All tagged antonio hardy
After seven seasons with the Down East Wood Ducks, Kinston will welcome a new professional baseball team, the Bird Dawgs, to Grainger Stadium as part of the Frontier League. The announcement was made during a press conference at the stadium on Monday, marking a new chapter for the city and its strong baseball tradition.
In April, the City of Kinston announced the formation of an advisory board, The Historic Grainger Stadium Commission, aimed at preserving and promoting the city’s iconic baseball stadium. The Council at the most recent meeting considered the appointment of several notable local figures to the commission.
The 2023 municipal unofficial election results for the Kinston City Council race are in, and the residents of Kinston have made their voices heard. Incumbents Mayor Pro Tem Antonio Hardy, City Council Member Felicia Solomon, and City Council Member Sammy Aiken hoped to secure their seats for another term against opponents Les Lipford and Barbara Seaforth. Hardy, Solomon, and Seaforth secured a seat on the Kinston City Council.
With 31 years of dedicated service in the United States Marine Corps under his belt, and a further two years serving as Kinston's Mayor Pro Tem, Antonio M. Hardy is no stranger to leadership. A native of Kinston, Hardy has announced his intention to run for City Council in Lenoir County, aiming to continue his mission of being a "voice for the people" and fortifying the connection between city and county.
The city of Kinston held a historic City Council meeting where the results of the 2021 Municipal election led to the swearing-in of the youngest city council member in North Carolina. Council members Robert Swinson IV and Chris Suggs were sworn in as well as Mayor Dontario Hardy. In addition to the swearing-in of council members and mayor, Mayor Hardy also selected Council Member Antonio Hardy as his Mayor Pro Tem.
On June 15, 2021, Kinston’s City Council voted to approve the proposed 2021-2022 budget, which included a four-cent property tax increase. The budget did not include the proposed salary increase for the city council members or the mayor. During the meeting, Councilmember Robert Swinson made a motion to remove the salary increases from the proposed budget, which was seconded by Solomon. The motion passed with Solomon, Swinson, and Councilmember Kristal Suggs voting for the budget without the salary increases, and Councilmembers Antonio Hardy and Sammy Aiken voting against it.
“I will sleep well tonight knowing that we made the right decision to not approve the salary increase for the Council,” said Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Solomon.
The Kinston City Council met for a Budget Worksession on May 24, 2021, wherein a four-to-one vote they approved their own salary increase of $18,000 total per year and the mayor’s $3,600 per year raise ahead of the June 15th City Council meeting. The City of Kinston is expected to increase property taxes by $0.04 per $100 valuation at that meeting.
As this was a budget work session, there is no video of the off-site meeting, but an audio recording is attached. This vote was the only one taken during the four-hour budget meeting. During the same session, the previously reported dry-cleaning allowance line item was removed by the consensus of the mayor and board.
During Monday night’s City Council meeting, motions were unanimously passed proclaiming the November General Election Day and Juneteenth as city holidays, starting with 2020. City manager Tony Sears confirmed the two additional city holidays would be paid and later confirmed to Neuse News that “the salaries for a single day across all budgets is $53,604.17.”
Statements during the meeting attested there would be no “extra cost” to the taxpayers for the two new annual holidays. Citizens took to social media following the meeting suggesting that emergency services employees should get paid time and a half for holiday pay, which potentially would be an extra cost for the city in direct contrast to the vote’s portrayal.
