In the past five years, North Carolina has been repeatedly ranked as the best state in the country for business. CNBC, Site Selection Magazine, other national media outlets, and even think tanks consistently highlight our workforce, universities, quality of life, cost of living, and business climate. Raleigh, Charlotte, Durham, and Greensboro have reaped the rewards — attracting corporate investment, tech hubs, and billions in new capital.
But Winston-Salem is absent from the headlines.
We’ve failed to attract a single major corporate relocation during this same period. While our peer cities experience economic resurgence, Winston-Salem is stuck in neutral — or worse, reverse. The question we should all be asking is: why?
One effect of short-term thinking and ignoring long-term consequences played out recently when Winston-Salem’s city council voted to cut firefighter benefits, slashing sick and vacation accruals by nearly 50%. The decision passed 5–3, with the mayor — who only votes in tie-break situations — voicing support but holding no formal influence.
The city framed the move as an effort to create “equity” across departments. But cutting the benefits of first responders — at a time when morale is already low and public safety concerns are rising — sends the wrong message to the very people who hold our city together.
I recently had a conversation with a firefighter at the gym. He expressed grave concerns about losing benefits and informed me that he routinely struggles to pay his son’s tuition. Serving as a firefighter is unpredictable work, it’s almost impossible to know when you’re available to attend family events, schedule appointments, or plan a vacation. The profession is already emotionally and physically draining, so cutting benefits sends the wrong signal to our community heroes.
And this isn’t happening in isolation.
Downtown businesses continue to struggle. Long-standing restaurants are closing. Residents complain about crime, parking, the visible homeless population, as primary reasons they avoid the city center. Not to mention that local families feel squeezed by rising living expenses and property taxes. So the incentive to catch a show or have a date night in downtown is low while they are being told to do more with less.
Office vacancies in downtown Winston-Salem have reached record highs, as large companies exited pre pandemic and the exodus still continues. The few companies still operating downtown can’t keep restaurant seats filled. And the economic developers tasked with reversing these trends have no meaningful wins to show — not even a compelling strategy.
No matter where I go — whether it’s meeting with business owners, attending community events, or simply walking downtown — people are puzzled. Residents and investors alike can feel it: We’ve lost momentum. Restaurant owners are unsure if they’ll renew their leases. Long-time community advocates wonder what the city’s actual plan is, if one exists at all. And no one seems to understand why city council remains mostly silent, with several members appearing to have little interest in downtown and instead narrowly focused on their own wards.
There’s a vacuum of leadership — and it’s becoming impossible to ignore.
TIME TO RESTRUCTURE
Winston-Salem’s mayor doesn’t vote on city council decisions unless there is a tie, which undermines citywide leadership and weakens accountability. Our council structure favors a ward-heavy format with no at-large representation, making it harder to advance central business district initiatives that benefit the entire city. No other urban city in the state is structured this way, and it’s now time for Raleigh lawmakers to restructure our city council.
Restructuring our city council to include at-large seats and granting the mayor full voting rights would immediately strengthen our governing capacity. It would also reflect a more modern, representative structure — one that mirrors our peers and encourages strategic thinking beyond ward boundaries.
Implementing at-large seats will cultivate new leadership, empower a larger vision, and incorporate a sense of shared responsibility. Because when decision-makers are only accountable to narrow political geographies, they lose sight of the needs of all residents. And right now, Winston-Salem desperately needs people willing to lead for the whole city.
We need more than structural change. We need nonpartisan local elections. Too long, Winston-Salem’s city council has been dominated by a single party, making it nearly impossible for quality candidates with fresh ideas — regardless of affiliation — to compete. Local issues like potholes, jobs, and public safety belong to all of us, not politics. A nonpartisan system would open the field to diverse voices and help us govern collaboratively, not by ideology.
What we’re observing — from downtown stagnation to firefighter benefit cuts — are outgrowths of a deeper issue: a lack of vision and political will to adapt.
Bold leadership, fresh voices, and a willingness to reimagine what Winston-Salem can become will unlock the same explosive growth happening around the state. That must start with reforming leadership from the top down, updating the way we govern, and finally holding our decision-makers accountable for the outcomes we say we want.
We can’t keep ignoring the cracks, while the whole foundation collapses.
