Greensboro City Council District 4 candidate Joel Landau is retracting a statement he made previously stating that former Ku Klux Klan exalted cyclops EH Hennis is a supporter of his opponent, Mary Rakestraw.
Landau wrote in an e-mail this morning: "Regarding our earlier conversation about Rakestraw and Hennis, I'd like to retract my comments. I don't think it adds to the quality of the discussion. My comments were made in response to some things making the rounds, but on reflection it's not something I feel is worth bringing up."
Joel Landau and the ghosts of '79
Mary Rakestraw and her supporters would like to make Signe Waller Foxworth a political liability for Joel Landau in the District 4 race for Greensboro City Council. Landau is taking some heat for first listing Waller Foxworth on his campaign website as a supporter and then removing her name, giving the impression that he is embarrassed by the association.
The issue has resonated with the conservative types who would be expected to take issue with such an association: Guilford County Republican Party Executive Director Tony Wilkins, blogger Joseph Guarino and The Rhinoceros Times.
The matter was first broached by Rakestraw in a candidate questionnaire submitted to the News & Record. The newspaper asked candidates to pose a question to their opponents. Rakestraw’s question for Landau was, “Your website has listed at least one controversial political activist supporter (e.g. a Communist Workers Party organizer) but has now removed that one. Why are you removing names, and have you received any financial contributions from them?”
Landau told me in a phone conversation today that he considers the premise of the question to be misleading. Signe Waller was a member of the Workers Viewpoint Organization at the time of the fatal confrontation with the Klan and Nazis in Morningside Homes in 1979, when her husband, Dr. James Waller, was killed. The Workers Viewpoint Organization had planned to rename itself the Communist Workers Party at a conference held later that day, but the deadly confrontation at the mustering point of the march caused the organization to disintegrate.
In Landau’s words, Rakestraw “made reference in the N&R questionnaire to an organization that hasn’t been in existence for 20 years. That’s like referring to Ronald Reagan in 1983 as a ‘liberal Democrat.’”
Wilkins stepped up the pressure on Landau to address the question in blog post on Tuesday, entitled, “Joel Landau, Where Is Signe Waller?”
Guarino picked up the thread hours later on his own blog.
“Waller, of course, was one of the primary players in the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation process,” Guarino noted. “If Waller is supporting Landau, it might speak volumes about his political stance.”
Landau’s position on the truth process is actually a matter of record.
YES! Weekly asked candidates for city council in 2005 how they felt about the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its examination of the circumstances surrounding the 1979 confrontation, and whether they thought the city council should take a more active role in the truth process.
Landau, then a candidate in the at-large race, answered, “Something is amiss when people are murdered on city streets in broad daylight and the known killers are set free. This is currently a divisive issue, but I think it’s important for the future unity and reconciliation of the city that we learn the truth about how that came about. I believe city council should endorse the work of the commission and encourage any city official with relevant information to come forward with that information.”
Landau told me today that he hasn’t changed his position on the truth process, but doesn’t see it as an important issue in this campaign.
“I felt that it would be beneficial for some people that needed resolution to hear information and get information out there,” he said. “I believe in dialogue and people listening to each other.”
I pushed him a bit, noting that the 30th anniversary of the shootings is coming up — right on Election Day, as it turns out — and that another important anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth sit-ins, is also imminently on the horizon.
Landau responded: “I think they’re important to acknowledge and recognize, but they’re not on the agenda right now for the right reasons. They’re being brought up as part of a smear campaign.”
The day after Wilkins and Guarino posted their commentary on the scrubbing of Waller Foxworth’s name from Landau’s website, Rhinoceros Times Editor John Hammer interviewed the candidate. Landau’s comments were published in the conservative newspaper today, essentially mainstreaming the controversy to the Greensboro electorate.
Landau told me essentially the same thing he told Hammer about his decision to remove Waller Foxworth’s name.
“Back in June and July, we were putting down names of people who publicly support me: Democrats, Republicans — we didn’t look at anyone’s affiliation,” he said. “One of my other supporters approached me, and raised that that could become a distracting issue because some people consider her to be a controversial figure. I talked to Nick, my campaign manager, about it. We agreed that it would be a distracting issue. She’s not the one running for office. That’s not a pressing issue that the city is dealing with right now. I called Signe and told her about my decision.”
Landau said he thinks it’s a sign of the Rakestraw campaign’s “desperation that they can’t find anything else to talk about. They’re afraid she’s going to lose the election.” He characterized his association with Waller Foxworth as “a non-issue.”
“It’s one of the silly things the rightwing does,” Landau said. “I could just as easily bring up EH Hennis, who went before the county commission and denounced them, and then went before the city council and called them ‘a pack of liars and whores.’ He’s a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. He didn’t have anything good to say about any of the other city council members, but he said, ‘Mary Rakestraw, that’s the one person on city council that I can get behind.’ What is it about her that gains the approval of this avowed racist? To me, both questions are irrelevant.”
I asked Landau for the date of the city council meeting in which Hennis expressed approval of Rakestraw. He told me he thought it took place in the late spring.
Hennis addressed the city council on April 21, 2009; April 1, 2008; and Feb. 21, 2008. After reviewing videos on the city’s website, I could find no record of Hennis calling the council “a pack of liars and whores” or saying, “Mary Rakestraw, that’s the one person on city council that I can get behind.” In fact, in the February 2008 remarks, which I transcribed at the time, he called Rakestraw “Motor Mouth,” accused her and fellow Guilford County commissioner, Phyllis Gibbs of lying to a magistrate and grand jury about him and marching through the courtroom like a couple hussies acting like lesbians, and then threatened to hang her in effigy at his house on Groometown Road.
Hennis did open his April 2009 remarks by saying, “I was so happy to hear that Mary Rakestraw wants to continue offering her services to you city folk, and I’m sure it makes you happy.”
Hennis possesses a sense of humor that is richly laced with sarcasm. His later comments make it clear that he is no fan of Rakestraw: “They ganged up on me, mayor, because I filed for county commission…. She would not come out and look at almost $4,000 worth of hate crimes perpetrated against me by the county officials destroying my real estate and personal property…. Mary and the others lied to the magistrate that I was extremely dangerous and had explosives on my property…. Their lies cost me over 10,000 dollars.”
One comment by Hennis during that sequence could be construed as support and, to be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it: “I tried to spend as much time with Mary Rakestraw as possible campaigning and introducing her to her constituents, so you can buy one and get one free.”
Landau said he thinks that a “much more pertinent issue” is why Rakestraw made a statement during a city council meeting in August that council members were unaware that staff was undertaking a rewrite of the Land Development Ordinance that reclassifies zoning districts.
“That got people agitated,” he said. “It made political hay, and it was false. The council had received a report on it from [Planning] Director [Dick] Hails. That’s a current-time issue. I trust that the majority of citizens are more concerned with real issues right now than what someone who’s not a candidate did 30 years ago.”
Rakestraw did not respond to a request for comment.
The issue has resonated with the conservative types who would be expected to take issue with such an association: Guilford County Republican Party Executive Director Tony Wilkins, blogger Joseph Guarino and The Rhinoceros Times.
The matter was first broached by Rakestraw in a candidate questionnaire submitted to the News & Record. The newspaper asked candidates to pose a question to their opponents. Rakestraw’s question for Landau was, “Your website has listed at least one controversial political activist supporter (e.g. a Communist Workers Party organizer) but has now removed that one. Why are you removing names, and have you received any financial contributions from them?”
Landau told me in a phone conversation today that he considers the premise of the question to be misleading. Signe Waller was a member of the Workers Viewpoint Organization at the time of the fatal confrontation with the Klan and Nazis in Morningside Homes in 1979, when her husband, Dr. James Waller, was killed. The Workers Viewpoint Organization had planned to rename itself the Communist Workers Party at a conference held later that day, but the deadly confrontation at the mustering point of the march caused the organization to disintegrate.
In Landau’s words, Rakestraw “made reference in the N&R questionnaire to an organization that hasn’t been in existence for 20 years. That’s like referring to Ronald Reagan in 1983 as a ‘liberal Democrat.’”
Wilkins stepped up the pressure on Landau to address the question in blog post on Tuesday, entitled, “Joel Landau, Where Is Signe Waller?”
Guarino picked up the thread hours later on his own blog.
“Waller, of course, was one of the primary players in the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation process,” Guarino noted. “If Waller is supporting Landau, it might speak volumes about his political stance.”
Landau’s position on the truth process is actually a matter of record.
YES! Weekly asked candidates for city council in 2005 how they felt about the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its examination of the circumstances surrounding the 1979 confrontation, and whether they thought the city council should take a more active role in the truth process.
Landau, then a candidate in the at-large race, answered, “Something is amiss when people are murdered on city streets in broad daylight and the known killers are set free. This is currently a divisive issue, but I think it’s important for the future unity and reconciliation of the city that we learn the truth about how that came about. I believe city council should endorse the work of the commission and encourage any city official with relevant information to come forward with that information.”
Landau told me today that he hasn’t changed his position on the truth process, but doesn’t see it as an important issue in this campaign.
“I felt that it would be beneficial for some people that needed resolution to hear information and get information out there,” he said. “I believe in dialogue and people listening to each other.”
I pushed him a bit, noting that the 30th anniversary of the shootings is coming up — right on Election Day, as it turns out — and that another important anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the Woolworth sit-ins, is also imminently on the horizon.
Landau responded: “I think they’re important to acknowledge and recognize, but they’re not on the agenda right now for the right reasons. They’re being brought up as part of a smear campaign.”
The day after Wilkins and Guarino posted their commentary on the scrubbing of Waller Foxworth’s name from Landau’s website, Rhinoceros Times Editor John Hammer interviewed the candidate. Landau’s comments were published in the conservative newspaper today, essentially mainstreaming the controversy to the Greensboro electorate.
Landau told me essentially the same thing he told Hammer about his decision to remove Waller Foxworth’s name.
“Back in June and July, we were putting down names of people who publicly support me: Democrats, Republicans — we didn’t look at anyone’s affiliation,” he said. “One of my other supporters approached me, and raised that that could become a distracting issue because some people consider her to be a controversial figure. I talked to Nick, my campaign manager, about it. We agreed that it would be a distracting issue. She’s not the one running for office. That’s not a pressing issue that the city is dealing with right now. I called Signe and told her about my decision.”
Landau said he thinks it’s a sign of the Rakestraw campaign’s “desperation that they can’t find anything else to talk about. They’re afraid she’s going to lose the election.” He characterized his association with Waller Foxworth as “a non-issue.”
“It’s one of the silly things the rightwing does,” Landau said. “I could just as easily bring up EH Hennis, who went before the county commission and denounced them, and then went before the city council and called them ‘a pack of liars and whores.’ He’s a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. He didn’t have anything good to say about any of the other city council members, but he said, ‘Mary Rakestraw, that’s the one person on city council that I can get behind.’ What is it about her that gains the approval of this avowed racist? To me, both questions are irrelevant.”
I asked Landau for the date of the city council meeting in which Hennis expressed approval of Rakestraw. He told me he thought it took place in the late spring.
Hennis addressed the city council on April 21, 2009; April 1, 2008; and Feb. 21, 2008. After reviewing videos on the city’s website, I could find no record of Hennis calling the council “a pack of liars and whores” or saying, “Mary Rakestraw, that’s the one person on city council that I can get behind.” In fact, in the February 2008 remarks, which I transcribed at the time, he called Rakestraw “Motor Mouth,” accused her and fellow Guilford County commissioner, Phyllis Gibbs of lying to a magistrate and grand jury about him and marching through the courtroom like a couple hussies acting like lesbians, and then threatened to hang her in effigy at his house on Groometown Road.
Hennis did open his April 2009 remarks by saying, “I was so happy to hear that Mary Rakestraw wants to continue offering her services to you city folk, and I’m sure it makes you happy.”
Hennis possesses a sense of humor that is richly laced with sarcasm. His later comments make it clear that he is no fan of Rakestraw: “They ganged up on me, mayor, because I filed for county commission…. She would not come out and look at almost $4,000 worth of hate crimes perpetrated against me by the county officials destroying my real estate and personal property…. Mary and the others lied to the magistrate that I was extremely dangerous and had explosives on my property…. Their lies cost me over 10,000 dollars.”
One comment by Hennis during that sequence could be construed as support and, to be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it: “I tried to spend as much time with Mary Rakestraw as possible campaigning and introducing her to her constituents, so you can buy one and get one free.”
Landau said he thinks that a “much more pertinent issue” is why Rakestraw made a statement during a city council meeting in August that council members were unaware that staff was undertaking a rewrite of the Land Development Ordinance that reclassifies zoning districts.
“That got people agitated,” he said. “It made political hay, and it was false. The council had received a report on it from [Planning] Director [Dick] Hails. That’s a current-time issue. I trust that the majority of citizens are more concerned with real issues right now than what someone who’s not a candidate did 30 years ago.”
Rakestraw did not respond to a request for comment.
Face Time: Nancy Vaughan
I had lunch with Greensboro City Council at-large candidate Nancy Vaughan this afternoon at Gray's Tavern in downtown Greensboro. We spoke about her experience as a former council member; her husband, NC Sen. Don Vaughan, himself a former member of Greensboro City Council (Disclosure: Don Vaughan is my lawyer); the GPD; economic incentives for businesses; and the role of the city manager, among other things.
History
Nancy Vaughan is running for one of three at-large seats on Greensboro City Council.
Vaughan served two terms on council, 1998-2001, under mayors Carolyn Allen and Keith Holliday.During After Before her tenure, she became involved in the rezoning of a tract of land off New Garden Road owned at the time by Jefferson Pilot, which eventually sued her and the other sitting council members of her committee.
The protest petition, and Greensboro's exemption from it, was one of the things that lured her back to politics.
Her two biggest obstacles, she said, were her daughter, who is now eight years old, and the fact that "I hate raising money." According to her latest campaign finance report, she has $9,373.43 on hand.
The Greensboro Police Department
"I think we have a lot of great police officers; I think their morale has taken a hit."
Vaugha said she went on a police ride-around a few weeks ago, which covered territory from Adams Farm to Randleman Road.
"I was amazed at the amount of square footage they have to cover," she said. Of the force's 650 or so sworn officers, she said, many do not actually patrol the streets. "When you get down to it," she said, "we don't have a lot of [police] cars driving around."
Of the spate of EEOC complaints against the department, she said her preference is not to settle out of court but to "hear them out."
"So many allegations have been made," she said, "but I think we need a full airing of the facts. If there are instances of institutional racism, we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves. If not, we need to move on. I don't think we're going to get that by settling [out of court]."
She says she was not for a police review board while in office, but that she is now, and that she favors a board with subpoena power.
"What good is it when they can't make people show?" she said.
Transparency
Vaughan spoke briefly about government transparency and the Freedom of Information Act.
"We need to define what comes up under 'personnel exclusion,'" she said. "It's been used [by the current council] as a way to avoid giving out information.
"We've been sued by citizens asking for some of this information, and they've gotten it," she said. "That says they should have given it out."
Power couple?
Speaking about the advantages and possible conflicts of serving on council while her husband, Sen. Don Vaughan, represents out interests in the NC Senate, she said, she could only see benefits.
"I am going to know what's going on in Raleigh," she said, "and [Don]'s gonna take my call."
She cited Guilford County Commissioner Linda Shaw and her husband, former NC Sen. Bob Shaw; former Guilford County Commissioner Chuck Forrester and his wife, Maggie Keesee-Forrester, who served as a state representative; and NC Sen. Katie Dorsett, whose husband Warren was vice chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.
"It's not like it's the first time," she said.
City government
Vaughan expressed discontent with the current manager-council for of governance in Greensboro, wherein city council has one employee, the manager, who reports directly to them.
"I would like to see the city attorney report to us," she said, allowing for "unfiltered, uncensored information from the legal department." A change to implement this system, she said, was part of the legislative agenda this year after passing council by a 5-4 vote, though the measure was not adopted by state lawmakers.
Economic incentives
"Like it or not," she said, "economic incentives are here to stay."
She acknowledged the closing of the Dell Computers plant in Winston-Salem after the company had negotiated a combined $281 million in incentives from city, county and state agencies.
"There are lessons to be learned here in Guilford County," she said. "When a company comes and asks for money, I think we need to know what the whole pot is."
Feb. 1, 1960
Vaughan says she has been against bond proposals to benefit the International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro, but that a recent visit to the Smithsonian in Washington DC affected her. The Smithsonian prominently displays the Woolworth's lunch counter where the sit-in was enacted.
"I saw the counter at the Smithsonian," she said. "I was amazed at the conversations I was hearing around me — the adults telling the children what happened. You could hear dialects from all over the country. I realized it was bigger than Greensboro."
History
Nancy Vaughan is running for one of three at-large seats on Greensboro City Council.
Vaughan served two terms on council, 1998-2001, under mayors Carolyn Allen and Keith Holliday.
The protest petition, and Greensboro's exemption from it, was one of the things that lured her back to politics.
Her two biggest obstacles, she said, were her daughter, who is now eight years old, and the fact that "I hate raising money." According to her latest campaign finance report, she has $9,373.43 on hand.
The Greensboro Police Department
"I think we have a lot of great police officers; I think their morale has taken a hit."
Vaugha said she went on a police ride-around a few weeks ago, which covered territory from Adams Farm to Randleman Road.
"I was amazed at the amount of square footage they have to cover," she said. Of the force's 650 or so sworn officers, she said, many do not actually patrol the streets. "When you get down to it," she said, "we don't have a lot of [police] cars driving around."
Of the spate of EEOC complaints against the department, she said her preference is not to settle out of court but to "hear them out."
"So many allegations have been made," she said, "but I think we need a full airing of the facts. If there are instances of institutional racism, we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves. If not, we need to move on. I don't think we're going to get that by settling [out of court]."
She says she was not for a police review board while in office, but that she is now, and that she favors a board with subpoena power.
"What good is it when they can't make people show?" she said.
Transparency
Vaughan spoke briefly about government transparency and the Freedom of Information Act.
"We need to define what comes up under 'personnel exclusion,'" she said. "It's been used [by the current council] as a way to avoid giving out information.
"We've been sued by citizens asking for some of this information, and they've gotten it," she said. "That says they should have given it out."
Power couple?
Speaking about the advantages and possible conflicts of serving on council while her husband, Sen. Don Vaughan, represents out interests in the NC Senate, she said, she could only see benefits.
"I am going to know what's going on in Raleigh," she said, "and [Don]'s gonna take my call."
She cited Guilford County Commissioner Linda Shaw and her husband, former NC Sen. Bob Shaw; former Guilford County Commissioner Chuck Forrester and his wife, Maggie Keesee-Forrester, who served as a state representative; and NC Sen. Katie Dorsett, whose husband Warren was vice chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.
"It's not like it's the first time," she said.
City government
Vaughan expressed discontent with the current manager-council for of governance in Greensboro, wherein city council has one employee, the manager, who reports directly to them.
"I would like to see the city attorney report to us," she said, allowing for "unfiltered, uncensored information from the legal department." A change to implement this system, she said, was part of the legislative agenda this year after passing council by a 5-4 vote, though the measure was not adopted by state lawmakers.
Economic incentives
"Like it or not," she said, "economic incentives are here to stay."
She acknowledged the closing of the Dell Computers plant in Winston-Salem after the company had negotiated a combined $281 million in incentives from city, county and state agencies.
"There are lessons to be learned here in Guilford County," she said. "When a company comes and asks for money, I think we need to know what the whole pot is."
Feb. 1, 1960
Vaughan says she has been against bond proposals to benefit the International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro, but that a recent visit to the Smithsonian in Washington DC affected her. The Smithsonian prominently displays the Woolworth's lunch counter where the sit-in was enacted.
"I saw the counter at the Smithsonian," she said. "I was amazed at the conversations I was hearing around me — the adults telling the children what happened. You could hear dialects from all over the country. I realized it was bigger than Greensboro."
Greensboro parks & rec ratchets up enforcement at farmers market
Greensboro Farmers Curb Market vendor Mike Causey has been suspended from selling his produce at the market for a year by the city's parks and recreation department as punishment for bringing items to the market that he did not personally grow without permission. Many vendors and customers have been pleading with the city to maintain consistent enforcement for the past two years. (Background here and here.)
An Oct. 5 letter from parks and recreation employee Kathy Cates reads, in part:
"You have continued to bring and sell produce at the Market that was not approved on your 2008-09 Variance to Sell nor was it confirmed by the Grower's Certificate dated 9/22/09 (for example garlic, green beans, cabbage, okra, watermelons, corn, blueberries). This is the third time this calendar year that we have documented your bringing items to sell at the Market which you have not personally grown, and for which you have neither requested nor received a Variance prior to selling.
"Market management and Parks & Recreation Department management have given great consideration regarding your privilege to sell at this facility. Based on our several years of history and documentation of your continued violations and disregard of the Vendor Participation Guidelines, we are hereby suspending your privilege to sell at the Market for a period of one (1) year. Additionally, your permanent table reservations and all fees will be forfeited. The suspension period will be from Wednesday, October 7, 2009 through Tuesday, October 6, 2010."
On Sept. 23, market manager hand-delivered letters to the following vendors notifying them that he and NC Cooperative Extension agent Wick Wickliffe would be visiting their farms over the next several weeks:
1. Michael Faucette, Faucette Farms, Browns Summit;
2. Kenneth Rudd, Greensboro;
3. Pat & Brian Bush, Hand Dance Farm, Reidsville;
4. Mary, Rodney & Brian Gann, Gann Farms, McLeansville;
5. Carol & Glenn Pryor, Fifth Generation Farm, Ruffin; and
6. Curtis Smith, Smith Farms, Gibsonville.
One vendor on the list told me privately that they do not believe they are under suspicion, and expects no problems from the inspection. But others, including Brian Gann, who told YES! Weekly earlier this month that he expected to be forced out of the market as a result of the inspection, do not welcome the visits.
An Oct. 5 letter from parks and recreation employee Kathy Cates reads, in part:
"You have continued to bring and sell produce at the Market that was not approved on your 2008-09 Variance to Sell nor was it confirmed by the Grower's Certificate dated 9/22/09 (for example garlic, green beans, cabbage, okra, watermelons, corn, blueberries). This is the third time this calendar year that we have documented your bringing items to sell at the Market which you have not personally grown, and for which you have neither requested nor received a Variance prior to selling.
"Market management and Parks & Recreation Department management have given great consideration regarding your privilege to sell at this facility. Based on our several years of history and documentation of your continued violations and disregard of the Vendor Participation Guidelines, we are hereby suspending your privilege to sell at the Market for a period of one (1) year. Additionally, your permanent table reservations and all fees will be forfeited. The suspension period will be from Wednesday, October 7, 2009 through Tuesday, October 6, 2010."
On Sept. 23, market manager hand-delivered letters to the following vendors notifying them that he and NC Cooperative Extension agent Wick Wickliffe would be visiting their farms over the next several weeks:
1. Michael Faucette, Faucette Farms, Browns Summit;
2. Kenneth Rudd, Greensboro;
3. Pat & Brian Bush, Hand Dance Farm, Reidsville;
4. Mary, Rodney & Brian Gann, Gann Farms, McLeansville;
5. Carol & Glenn Pryor, Fifth Generation Farm, Ruffin; and
6. Curtis Smith, Smith Farms, Gibsonville.
One vendor on the list told me privately that they do not believe they are under suspicion, and expects no problems from the inspection. But others, including Brian Gann, who told YES! Weekly earlier this month that he expected to be forced out of the market as a result of the inspection, do not welcome the visits.
Face Time
I almost didn't accept Nancy Vaughan's lunch invitation.
My reportorial style is based mostly on observation and research — I prefer to judge people more by their actions than their words, though I'm not above dropping a well-placed question or two.
But when the Greensboro City Council candidate who just scored the most votes in the at-large primary offers some face time, well it's my professional responsibility to show up.
A report on our lunch meeting will follow.
But first, because of the principle of equal time, I must extend the same courtesy to every city council candidate in both Winston-Salem and Greensboro. (And yes, I am aware that newspapers are not bound by this principle, but our newspaper is.)
If any council candidate wants 45 minutes or so of my time, I will make myself available to that candidate -- to my best ability, of course. I still have a paper to put out, and I like to see my children from time to time.
I could be in for quite a ride, as there are 32 candidates in the two cities.
Be aware: I do not accept free meals or small tokens of gratitude, no matter how shiny. And sometimes I'm a little late, though I usually call first.
I will post reports of every meeting here at the YES! Weekly blog, and the results wll carry some weight in our endorsement process. I hope they will prove enlightening for our readers as well.
Our office number is 336.316.1231. My e-mail is editor@yesweekly.com.
I am officially available for face time.
— Brian Clarey
Editor, YES! Weekly
My reportorial style is based mostly on observation and research — I prefer to judge people more by their actions than their words, though I'm not above dropping a well-placed question or two.
But when the Greensboro City Council candidate who just scored the most votes in the at-large primary offers some face time, well it's my professional responsibility to show up.
A report on our lunch meeting will follow.
But first, because of the principle of equal time, I must extend the same courtesy to every city council candidate in both Winston-Salem and Greensboro. (And yes, I am aware that newspapers are not bound by this principle, but our newspaper is.)
If any council candidate wants 45 minutes or so of my time, I will make myself available to that candidate -- to my best ability, of course. I still have a paper to put out, and I like to see my children from time to time.
I could be in for quite a ride, as there are 32 candidates in the two cities.
Be aware: I do not accept free meals or small tokens of gratitude, no matter how shiny. And sometimes I'm a little late, though I usually call first.
I will post reports of every meeting here at the YES! Weekly blog, and the results wll carry some weight in our endorsement process. I hope they will prove enlightening for our readers as well.
Our office number is 336.316.1231. My e-mail is editor@yesweekly.com.
I am officially available for face time.
— Brian Clarey
Editor, YES! Weekly
Dell plant closing a hot topic at Winston-Salem candidate forum
During a municipal candidate forum sponsored by the Winston-Salem chapter of the National Urban League Young Professionals on Oct. 13, the recent announcement that Dell Inc. would be closing its Forsyth County operations in January 2010 proved to be a hot topic.
James Taylor, the Democratic nominee from the Southeast Ward, said he had met with city officials since the Dell announcement on Oct. 7 about what could be done to assist the 905 workers that will be displaced by the plant's closing. Taylor said the $15.5 million in economic incentives Dell has promised to repay the city could go toward workforce development programs.
"I think it’s important that we work with our local colleges — Winston-Salem State, Forsyth Tech — to provide training for these people to allow them to go back into the job market and be competitive," Taylor said.
Taylor also said he supports the creation of a city emergency management fund to assist in situations that affect hundreds of residents like major layoffs.
John Hopkins, the Republican candidate from the North Ward, said offering vocational training for displaced Dell employees is key to helping them make the transition back into the job market.
"It’s amazing nowadays. You don’t have to go for these big degrees, particularly in the computer industry," Hopkins said. "If you can get things like certification — Comp TIA plus certifications — they do marvels for your career. They can be very helpful."
Vivian Burke, a 32-year incumbent representing the Northeast Ward, said the city has plans to revitalize its workforce development program to assist displaced Dell workers.
"We will take these employees and help to get them to training programs," Burke said. "I believe that local government and county government need to take on a big responsibility in trying to get these people employed.”
Derwin Montgomery, a 21-year-old Winston-Salem State student and Democratic nominee to represent the East Ward, said Dell's closing is yet another reminder of the global recession. Montgomery said the harsh reality is some of those 905 employees may have to relocate to find suitable employement.
"We have to ensure that these people are able to work and them not working staying here in this city doesn’t benefit us anymore than it benefits them," Montgomery said.
Claudia Shivers, the Republican nominee running for the Northeast Ward seat, said the city could attract big and medium-sized businesses with things other than economic incentives.
"One of the incentives we can have, we can have a beautiful thriving city that has wonderful schools, that has lower crime rates, that has wonderful neighborhoods," Shivers said. "So that in itself can be an incentive, so we know these organizations want to come and be a part of our city.”
Denise "DD" Adams, the Democratic nominee running for the North Ward seat, said the city council should have implemented greater oversight to ensure the $15.5 million the city invested in the Dell deal was being protected.
“I think going forward with any big business or businesses that we deal with, just like we do small businesses, we’re going to have to do big business the same way — hold them accountable," Adams said. "And when they’re not meeting their marks, when they’re not able to tell us how they’re going to increase their productivity, increase their employment, then we put them on what we call a PIP — which is a performance improvement plan. All of this should be built going forward that we hold them accountable just like the banks hold homeowners accountable every month for that mortgage they're receiving.”
Peter Sorensen, the Republican nominee from the Northwest Ward, said the Dell plant closing highlights the issues with the state corporate tax code.
“The fact is, businesses operate in a manner and they will operate in a place that is the best for them financially because they have employees they have to care about," Sorensen said. "They also care about the shareholders. Until the state of North Carolina can actually align that, us hunting for that big game and bringing it here is going to be very difficult because we’re going to have to end up writing our own checks back to these people...Until we can actually fix the tax code itself, we need to stick with the small and medium-sized business plan.”
James Taylor, the Democratic nominee from the Southeast Ward, said he had met with city officials since the Dell announcement on Oct. 7 about what could be done to assist the 905 workers that will be displaced by the plant's closing. Taylor said the $15.5 million in economic incentives Dell has promised to repay the city could go toward workforce development programs.
"I think it’s important that we work with our local colleges — Winston-Salem State, Forsyth Tech — to provide training for these people to allow them to go back into the job market and be competitive," Taylor said.
Taylor also said he supports the creation of a city emergency management fund to assist in situations that affect hundreds of residents like major layoffs.
John Hopkins, the Republican candidate from the North Ward, said offering vocational training for displaced Dell employees is key to helping them make the transition back into the job market.
"It’s amazing nowadays. You don’t have to go for these big degrees, particularly in the computer industry," Hopkins said. "If you can get things like certification — Comp TIA plus certifications — they do marvels for your career. They can be very helpful."
Vivian Burke, a 32-year incumbent representing the Northeast Ward, said the city has plans to revitalize its workforce development program to assist displaced Dell workers.
"We will take these employees and help to get them to training programs," Burke said. "I believe that local government and county government need to take on a big responsibility in trying to get these people employed.”
Derwin Montgomery, a 21-year-old Winston-Salem State student and Democratic nominee to represent the East Ward, said Dell's closing is yet another reminder of the global recession. Montgomery said the harsh reality is some of those 905 employees may have to relocate to find suitable employement.
"We have to ensure that these people are able to work and them not working staying here in this city doesn’t benefit us anymore than it benefits them," Montgomery said.
Claudia Shivers, the Republican nominee running for the Northeast Ward seat, said the city could attract big and medium-sized businesses with things other than economic incentives.
"One of the incentives we can have, we can have a beautiful thriving city that has wonderful schools, that has lower crime rates, that has wonderful neighborhoods," Shivers said. "So that in itself can be an incentive, so we know these organizations want to come and be a part of our city.”
Denise "DD" Adams, the Democratic nominee running for the North Ward seat, said the city council should have implemented greater oversight to ensure the $15.5 million the city invested in the Dell deal was being protected.
“I think going forward with any big business or businesses that we deal with, just like we do small businesses, we’re going to have to do big business the same way — hold them accountable," Adams said. "And when they’re not meeting their marks, when they’re not able to tell us how they’re going to increase their productivity, increase their employment, then we put them on what we call a PIP — which is a performance improvement plan. All of this should be built going forward that we hold them accountable just like the banks hold homeowners accountable every month for that mortgage they're receiving.”
Peter Sorensen, the Republican nominee from the Northwest Ward, said the Dell plant closing highlights the issues with the state corporate tax code.
“The fact is, businesses operate in a manner and they will operate in a place that is the best for them financially because they have employees they have to care about," Sorensen said. "They also care about the shareholders. Until the state of North Carolina can actually align that, us hunting for that big game and bringing it here is going to be very difficult because we’re going to have to end up writing our own checks back to these people...Until we can actually fix the tax code itself, we need to stick with the small and medium-sized business plan.”
Mary Rakestraw transcript
The following is a transcript of District 4 candidate Mary Rakestraw’s answers at a Greensboro Neighborhood Congress forum on Oct. 12:
Introductory statement
Can you all hear me in the back? Okay, I won’t use the microphone. I rarely need a microphone. But if y’all need one, you just let me know. I apologize for my voice; a few allergies have settled in my chest, but we’ll move ahead.
I am Mary Rakestraw, and I’m asking you to vote for me for District 4. Let me tell you a little bit about my background so you’ll know what I’ve done. First of all, I worked for the Department of Social Services for seven years. I was a case worker for three and a half years, as well as a supervisor for three and a half years. I’ve worked not only in Greensboro, but in High Point. And I’ve learned how to do so many different things. I learned one of the most important things, being a good worker at the Department of Social Services, is how to ask questions. I have found that, especially not only those folks who were coming through the Department of Social Services but some of our senior citizens, didn’t know how to ask the right questions. So that’s what I do on the city council. I ask questions for everybody. I ask questions that may not be popular. I may ask the questions that you might not like but you ultimately want to hear the answer to. Now, that should not be, by any means, being argumentative. I just need to know the answers to my questions. And I am one of those who has an inquiring mind.
I’ve also worked with the Red Cross. And I want to tell you how I used my skills there. When I decided to volunteer for the Red Cross, it was during Katrina. And that was a very important time. People were coming from all over the Southeast, and the Deep South, to come here, to seek some kind of help and aid. I talked to people who sat there before me and told me stories of heartache and heartbreak that you had to listen to each and every one. And every time you finished with that family you had to go back and get another family and listen to an even more tragic story. With my background in the Department of Social Services, I was able to help those people there, too. Everything that I have done, from the Red Cross to the Department of Social Services, from Court Watch to also Summit House has been involved with people who have had a hard time getting maybe a fair shake in life, or didn’t make the right decisions.
As a Guilford County commissioner, I spent nine years on the Department of Social Services as well as the board, and I chaired the board the last year. Now, people say, “You don’t have a social services at the city.” But you do have issues that are the very same. And once again, you have to ask and answer questions for people.
Let me tell you this: We do need jobs in Greensboro. This is a great place to live. It’s a wonderful place to live. But we’re asked to go in the back room, and listen to people bring all kinds of projects into our city. We have to make a decision on who can come in and what we can do. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I generally don’t — well, let’s just say I’ve never voted to give a cash incentive to a business, but what I have done is to work for the infrastructure. Infrastructure, when you have that in place, you can bring anybody into Greensboro, and they’ll want to move here.
Do we have a problem with our police department? Yes. We have some problems with our police department. But we do have wonderful men and women who put that badge on and strap that gun to their hip everyday to protect and serve. And sometimes it’s just like in the classroom when I was growing up. There might be a few people who are disruptive and give the entire association a bad name. But we’re trying to change that. We’re trying to work with that. And with our new city manager coming in on — well, I’ll be meeting with him on Friday, I look forward to discussing some of these issues with him. We need jobs, yes. We need people who want to work, who want to volunteer.
And you all can say in your neighborhoods: “Well, you don’t understand.” Well, if you don’t let us know what you need in your neighborhoods, you’re right. Laura Jackson, I’ll use her as an example. And I hope she won’t get upset about this. She would come to the city council, and she would talk about the SuperJam and the problems that they were having. All I want to say is that I went and viewed that firsthand from a neighbor’s front porch. And ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t talk to us we can’t help you. And we’re going to do the very best that we can. I appreciate your vote on November the third. For District 4, Mary Rakestraw.
The question relates to the situation with police Officer AJ Blake. What can we do now to prevent a repeat occurrence of this, where we have the city manager very publicly overruling the chief of police on an issue and upsetting dozens of police officers to the point that they would come out to a city council meeting in a silent show of protest?
When this decision was made by our interim city manager I did ask for a meeting of our city council with our mayor, my colleagues, the city attorney and the interim city manager. The police department has standards in place. They know what’s expected of them, but for some reason — and I cannot tell you this — they’re not being enforced. And these are the types of things we need to have enforced. Because we want it across the board. We don’t want special rules and regulations for different people. Everything should be across the board in the police department. We did have our meeting. We went into closed session. I can tell you that I am still feel somewhat concerned with this because I feel that Chief [Tim] Bellamy has been under fire, and a review board made this decision for the termination of Officer Blake. And then it went to Chief Bellamy who also upheld that recommendation. Now, when this was overturned, or his decision was overruled it concerns me because he looked like, well, who’s running the police department? And it looks like his credibility was compromised as well as his decision-making ability. I’m hoping that — we made a couple of resolutions and we passed them, but we’ve got to make sure that all police officers understand the rules and regulations. They already have them at the police department. They just need to be enforced.
Pretend you are Greensboro’s lead economic ambassador for one day. You’re on a visit to Silicon Valley, and you’re meeting with a high-tech company there. What would you tell them to convince them to relocate a major facility with 500 good-paying jobs to the city of Greensboro?
Well, it’s easy enough to sell Greensboro: Greensboro sells itself. It’s got a wonderful environment to live here. People are business friendly. We have colleges and universities. We have businesses that relocated here. My husband worked for a small company that relocated here, and it’s called Vanity Fair Corporation. Now, they’re still here and they’re doing business. We have arts, we have parks, we’ve got it all, ladies and gentlemen. But we’ve got to have the infrastructure, again; we’ve said, site-ready places. We’ve got to have an airport that’s ready to take us anywhere and everywhere all over this world. We’ve got to be global, and we’ve got to be able to do all this. And we have it. We have it here in Greensboro. Now, if you want to come to a college town, you get more than just a college town in Greensboro. You have all kinds of businesses, small and large. If you want to come and be an entrepreneur, this is the place to come. If you want to learn how to raise a family, where people are friendly and they look after one another, this is a good place. Do we have crime? We do. But we don’t have crime like you probably do in Silicon Valley. I can’t even say it, much less go there. But this is the place to be. Greensboro is the place to be. When my husband and I, we got out of the service, this is where we came. We started working with Blue Bell, and now we went through and retired through Vanity Fair Corporation. This is a great place to be. People want to come here. People pass through here, and they want to retire here. So we’ve got it all. We’ve got it all. All you have to do is spend one day with us and with Our State magazine, and that’s fine. That’s all they need to do. Thank you very much.
Should we be concerned that our population in this city is stagnant or dropping, when Raleigh and Charlotte are increasing? Should we be concerned that we’re ranked the 37th smartest city compared to No. 5 in the Triangle and 14, Charlotte? Is our community stagnating, in light of some of our indicators?
I think a memo needs to be sent out to all the colleges and universities and the communities colleges to ask them this question: Are you feeling smart today? All right, good. You’re feeling smart today. We do have the educational system here. And I want to tell you one thing right now. Not only do our public schools and our private schools and our charter schools and our home schools schools, we’ve got a lot of well educated people who know how to do things with their hands that they’ve gone to community colleges to learn, to get their GED, to get whatever degree they want. We have people in this community that can take any kind of course anywhere in this city, and be happy. Now, I don’t know how they arrived at these statistics, and it really doesn’t matter. It’s how smart are you feeling today? If you’re not feeling smart, then we need to talk to our local colleges and universities. But I will say this: With all the bonds that fail and pass, I don’t think a community college like GTCC has ever lost a bond. Ever. I had the opportunity to sit on the stage with these students from 16 years old to 70 years old walking across, getting whatever degree they wanted. So this is very important to us. And so I don’t think we should put a lot of emphasis on that until we find out where those statistics are. And again, when we’ve got annexation, I don’t vote for forced annexation because we don’t have the infrastructure to support it. And that’s something we’ve got to do when we consider annexation.
The city has made an effort to communicate better with city residents in the creation of an assistant city manager position for communications and other steps. Comment on the city’s efforts to communicate better with its citizens and what more can be done to improve communications and transparency.
In this wonderful world of tweeting and twuttering and whatever you want to do, blogging and e-mailing and faxing and calling, there’s no reason why people shouldn’t be able to get information. Now, having said that, let me you a little probably I have with sometimes the city staff: Some times it’s hard to get information. Sometimes maybe it’s not convenient, or maybe they don’t want to make it available. Maybe. I’m just saying maybe. Maybe they don’t want you to have the information right then. But if we want the city council people to make the best decisions that we can make we have to have the facts before us. We’ve got to have the information. We do have Channel 13 and we have the website. And I tell you: I think one of the best things we have is called 373-CITY. Those are some of the nicest people I’ve ever talked to. And tell them what you want, and they can help you, put you in the right direction. Now, again, sometimes people have not been able — citizens who wanted information — to do reporting — we’ve been sued by the News & Record, we’ve been sued by The Rhinoceros Times, I think. We’ve been sued by about everybody, y’all — to get information. So there is a problem there. And we need to have that information. Now, I don’t know, I can’t go as far as Mr. Boyett says about the closed sessions. Sometimes we have to have them for personnel issues. And if we want to have economic development people aren’t going to run up to us and start singing what they, you know, can do for us right there in public. I’ve always been transparent. I’m accessible and I’m available. I’ve never had a person who said, “I can’t get in touch with you.” Wherever I am, there’s the public, and that’s the way it should be. That’s what a public official is all about. And you should always be available to the public when they call you.
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the removal of the public-art Five Points bench placed on the Downtown Greenway in the Warnersville community. Do you support the city’s decision to remove these benches? Why or why not? What would you propose as the best long-term solution to the problem of drugs, prostitution, public intoxication and loitering at this location so that users of the greenway and neighbors feel safe? Would you support the replacement of the bench back at its original location?
Thank you. When I got the call from Andy Scott saying that they had made the decision to move those benches one of the reasons was some of the neighbors had come and had spoken before the city council. And that they were concerned because they felt like, it was right in the direct vision of some of the neighbors and they were complaining about the prostitution and the drinking and everything else that was going on over there. Now, I don’t know that if by removing the benches we’ve removed the problem. I haven’t heard anybody say. So, what else are we going to do? We’re going to need more police officers on foot. We need something else to do. Now, at some point I feel like the benches will be restored, but when I don’t know. But we’ve got to have some kind of agreement with the folks that are affected, the council person that represents that area. And I think it’s best that we monitor this because I think people have just really had — the neighbors are upset. The city now is upset. Look at the person who created these benches. He’s upset. So let’s see what we can do to have some kind of a win-win situation with this.
Triad Elections ’09
Introductory statement
Can you all hear me in the back? Okay, I won’t use the microphone. I rarely need a microphone. But if y’all need one, you just let me know. I apologize for my voice; a few allergies have settled in my chest, but we’ll move ahead.
I am Mary Rakestraw, and I’m asking you to vote for me for District 4. Let me tell you a little bit about my background so you’ll know what I’ve done. First of all, I worked for the Department of Social Services for seven years. I was a case worker for three and a half years, as well as a supervisor for three and a half years. I’ve worked not only in Greensboro, but in High Point. And I’ve learned how to do so many different things. I learned one of the most important things, being a good worker at the Department of Social Services, is how to ask questions. I have found that, especially not only those folks who were coming through the Department of Social Services but some of our senior citizens, didn’t know how to ask the right questions. So that’s what I do on the city council. I ask questions for everybody. I ask questions that may not be popular. I may ask the questions that you might not like but you ultimately want to hear the answer to. Now, that should not be, by any means, being argumentative. I just need to know the answers to my questions. And I am one of those who has an inquiring mind.
I’ve also worked with the Red Cross. And I want to tell you how I used my skills there. When I decided to volunteer for the Red Cross, it was during Katrina. And that was a very important time. People were coming from all over the Southeast, and the Deep South, to come here, to seek some kind of help and aid. I talked to people who sat there before me and told me stories of heartache and heartbreak that you had to listen to each and every one. And every time you finished with that family you had to go back and get another family and listen to an even more tragic story. With my background in the Department of Social Services, I was able to help those people there, too. Everything that I have done, from the Red Cross to the Department of Social Services, from Court Watch to also Summit House has been involved with people who have had a hard time getting maybe a fair shake in life, or didn’t make the right decisions.
As a Guilford County commissioner, I spent nine years on the Department of Social Services as well as the board, and I chaired the board the last year. Now, people say, “You don’t have a social services at the city.” But you do have issues that are the very same. And once again, you have to ask and answer questions for people.
Let me tell you this: We do need jobs in Greensboro. This is a great place to live. It’s a wonderful place to live. But we’re asked to go in the back room, and listen to people bring all kinds of projects into our city. We have to make a decision on who can come in and what we can do. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I generally don’t — well, let’s just say I’ve never voted to give a cash incentive to a business, but what I have done is to work for the infrastructure. Infrastructure, when you have that in place, you can bring anybody into Greensboro, and they’ll want to move here.
Do we have a problem with our police department? Yes. We have some problems with our police department. But we do have wonderful men and women who put that badge on and strap that gun to their hip everyday to protect and serve. And sometimes it’s just like in the classroom when I was growing up. There might be a few people who are disruptive and give the entire association a bad name. But we’re trying to change that. We’re trying to work with that. And with our new city manager coming in on — well, I’ll be meeting with him on Friday, I look forward to discussing some of these issues with him. We need jobs, yes. We need people who want to work, who want to volunteer.
And you all can say in your neighborhoods: “Well, you don’t understand.” Well, if you don’t let us know what you need in your neighborhoods, you’re right. Laura Jackson, I’ll use her as an example. And I hope she won’t get upset about this. She would come to the city council, and she would talk about the SuperJam and the problems that they were having. All I want to say is that I went and viewed that firsthand from a neighbor’s front porch. And ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t talk to us we can’t help you. And we’re going to do the very best that we can. I appreciate your vote on November the third. For District 4, Mary Rakestraw.
The question relates to the situation with police Officer AJ Blake. What can we do now to prevent a repeat occurrence of this, where we have the city manager very publicly overruling the chief of police on an issue and upsetting dozens of police officers to the point that they would come out to a city council meeting in a silent show of protest?
When this decision was made by our interim city manager I did ask for a meeting of our city council with our mayor, my colleagues, the city attorney and the interim city manager. The police department has standards in place. They know what’s expected of them, but for some reason — and I cannot tell you this — they’re not being enforced. And these are the types of things we need to have enforced. Because we want it across the board. We don’t want special rules and regulations for different people. Everything should be across the board in the police department. We did have our meeting. We went into closed session. I can tell you that I am still feel somewhat concerned with this because I feel that Chief [Tim] Bellamy has been under fire, and a review board made this decision for the termination of Officer Blake. And then it went to Chief Bellamy who also upheld that recommendation. Now, when this was overturned, or his decision was overruled it concerns me because he looked like, well, who’s running the police department? And it looks like his credibility was compromised as well as his decision-making ability. I’m hoping that — we made a couple of resolutions and we passed them, but we’ve got to make sure that all police officers understand the rules and regulations. They already have them at the police department. They just need to be enforced.
Pretend you are Greensboro’s lead economic ambassador for one day. You’re on a visit to Silicon Valley, and you’re meeting with a high-tech company there. What would you tell them to convince them to relocate a major facility with 500 good-paying jobs to the city of Greensboro?
Well, it’s easy enough to sell Greensboro: Greensboro sells itself. It’s got a wonderful environment to live here. People are business friendly. We have colleges and universities. We have businesses that relocated here. My husband worked for a small company that relocated here, and it’s called Vanity Fair Corporation. Now, they’re still here and they’re doing business. We have arts, we have parks, we’ve got it all, ladies and gentlemen. But we’ve got to have the infrastructure, again; we’ve said, site-ready places. We’ve got to have an airport that’s ready to take us anywhere and everywhere all over this world. We’ve got to be global, and we’ve got to be able to do all this. And we have it. We have it here in Greensboro. Now, if you want to come to a college town, you get more than just a college town in Greensboro. You have all kinds of businesses, small and large. If you want to come and be an entrepreneur, this is the place to come. If you want to learn how to raise a family, where people are friendly and they look after one another, this is a good place. Do we have crime? We do. But we don’t have crime like you probably do in Silicon Valley. I can’t even say it, much less go there. But this is the place to be. Greensboro is the place to be. When my husband and I, we got out of the service, this is where we came. We started working with Blue Bell, and now we went through and retired through Vanity Fair Corporation. This is a great place to be. People want to come here. People pass through here, and they want to retire here. So we’ve got it all. We’ve got it all. All you have to do is spend one day with us and with Our State magazine, and that’s fine. That’s all they need to do. Thank you very much.
Should we be concerned that our population in this city is stagnant or dropping, when Raleigh and Charlotte are increasing? Should we be concerned that we’re ranked the 37th smartest city compared to No. 5 in the Triangle and 14, Charlotte? Is our community stagnating, in light of some of our indicators?
I think a memo needs to be sent out to all the colleges and universities and the communities colleges to ask them this question: Are you feeling smart today? All right, good. You’re feeling smart today. We do have the educational system here. And I want to tell you one thing right now. Not only do our public schools and our private schools and our charter schools and our home schools schools, we’ve got a lot of well educated people who know how to do things with their hands that they’ve gone to community colleges to learn, to get their GED, to get whatever degree they want. We have people in this community that can take any kind of course anywhere in this city, and be happy. Now, I don’t know how they arrived at these statistics, and it really doesn’t matter. It’s how smart are you feeling today? If you’re not feeling smart, then we need to talk to our local colleges and universities. But I will say this: With all the bonds that fail and pass, I don’t think a community college like GTCC has ever lost a bond. Ever. I had the opportunity to sit on the stage with these students from 16 years old to 70 years old walking across, getting whatever degree they wanted. So this is very important to us. And so I don’t think we should put a lot of emphasis on that until we find out where those statistics are. And again, when we’ve got annexation, I don’t vote for forced annexation because we don’t have the infrastructure to support it. And that’s something we’ve got to do when we consider annexation.
The city has made an effort to communicate better with city residents in the creation of an assistant city manager position for communications and other steps. Comment on the city’s efforts to communicate better with its citizens and what more can be done to improve communications and transparency.
In this wonderful world of tweeting and twuttering and whatever you want to do, blogging and e-mailing and faxing and calling, there’s no reason why people shouldn’t be able to get information. Now, having said that, let me you a little probably I have with sometimes the city staff: Some times it’s hard to get information. Sometimes maybe it’s not convenient, or maybe they don’t want to make it available. Maybe. I’m just saying maybe. Maybe they don’t want you to have the information right then. But if we want the city council people to make the best decisions that we can make we have to have the facts before us. We’ve got to have the information. We do have Channel 13 and we have the website. And I tell you: I think one of the best things we have is called 373-CITY. Those are some of the nicest people I’ve ever talked to. And tell them what you want, and they can help you, put you in the right direction. Now, again, sometimes people have not been able — citizens who wanted information — to do reporting — we’ve been sued by the News & Record, we’ve been sued by The Rhinoceros Times, I think. We’ve been sued by about everybody, y’all — to get information. So there is a problem there. And we need to have that information. Now, I don’t know, I can’t go as far as Mr. Boyett says about the closed sessions. Sometimes we have to have them for personnel issues. And if we want to have economic development people aren’t going to run up to us and start singing what they, you know, can do for us right there in public. I’ve always been transparent. I’m accessible and I’m available. I’ve never had a person who said, “I can’t get in touch with you.” Wherever I am, there’s the public, and that’s the way it should be. That’s what a public official is all about. And you should always be available to the public when they call you.
There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the removal of the public-art Five Points bench placed on the Downtown Greenway in the Warnersville community. Do you support the city’s decision to remove these benches? Why or why not? What would you propose as the best long-term solution to the problem of drugs, prostitution, public intoxication and loitering at this location so that users of the greenway and neighbors feel safe? Would you support the replacement of the bench back at its original location?
Thank you. When I got the call from Andy Scott saying that they had made the decision to move those benches one of the reasons was some of the neighbors had come and had spoken before the city council. And that they were concerned because they felt like, it was right in the direct vision of some of the neighbors and they were complaining about the prostitution and the drinking and everything else that was going on over there. Now, I don’t know that if by removing the benches we’ve removed the problem. I haven’t heard anybody say. So, what else are we going to do? We’re going to need more police officers on foot. We need something else to do. Now, at some point I feel like the benches will be restored, but when I don’t know. But we’ve got to have some kind of agreement with the folks that are affected, the council person that represents that area. And I think it’s best that we monitor this because I think people have just really had — the neighbors are upset. The city now is upset. Look at the person who created these benches. He’s upset. So let’s see what we can do to have some kind of a win-win situation with this.
Triad Elections ’09
Zack Matheny transcript
The following is a transcript of District 3 candidate Zack Matheny’s answers at a Greensboro Neighborhood Congress forum on Oct. 12:
Introductory statement
For those of you that know me pretty well, you know that typically I don’t use a microphone. For some reason, I think every forum I’ve been to lately it hits on a day that my body decides to give out on me, so bear with me a little bit. My name is Zack Matheny. I do not have the swine flu, so don’t worry. I did go to the doctor today. I do have an antibiotic, and I’m going to be fine, but I am under the weather.
I’ve had the privilege to serve as the District 3 representative on the city council; I’m in my first term right now. It has been an honor and a privilege, and I appreciate the folks that put me into office last term. When I stood up here two years ago, I said there were three things that I really wanted to focus on. One of them was pretty easy: We need to be fiscally responsible. We did see that there were not-so-great times coming.
I began my career at Cone Mills, for those of you that remember Cone Mills, and then I became a financial advisor, much like my opponent, for the next 10 years. And so having that ability to work within a company in a financial mind as well as looking at budgets day to day helped me the last term with the two budget cycles we had. We did keep a hold-the-line for the two budget cycles I sat on, but we did it without sacrificing city services for the citizens of Greensboro. That’s very important. It’s very tough. You know, I heard earlier that we’re spending like we did in 2006 and we’re not paying attention. With this past budget, we cut $7.5 million out of the budget. So I would argue with you that we’re not spending frivolously. We’re cutting and we did it with the help of city staff. This past budget cycle, as far as it was, I would give our council and our staff, especially, a high grade for maintaining our services and working together.
Another thing I said that I wanted to pay attention to is — everybody says — is job creation. If we’re ever given the opportunity to bring jobs into the city, I can assure you, I have supported it and will continue to support it. I would love the opportunity to talk to anyone about bringing jobs, and great jobs, into this city. I will continue to put forth that effort. One of the things that I think is important is, not only our council working together on bringing jobs, which we will do, whether it’s this council or a new council or the councils beyond, is we’ve got to make sure our marketing group, which consists in part by our staff and Andy Scott, but the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance. We’ve got to make sure they’re doing their job because they’re the ones... traveling all over the world practically to put Greensboro forward. So we’ll continue to do that.
And the third thing, which was the thing of transparency. Transparency is important. The thing about transparency is — I’ve talked to a lot of other elected officials — is also accessibility. I’ll say one thing about transparency. Transparency is I have a track record. It’s very transparent. How many of you actually watch Channel 13, and watch some of our meetings? More of you do than people realize. That’s transparency. You see it. The media covers it. It’s televised. You can see the rerun. People talk about my campaign contributions. Well, I’ll just say this: I’ve had over 275 people contribute to my campaign. And I tell you what, it’s humbling. I will never apologize for the service of the — excuse me, the contributions and the support that I’ve received from the community from all my years of volunteering. I think it’s an honor. I will continue to be transparent and accessible. I’ve had meetings in Guilford Hills, Westerwood, Fisher Park, downtown, Guilford Park, Irving Park, downtown, throughout my community. I know most of the folks that are in Westerwood and around District 3 because I come to you and listen to you, and I will continue to do so. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better next time when I do it. I’m Zack Matheny, and I would love your support in District 3, November third.
Over the last year what is the most significant issue that has faced your particular neighborhood? And tell us about your role in addressing it.
Thank you. The thing that resonates most in my mind. I was sworn in in December, and on Jan. 15, 2008 we had an unfortunate murder in New Irving Park with a young woman by the name of Reagan Bailey. I’ll never forget that day. And so I would say crime indoctrinated me in my seat on city council. How I reacted to that, how I continued to stay on top of it is to work with our neighborhoods. We shortly after that incident held a neighborhood meeting in New Irving Park, where about 850 to 900 people showed up at Mendenhall School. For those of you who know, we have a pretty good crowd here tonight. But when you hold, as a council person, a public meeting and you get 20 people to come, you’re doing pretty good. If you can get 900, you know there’s concern. And so we handled it. We were not able to tell the folks in New Irving Park, to ease their pain, exactly what was going on in the city. But I grew up, and I grew up pretty fast. I know Ann has talked to me about the Kirkwood neighborhood. I’ve had some issues in New Irving Park and outside of it now. Is it the same issue today? But I can tell you that I learned pretty fast and developed a terrific working relationship with our police department and our fire department, and I have significant trust both ways in those departments. It was a sad situation, but that was the most concerning thing that I had when I got into office.
What are two steps the city council can take to bring good jobs to Greensboro?
Okay. Thank you. You know, this is a tough question because the question is: Give me two things concrete. When you think about it as what I’ve dealt with and what I know, as council members you get bombarded by many different avenues. To provide two concrete things — I’ll close with those two concrete things, but it’s not because I haven’t thought about a multitude of other things, i.e. the tax structures, what we’ve had. We’ve met. We’ve been in rooms. We’ve been in consortiums. We’ve been in all these things, and we’ve figured out that, hey, we’ve got an airport. Our airport’s doing pretty good. We’ve got HondaJet. We’ve got FedEx. We’ve got FedEx Ground over in Kernersville…. So we’ve figured these things out. We’ve got a multi-hundred dollar facility called the Millennial Campus, or Gateway Campus, down on Lee Street. We’ve figured these things out. So one of the things that’s concrete that we need to do, which I said earlier, which is an enormous focus of mine, is we’ve got sales people that are selling the city of Greensboro. And they’re supposed to be selling the city of Greensboro to people throughout the world, to bring them here and to create jobs. Create those jobs. We’ve got to make sure, A, that we’ve got the right people doing it, and that they’re doing it to the best of their abilities. We can’t be lackadaisical. We’ve got to make sure our people are working as hard as all we are in all capacities. We’ve got to make sure our sales team for Greensboro has the resources, has the technology and has the heart to sell our city. The other thing — and again, it goes back to what everybody in the country’s telling us — is we do need those site-ready sites. We have got to have this key word called infrastructure — water, sewer, land. If it’s around our airport, we’ve seen it. We’ve got a facility, O’Reilly Auto Parts, down near 40 that was there because infrastructure was there. So we’ve got to have infrastructure. So the other second concrete thing would be to make sure we’re saving land around the airport, we’re being smart with our land and we’re creating infrastructure.
Comment on the best and worst features of this year’s budget-making process in our city and the resulting budget?
Best and worst features of this year’s budget. I’ll tell you: I’ll start off, probably, with the best. The best feature about this year’s budget was what a collaborative issue it became. I have to commend Bob Morgan on taking through the situation that he did and bringing a budget to council that he did. He did it in a way that he challenged all the department heads. That’s the first thing anybody wants to do is you’ve got to challenge all your department heads. And so the budget that we initially received, it was the department heads that went to their groups and their departments and said, “We’ve got to cut, where can we cut?” And they all came together. And that’s a collaborative process. Before we went to our final budget meeting, before they presented the final budget to us, Bob Morgan sat down with each department head in the conference room, one on one, Sandy Neerman from the library and Bob, and Bob said, “Sandy, are you okay with what you’re presenting to us?” And he walked through that with each department head.” So it was a collaborative nature. They also split up. And so they, and everybody from Chief Bellamy to fire to field operations, and then they would review each other’s, and challenge. And so, to have that collaborative I thought was very impressive, and I thought Bob did a great job.
Contrary to what my opponent’s saying, we’re not looking at things like this nature. We are looking at and analyzing constantly our budget. You will see it. All you got to do is ask if you want. We constantly analyze our budget. Some of the things that I think will be deemed in the “worst” category, although “worst” is a harsh word, there’s still some challenges that we can issue to our manager. I think Rashad Young, when he comes, will issue those challenges to his department heads and say, “So we don’t have to cut more jobs, what are the things we can do to maintain the basic services and quality of life that our citizens have come to enjoy, but let’s also not have to cut jobs.” And so we’ve got to keep challenging. Thank you.
Is there more that needs to be done with our substandard housing around the city or are we caught up on that?
As it relates to RUCO, I believe Greensboro, North Carolina is above average on what we’re doing throughout the state of North Carolina. The fact that we have RUCO, the fact that we have a RUCO board, and looking at our sister communities throughout the state of North Carolina, we’re above average. We will still have a RUCO board. As long as we have a RUCO board, as long as we have an engineering and inspections person, then we’re going to continue to analyze ourselves, much less be it RUCO or any other situation we’ve got throughout the city of Greensboro. Yes, the playing field may be leveled to a certain degree. We’ll continue to analyze it. I think we’re above average, and hopefully we’ll stay there.
Do you support the establishment of a commission to study public funding for our local city council elections? Do you believe this is a decision we should be able to make here in Greensboro, or should it be addressed under state law?
I think I’m the poster child for this. I can tell you that, you know, as I said earlier, I won’t apologize for all the support that I’ve gotten because I volunteered extensively throughout this community. I’ve worked on the boards and commissions of this city, and I’ve volunteered extensively that wants to run for city council to volunteer and get to know the constituency. Because if you get to know the constituency and you work hard, you will get contributions from a myriad of people. And that’s what I’ve done. And I don’t think somebody that doesn’t work hard, that doesn’t volunteer and get to know his constituency or her constituency, I don’t think that person should be rewarded with taxpayer dollars when they didn’t work. And that’s where I stand. I’m open to it. I’ve heard other responses but right now, ladies and gentlemen, that’s just where I stand. I’ve worked hard and I’m proud of it. I’m going to continue to work hard in District 3, and I hope you reelect me.
Triad Elections ’09
Introductory statement
For those of you that know me pretty well, you know that typically I don’t use a microphone. For some reason, I think every forum I’ve been to lately it hits on a day that my body decides to give out on me, so bear with me a little bit. My name is Zack Matheny. I do not have the swine flu, so don’t worry. I did go to the doctor today. I do have an antibiotic, and I’m going to be fine, but I am under the weather.
I’ve had the privilege to serve as the District 3 representative on the city council; I’m in my first term right now. It has been an honor and a privilege, and I appreciate the folks that put me into office last term. When I stood up here two years ago, I said there were three things that I really wanted to focus on. One of them was pretty easy: We need to be fiscally responsible. We did see that there were not-so-great times coming.
I began my career at Cone Mills, for those of you that remember Cone Mills, and then I became a financial advisor, much like my opponent, for the next 10 years. And so having that ability to work within a company in a financial mind as well as looking at budgets day to day helped me the last term with the two budget cycles we had. We did keep a hold-the-line for the two budget cycles I sat on, but we did it without sacrificing city services for the citizens of Greensboro. That’s very important. It’s very tough. You know, I heard earlier that we’re spending like we did in 2006 and we’re not paying attention. With this past budget, we cut $7.5 million out of the budget. So I would argue with you that we’re not spending frivolously. We’re cutting and we did it with the help of city staff. This past budget cycle, as far as it was, I would give our council and our staff, especially, a high grade for maintaining our services and working together.
Another thing I said that I wanted to pay attention to is — everybody says — is job creation. If we’re ever given the opportunity to bring jobs into the city, I can assure you, I have supported it and will continue to support it. I would love the opportunity to talk to anyone about bringing jobs, and great jobs, into this city. I will continue to put forth that effort. One of the things that I think is important is, not only our council working together on bringing jobs, which we will do, whether it’s this council or a new council or the councils beyond, is we’ve got to make sure our marketing group, which consists in part by our staff and Andy Scott, but the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance. We’ve got to make sure they’re doing their job because they’re the ones... traveling all over the world practically to put Greensboro forward. So we’ll continue to do that.
And the third thing, which was the thing of transparency. Transparency is important. The thing about transparency is — I’ve talked to a lot of other elected officials — is also accessibility. I’ll say one thing about transparency. Transparency is I have a track record. It’s very transparent. How many of you actually watch Channel 13, and watch some of our meetings? More of you do than people realize. That’s transparency. You see it. The media covers it. It’s televised. You can see the rerun. People talk about my campaign contributions. Well, I’ll just say this: I’ve had over 275 people contribute to my campaign. And I tell you what, it’s humbling. I will never apologize for the service of the — excuse me, the contributions and the support that I’ve received from the community from all my years of volunteering. I think it’s an honor. I will continue to be transparent and accessible. I’ve had meetings in Guilford Hills, Westerwood, Fisher Park, downtown, Guilford Park, Irving Park, downtown, throughout my community. I know most of the folks that are in Westerwood and around District 3 because I come to you and listen to you, and I will continue to do so. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better next time when I do it. I’m Zack Matheny, and I would love your support in District 3, November third.
Over the last year what is the most significant issue that has faced your particular neighborhood? And tell us about your role in addressing it.
Thank you. The thing that resonates most in my mind. I was sworn in in December, and on Jan. 15, 2008 we had an unfortunate murder in New Irving Park with a young woman by the name of Reagan Bailey. I’ll never forget that day. And so I would say crime indoctrinated me in my seat on city council. How I reacted to that, how I continued to stay on top of it is to work with our neighborhoods. We shortly after that incident held a neighborhood meeting in New Irving Park, where about 850 to 900 people showed up at Mendenhall School. For those of you who know, we have a pretty good crowd here tonight. But when you hold, as a council person, a public meeting and you get 20 people to come, you’re doing pretty good. If you can get 900, you know there’s concern. And so we handled it. We were not able to tell the folks in New Irving Park, to ease their pain, exactly what was going on in the city. But I grew up, and I grew up pretty fast. I know Ann has talked to me about the Kirkwood neighborhood. I’ve had some issues in New Irving Park and outside of it now. Is it the same issue today? But I can tell you that I learned pretty fast and developed a terrific working relationship with our police department and our fire department, and I have significant trust both ways in those departments. It was a sad situation, but that was the most concerning thing that I had when I got into office.
What are two steps the city council can take to bring good jobs to Greensboro?
Okay. Thank you. You know, this is a tough question because the question is: Give me two things concrete. When you think about it as what I’ve dealt with and what I know, as council members you get bombarded by many different avenues. To provide two concrete things — I’ll close with those two concrete things, but it’s not because I haven’t thought about a multitude of other things, i.e. the tax structures, what we’ve had. We’ve met. We’ve been in rooms. We’ve been in consortiums. We’ve been in all these things, and we’ve figured out that, hey, we’ve got an airport. Our airport’s doing pretty good. We’ve got HondaJet. We’ve got FedEx. We’ve got FedEx Ground over in Kernersville…. So we’ve figured these things out. We’ve got a multi-hundred dollar facility called the Millennial Campus, or Gateway Campus, down on Lee Street. We’ve figured these things out. So one of the things that’s concrete that we need to do, which I said earlier, which is an enormous focus of mine, is we’ve got sales people that are selling the city of Greensboro. And they’re supposed to be selling the city of Greensboro to people throughout the world, to bring them here and to create jobs. Create those jobs. We’ve got to make sure, A, that we’ve got the right people doing it, and that they’re doing it to the best of their abilities. We can’t be lackadaisical. We’ve got to make sure our people are working as hard as all we are in all capacities. We’ve got to make sure our sales team for Greensboro has the resources, has the technology and has the heart to sell our city. The other thing — and again, it goes back to what everybody in the country’s telling us — is we do need those site-ready sites. We have got to have this key word called infrastructure — water, sewer, land. If it’s around our airport, we’ve seen it. We’ve got a facility, O’Reilly Auto Parts, down near 40 that was there because infrastructure was there. So we’ve got to have infrastructure. So the other second concrete thing would be to make sure we’re saving land around the airport, we’re being smart with our land and we’re creating infrastructure.
Comment on the best and worst features of this year’s budget-making process in our city and the resulting budget?
Best and worst features of this year’s budget. I’ll tell you: I’ll start off, probably, with the best. The best feature about this year’s budget was what a collaborative issue it became. I have to commend Bob Morgan on taking through the situation that he did and bringing a budget to council that he did. He did it in a way that he challenged all the department heads. That’s the first thing anybody wants to do is you’ve got to challenge all your department heads. And so the budget that we initially received, it was the department heads that went to their groups and their departments and said, “We’ve got to cut, where can we cut?” And they all came together. And that’s a collaborative process. Before we went to our final budget meeting, before they presented the final budget to us, Bob Morgan sat down with each department head in the conference room, one on one, Sandy Neerman from the library and Bob, and Bob said, “Sandy, are you okay with what you’re presenting to us?” And he walked through that with each department head.” So it was a collaborative nature. They also split up. And so they, and everybody from Chief Bellamy to fire to field operations, and then they would review each other’s, and challenge. And so, to have that collaborative I thought was very impressive, and I thought Bob did a great job.
Contrary to what my opponent’s saying, we’re not looking at things like this nature. We are looking at and analyzing constantly our budget. You will see it. All you got to do is ask if you want. We constantly analyze our budget. Some of the things that I think will be deemed in the “worst” category, although “worst” is a harsh word, there’s still some challenges that we can issue to our manager. I think Rashad Young, when he comes, will issue those challenges to his department heads and say, “So we don’t have to cut more jobs, what are the things we can do to maintain the basic services and quality of life that our citizens have come to enjoy, but let’s also not have to cut jobs.” And so we’ve got to keep challenging. Thank you.
Is there more that needs to be done with our substandard housing around the city or are we caught up on that?
As it relates to RUCO, I believe Greensboro, North Carolina is above average on what we’re doing throughout the state of North Carolina. The fact that we have RUCO, the fact that we have a RUCO board, and looking at our sister communities throughout the state of North Carolina, we’re above average. We will still have a RUCO board. As long as we have a RUCO board, as long as we have an engineering and inspections person, then we’re going to continue to analyze ourselves, much less be it RUCO or any other situation we’ve got throughout the city of Greensboro. Yes, the playing field may be leveled to a certain degree. We’ll continue to analyze it. I think we’re above average, and hopefully we’ll stay there.
Do you support the establishment of a commission to study public funding for our local city council elections? Do you believe this is a decision we should be able to make here in Greensboro, or should it be addressed under state law?
I think I’m the poster child for this. I can tell you that, you know, as I said earlier, I won’t apologize for all the support that I’ve gotten because I volunteered extensively throughout this community. I’ve worked on the boards and commissions of this city, and I’ve volunteered extensively that wants to run for city council to volunteer and get to know the constituency. Because if you get to know the constituency and you work hard, you will get contributions from a myriad of people. And that’s what I’ve done. And I don’t think somebody that doesn’t work hard, that doesn’t volunteer and get to know his constituency or her constituency, I don’t think that person should be rewarded with taxpayer dollars when they didn’t work. And that’s where I stand. I’m open to it. I’ve heard other responses but right now, ladies and gentlemen, that’s just where I stand. I’ve worked hard and I’m proud of it. I’m going to continue to work hard in District 3, and I hope you reelect me.
Triad Elections ’09
Rachel Lea Hunter reprimanded by NC bar
Recent disciplinary actions by the NC State Bar:
"Rachel Lee Hunter [SIC] of Cary was reprimanded by the [Disciplinary Hearing Committee] for referring to herself as 'Madame Justice' on her campaign website after the Grievance Committee issued a Letter of Warning telling her that the reference was misleading and a Rule violation."
"Rachel Lee Hunter [SIC] of Cary was reprimanded by the [Disciplinary Hearing Committee] for referring to herself as 'Madame Justice' on her campaign website after the Grievance Committee issued a Letter of Warning telling her that the reference was misleading and a Rule violation."
Art Boyett transcript
The following is a transcript of Greensboro City Council District 5 candidate Art Boyett’s answers at a Guilford County Unity Effort forum on Sept. 22:
Introductory statement
My name is Art Boyett. I live in District 5, so I’m running in that district. I felt like when I was thinking about running for city council, especially since I’m unknown in the area, that it would be easier to concentrate on a district rather than thinking about running for an at-large position. My background is that I’m a retired college professor and retired CPA, so I’ve had experience both in the real world, if you will, doing audits for corporations and also city and county governments. I’ve also taught for about 30 years: auditing and governmental accounting. I have a strong background and knowledge of government and have been involved and interested in government, but didn’t feel like I had the time to run for office until now.
Do you believe city tax money should be used to promote private development?
Well, economic development must be promoted by the city. To give money specifically for private development, if it’s seed money that’s going to come back to the city, I think that’s appropriate. But to just provide money straight for economic development, I disagree.
Do you favor expansion of mass transportation in the city, and if so how would you help implement it?
I think we need to look at mass transportation for the city. Certainly I think we can expand the bus routes we already have. Some people have talked about the possibility of some kind of rapid rail or something of that sort. I don’t think we’re there yet. We may be in the studying phase of looking at that, but certainly I think that we should expand the bus routes that we have operating and try to encourage more people to take advantage of those. We should look at cooperation between the various bus companies in this area. I understand that it’s a problem sometimes for people that live in one area, say High Point, and to try to get over to the east side of Greensboro and trying to connect with all the bus companies. So I think we should cooperate and see if we can work out an arrangement so that it’s more seamless movement that way.
What is one thing you have done in the last year to make Greensboro a better place?
Well, I taught a number of students to become accountants at Guilford College, where I was teaching the last three years. I was teaching a number of students who were changing careers. And so I was teaching in the evening, and most of the students who were in that program were people who were already working but were looking for an opportunity to change careers or to advance in their current career, so I think that’s something that I’ve been helpful with. Another thing that I’ve worked a lot with is community theater. I’ve been involved in several plays. I’m involved in the arts, and I think the arts in the community are an important aspect of our city. I’m currently working in the community theater’s “Seniors Reaching Out” program. We go to the various adult centers in the town and offer entertainment for the people who are there. And they seem to enjoy it quite a bit. And I know we do.
What do you understand about the racial disparities in regard to the city of Greensboro’s policymaking in the areas of investment and development, landfills and toxic exposure, healthcare and disproportionate minority contact? What skills do you possess to address these issues?
I’m not sure I know all of the things that exist in that area. I’m not sure that anybody does. The way I would approach that — I understand that there is a good bit of intercultural difference going on in the city right now, and I abhor that. I want to be a representative of all of the people of the city. I want to work with everybody in the city to try to develop a civil discourse between everybody. Treat everyone with respect. Get the opinions of everybody — all groups. Make sure that we have input from everybody on all of the major issues. And make sure that their voice is heard. I want to be a voice of the people.
Given the controversies plaguing our police department, what is your position regarding a police review board?
We have a new city manager. I want to work with the city manager to come up with appropriate policies for the police department. I think that that would involve having a board of supervisors or a board of experts to look at the operation of the police department and make recommendations on what changes should be made, and have those changes implemented by the city manager and the city council. One thing that I think would go a long way to improving the situation in the police department is openness. Get all of the information that has come out, all of the investigations that have taken place over the last four or five or six years — get that information out so that people know what’s going on. One of the biggest problems, I think, with the public’s understanding and lack of confidence in the police department at this time is that they feel like there’s some things that have been hidden from them and so if we get that information out I think that will go a long way toward solving that problem. And then have a group determine what needs to be changed in terms of procedures for the police department.
Follow-up: Do you have a position on the complaint review process?
I don’t have a position specifically on the complaint review process. I was at a city council meeting I believe recently where the complaint review process was discussed. I think it is important that citizens are involved in the complaint review process of the city of the police department. Does that better answer the question?
Additional follow-up: Citizens are already involved. Do you support subpoena power?
I’m not sure that I know exactly all that’s involved in subpoena power. I certainly think that the citizen review board should have the ability to get all the information they need to make decisions and recommendations. Whether that’s technically subpoena power, I don’t know.
A proposed expansion of use of the White Street Landfill has been a topic of discussion at city council meetings this year. Most residents who live within a 10-20-mile radius of the facility have opposed expanding the use of it. Would you favor a proposed expansion of the use of the White Street Landfill, and how do you measure that against human life?
Handling solid waste and sewage is a major activity of any city. There has been a good bit of technical improvement in what can be done with waste over the last few years. I think we need to look at how we handle both solid waste and sewage, and bring in people from the engineering department at A&T or North Carolina State, and let them help us find solutions to this. I’m not suggesting that we totally say White Street should not be used, but I think we should look at it and any other solutions that are possible towards our solid waste situation. But not just look at the dollar cost, also look at the human cost and the environmental cost that are involved.
Over the last several decades, commercial and residential development has caused the city of Greensboro to expand in the northwest, while residents of east Greensboro have pleaded, often to no avail, for such things as grocery stores and additional retail amenities. What, if any, role do you see the council playing in balancing this situation?
I think the council should look at and make recommendations, and also get grant money — whatever’s available from the federal government, any foundations or agencies — to help make the planning that’s necessary to make sure that these areas grow. Also we should provide any infrastructure for any growth in that area, just like we would for any other area. Economic development in any area of the city is important. One thing that I would like to add to that, not just for east Greensboro but for the whole city of Greensboro, one of the things that I think we need to do — several people mentioned that we need to keep the fine young minds that we are training, here in Greensboro. I think we need to work with the colleges, especially the business schools and the engineering schools here to expand an incubator program for people to start small businesses, and then develop those small businesses and grow them. Incubator programs have been very successful. And if you get somebody started here as a small business and let it grow, that’s the best way to develop new jobs.
Much of the turmoil in city government has centered on the firing of City Manager Mitchell Johnson. How do you think you would have handled that matter?
I don’t know all of the information that went into the hiring — into the firing of Mr. Johnson. So I can’t tell exactly how I would have handled that situation. But the city manager is hired and operates, to some degree, at the pleasure of the city council. So if it is the perception of the city council that the city manager is not doing what they think he or she should be doing, then I would think that it should first be done that they talk to that city manager and talk about what things could be done. But still, if there is a big disagreement, then the city council has the right and obligation to fire the city manager if they do not think that he or she is doing the job that should be done.
Closing statement
I believe that the city of Greensboro can be a shining light for this region, this state, the whole nation. We have tremendous resources here. We have tremendous people here. We have tremendous educational facilities. We have wonderful cultural programs. We have a beautiful area. All it takes is for the citizens and their government to take hold of what we have and produce a wonderful city. That’s not to say we’re not a good city as it is, but I think we can be a shining light for everybody in this area and I’d like to be part of doing that as a member of the city council.
Triad Elections ’09
Introductory statement
My name is Art Boyett. I live in District 5, so I’m running in that district. I felt like when I was thinking about running for city council, especially since I’m unknown in the area, that it would be easier to concentrate on a district rather than thinking about running for an at-large position. My background is that I’m a retired college professor and retired CPA, so I’ve had experience both in the real world, if you will, doing audits for corporations and also city and county governments. I’ve also taught for about 30 years: auditing and governmental accounting. I have a strong background and knowledge of government and have been involved and interested in government, but didn’t feel like I had the time to run for office until now.
Do you believe city tax money should be used to promote private development?
Well, economic development must be promoted by the city. To give money specifically for private development, if it’s seed money that’s going to come back to the city, I think that’s appropriate. But to just provide money straight for economic development, I disagree.
Do you favor expansion of mass transportation in the city, and if so how would you help implement it?
I think we need to look at mass transportation for the city. Certainly I think we can expand the bus routes we already have. Some people have talked about the possibility of some kind of rapid rail or something of that sort. I don’t think we’re there yet. We may be in the studying phase of looking at that, but certainly I think that we should expand the bus routes that we have operating and try to encourage more people to take advantage of those. We should look at cooperation between the various bus companies in this area. I understand that it’s a problem sometimes for people that live in one area, say High Point, and to try to get over to the east side of Greensboro and trying to connect with all the bus companies. So I think we should cooperate and see if we can work out an arrangement so that it’s more seamless movement that way.
What is one thing you have done in the last year to make Greensboro a better place?
Well, I taught a number of students to become accountants at Guilford College, where I was teaching the last three years. I was teaching a number of students who were changing careers. And so I was teaching in the evening, and most of the students who were in that program were people who were already working but were looking for an opportunity to change careers or to advance in their current career, so I think that’s something that I’ve been helpful with. Another thing that I’ve worked a lot with is community theater. I’ve been involved in several plays. I’m involved in the arts, and I think the arts in the community are an important aspect of our city. I’m currently working in the community theater’s “Seniors Reaching Out” program. We go to the various adult centers in the town and offer entertainment for the people who are there. And they seem to enjoy it quite a bit. And I know we do.
What do you understand about the racial disparities in regard to the city of Greensboro’s policymaking in the areas of investment and development, landfills and toxic exposure, healthcare and disproportionate minority contact? What skills do you possess to address these issues?
I’m not sure I know all of the things that exist in that area. I’m not sure that anybody does. The way I would approach that — I understand that there is a good bit of intercultural difference going on in the city right now, and I abhor that. I want to be a representative of all of the people of the city. I want to work with everybody in the city to try to develop a civil discourse between everybody. Treat everyone with respect. Get the opinions of everybody — all groups. Make sure that we have input from everybody on all of the major issues. And make sure that their voice is heard. I want to be a voice of the people.
Given the controversies plaguing our police department, what is your position regarding a police review board?
We have a new city manager. I want to work with the city manager to come up with appropriate policies for the police department. I think that that would involve having a board of supervisors or a board of experts to look at the operation of the police department and make recommendations on what changes should be made, and have those changes implemented by the city manager and the city council. One thing that I think would go a long way to improving the situation in the police department is openness. Get all of the information that has come out, all of the investigations that have taken place over the last four or five or six years — get that information out so that people know what’s going on. One of the biggest problems, I think, with the public’s understanding and lack of confidence in the police department at this time is that they feel like there’s some things that have been hidden from them and so if we get that information out I think that will go a long way toward solving that problem. And then have a group determine what needs to be changed in terms of procedures for the police department.
Follow-up: Do you have a position on the complaint review process?
I don’t have a position specifically on the complaint review process. I was at a city council meeting I believe recently where the complaint review process was discussed. I think it is important that citizens are involved in the complaint review process of the city of the police department. Does that better answer the question?
Additional follow-up: Citizens are already involved. Do you support subpoena power?
I’m not sure that I know exactly all that’s involved in subpoena power. I certainly think that the citizen review board should have the ability to get all the information they need to make decisions and recommendations. Whether that’s technically subpoena power, I don’t know.
A proposed expansion of use of the White Street Landfill has been a topic of discussion at city council meetings this year. Most residents who live within a 10-20-mile radius of the facility have opposed expanding the use of it. Would you favor a proposed expansion of the use of the White Street Landfill, and how do you measure that against human life?
Handling solid waste and sewage is a major activity of any city. There has been a good bit of technical improvement in what can be done with waste over the last few years. I think we need to look at how we handle both solid waste and sewage, and bring in people from the engineering department at A&T or North Carolina State, and let them help us find solutions to this. I’m not suggesting that we totally say White Street should not be used, but I think we should look at it and any other solutions that are possible towards our solid waste situation. But not just look at the dollar cost, also look at the human cost and the environmental cost that are involved.
Over the last several decades, commercial and residential development has caused the city of Greensboro to expand in the northwest, while residents of east Greensboro have pleaded, often to no avail, for such things as grocery stores and additional retail amenities. What, if any, role do you see the council playing in balancing this situation?
I think the council should look at and make recommendations, and also get grant money — whatever’s available from the federal government, any foundations or agencies — to help make the planning that’s necessary to make sure that these areas grow. Also we should provide any infrastructure for any growth in that area, just like we would for any other area. Economic development in any area of the city is important. One thing that I would like to add to that, not just for east Greensboro but for the whole city of Greensboro, one of the things that I think we need to do — several people mentioned that we need to keep the fine young minds that we are training, here in Greensboro. I think we need to work with the colleges, especially the business schools and the engineering schools here to expand an incubator program for people to start small businesses, and then develop those small businesses and grow them. Incubator programs have been very successful. And if you get somebody started here as a small business and let it grow, that’s the best way to develop new jobs.
Much of the turmoil in city government has centered on the firing of City Manager Mitchell Johnson. How do you think you would have handled that matter?
I don’t know all of the information that went into the hiring — into the firing of Mr. Johnson. So I can’t tell exactly how I would have handled that situation. But the city manager is hired and operates, to some degree, at the pleasure of the city council. So if it is the perception of the city council that the city manager is not doing what they think he or she should be doing, then I would think that it should first be done that they talk to that city manager and talk about what things could be done. But still, if there is a big disagreement, then the city council has the right and obligation to fire the city manager if they do not think that he or she is doing the job that should be done.
Closing statement
I believe that the city of Greensboro can be a shining light for this region, this state, the whole nation. We have tremendous resources here. We have tremendous people here. We have tremendous educational facilities. We have wonderful cultural programs. We have a beautiful area. All it takes is for the citizens and their government to take hold of what we have and produce a wonderful city. That’s not to say we’re not a good city as it is, but I think we can be a shining light for everybody in this area and I’d like to be part of doing that as a member of the city council.
Triad Elections ’09
Landau goes on the offensive
District candidates for Greensboro City Council appeared together for a forum hosted by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress earlier this evening at the downtown public library. The event was notable for being the first time District 4 candidates Joel Landau and Mary Rakestraw have given voters a chance to hear from them at the same time.
Befitting an underdog with ground to make up, Landau made two sorties against Rakestraw in his opening statement.
“I have no ties to private interests," Landau said. "That’s a place where I’m different from Ms. Rakestraw. If you look at her 2007 campaign finance report for her campaign, you’ll see it full of donations from builder groups and from builders and from attorneys who frequently come before city council, and I think that’s a conflict of interest that should be avoided – financing a campaign on contributions from people that you know will be coming before you with financial interests at stake.”
That statement echoed a charge leveled by District 3 challenger George Hartzman against incumbent Zack Matheny, both of whom attended the forum. Landau continued with a thrust that seemed designed to exploit Rakestraw's polarizing effect on the electorate. Voters seem to either love or hate her.
“Personally, I’m tired of the discord and negativity that we’ve been seeing on council," Landau said. "I’m a voice for civility. I’ve been in the cooperative movement for decades where we seriously take how people work together, and listen to one another. And it doesn’t mean we have to agree; it just means we listen to one another and try to come to something that works for the common good. I have a history of working with others to get things done and to move Greensboro forward. And if you’re ready for a positive change, please support me in District 4.”
Later, in response to a question about the quality of city communication, Landau suggested his opponent is uninformed.
“One time that the city didn’t do such a good job is with the recent complaints about the rewrite of the LDO, the land development ordinance, to change the names of all the zoning districts," he said. "Council was briefed a year ago actually, in August – Aug. 4, 2008 – even though Ms. Rakestraw claimed at a meeting this summer that they didn’t know about it.”
Rakestraw explained her position on a variety of issues but largely refrained from acknowledging Landau's attacks. She used her past experience working for the Guilford County Board of Elections to set up an explanation for her role on council regarding the ongoing police controversy.
“Some of our senior citizens didn’t know how to ask the right questions," Rakestraw said. "So that’s what I do on city council: I ask questions for everybody. I ask questions that may not be popular. I may ask the questions that you might not like but you ultimately want to hear the answer to.”
The candidate, who currently serves at large, presented the softer side of her public service, describing volunteer work with the American Red Cross receiving Hurricane Katrina evacuees in 2005.
“Everything that I have done from the Red Cross, from the Department of Social Services, from Court Watch to also Summit House," Rakestraw said, "has been involved with people who have had a hard time getting a fair shake in life, or just didn’t make the right decision.”
Then she briefly returned to the issue of the police department.
“Do we have a problem in our police department?" she asked. "Yes, we have some problems in our police department.”
Landau treaded carefully around a question about interim City Manager Bob Morgan’s decision to reinstate police Officer AJ Blake, who was acquitted by a jury of assaulting two women at a drunken police party, and who has said the gang enforcement unit abused its authority in its treatment of members of the Latin Kings.
“I think it’s very odd to have the city manager overturn the police chief," Landau said. "I think within the department there needs to have clarification of what is expected behavior and what’s not. And the chief may have to make some examples of people who don’t perform those behaviors and increase the internal affairs staffing.”
Rakestraw seemed comfortable describing her role in the controversy.
“When this decision was made by our interim city manager I did ask for a meeting of our city council with our mayor, my colleagues, the city attorney and the interim city manager," she said. "The police department has standards in place. They know what’s expected of them, but for some reason – and I cannot tell you this – they’re not being enforced. And these are the kind of things we need enforced. Because we want it across the board. We don’t want special rules and regulations for different people. Everything should be across the board in the police department. We did have our meeting. We went into closed session. I can tell you that I still feel somewhat concerned with this because I feel that Chief [Tim] Bellamy has been under fire, and a review board made this decision for the termination of Officer Blake. And then it went to Chief Bellamy who also upheld that recommendation…. When his decision was overruled it concerns me because he looked like, Well, who’s running the police department? And it looked like his credibility was compromised as well as his decision-making ability.”
District 1 incumbent Dianne Bellamy-Small, whose opponent Luther T. Falls Jr. left early in the program, seemed to be running against Rakestraw also.
“We have a process," she said, giving her take on Blake's reinstatement. "There is a legal process that is mandated by the state of North Carolina personnel act. Each one of us here has made a mistake. And we would want the right to appeal. The way the process works is the way it worked. He was put on suspension. He went to trial for what he was accused of. He was acquitted. He was recommended for termination. He had the right to appeal. City council does not have the right to be involved in any personnel matter except for one person that we hire and fire, which is the city manager. Now, we cannot make special rules because perhaps we do not like the fact that this time the rules didn’t favor who you wanted it to favor. We’re getting into some dangerous territory here.”
In her opening statement, Bellamy-Small described what she considers one of the significant achievements of her current term.
“I also feel that I’m a voice for those who sometimes don’t have a voice, like our homeless population," she said. "And I’ve been working very hard and closely with other organizations to try to bring about a day center. And though you may have seen in the newspaper recently that they don’t have enough money, they will get the money because I believe Greensboro has the will to finally do something to help folk who are standing out in the cold and in the rain once they get out of the shelters at night. They’ve got to have a place to go where they can become whole individuals again if they choose to.”
Bellamy-Small expressed confidence in the police department, striking a contrasting note to Rakestraw's statement.
“As far as the police department’s concerned I believe we have one of the best police departments in the nation," she said. "I think that you have to look under all the rhetoric, and look at what Chief Bellamy inherited as far as what he’s been dealing with, with the police department. And I think the Buracker Report that we funded, which was a quarter of a million dollars, did say that he was one of the best chiefs that they’d seen in our department, though had some issues, but for the most part was a very well run police department, and it received the highest national accreditation that a police department can get.”
Bellamy-Small also spoke about the removal of a set of public-art benches in the Warnersville neighborhood, which was a cause championed by one of her primary-election opponents, Ben Holder.
“It’s interesting how certain people come out of the woodwork whenever it’s election time. And then they decide – what I call bully politics," she said. "I’ve been involved with the Warnersville community as it relates to the greenway and the benches for two years. We had numerous meetings. Over a hundred people gave their input. The benches were designed by what the people said. The benches represented the fact that Warnersville is the oldest black neighborhood in Greensboro. Those words “hope,” “triumph,” “endurance,” “faith” were put there as a symbol. The reason that they wanted benches was because most of the people who were involved in the sit-in movement came from Warnersville. So they wanted a recognition of the fact that they were involved in that."
"I went and sat on the benches, and I had the police called on me because they were looking for a prostitute," Bellamy-Small continued, provoking laughter. “I sat on those benches on four different occasions, four different times, including 11:30 at night. The benches were not at fault. What you saw there was a person given an opportunity to be able to have her 15 minutes of fame, with some people pushing her that have not been in that community. I’m very disturbed about it; I’m upset about it. I went out to the benches last Tuesday and took a picture. Let me tell you what I saw: On the side where she lives there are trees. There were two brothas sitting up under a tree, and they were smoking a cigarette, and it was not a Newport. So now we’re gonna root up the trees? Come on, we gotta do some common-sense kind of things, and stop being the victims of bully politics.”
Triad Elections '09
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