WS Chronicle

Forsyth County commissioners voted during their Thursday, Sept. 28, meeting to rename the Social Services building after the late Walter Marshall.

Marshall was a county commissioner, former school board member and former local NAACP president who was a longtime member of the Social Services board. He passed away earlier this year.

The resolution, which commissioners passed unanimously, was initiated by Commissioner Fleming El-Amin, who was appointed to fill Marshall’s seat. It authorizes county staff to look into how the name change will take place.

Before the vote, several community members spoke in favor of naming the building. Charles Wilson called Marshall a man of “principle and personal integrity.”

“Naming the Department of Social Services in honor of Walter Marshall would be a form of a monument in remembrance of his contributions to this community and his 27 years of elected public service on the local school board and the county commissioners.”

Alfred Harvey said the 14th Street Elementary School Alumni Association supported the naming, calling Marshall a “champion of the people.”

“He truly loved Winston-Salem and the people,” he said.

Fred Terry, a former City Council member, said it was a fitting tribute.

“It’s a place where people go to attempt to be risen from their circumstances, and Walter Marshall looked to raise people up from their circumstances to the next level. That’s why that building needs to named after Walter Marshall,” he said.

Also during the meeting, commissioners authorized the necessary documents to close on the purchase of land at 175 North Chestnut St., beside the County Government Center, which the county plans to build a new courthouse on. The county is purchasing the land from Edward Hall LLC for $850,000 with an easement or $700,000 without the easement. The deal has an exemption period until Oct. 10 and will be closed by Oct. 27.

There was a split vote on raising the salary of County Tax Assessor John Burgiss to $4,423.20 per pay period. This is a regular evaluation that commissioners do, since the tax assessor is a position they directly hire.

Commissioner Everette Witherspoon was the sole “no” vote. He said he wanted to express the objections some in the community have had on whether the property tax reappraisal process fairly accessed the home values in some minority communities. He said he felt Burgiss was doing a good job addressing some of the concerns, but there was still work to be done.

Commissioners decided to hold off on voting on changes to the noise ordinance in unincorporated areas of the county to allow more time for discussion and consideration of the issue.