Chavis files to run for council

Jul. 21—HIGH POINT — Longtime local historian and author Glenn Chavis has filed to run for the Ward 1 seat on High Point City Council.

Chavis said it's the first time he's ever run for any type of elected office.

He said he's running for council this year because he thinks the city needs to focus more resources on areas of High Point that have long struggled with entrenched poverty and other problems, such as the 27260 ZIP code.

"I cannot find anything in City Council records that's positive regarding what they have been doing in the last four years regarding 27260," Chavis said.

"I can't cure the problem, but I would like for it to be discussed. I don't have a lot of time left. I'm 82 years old. I was born and raised in High Point, so I've seen a lot."

He's the third candidate to file for Ward 1, which includes neighborhoods around Washington Street, Cedrow Drive and the Five Points area, as well as High Point University.

The seat is currently held by Councilman Cyril Jefferson, who is running for mayor.

The other contenders are both political newcomers who announced their candidacies in April: Henry Harris, a small business owner who also works in food services at HPU, and Vickie McKiver, the retired director of parks and recreation for the city of Thomasville.

A primary election for the Ward 1 seat will be held Oct. 10, with the top two vote-getters advancing to face one another in the Nov. 7 general election.

Chavis retired in 2000 from a career in pharmaceutical sales and, since then, has become an authority on High Point's Black history, writing two books and hundreds of newspaper columns on the topic.

He's been a staunch critic of the current and past councils, and he says he bases his opinions on evidence, including reading every page of council records from 1859 to 1971.

"I don't care what people say about me. It doesn't bother me, because I don't open my mouth unless I have facts," Chavis said.

His expertise includes the history of Washington Street, which was the center of Black business and cultural life during the era of segregation and is today part of Ward 1.

Chavis said one reason he's running this year is that he thinks current leaders don't know the history of the district and other parts of the inner city, and that limits their perspectives.

"Just in the last month, I looked at Ward 1, and it's a disaster," he said, adding that he thinks city leaders have allocated resources to things such as Truist Point stadium at the expense of areas with greater need.

"Someone had the nerve to tell me the stadium created jobs. How many people can pay their rent selling hot dogs and cleaning restaurants?" Chavis said.

He said he disagrees with many of the decisions during the current council term, including the council's recent vote to give itself an 88% pay raise.

"They could go vote themselves another 80% raise. There's no one to stop them," he said.

He said he objects to the city's recent decision to move forward with a new senior center at Oakview Recreation Center, because he thinks another city-owned site — Washington Terrace Park — would be a better fit.

"They talk about the acreage that's out there, but you've got 20-some acres over there at Washington Terrace," he said.

Chavis said he plans to campaign through word-of-mouth and personal outreach, vowing not to accept any monetary donations.

"I don't want to be beholden to anybody," he said. "You won't see yard signs with my name on them."