PHOTOS: Mayor Perkins' pre-election party

Mayor Robbie Perkins held a pre-election party on Monday night at Tavo in downtown Greensboro. Perkins said the event wouldn't help his campaign if it was held on election night after people already voted, and said that it would help encourage turn out and support for the campaign.

Perkins faces Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan and challenger George Hartzman in Tuesday's primary. Perkins and Vaughan are widely expected to knock of Hartzman in the primary and proceed to duke it out in the general election.

Left, an ice sculpture for the campaign seen from behind with a band performing in the background. Below, Perkins talking to Theresa Yon, a former Republican NC House candidate who wanted the city to pass a stricter noise ordinance. Perkins, who used to live in Center Pointe like Yon, initially pushed for a tighter ordinance at the beginning of 2012 at Center Pointe developer Roy Carroll's request.

Halfway through the event, about 30 people were in
 attendance, but campaign staff said "well over 100" people attended in total last night. Tayna Wiley, his campaign manager, said that he will be watching the election results from his State Street office on Tuesday evening.

Challenger Nancy Vaughan (who, of course, was not at the event) said that she will initially watch the results come in at home with her family before heading down to the Guilford County Courthouse where candidates traditionally watch the results trickle in.

Below, Perkins greeting former Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston, who was tied up in two major items that came before city council recently (the Bessemer Shopping Center and a loan for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum). Alston spoke with Perkins briefly at the door, stopping to pin on a Perkins campaign button before trying a shrimp cocktail and mingling like the mayor.

(Not everyone in attendance was a highly-visible power broker in the city —though developer and DGI Chair Dawn Chaney came, too — but the room was dimly lit and numerous other photographs did not come out well).

Read about the three mayoral candidates here, and make sure to vote in today's election if you haven't already cast your ballot during early voting!

Emails show source of noise complaint

Through a public information request, YES! Weekly obtained 1727 pages of emails to and from city staff — including Chief Ken Miller, Greensboro City Council members and various city employees — related to noise complaints or the ordinance since the current council took office at the end of 2011. Here are some of the more telling emails, to accompany our print article in this week's issue about Roy Carroll's influence on the noise ordinance. I apologize for the small print size and formatting issues — we'll try to upload the documents using Scribd so it's more reasonable, but it may take a few days.

Candidate shuffle two days before Guilford GOP chair vote

With two days to go before the Guilford County Republican Party convention, Theresa Yon has withdrawn as candidate for chair, saying she has become a lightning rod for criticism and the party must overcome its inner turmoil to effectively compete with the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Al Boudin has announced on Facebook that he is running for the seat. Previously, Boudin had been a candidate for vice chair on a slate headed by Yon. With Yon's withdrawal and Boudin's switch, Jon Firebaugh is entering the race as candidate for vice chair. The remainder of the slate consists of Nancy Bishop for secretary and Hallie Jessup for treasurer.

The controversy that prompted Yon's exit was a weeks-long tempest involving chair candidate Jeff Hyde's unsubstantiated accusation that "establishment" members of the party threatened to release damaging information if he did not withdraw from the race. The information concerned a criminal conviction by one of Hyde's associates, Bret Riddleberger, dating back to the mid-1990s. Riddleberger's wife preemptively referenced the information on Facebook and it quickly went public. In the aftermath, current executive director Tony Wilkins raised questions about Hyde's character. The ensuing battle has featured mutual expressions of recrimination, suspicion and distrust between the tea party and so-called "establishment" factions of the local party.

Discussion of the backdrop of today's developments here and here.

YES! Weekly has obtained Yon's letter of withdrawal:

When I began this campaign to run for Party Chairman in January, my full intention was to unite the Party to the best of my ability against the Democrats.

However, the contest for chairman in recent weeks and indeed, days has become divisive to the point that my fear now becomes that the Party will not be able to reach that goal. I believe for the good of the party it is best for me to step down as a candidate for chairman. This race has never been about ego or about me being the sole leader of the party. It was always a team race, and I feel it is best for my team and more importantly best for the party for me to step down as a candidate. I have complete trust that Al Bouldin and Mike Picarelli can help the party heal after this divisive time and move us forward together, to victory, in 2012. I feel that they will always put the Party's interests first. My candidacy in recent weeks had become a lightning rod for criticism and we simply cannot beat the Democrats with inner turmoil in the party. I urge everyone to support the slate of Mike, Al, Nancy and Hallie in their quest to lead the GOP to victory in what will be [a] difficult and challenging election season. I sincerely appreciate the help and dedication of all of those volunteers who helped our slate, and I ask that you continue to support our slate -- they are our best chance for victory.

Theresa Yon

It's Hyde vs. Yon for chair of Guilford GOP

Jeff Hyde announces he is running for chair of the Guilford County Republican Party in hopes of filling the position opened by the retirement of Bill Wright. The election takes place on March 14 at the party convention. A source active with the Guilford GOP that I bumped into at Harris Teeter in Adams Farm tells me Theresa Yon is also running for chair.

Both Hyde and Yon were unsuccessful candidates for NC General Assembly last year. Hyde is a founder of Conservatives for Guilford County and often identified with the tea party movement. Yon is a friend of NC Rep. John Blust. Beyond that, I'm not really certain whether they represent different factions of the party or hold reputations for different leadership styles. Can anyone tell me?

NC GOP 'criminal coddler' mailer continues to generate controversy

Republican Jon Hardister, who is running for the NC House District 57 seat currently held by Pricey Harrison, said a voter crumpled up a copy of a negative and inaccurate mailer put out by the NC Republican Party on his driveway that attacked his opponent as a "criminal coddler."

He called me this morning to let me know how upset he was about it. (A previous call was placed last week to News & Record reporter Mark Binker.

For those who missed that story, Hardister says, "I don't know why the Republican Party would go there. I think it's distasteful. I don't think Pricey is a 'criminal coddler.' That's ridiculous." Hardister added that he thinks the state party "crossed the line" with the mailer.

Hardister said he called someone at the state party to complain about the mailer. "They told me it's going to be effective," he said. "I said, 'I don't care if it's effective or not. I don't approve of it.'"

Hardister said that US Rep. Howard Coble and Guilford County Republican Party Chairman Bill Wright also registered their disapproval, and that Wright wrote an e-mail to the state party that said, in essence, "Stay out of Guilford County."

Putting aside his personal distaste for the mailer, Hardister said he's not convinced that it will help him win his race.

Hardister said he received the mailer on Wednesday in District 57. A nearly identical mailer dropped in NC House District 59, where Democratic incumbent Maggie Jeffus is locked in a tight race with Republican challenger Theresa Yon, on Saturday.

Yon is under pressure to join Hardister in repudiating the mailer.

Harrison wrote in an e-mail sent to several people yesterday: "Jon, I continue to appreciate your disavowing the RJA mailer. I believe the piece dropped in Maggie's district as well and I hope Theresa Yon will also disavow it."

Joan Bass, who is managing Jeffus' reelection effort, posted on my Facebook page: "I would hope that Ms. Yon would repudiate the use of such ugly, untrue fliers. Whether this is something she personally approved or not, this is a nasty tactic by her party which could unduly affect the election. The Jeffus campaign has never stooped to maligning Ms. Yon or her candidacy. If Maggie wins the election..., it will be on her own merits, not because she has slug dirt and untruths about her opponent. I call on the Republican party to stick to the facts and stop this 'any tactic no matter how false or ugly to win' campaigning."

When I asked Yon on Facebook for her position on the state party's mailer targeting her opponent, the candidate responded, "By law I have no say so or even any idea what the state party does in my race. And since the state party does not send me anti-Jeffus mailings, I have not seen anything they have sent and no one else has asked me."

Routh on sales tax referendum and classroom spending

A political forum held at Congregational Church of Christ last night was sparsely attended by both voters and candidates, and a pitch for the quarter-cent sales tax referendum on the ballot in Guilford County perhaps the most engaging subject on the program.

“In 2008, voters voted $651 million in bond issues,” supporter Bill Guill said. “That equaled six new schools, 15 schools to be renovated. That also included money for the new jail, new money for Guilford Tech as far as the improvement of its campus. In looking at the bond debt payments, that would be an increase of about 8 cents on the property tax per property owner to try to reduce the bond debt. The county commissioners put on the ballot a quarter-cent sales tax. What that would do — it would not be a tax on food, on prescription drugs or gasoline — but also it would bring in $12 million, and 40 percent of that money would come from people outside of Guilford County.”

Guill said approval of the sales tax increase would not necessarily provide adequate revenue to avoid a property tax increase, but it would at least ensure that the burden was shared. He said that a sunset provision for the proposed sales tax increase “has not been discussed at this time.”

Some conservative activists have faulted the Guilford County Commission for putting the bonds on the ballot in the first place and then for enabling a tax increase in times when they would like to see government at all levels tighten the purse strings. So what did the citizens purchase on credit for this bill that’s now coming due?

“It is true that the largest bond is for schools,” said Nancy Routh, an at-large school board member who is defending her seat against challenger Lisa Ingle Clapp. “In 2008, we approved another $457 million for school construction. We’re in the middle of that project at the present time. I mentioned the size of the county, the size of our school system, and the growth that’s there. And a lot of people do not realize how fast we are growing. I was surprised when I first looked at it: In eight years we’ve added 10,000 students.”

Clapp did not attend the candidate forum, and some voters appeared to have difficulty discerning differences in their positions. The best that Routh, who is completing her second term, could offer was this: “I do think sometimes if you have not had more experience and more involvement with schools, you tend to think it’s a one-issue thing. When you’re actually on the board, it is one of the most complex systems in terms of trying to manage the school system. I think point of view may be the biggest difference, but I don’t attempt to speak for other people who need to speak for themselves.”

Routh reserved her hardest shots for Theresa Yon, Republican candidate for NC House District 59, although she did not mention her by name. Yon has proposed a mandate that would require that a minimum of 65 cents out of every dollar allocated for education be spent in the classroom.

“A lot of things get classified as administrative, you’re talking about employees who are bus drivers, who are maintenance folks, who are custodians, who are cafeteria workers — all of those who are necessary to provide the services,” Routh said. “I heard someone talk about recently how they should manage the state allocations for K-12 allocation requiring so many cents out of the dollar to go to the classroom. And I said, ‘Well, define classroom, do you mean that you now want the teacher to have to clean the floor and fix the lunches and all of that which you have to do if you’re going to be maintaining that classroom?”

State legislative candidates square off at Greensboro forum

Republican Jeff Hyde (left) and Democrat Don Vaughan address voters.

The Clean Smokestacks bill, a piece of legislation passed by the NC General Assembly in 2002, became a reference point for an open debate about the role of government in regulating business during a candidate forum tonight at Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro.

“The environment for small business in North Carolina is a poor one,” said Jeff Hyde, the Republican candidate for NC Senate District 27. “We are overtaxed, over-regulated and the mandates that come down from government for business activity are stifling.”

Irwin Smallwood, a retired News & Record managing editor, probed Hyde on the point, asking him to name three regulations he would repeal.

“One instance would be we required Duke Power a couple years ago to spend $3 million to clean smokestacks on the idea that there would be a significance difference in the emissions of those smokestacks,” Hyde responded. “Since it’s been done, there’s no discernible effect. They’ve done exactly what the state asked them to do. And yet what’s happened [is] our energy costs have gone up.”

Hyde’s Democratic opponent, freshman Sen. Don Vaughan, was given an opportunity to speak, but steered away from conflict. Vaughan said that he believes in a free enterprise system and generally favors less regulation on business, and pivoted to a different issue: “I think our teachers are over-regulated in the classroom. I think we should give them more ability to handle their problems without having to go up the food chain.”

Pricey Harrison, the Democratic incumbent in the NC House District 57 race, used part of her allotted time to chastise Hyde.

“The Clean Smokestacks bill is one of the best things we’ve ever done to clean up the air here in North Carolina,” she said. “It reduced emissions by more than 70 percent and it’s been a tremendous tool. And we have lower asthma rates; we can actually document that.”

Harrison and her Republican opponent, Jon Hardister, sketched out different political philosophies, but remained cordial and avoided direct challenges against each other on the issues.

The two candidates demonstrated different approaches in response to a question about what services they would cut to make up an expected budget shortfall next year.

“Clearly, if we cut $3 billion out of a $19 billion budget, that 15 percent of what’s out there is going to be pretty serious, and I think we’ll set ourselves back decades in terms of the investments in education and quality of life – I think will severely undermine us," Harrison said. "I think there’s a place where we can cut, but we’re going to have to have some alternatives. Close the tax loopholes. There are a ton of those out there. That’s been sort of forbidden ground. A $100 million bank tax loophole. There are things like that out there we can look at. Review the whole tax code. I’m not an expert. There are ways to create more equity in the tax code because we don’t really have that in the tax code right now. But there’s some pork in the budget, and I’m frustrated by that. I tried to lead the charge to eliminate that $10 million subsidy that was going to the UNC Booster Club and opposed that mega port that was never going to get permitted. There are things like that in the budget, but I don’t think it’s going to add up to $3 billion. It might be a half billion.”

Hardister responded, “The first thing we’ve got to do is what you hear politicians say all the time: You’ve got to go through the budget line by line. We need to start doing that, but in particular, we need to go to zero-based budgeting. After that, to look for wasteful spending I would start with corporate subsidies and corporate incentives, excessive possible entitlement programs, and the discretionary spending. We need to really put a hold on discretionary spending until we get the budget under control. And then I think we need spending caps. We need a constitutional amendment that pegs allowable spending with changes in inflation and population. Because North Carolina for years our population has increased, but spending increased at a faster rate, so we need to tie the two together and also put a formula in there for inflation.”

Sparks flew between Republican Theresa Yon (right) and Democrat Maggie Jeffus, who are competing for the NC House District 59 seat.

Remarks by Democratic incumbent Maggie Jeffus and Republican challenger Theresa Yon, who are vying for the neighboring House District 59 seat, provided more discernible contrasts for voters.

Asked to provide an example of wasteful spending, Yon mentioned the state film tax credit, which was increased from 11 percent to 25 percent in the most recent session.

“The state of North Carolina taxpayers will now pay 25 percent of the cost of making movies,” Yon said. “It’s projected to cost us $160 million over the course of the next few years. Do we really want the taxpayers to pay $160 million?”

Jeffus defended the use of incentives to maintain the film industry in North Carolina.

“You all remember ‘Dawson’s Creek’?” she asked. “That has left. We have lost to Louisiana. We’ve lost to Canada. We’ve lost to Mississippi. We’ve lost to Georgia. The governor was right on the verge of – back in the long session, I guess – of announcing a film that was being filmed in North Carolina. She was sure we would get it. Only to find out the next day that Georgia got it. These film people, the people that produce them, they bring jobs into North Carolina. Guilford County does have a film office here, and films have been shot here in Greensboro and High Point – all around. So we’re talking about jobs. Construction. Production. Directors. Costumes. They stay in hotels and motels. They buy food. It’s just a no-brainer. We need jobs. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Yon retorted, “‘Dawson’s Creek’ went off the air; it’s not filmed anymore.”

Yon and Jeffus also parted ways on the issue of education, specifically on a proposal by Yon to require that a minimum of 65 cents of every dollar allocated for education be spent in the classroom.

“I know my opponent has come out against that publicly,” Yon said. “She says it will tie the hands of local education agencies, and I disagree. Guilford County may use that extra money in the classroom to pay teachers bonuses. Forsyth County might use it to buy textbooks. Another county might use it to replace their arts and music programs they’ve had to cut. Another county might decide, ‘We need an after-school reading program.’ But it’s spent in the classroom. If we took just three cents more of every single dollar and spent it in the classroom, that’s $210 million more in our schools without raising your taxes. The lady in maroon asked earlier if we can cut some administration. Yeah, I think we can cut some administration and put it in the classroom.”

Jeffus acknowledged her difference of opinion.

“I do oppose the 65 cents in the classroom,” she said. “I want everything that we can get for the schools and for the classes and for the children. She does not understand how the budget is done. And we do need to give them flexibility. It will tie their hands. That’s one of the things we do – we give a great deal of flexibility to the [local education agencies], and each LEA is different. What we need in Guilford County, they might not need in Carteret County or someplace else – Hoke County – so that they have the flexibility to do what they need to do. And I think most of them do a diligent job of putting it into the classroom. And a great deal of our education money goes to teacher salaries.”

Yon found an unlikely ally for her initiative in Marcus Brandon, the Democratic candidate for House District 60, who noted in his remarks that he was not opposed to mandating that 65 cents out of every dollar be spent in the classroom.

Brandon's Republican opponent, Lonnie R. Wilson, outlined a conservative Christian political ideology.

“Believe me, when you get up here, the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top as much as it usually does, and you can’t remember everything you want to say," he said. "So I’m going to have to read some of my stuff. And I do believe this stuff that I’m reading. I do believe ‘In God we trust.’ And I do believe that our representatives should defend our ancient landmarks of Judeo-Christian values. And those we send to Raleigh should do that. And I am a conservative; I am a Republican. This is my first run for office, and maybe the only one.”

Broader themes related to longstanding Democratic control of the General Assembly and a the possibility of a Republican majority after the coming election emerged in an exchange between Republican John Blust and Democrat Alma Adams, who respectively face nominal opposition in their quest for reelection in safe districts 62 and 58. Libertarian Jeffery Simon and Republican Darin H. Thomas – neither of whom was present – are respectively seeking the District 62 and District 58 seats.

“The process is broken,” Blust said. “You see it in Washington. You see it in Raleigh. Rep. Jeffus just told you the decisions are all made in Room 612. And I’ve been out on the block before. I’ve knocked on over 13,000 doors in this community, and I’ve won elections, and I’m entitled to a seat in the room where the decisions are made. I can’t use force and I can’t be violent, but I resent that I’m shuffled off because, ‘You’re in the minority and you don’t get to. We’ll tell you and we’ll come out and we’ll give you a 300-page bill and you’re supposed to vote for it or you’re against education. You’re against the children.’

“And I’ve heard that over and over, and I’ve still studied,” he continued. “I’ve come up with proposals. When we redid the budget a couple years ago, I had five or six amendments. I run an amendment every budget. They set the process up so you can’t touch the decisions they’ve made in the back room. And it’s wrong. It has got to be opened up. The answer to the budget would be, let all 120 House members have some say. I resent it. It really angers me. I hear the same thing on television. I hear it out of the president. I hear it out of the Houser speaker. ‘The Republicans are the party of no, and they don’t have any ideas.’ If I don’t have any ideas, then you can let me in Room 612 and I won’t do a thing because I don’t have any ideas. But I have ideas.”

Blust added, “If Marcus Brandon wins and the Republicans have the majority – I’m more hopeful than ever – If Alma wins, I am not going to let the Republicans arrange that House the same way and say, ‘You don’t get to represent your people.’ It’s a blight on our constitution, our way of government. And we’re going to have to be willing as Republicans to lose some votes because we might run something and instead of getting people by cajoling them and threatening and having a $128,000 base-pay speakers aide go whisper in your ear, ‘We don’t have the votes, can you leave?’ let the body work. You might find the budget gets better. The process will work. The genius of our republic will let us pass good, solid budgets.”

Adams – like Jeffus, a senior budget writer – disputed Blust’s assertion that the room where the Appropriations Committee meets is closed, adding that it’s natural that the party in control will limit participation from minority members.

“I don’t want anybody to think that 612 is closed,” she said. “Rep. Blust, I don’t know how many times you’ve been in there. The door’s always open. The process – Rep. Blust was there when the Republicans were in control. The process – now, I’ve been there 16 and a half years – the process has never changed, no matter who’s in control. But we do work together. But there are some philosophical differences that are probably always going to exist. Now, how you change that I don’t know. I haven’t been able to change it in 16 years. When Speaker Brubaker was speaker when I came there or after I came there, I was silenced and could not present my amendments or speak. Some of those things are probably never going to go away. But I don’t want people here to think that we don’t collaborate and put legislation together. I mean, I filed a number of bills with three Republican women. I chaired the women’s caucus that actually the Republicans put me in. There is some civility. Whether that process is going to change from historically the way it is, I’m not sure how much we can do about that.”

Gladys Robinson was the lone candidate present for the NC Senate District 28 race. Republican Trudy Wade and independent Bruce Davis will also be on the ballot. Wade was unable to attend because she was participating in a previously scheduled neighborhood walk in the Greensboro City Council district that she represents.

Prompted by supporter Lewis Brandon, Robinson knocked Wade for a unanimous decision by the city council last month to delay approval of a $5 million federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide weatherization for buildings in east Greensboro last month. Minutes from the council's Sept. 21 meeting state, "Council discussion focused on the potential consequences of loan defaults and the City’s assumption of financial responsibility."

“I think it’s a travesty," Robinson said. "What we’re talking about now is how to grow jobs so we can improve the economy. So any source – federal or state or businesses or whatever – we can get to come into Guilford County that promotes jobs, we know that weatherization means better use of our energy, for one thing. But it also means that it’s low-income people whose houses can be weatherized, can have more efficient living. It also means jobs. And that’s critical. So I think that any of us who say we want to go to Raleigh and we want to create jobs to improve the economy, if we’re not supporting that and if the city council’s not supporting that and my opponent, then I’m not sure that those are the kind of people that we want in Raleigh.”

Candidate profile: Theresa Yon

Theresa Yon, a 39-year-old education researcher, has moved into the political spotlight this year with her candidacy as Republican nominee for the NC House District 59 seat, challenging 18-year Democratic incumbent Maggie Jeffus.

In the previous three elections, Jeffus has warded off challenges from Republican Jim Rumley to defend her seat in the Democratic leaning 59th District, which covers the northeast corner of Guilford County and reaches into the heart of Greensboro. Despite the incumbent’s fundraising advantage, conservative voters are energized and committed candidates such as Yon are looking to pull off some upsets.

“I’ve been part of the Republican Women’s Club and have been active behind the scenes,” Yon said during an interview this morning at Panera Bread on West Wendover Avenue. “Someone told me, ‘You should try running instead of being behind the scenes.’ I was thinking I could do a good job, so I decided to run.”

Yon has raised money for the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club and for NC House Rep. John Blust’s campaign committee. This year, Yon received a $1,000 check from the Blust committee. Blust faces a nominal challenge in his bid for reelection from a Libertarian candidate.

Like Blust, Yon views the longstanding Democratic control of the House as something that stifles free debate and consideration of a wide range of meritorious legislation.

“As long as there’s single-party control, I think there will be a lot of good bills and good ideas that remain in committee,” she said.

As an example of legislation bottled up by the Democratic leadership, Yon cited a bill sponsored by Blust that would require the state to allocate 65 cents out of every dollar spent in education on classrooms. The candidate recalled an experience she had as a substitute teacher when she discovered there were not enough textbooks to send home with each of the students. A Grimsley High School teacher told her that she had to make do with a three-foot-wide blackboard for a class of 35 students, a state of affairs Yon described as “ridiculous.”

The candidate cited a national study that found that 62 percent of education dollars are currently being spent on classrooms. Taking the 3 percent margin of difference, she said that could generate $210 million a year for North Carolina classrooms without raising taxes.

“It will take wise and efficient planning,” Yon said, “but it will truly help kids in the classroom.”

Both candidates in this race will stress their commitment to education and their credential in that arena. Yon, like many Republicans, cedes no ground to the other party on the issue.

A retired public school teacher, Jeffus enjoys strong support from the Guilford County Association of Educators and other teachers unions. The Guilford County Association of Educators ranks Jeffus as one of it’s A+ legislators, a designation that reflects how closely her voting record aligns with the teachers’ legislative agenda. The Jeffus campaign received a $1,000 contribution earlier this year from John I. Wilson, executive director of the National Education Association.

“I don’t think parents should be forced to send their children to failing schools,” Yon said. “Kentucky, Arizona and some other states allow you to apply for whatever school you want in the county.”

She added, “Whatever they’re doing right now [in North Carolina] is not working.”

Yon outlined a twofold approach to handling debt and spending, one of her top priorities: “Cutting out wasteful spending that I have found and reforming the budget process.”

The candidate is particularly critical of so-called corporate incentives, a policy Yon prefers to call “throwing stacks of cash” at corporations. The Democratic-controlled legislature and Democratic governors have passed a string of incentives packages over the past decade a half, the latest of which is the Keep North Carolina Competitive Act, which allows film production companies to receive a tax credit equivalent to 25 percent of its expenses up to $20 million.

Rep. Blust introduced an amendment that would prevent “highly compensated individuals” such as actors and directors from benefiting from the tax break if they earn more than $1 million.

“My opponent, Maggie Jeffus, voted against John Blust’s amendment,” Yon said. “How can she justify it?”

Possibly even more objectionable, Yon said, is the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Grant that was passed during the administration of former Gov. Mike Easley, which was custom written for one company, Goodyear Tire Co., and later also benefited Bridgestone Firestone.

“It’s blackmail: Goodyear threatened to leave the state, so we throw all these stacks of cash at them,” she said, adding, “Realistically, we don’t have that money to spend. Our own state treasurer said we are maxed out.”

Reforming the budget process entails that each department prioritize its spending, she said. Yon cited a report released by the NC Auditor’s office yesterday that found that the overwhelming majority of state employees are rated as outstanding, resulting in an inordinate number receiving annual raises.

Yon’s prescription for creating jobs is tied to her viewpoint on reducing wasteful spending.

“Right now, we have the highest taxes in the Southeast,” she said. “We do have a big corporate tax rate and top marginal income rate. If we cut taxes and cut down on some of the excess regulation, we can create jobs.

“The way it is now, only companies like Time Warner Cable that can afford a lobbyist can get a tax break,” she continued. “Small businesses are creating the majority of the jobs. $750,000 is how much the state legislature appropriated for small businesses. I’ve been knocking on a lot of doors in during this campaign. I was talking to a lady in Old Irving Park whose husband lost his business because he couldn’t get a loan, she said, ‘because our credit isn’t pristine.’ When I told her that $750,000 was the money that the legislature set aside for small business [loans], she couldn’t believe that the legislators could be so unknowing.”

Yon said, if elected, her top priorities as a legislator would be debt and spending, along with education, and that she is less concerned with social issues.

As an example of the judgment she would apply to social-issues legislation, she said, “One thing that has bothered me, there have been bills that have come up regarding abortion and parental consent. Some of those bills have been buried. For my opponent to vote against a bill for notarized parental consent for abortion, that’s wrong.”

Yon said she has found that her candidacy resonates strongly with women.

“The women legislators in Raleigh are very much backing me,” she said. “It feels wonderful to have strong women behind me, who feel that I am a strong woman too. I have it here, too, with support from women like Dena Barnes.”

Notwithstanding their shared gender and that both have an association with education, Yon said voters should have no problem distinguishing her from her opponent.

“The most important difference is we need new ideas to bring about change,” Yon said. “It’s all about planning. She and her colleagues didn’t plan well for the future…. They’ve been spending and spending and spending and not planning for the hard times.”

Guilford conservatives get campaign season underway with political picnic

Bill Randall (right) poses with fellow candidate Howard Coble and Conservatives for Guilford County activist Isabella Adkins.

Notwithstanding the efforts of Conservatives for Guilford County to establish a nonpartisan movement, the candidates that showed up for the group’s Take Back America Picnic at Bur-Mil Park yesterday evening were all Republicans, with the exception of one unaffiliated school board candidate.

A representative of the John Locke Foundation handed out “Tea Bags” – plastic bags containing the foundation’s publications and membership information – and told spectators that they have been working with dozens of candidates across the state, including the Republican nominee for the NC Senate District 28 seat in Guilford County. Hyde and NC House District 57 candidate Jon Hardister are both avowed fans of the Locke Foundation’s body of research and policy recommendations.

Estimated at upwards of 200 people by organizers, the crowd was fired up and energized. Guilford County Republican Party Chairman Bill Wright said he feels the party is fielding good candidates this year.

The star appearance may have been Bill Randall, who only three days earlier had trounced primary opponent Bernie Reeves in a runoff for US House District 13. Randall strolled around the grounds at the event early in the evening with 13-term Republican incumbent congressman Howard Coble, who introduced the new nominee from Raleigh to voters in his native Guilford County. Coble represents US House District 6. The two were a picture of old hand and young upstart, the seasoned incumbent who fended off a handful of primary contenders and the GOP challenger seeking to take on liberal Democrat Brad Miller.

Eating a hamburger under the shelter before the program of candidate remarks began, Randall reflected on Reeves’ sore-loser remark to the News & Observer that “it's sort of like anarchy out there.” The new nominee said his former opponent made some “strategic errors,” including disrespecting the Tea Party movement.

“One of the problems he had with that is his disparaging remarks were a matter of record,” Randall said. “And when confronted with it, he didn’t come clean. All he had to say is that ‘I did make remarks to that effect, although they may have been misconstrued or come across as more harsh than I intended,’” adding that Reeves should have then stated that he recognized the validity of sentiments held by Tea Party adherents.

“He has a lot to offer the Republican Party,” Randall continued. “He would do well to try to unify the base rather than divide the base. He missed a great opportunity because he didn’t concede with grace. The problem is that Bernie Reeves could not discern that there are some traditional Republicans who embrace the ideology of the Tea Party. And when you disparage the Tea Party you disparage those people who are rock-solid Republicans.”

Bill Randall, candidate for US House District 13

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard the argument that we need to get rid of illegal immigrants because they’re taking up welfare benefits and lining up in the emergency rooms – how many of you have ever heard that argument? Stop it. Stay with me. That’s not the argument. I say again, that’s not the argument.

“There are illegals in this country who’ve not once gone to emergency rooms, that are hardworking and industrious. But that’s not the argument. Because, see, if you argue from the standpoint of what they’re taking away in benefits, you’re disarmed when someone can prove that they’re not using them. Follow me. We need to learn how to craft our argument based on the US Constitution: And what’s at stake is the rule of law. Amen?

“Let’s say that you all went on a trip. Bill Randall comes to your neighborhood. I know you’re out of town. I break into your home. Inside your home I find everything in disarray. Some of you say, ‘Well, you see my teenagers at home’ – no, that’s… I’ve got kids, too. I find everything in disarray. Dishes stacked to the ceiling in the kitchen. Clothes in the laundry room, dirty, piled up. Windows dirty. Yard not cut. Everything is a mess. I go in there, wash all your dishes, sparkling clean, put ’em up in your cabinet, wash all the clothes, fold ’em, put ’em away, even iron your shirts, even clean the toilet bowl. Go into your refrigerator and I take things out and I cook a sumptuous meal. And that sumptuous meal is waiting on you when you get back home. Folks, you come in. You like what you see. But you get on the phone and you call the police. And I get carted away to jail. Is that the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do? It’s the right thing because I broke the rule of law. I don’t care what my intentions are; the rule of law is what prevails in this country.”


Jeff Hyde, a member of Conservatives for Guilford County who is challenging one-term Democrat Don Vaughan for the NC Senate District 27 seat, was introduced by his friend Brett Riddleberger as a “hardcore conservative.”

Jeff Hyde, candidate for NC Senate District 27

“North Carolina is struggling with prosperity. A once great state – still is a great state – we have beautiful aesthetics all across our state. We’ve got a great talent base. We have natural resources, but we are on our way with our state government to becoming New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, New York or Michigan, and I don’t think North Carolinians want that. I know that I don’t want that. Unemployment in North Carolina has been for 15 straight months above 10 percent. Democrats have no idea how to change that. Our solution is to take North Carolina from being the worst business-climate state in the Southeast and make it competitive with our Southeastern neighbors by reducing the tax burden on individuals, the tax burden on corporations, reducing our state gasoline tax – all these things add up to make North Carolina the 10th least likely state for businesses to succeed. The states around us – there’s no surprise – the nine states with the most economic activity are the nine states that don’t have a personal income tax. There’s no surprise in that. If we want North Carolina to be prosperous again, if we want to reduce our unemployment, we’ll put our money back into the private sector where we can incubate jobs around the kitchen table and entice new businesses to form in North Carolina and put private citizens back to work.”


Trudy Wade, a two-term member of the Greensboro City Council, is running for the open seat vacated by Democrat Katie Dorsett against two opponents: Democrat Gladys Robinson and independent Bruce Davis.

Trudy Wade, candidate for NC Senate District 28

“I now have two opponents. If you haven’t heard the news, I now have an unaffiliated running against me. One thing I want to make very clear about the two candidates running against me in Senate District 28: Both will vote for a tax increase, I can assure you of that. One has a proven record of voting for tax increases, and the other has openly stated that she’d be in favor in tax increases. You don’t have to worry about that with me. You can look at my record on the Greensboro City Council, and I haven’t voted for any tax increases.

“The other thing I want to bring to your attention is I’m worried about jobs because there’s not a lot of jobs out there for us and we definitely need to do something about that. What do we need to do? I’m a small business owner. We need to give small businesses a break and let us put people back to work because it is the only way we’re going to get this economy going again. Give me a break, let me pay somebody a salary, let them go out and buy from you and everyone else that runs a small business. Let us all get back to work.

“The other thing is I want to take care of some of that corruption in Raleigh. We need to get out; we need to vote. I can’t change it without you. If you don’t go out and vote this time we won’t get a change in Raleigh. But I can assure you, if you go out and vote and I’m elected, you will have a change in Raleigh.”


John Blust, who faces a nominal challenge from Libertarian Jeffery Simon, has become something of a role model for GOP candidates seeking legislative office in Raleigh, especially with the retirement of fellow Republican Laura Wiley in NC House District 61. Although he faces no Democratic opponent in his race, he’s weathered adversity by virtue of the fact that his entire career in the General Assembly has been spent as part of the minority party. He recruited Theresa Yon to run in Democratic-leaning District 59, and his limited government philosophy is emulated by another Republican challenger, District 57 candidate Jon Hardister.

John Blust, candidate for NC House District 62

“If you want to know why this is so important, turn around and look at those children back there. The latest figures I have seen say that the federal government has an unfunded liability, if you know what that means in accounting. It’s bad enough that we have a national debt right now that just went over $13 trillion; it’s approaching the level of the gross national product. The unfunded liability, what are the promises made by the politicians all these years is numbered now at $130 trillion, and somehow those children back there are going to have to come up with this money. Now, the opposition likes to think that they are pro-child; they claim to be pro-education, pro-child. And one of the tasks we have to do is we have to take them off their moral high ground and capture it ourself, because you are not for the children in any way if you are willing to saddle them with $130 trillion in debt. Don’t tell me you’re for the children.

“Don’t tell me you’re for education when the only education model we’ve seen is the one we’ve seen. They won’t allow us to go to charter schools. They won’t allow us to go to money-follows-the-student. We have some of the worst public schools K-12, but we have some of the best universities. Now, what’s the difference there? The universities you choose where to go. The students, the parents choose where to go. The K-12 is a monopoly. We debated a bill not long ago on how to handle low-performing, non-performing schools. This is 2010. I couldn’t help but be struck that this is 2010, and two education governors ago we had an education governor named Jim Hunt that said that if you spent the money they wanted to spend and you enacted the very agenda they wanted and they got their way on everything, every initiative, every cent they wanted for education is what happened, Jim Hunt said you’d be number-one by 2010. And here 2010 came and we were having to debate ways to handle non-performing, low-performing schools. And that was with Jim Hunt, “the education governor” from 1992 to 2010, then Mike Easley, soon to be indicted, an “education governor” from 2000 to 2008. Now, what happened? Maybe their fundamental model was wrong. Maybe it’s not just the money. Maybe, instead of approaching every program as if it’s a matter of government programs, government money, we have now come to the cliff.”


Republican Theresa Yon is challenging veteran Democratic lawmaker Maggie Jeffus in NC House District 59.

Theresa Yon, candidate for NC House District 59

“Just last week, House Bill 1973, film tax credit… this is a bill that had a lot of different tax credits and spending that individually probably would not have been passed. They put it all under one bill, and you get the film tax credit. This gives up to $20 million in tax credits for people that come to North Carolina to film movies on our coast. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t help Guilford County. Here’s the idea: There’s no way that our tax dollars should be paid to Hollywood actors and producers to come here and film movies. And our representative, John Blust, put out an amendment in which he said, ‘We need to cap that; we shouldn’t be paying actors or people that are paid, you know, millions of dollars to make movies.’ That amendment was voted down by the Democrats and my opponent. So if someone comes and films a movie for $80 million, you the taxpayers write them a check for $20 million regardless of how much they pay in taxes. If an actor gets paid $12 million, the taxpayers write a $3 million check to him – 25 percent of their production cost is going to be funded now by the taxpayers with House Bill 1973. I think that’s a bad decision.

“Yesterday – here’s a good example for government interfering in your lives a little bit too much. Just yesterday the House voted on a bill and it has to do with childcare. A lot of you work, and maybe in the summertime your children are in daycare. Well, they’ve decided on a couple things that they know better what your children need than you do. No child over 1 year old is allowed to have four to six ounces of juice per day in daycare. No children over 2 years old are allowed to drink any whole milk, reduced fat only. And you are not allowed to bring sugar-sweetened sodas to daycare anymore, or they’ll be confiscated. So if you give your child a Coke once in awhile to take to daycare, it will be taken away…. So, that’s a bit of a disappointment, government interfering in our lives.”


Jon Hardister’s reluctance to take a firm position on a piece of legislation proposed by his Democratic opponent, Pricey Harrison, that would eliminate the cap on liabilities for offshore oil spills off the coast of North Carolina has been the object of a fair amount of discussion. He said after this speech that he has now come to the conclusion that eliminating the cap is the right thing to do.

His stump speech was more of less boilerplate Republican agenda, with little attention to specifics.

Jon Hardister, candidate for NC House District 57

“A lot of people don’t realize how high our taxes are in North Carolina. We have the ninth highest income tax, and that’s both corporate and individual. I believe you create jobs through the private sector. The government can’t create jobs. If you look at Virginia, for example, their taxes are lower, [and] their unemployment rate is a lot lower than ours. We have an unemployment rate that’s just over 11 percent. In Virginia, it’s just over 6 percent. It’s much lower. I believe it all comes down to a simple question: Do you think that government is the solution to our problems or the cause of our problems? (Cause.) Exactly. And, uh, I gotta tell you: We have an opportunity, this year, to take back our government. Okay, I’m a Republican. I’m proud to be a Republican. But that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about principle. It’s about what you stand for. And we have a lot of work to do. Republicans have a great opportunity now to take the state House and take the state Senate, and get some work done. We need to eliminate wasteful spending and we need to go to zero-based budgeting. We need some spending-cap legislation and we need to eliminate the cap on charter schools. I’ll tell you what. Here’s how I look at it: When the economy started to get bad I had to tighten my belt, and I had to be careful about my expenditures. Government should do the same thing. It’s our money they’re spending. Politicians have a responsibility to be careful with spending policies.”


Lisa Ingle Clapp, an unaffiliated challenger, faces two-term Democrat Nancy Routh in the nonpartisan contest for one of the at-large seats on the Guilford County School Board.

Lisa Ingle Clapp, candidate for Guilford County School Board at large

“I think it’s very important to vote for a candidate who has children coming in and out of their doors every day, not just my own boys but their friends and their friends’ parents. And you know how we parents network and talk about what’s going on at the school level. A couple of things I wanted to make a point about. One thing is in Guilford County I think we lack in the school system, accountability, on a couple of different levels. The first level is I think we need to hold the Guilford County School Board accountable for how their spending our hard-earned tax dollars. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a hard-working – my husband is a hard-working person and we pay lots of taxes, as all of you do as well. When you study up on what’s going on with the school board, you never know where your money’s going. And I think the truth and transparency approach to that would be very applicable at this point, especially since our superintendant, Mo Green, speaks of that in his strategic plan of transparency. So I’m running on transparency. If you want truth and transparency, I’m your girl.

“The other thing I wanted to bring forward was parent accountability. We need to hold our parents accountable to stay involved enough with their children that they know what’s going on inside of their school doors everyday. A lot of things take place in our schools that we don’t ever know about as the general public. That’s one of my biggest, biggest pet peeves with the school board, and one of the main reasons I decided to run. And I’ll tell you briefly about that and then I’ll close. When we have convicted felons who are bringing loaded handguns into high schools and middle schools, folks we got a problem. We got a problem with a school board who wants to do away with our SRO officers in the middle of our middle and high schools, because we need ’em. We need ’em desperately. And we need a voice on that school board who is going to keep those SRO officers in their positions. I’m sick and tired of taking my own two children to school and having to worry about their safety when they’re not on my watch. In order for us to make a difference in that, you’ve got to have truth and transparency. I have numerous e-mails and phone calls every single week since I’ve decided to run for school board at large from parents, and from staff and from teachers who tell me over and over the things that go on behind closed doors that nobody knows about because their acts of violence and they’re pushed under the rug, so to speak. Because we don’t need to know about it, as parents and taxpayers. I’m here to tell you: It’s time for us to face the music. We got to know what’s going on so that we can restore safety, discipline and respect back into our schools. If that’s what you want in a candidate – a voice for the people, for the students, for the staff and for the teachers and the parents, then on Nov. 2, vote Lisa Clapp for school board.”


Becki Gray, John Locke Foundation

“The forefathers also gave us a gift. That gift was freedom. But that gift has been abused, it’s been misused, it is in danger and it is in peril. Our country is in trouble. We have a healthcare bill that no one wanted, that was shoved through Congress and shoved down our throats. Spending is out of control. National security is at risk. We finally have a state that has stepped up and done something about illegal immigration, and what’s our president doing? He’s going to sue that state. We have a government that wants to do everything for everybody with no concern for what it costs. And all of these things are taking away our freedom, chipping away at that.

“So are we safe here in North Carolina? Are our state leaders protecting our freedoms? They’re not. We have corrupt politicians that we can’t trust who are lining their pockets with our tax money. Just read the latest edition of Carolina Journal to find out who’s been indicted today. And the list keeps getting longer and longer. Unemployment is in double digits and has been for the last 15 months. North Carolina has one of the highest tax rates in the Southeast. Government is everywhere in our lives, telling us how, when and where we can live to the point of being ridiculous. Do you know that there are counties in North Carolina, there are places in North Carolina where plastic bags have been outlawed? There’s a smoking ban in effect in North Carolina where the government is telling us where we can smoke in businesses we own. Now I’m not a big smoker – I’m not a smoker at all, I don’t like to be around cigarette smoke – what I really don’t like is the government telling me what I can do and can’t do in establishments that I own. They want to tell us where we can water our lawns, even in the mountains what color to paint our house, what kind of light bulbs to use, and all the while they’re continuing to increase the entitlement programs that people get more dependent, more government and more government control. And the cost of all this government in North Carolina: Do you know that since 1980, North Carolina’s budget has increased 190 percent? And during that period population has only grown 62 percent. So keep that in mind.”

Early voting numbers favor Republicans in Guilford

Registered Democrats in Forsyth County who participated in early voting outnumbered their Republican counterparts about two to one, Election Director Rob Coffman says. That's in a county where registered Democrats make up 45.9 percent of the electorate, and Republicans 33.0 percent.

In Guilford County, the trend is running in the opposite direction, with Republicans showing stronger turnout. Of the approximately 5,110 people who participated in early voting, 39.3 percent were Republican. Republicans make up 29.1 percent of the electorate. The percentage of Democrats that participated in early voting is lower than the Democrats' overall share of the electorate.

High levels of interest among Republicans in Guilford County would seem to bode well for Republican candidates in state legislative races in the fall.

Likely Republican nominee Trudy Wade would ordinarily face an uphill battle in NC Senate District 28, whose electorate is 58.6 percent Democratic, but she might have a shot this year going up against either of the Democratic contenders, who lack the kind of widespread name recognition that comes with experience in elected office. If Democrat Bruce Davis garners enough signatures to get on the ballot as an independent, that will peel off a significant number of Democratic votes and potentially spoil it for the Democratic nominee. High turnout among Republicans only helps Wade more.

High turnout among Republicans could also help Republican Tea Party activist Jeff Hyde, who is running in NC Senate District 27, where Democratic registration runs at 52.6 percent. Hyde's challenge is that he is virtually unknown, while one-term incumbent Democrat Don Vaughan has built up a large reservoir of goodwill and name recognition through his decades of service on the Greensboro City Council and his law practice.

A Republican surge also makes races in NC House districts 57 and 59 worth watching. If Jon Hardister wins the Republican primary, he can be expected to run an energetic campaign with ample grassroots support in District 57, whose registration is 51.1 percent Democratic. Democratic incumbent Pricey Harrison is a formidable fundraiser and is at the top of her game policy wise, so she will be tough to beat.

The most vulnerable Democrat this year might turn out to be Maggie Jeffus, who faces a fiscal conservative ideologue in Republican opponent Theresa Yon. The Republican candidate is agitating against the federal healthcare bill. As a Republican Party fundraiser, she's in a position to call in a lot of favors. Also, she was recruited to run by Republican NC Rep. John Blust.

Across the state, Democrats and Republicans participated in early voting at rates that closely reflected their respective shares of the electorate, with neither interest in unseating Republican US Sen. Richard Burr on the left or Tea Party excitement on the right doing much to change the balance.