boy, that’s a small price to pay if it makes the city a better place,” he said.