Greensboro candidates connected to women's college, prominent consultants, finance questions

Our candidate profile for YES! Weekly's online voter guide at www.triadpolitics.info is pretty straight-forward (candidates answer basic questions about who they are and their campaign, and we post it along with a photo) but every so often there's something interesting or unexpected in the response.

Like that at-large candidate Ben Holder graduated from Salem College in Winston-Salem. It came as a surprise to us that the women's college has a co-ed adult education program for students who are 23 or older, and Communications Manager Jennifer Handy confirmed that Holder graduated from the program in 2009 with a degree in communication.

Or that Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan, who is running for mayor, hired well-known political consultant Bill Burckley. We reported that Vaughan worked with him in 2009, when he was also consulting for Bill Knight's successful mayoral bid.

Or that Tanya Wiley is managing Mayor Robbie Perkins' reelection effort. Wiley served as treasurer and consultant for the Winston-Salem Black Political Action Committee, an entity with finance problems. From Jordan Green's May 30, 2012  YES! Weekly article: 

"The committee failed to file second-quarter or third-quarter plus reports, prompting an official notice of noncompliance to Wiley from Kim Westbrook Strach, deputy director for campaign reporting at the state Board of Elections, on Nov. 12, 2008.

"Instead of catching up on its second-quarter and third-quarter plus reports the committee skipped to the 2008 year-end semi-annual report, which the board of elections received in February 2009. The report showed a balance of $164. Cash on hand at the end of the previous report should equal cash on hand at the beginning of the subsequent report. That $4,008 dwindled to $164 indicates that $3,844 remains missing or unaccounted."

Other interesting tidbits from the candidate profiles: At-large candidate Joseph Landis works as a flight attendant, District 2 challenger Jamal Fox is only 25 (Landis is 27), former councilwoman Florence Gatten is working as a paid consultant on Nancy Hoffmann's reelection campaign in District 4, District 5 challenger Alex Seymour co-founded the Beard & Moustache Club of NC and the Piedmont Old-Time Society and former NC House candidate Theresa Yon is District 5 Councilman Tony Wilkins' treasurer. 

Read more about the candidates here.

Battle of Bills: Burckley vs. Knight

Greensboro political consultant Bill Burckley says he has proof that he was not terminated by then-mayoral candidate Bill Knight in early September, as Knight alleges in a letter to the News & Record.

I caught up with him on the phone this afternoon while researching a completely unrelated story.

"I've got a copy of a check and a deposit slip from his campaign," Burckley said. "The check is dated 11/7/09 for the amount of $2,500. 'Final payment on account,' it says."

Burckley said he has to review his papers to retrieve the specific documentation, but is certain that the Nov. 7 payment was made for services performed after early September.

UPDATE: While this doesn't answer the critical question of when Burckley rendered the services for which he billed Knight, it's worth noting that Knight's pre-election report reflects writing checks to Burckley's company for $1,250 on Oct. 8 and Oct. 13.

'Table this puppy'

Overheard at the designated smoking area on the landing outside of Greensboro city council chambers, where Mayor Yvonne Johnson was smoking a cigarette, before the council voted 5-4 to express regret for the '79 Klan-Nazi shootings last night:

Johnson: "It will bring closure."

Bill Burckley: "It will not bring closure, not with this crowd. I'm trying to give you sound political advice."

Burckley says something about how he has tried to give the mayor advice in the past, and how she ignored it. Johnson shakes her head.

Burckley: "Table this puppy, get rid of it, get it out of the way."

Johnson walks back in the building without responding.

Roch Smith Jr. has an account of Burckley's arrest later in the evening:

Ben Holder, aka The Troublemaker, whose broken computer currently keeps him from posting to his own blog, was an eye witness. According to Ben, Burckley initially left of his own volition, but attempted to reenter the building. Security guards stopped him and asked him to leave because he had been disruptive. Ben says Burckley then said he was not leaving and demanded to be arrested, saying he was going to "have a lot of fun" subpoenaing the mayor and council. Ben said he tried to get Burckley to leave with him, offering to buy him a drink, but Burckley refused and continued to insist on being arrested, a demand he made seven times, according to Ben, before it was granted.

Full report to follow in the June 24 print edition of YES! Weekly.