Candidates for Greensboro City Council appeared at Craig Hall on the campus of NC A&T University last night. The main event was comments from District 2 candidates Jim Kee and Nettie Coad, considering that the district is home to the university.
Turnout from A&T students could be a significant factor for Mayor Yvonne Johnson and three at-large candidates who traditionally enjoy support among voters in east Greensboro: Robbie Perkins, Sandra Anderson Groat and Marikay Abuzuaiter. The Student Government Association and Common Cause are hosting a march from A&T and Bennett College to the Old County Courthouse for students to cast their ballots in early voting at 3 p.m. today. (I’ll do my best to report the numbers later today.)
UPDATE: The Board of Elections says about 20 students showed up at the Old County Courthouseto participate in Early Voting.
Coad piggy-backed on an announcement last night about the student march to explain to students that they can register and vote at the same time through Saturday, but if they’re not registered yet they will not be able to vote on Nov. 3.
Her opponent chimed in: “A vote for Kee is a vote for A&T.”
Coad riposted, “I’m not going to be upstaged,” dropped her own name, and promised, “I’m going to get you that sidewalk.”
Johnson had a student volunteer handing out her election literature, including information about early voting at the door. Her opponent, Bill Knight, was not there. Five out of six at-large candidates showed, the exception being Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat. The at-large candidates in attendance were Nancy Vaughan, Robbie Perkins, Danny Thompson, Gary Nixon and Marikay Abuzuaiter.
Candidate attendance was spotty for the other four districts, with no one from districts 1 and 4, and George Hartzman and Art Boyett respectively representing districts 3 and 5.
Some snippets of the candidates’ statements follow.
Nettie Coad: “I’ve served in some capacity in community organizing and looking out [for] Greensboro. And this process allows us to work together in neighborhoods in disenfranchised areas, in blighted areas to bring about change; to build houses, to renovate houses. I’ve been working with people down through the 1980s, even in Mr. Kee’s neighborhood on Phillips Avenue and Summit Street [SIC] and Lombardy Street. And working to improve the neighborhood. This improves his opportunities for investment.”
Coad: “You’re going to get sidewalks on Lindsay Street. I saw the stimulus money, and I called your current representative, Goldie Wells. And you’re going to get those sidewalks. It’s not safe. You shouldn’t have to walk along the side of the road in the grass.”
Art Boyett: On 287(g): “I do not think we should involve people stopped for traffic stops trying to find out what their immigration status is.”
Jim Kee: On 287(g): “Random stopping, checkpoints, I would not be in favor of.”
George Hartzman: On 287(g): “It looks to seek people out who are illegal aliens. It seems unworkable. It doesn’t seem to be a very good idea.”
Yvonne Johnson: On why students should vote for her: “I have been and will continue to be vigilant about helping recruit business and industry to Greensboro so that you have a choice about staying here after you graduate, and so that you have an opportunity to have a job while you’re in school. Secondly, I have worked tirelessly to bring life back to the downtown Greensboro so you will have some choices about your entertainment, whether it’s a club, or the arts, or a cultural festival, or a park, or the aquatic center. All those things, I think about you as well as the other citizens of Greensboro. And also because I have been available to you for speeches, for class ventures, for sorority and fraternity events…. I’ve already worked with your chancellor and his staff on public safety, what can be done to secure the housing around A&T.”
Robbie Perkins: On Project Homestead: “I think one of the things that I recognized early on working with Yvonne [Johnson], serving with her on city council, was that we had to do the right thing for the whole community. And I became actively engaged in housing. I worked with Dr. Alton Thompson. Project Homestead really transformed the face of east Greensboro. We talk about the $17 million that the city put into Project Homestead. What we really ought to be talking about is the $150 million of outside money that came into the community, and it was changed as a result. I’m proud of that. Other things that I’ve been involved in is the East Market Street redevelopment, the Dudley-Lee, the Hope VI project to turn Morningside Homes into Willow Oaks. And I’m very proud of the work that I’ve done in east Greensboro.”
Nancy Vaughan: On housing: “Affordable housing makes a safer city. It makes Greensboro a nice place to raise a family. And that improves our tax base.”
Johnson: On environmental initiatives: “I am for converting Greensboro’s waste to energy. I don’t think it is silly. I don’t think it’s out of the question. I do think it will take some work, so therefore I am a green queen.”
Perkins: On the potential for a city of Greensboro internship program: “I think we have an ideal candidate to initiate a program. And I think Rashad Young is that person.”
Johnson, Thompson, Abuzuaiter and Vaughan indicated they would support the idea too.
4 comments:
"Turnout from A&T students could be a significant factor for Mayor Yvonne Johnson..."
Could be, but usually not a significant factor in municipal races at all.
As is usually the case, the number of voters at A&T in 2007 was the second lowest of all precincts with 60 voters.
Can guess the precinct with the lowest turnout?
I'm guessing UNCG, Roch. Do I win the prize.
The student vote will probably prove to be negligible when the ballots are counted on Nov. 3. Still, Yvonne seems to be focused on chasing down every vote she can. Jason Coley with her campaign told me they were working on getting A&T students engaged, and as I noted, Yvonne had a student rep handing out her literature outside the auditorium. I don't know if Yvonne is nervous about Bill Knight, or it's just her nature to campaign hard no matter what.
Ding! You get the prize, Jordan. Do you want red or blue?
Don't get me wrong. I'd be delighted to see students turn out in droves to vote in municipal elections. (And, if we are going to be fair, there are surely some off campus students who are voting at off campus precincts). Nonetheless, every election someone gets enthusiastic about a significant college student turnout and it never materializes.
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