I previously reported that Danny Thompson received DJ Hardy's endorsement in the at-large contest for Greensboro City Council. What I didn't report is that Gary Nixon and Marikay Abuzuaiter, the other at-large candidates who are neither incumbents nor candidates who have previously served, also received Hardy's endorsement. (My source was Thompson, who didn't mention the other endorsements, and I wasn't able to reach Hardy on the phone until today.)
Enough of the excuses.
DJ Hardy, who did not survive the Oct. 6 primary, says he wants change and a greater voice for young people in Greensboro politics. The low turnout in the primary and the inability of candidates under the age of 40 to gain traction is evidence of a failure of the city's past and current leadership to establish a connection with young residents.
Hardy said he supports Thompson's vision of economic development.
"The main reason is I think his approach in terms of advocating for lower taxes and his experience with small business coincides with the way I see things," Hardy told me. "I think that's what the city needs right now. We disagree about the gang unit. There are some other things, principally on the social side where we disagree."
"Gary Nixon and Danny Thompson are more aligned on economic development. Marikay is more aligned with me on the development of the east side of the city. She's also a small-business person."
Hardy said he didn't exact any commitments from the candidates in exchange for his endorsement.
"We did discuss the fact that I have a dear spot in my heart for the east side of the city," he said. "I think it's important to be open minded abut that and to make sure we bring a greater focus to the area in any sort of vision of the east side of the city that is considered."
Robbie Perkins and Sandra Anderson Groat have traditionally performed well with the electorate in east Greensboro, but Hardy thinks it's time for them to go.
"When I look at Danny next to Robbie Perkins, Robbie Perkins has been in office for awhile. As much as he likes to tout east Greensboro, he knows all the players but they haven't really accomplished much. I'm thinking his vision of east Greensboro doesn't go much further than Murrow Boulevard."
Hardy said he might consider running for city council again in 2011, but for the moment he's more focused on finding ways to get younger voters to participate in the political process, with the possibly by putting together a board of young political leaders with representatives from the Democratic and Republican party.
"We don't really have any young representation for the city," Hardy said. "We don't have the right candidates to really rally the 18-44 range. If we really want to be sitting at the forefront that's responsive and proactive we've really got to have a way for the younger generation and creative people to not have to go through a vetting stage and do an effective job but not really get the votes to make it through the primary. We have to be able to make it possible for a newcomer to get in there and get the votes. It shouldn't revolve around money, which at this stage it seems its does."
"If I can't get the demographic that I appeal to to show up [in future elections], I couldn't make it. Ryan Shell couldn't make it. Jorge couldn't make it. Max Benbassat couldn't make it. If you look at the primary results, the four young guys didn't make it. The gap between was quite well defined."
Showing posts with label Gary Nixon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gary Nixon. Show all posts
Face Time: Gary Nixon
Greensboro City Council at-large candidate Gary Nixon offered me some face time, and I took him up this morning at the Green Bean.
Before retiring, Nixon worked as a civil engineer, consulting cities — including some in the Triad — on best practices for things like waste and water, transportation and financial issues. He also has business in his background, having once run a company with 300 employees.
White Street Landfill
The challenger set right in on the sitting council, citing Tuesday night’s meeting, where by a vote of 5-4 council approved a motion to request proposals for the White Street Landfill.
“They have no idea what they want to ask for,” he said.
“I have been on the record as saying I probably would not have closed [the landfill to household waste], but we probably need to honor the commitment we made to those people [who live in the vicinity].
“I’ve done some research since then,” he continued. “The rules and regulations for operating a landfill have gotten a lot stricter, especially in the last nine years. It’s very state regulated…. If I’m elected, what I intend to do is fond out the real particulars of nine years ago, what the neighbors were complaining about. If they complained about garbage strewn on the street, White Street, there’s a solution for that.”
He continued, “Even if that facility was open and had its useful life, the real solution is the regional solution,” meaning a Triad-wide cooperational effort for waste removal, such as a landfill servicing the entire region.
“I was the first council candidate to bring it up as a regional solution.”
Incumbents
Nixon had much to say about the current council and the differences between him and them.
On Mary Rakestraw: “She moved to District 4 because she didn’t think she could get elected for at-large again.”
On Robbie Perkins: “There’s a lot of people that feel he has a conflict of interest. I’ve been interested in politics all my life, but I waited [to run] so I wouldn’t have a conflict of interest until I sold the business.”
Nixon says he holds a real estate brokers license that he uses for his own investment purposes.
On Sandra Anderson-Groat: “She keeps on the stump saying, ‘I maintained a neutral position.’ So, in other words, she’s saying, ‘I have the power,’ and I think it’s once all this stuff casme out about Mitch Johnson, she had no choice. But why’d it take a year to come to that conclusion? She also said she met with Mitch Johnson every Friday for a year. Why’d it take a year to come to the conclusion it wasn’t best for the city?
“She has said many times that, ‘I’m learning to make hard decisions.’ Now, if she’s been on council three years and 10 months, she should have been able to make hard decisions when she got on city council. The best interests of the city are served when people make hard decisions.”
On Nancy Vaughan: “She’s got a tremendous advantage: [her husband, NC Sen.] Don Vaughan’s political backing.”
Decision time
“I don’t have a problem with narrow-margin decisions if they’re informed decisions – you and I can have different opinions on this stuff; the lack of working together is a real problem [on current council].”
“One of the things I’ve been witnessing on the campaign trail is if there’s a difference of opinion, you need to sit down with the other opinion and listen to what’s important to them, because a lot of times what’s important to them is not what they publicly said. And you need to be able to find a compromise.”
“You need to take appropriate time to make a decision, but that just undermines it if you don’t make that decision in a reasonable amount of time. You create doubt.”
Qualifications
“So many people come up to me and say we need not only more good people, but more qualified people [on city council]…. I have unique qualifications. I’ve served in municipal industries for 35 years, working with municipalities and infrastructure improvements. My goal is to be able to show other well-qualified people that they can and should go for a seat in council until we have better government.”
Nixon says he started a business and helped open eight new offices around the country. “I know what people look for [when starting a business]. Economic factors play a role in where people decide to come. We’re doing better in the recreational facilities…. But the unsettling of the political situation on city council is not a plus. The other issue, the police situation, that’s a real big thing, to have a good police force and council united behind a police force.”
The GPD
“I heard last night [at the council meeting], one of them said the police chief’s gonna retire next year. If we had the wrong police chief… my point is you have to have the best in command from the beginning. If it’s retirement issues, you give him a retirement package.”
New Media
Nixon has no campaign blog or website.
“I very occasionally read blogs, because you could spend all day doing that.”
“I spend a lot of time on the web…. We had a small campaign staff, so I wanted to focus on being able to get the message out in a more traditional way, speaking to people…. Sure the younger generation is involved in that, but if you look at the vast majority of the electorate, here some of them don’t even have e-mails yet, let alone get on tweeter and Facebook.”
His chances
Nixon thinks he’ll do well in districts 3 and 4. “People know me, and those people network to other people,” he said. But he acknowledged he may have problames in districts 1 and 2.
“The Simkins PAC came out, and that doesn’t help me at all. And I’m gonna tell you something. George Simkins, who you don’t know, he was a good friend of mine. I tell everyone he’d be rolling over in his grave if he knew they didn’t support me. They focused on one question during the interview: Do I support a police review board with subpoena power? I told them I have a real problem with subpoena power. I would have less objection to a review board, but it comes down to who’s on that review board. How is it gonna be appointed?"
Campaign notes: Greensboro City Council at-large race
With two weeks to go before Election Day, at-large candidates for Greensboro City Council are making their best effort to differentiate themselves from their opponents.
Nixon vs. Perkins and Anderson Groat
“I want to point out the differences between the incumbent councilman at large and myself,” said Gary Nixon, who placed fifth in the Oct. 6 primary, during a candidate forum at the downtown public library last night that was hosted by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress. “One, I have no conflicts of interest. One council member is perceived to have a conflict of interest, and I’ll let you judge whether there’s a conflict of interest or not. Another one is uninformed and does not know even the basic operations of the city, and numbers that are given to her because she can’t understand it.”
The first shot was intended for Robbie Perkins, who finished second. Nixon has ground to make up in order to win one of the three at-large seats. The two incumbents — also including Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat, who finished third — are appealing targets for a challenger such as Nixon.
After the forum, Nixon elaborated: “He’s in land development. It could be perceived that he has a conflict of interest. I didn’t run for city council before I retired from my engineering firm because it could have been perceived that I had a conflict of interest. I’ll let the voters decide if he has a conflict of interest.”
Perkins seemed unfazed when I followed up with him this morning to ask him to respond to Nixon’s criticism.
“A lot of people can have conflicts of interests; it’s how you handle conflict of interest,” he said. “The state statutes are very clear that if you have a financial stake in a matter you abstain from voting.
“Anyone who’s in business in this city can have a potential conflict,” he added. “If you want business people to serve on council — and I think that’s a good thing — the question is how you handle conflicts of interest. If you want to exclude city council from people unless you’re retired or unemployed, you can do that, but I don’t think that’s good idea…. Gary is clearly trying to differentiate himself between other candidates, but I think the experience that I bring to the table and ability to continue pushing for jobs instead of learning what a council member does is invaluable.”
Groat showed up to the forum late, and did not hear Nixon’s remark. When I told her that Nixon characterized her as being uninformed, she laughed.
“It just goes to show you how much he knows,” she said. “He took his shot. He was in my group at the News & Record, and he took some shots then. Beating up on someone else might be a way to elevate himself, but I don’t think so. I think it probably comes back to haunt you.”
Hardy endorses Thompson
After the forum, candidate Danny Thompson told me he is receiving DJ Hardy's endorsement. Hardy appeared and shook Thompson's hand. I asked him if it was true, and he nodded and smiled. Thompson said a press release will be distributed today.
As the fourth-place finisher, Thompson is in the best position of any of the second-tier candidates to capture an at-large seat. Thompson performed well with voters in west Greensboro, but placed only sixth in District 1, which covers much of southeast Greensboro. Hardy garnered more votes than Thompson, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Nixon in District 1, and carried G74, a politically active precinct whose polling place is Bluford Elementary.
Thompson and Hardy took differing positions on the Greensboro Police Department gang unit during the campaign. Thompson has said on several occasions that he supports the gang unit, while Hardy said previously that the city should not continue to fund the unit unless the department can make a case for its effectiveness.
As a resident of southeast Greensboro, Hardy made a case for more equitable development across the city during his primary campaign. His choice to endorse Thompson is notable in that Abuzuaiter has the closest ties to east Greensboro of all the successful challengers in the at-large race. Abuzuaiter's husband operates a gas station on East Market Street.
As a resident of the newly-annexed Cardinal neighborhood on the city's northwestern fringe, Thompson has displayed some cognizance of the challenges in east Greensboro.
During a Sept. 22 candidate forum he said, "The city can go a long way in helping in development of under-utilized, under-growth areas by providing incentives to developers, whether it's a major grocery store chain or whatever, by saying, 'Look, we have a group of people in our city that don't have a grocery store on the east side — a large supermarket — so what would it take, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Lowe's, for us to work with you to get a supermarket there?'"
I left a message this morning for Hardy, asking him to explain his reasons for supporting Thompson. I also left a message for Thompson, noting that I will be looking for the press release in my e-mail inbox. I'll provide updates when I heard from them.
Vaughan and Burckley
Nancy Vaughan, the front-runner in the at-large race, noted in her opening statement that "it appears that over the last few years our city has become more polarized regarding things around the police department and development issues."
I've been meaning to ask her over the course of the campaign why she is paying for the services of Bill Burckley, a Republican consultant who is a bit of a polarizing figure himself. Earlier this year, he showed up drunk at a city council meeting and got arrested for being disruptive. He lobbied council members to vote against a motion to express regret over the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootings and complained to Mayor Yvonne Johnson during a break that she hadn't taken his advice to fire former City Manager Mitchell Johnson.
Vaughan has said that she pinpoints many of the troubles in the police department to the moment Mitchell Johnson locked former police Chief David Wray out of his office, but she doesn't agree with Burckley on everything.
"It doesn't mean that I have to listen to everything he says," Vaughan told me. "He does have a good strategic mind and he's great with numbers. He knows the districts well."
The candidate continued: "I have formed my own opinions and have formed my own issues and certainly if I hired him to tell me what my opinions are I wouldn't be a very good candidate.... The main thing I want to emphasize is he is helping me get my message out — and it's my message. There are some things on which we agree to disagree."
UPDATE: Thompson sent out the press release yesterday formalizing Hardy's endorsement. The press release erroneously states that Hardy resides in District 2; in fact, he lives in District 1.
The press release quotes Hardy as saying his endorsement is premised on "Danny Thompson's ability to bring civility, common sense and a fresh perspective of efficiency and effectively running city government."
Triad Elections '09
Nixon vs. Perkins and Anderson Groat
“I want to point out the differences between the incumbent councilman at large and myself,” said Gary Nixon, who placed fifth in the Oct. 6 primary, during a candidate forum at the downtown public library last night that was hosted by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress. “One, I have no conflicts of interest. One council member is perceived to have a conflict of interest, and I’ll let you judge whether there’s a conflict of interest or not. Another one is uninformed and does not know even the basic operations of the city, and numbers that are given to her because she can’t understand it.”
The first shot was intended for Robbie Perkins, who finished second. Nixon has ground to make up in order to win one of the three at-large seats. The two incumbents — also including Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat, who finished third — are appealing targets for a challenger such as Nixon.
After the forum, Nixon elaborated: “He’s in land development. It could be perceived that he has a conflict of interest. I didn’t run for city council before I retired from my engineering firm because it could have been perceived that I had a conflict of interest. I’ll let the voters decide if he has a conflict of interest.”
Perkins seemed unfazed when I followed up with him this morning to ask him to respond to Nixon’s criticism.
“A lot of people can have conflicts of interests; it’s how you handle conflict of interest,” he said. “The state statutes are very clear that if you have a financial stake in a matter you abstain from voting.
“Anyone who’s in business in this city can have a potential conflict,” he added. “If you want business people to serve on council — and I think that’s a good thing — the question is how you handle conflicts of interest. If you want to exclude city council from people unless you’re retired or unemployed, you can do that, but I don’t think that’s good idea…. Gary is clearly trying to differentiate himself between other candidates, but I think the experience that I bring to the table and ability to continue pushing for jobs instead of learning what a council member does is invaluable.”
Groat showed up to the forum late, and did not hear Nixon’s remark. When I told her that Nixon characterized her as being uninformed, she laughed.
“It just goes to show you how much he knows,” she said. “He took his shot. He was in my group at the News & Record, and he took some shots then. Beating up on someone else might be a way to elevate himself, but I don’t think so. I think it probably comes back to haunt you.”
Hardy endorses Thompson
After the forum, candidate Danny Thompson told me he is receiving DJ Hardy's endorsement. Hardy appeared and shook Thompson's hand. I asked him if it was true, and he nodded and smiled. Thompson said a press release will be distributed today.
As the fourth-place finisher, Thompson is in the best position of any of the second-tier candidates to capture an at-large seat. Thompson performed well with voters in west Greensboro, but placed only sixth in District 1, which covers much of southeast Greensboro. Hardy garnered more votes than Thompson, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Nixon in District 1, and carried G74, a politically active precinct whose polling place is Bluford Elementary.
Thompson and Hardy took differing positions on the Greensboro Police Department gang unit during the campaign. Thompson has said on several occasions that he supports the gang unit, while Hardy said previously that the city should not continue to fund the unit unless the department can make a case for its effectiveness.
As a resident of southeast Greensboro, Hardy made a case for more equitable development across the city during his primary campaign. His choice to endorse Thompson is notable in that Abuzuaiter has the closest ties to east Greensboro of all the successful challengers in the at-large race. Abuzuaiter's husband operates a gas station on East Market Street.
As a resident of the newly-annexed Cardinal neighborhood on the city's northwestern fringe, Thompson has displayed some cognizance of the challenges in east Greensboro.
During a Sept. 22 candidate forum he said, "The city can go a long way in helping in development of under-utilized, under-growth areas by providing incentives to developers, whether it's a major grocery store chain or whatever, by saying, 'Look, we have a group of people in our city that don't have a grocery store on the east side — a large supermarket — so what would it take, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Lowe's, for us to work with you to get a supermarket there?'"
I left a message this morning for Hardy, asking him to explain his reasons for supporting Thompson. I also left a message for Thompson, noting that I will be looking for the press release in my e-mail inbox. I'll provide updates when I heard from them.
Vaughan and Burckley
Nancy Vaughan, the front-runner in the at-large race, noted in her opening statement that "it appears that over the last few years our city has become more polarized regarding things around the police department and development issues."
I've been meaning to ask her over the course of the campaign why she is paying for the services of Bill Burckley, a Republican consultant who is a bit of a polarizing figure himself. Earlier this year, he showed up drunk at a city council meeting and got arrested for being disruptive. He lobbied council members to vote against a motion to express regret over the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootings and complained to Mayor Yvonne Johnson during a break that she hadn't taken his advice to fire former City Manager Mitchell Johnson.
Vaughan has said that she pinpoints many of the troubles in the police department to the moment Mitchell Johnson locked former police Chief David Wray out of his office, but she doesn't agree with Burckley on everything.
"It doesn't mean that I have to listen to everything he says," Vaughan told me. "He does have a good strategic mind and he's great with numbers. He knows the districts well."
The candidate continued: "I have formed my own opinions and have formed my own issues and certainly if I hired him to tell me what my opinions are I wouldn't be a very good candidate.... The main thing I want to emphasize is he is helping me get my message out — and it's my message. There are some things on which we agree to disagree."
UPDATE: Thompson sent out the press release yesterday formalizing Hardy's endorsement. The press release erroneously states that Hardy resides in District 2; in fact, he lives in District 1.
The press release quotes Hardy as saying his endorsement is premised on "Danny Thompson's ability to bring civility, common sense and a fresh perspective of efficiency and effectively running city government."
Triad Elections '09
Gary Nixon transcript
The following is a transcript of Greensboro City Council at-large candidate Gary Nixon’s answers at a Guilford County Unity Effort forum on Sept. 22:
Introductory statement
For 34 years, I was a consultant for cities, including every city in the Triad. You probably don’t know that 47 percent of the budget — $421 million for the city of Greensboro — is used for water resources, transportation and debt service: my areas of expertise. My approach to resolving differences of opinion will make the city council more effective. In my professional career I helped many communities to create and implement regional approaches to needs. I hope that you will pick up one of my campaign fliers that have more detail on my military and education background. I’d like to leave you with a thought — that my vision is to create an atmosphere for a unified and progressive city while providing taxpayers with affordable infrastructure, basic services and recreational facilities. Thank you.
Members of the sitting council have recently clashed over the proper relationship between the council and the city manager. What, in your view, is the proper role of each of these important entities?
Greensboro, like most communities in North Carolina, has a city manager form of government, as opposed to a strong mayor form of government. Therefore, the city manager should be running the show, and the city council should be giving them overall direction of how they should proceed. If the city council doesn’t like it, then they can fire the city manager. I do not think that the city council at all should be involved in any of the day-to-day operations of the whole city. That’s the city manager’s job and his staff. I think the relationship should be set goals, the direction you want to go, and let the staff, starting with the city manager, implement that. Thank you.
Would you be in favor of reopening the White Street Landfill to household waste? Why or why not?
I was hoping you’d ask me that question. I’ve had a lot of experience in creating regional opportunities for communities and getting them to work together, including Greensboro going to Reidsville to get water and Burlington to get water. Regarding the question at hand, I think that the city unequivocally made a promise to those residents twice that we would not reopen that landfill, so I think we have no choice even though it was the economical way to go, and I would honor that twice decision and not reopen the landfill. As Nancy said – steal my thunder for a little later – this is the obvious project that we should do regionally. It makes sense. Everybody has the same issue. And my advantage over the other members up here is I know all the players and all the communities because I’ve worked with every one of them, from staffs to the mayors and the councils. And we could make that happen, we could be the leader in that, and I would like the opportunity to complete that type of a project.
Economic growth and development have not occurred in east Greensboro to the same extent as in other areas of the city. If elected, what would you do to ensure that there is balanced economic growth and development across the various parts of the city?
If you look around the city at the wonderful East Market Street renovations from the street, it makes it more appealing. If you look out at West Friendly Avenue, as an example, between Holden and Westridge, for the life of me, I cannot see why city council spends $6 million to put a center divider. We did get sidewalks there. So those sort of improvements can be moved to the northeast portion of the city. I think there’s also ways of giving some sort of tax incentives, especially basic needs, like grocery store chains. I suppose now you don’t need them for pharmacies because there’s one on every corner almost everywhere. But anyway you can put some tax incentives for that type of basic services. You can put some of our road dollars into those areas. And do away with some of the things we’ve been doing for years and years and years just because it was done that way. How many of you have driven on the streets of Greensboro and seen a street repaved, and shook your head and said, “Why does it need to be repaved? It’s in good shape.” And so we can save money that way to reinvest in ways like this to encourage investment in the other parts of the city.
Candidates say they will represent their constituents. This means they need to know their constituents’ wishes and perspectives. What, in your experience prior to running for office, can you point to that tells us you are person who is in touch with your constituents?
The way I interpret your question is, whoever you’re working for, how do you stay in touch with them? And I had a firm and we had 300 employees. I was the largest shareholder in that firm. And our door was always open to our staff. Because, you know, when you open your door to your staff sometimes they’ll come in and sometimes they won’t, so the best way is to go out and talk to them. And we did that all the time with our staff. For 34 years, I’ve been a consultant for cities and their capital needs and infrastructure improvements. And my expertise was in water and wastewater. When we were doing a project, sure, we worked with the city manager. And when it came time to go to city council, we worked with city council. But our most important work was done when we were talking to the people who were doing the day-to-day jobs in the facility that we were working at. We were talking to them, getting their ideas. Sometimes there they didn’t know what they were talking about, but we sat there and we listened to them. They did have some good ideas, and we incorporated them anytime that we could. So basically it’s a listening process, it’s an education process where we have a chance to go back and forth with each all the way up the tier. And so that we understand and they understand, and then we end up with a successful project.
How do you plan to include immigrants and refugee communities in the city council?
To be honest with you, I don’t have a plan for that. I think that just including people to be on a committee is not the right approach. What we’ve done in our Rotary Club is, I think, a good way of handling this type of situation. That is, to encourage people to be involved. We need to have people involved and coming to different meetings and getting some background and education for that type of assignment. You just can’t force people — you don’t have the right process to put people on committees and say, “Go to work,” when they don’t have the qualifications. You have to give them the qualifications, the backing and the education to do it. This, unfortunately, is going to take years, but that’s the way it should be handled.
Closing statement
My wife and I love it here in Greensboro. That’s why I’m offering my specialized experience and qualifications to solve complex issues that need addressing. I want to restore confidence in the city government. We need to find long-term solutions for our solid-waste garbage disposal we talked about. We need to reduce the traffic congestion. We need to resolve the legal issues so that the plaintiffs and the defendant don’t win the legal issues; the voters do. So we need to mediate those issues. I want to become the leader in promoting regionalism. I want to look for ways we can consolidate many city-county consolidation opportunities that economically make sense. Thank you very much, and I hope you will pick up one of my fliers on your way out so that you’ll know a little bit more about me. Thank you.
Triad Elections ’09
Introductory statement
For 34 years, I was a consultant for cities, including every city in the Triad. You probably don’t know that 47 percent of the budget — $421 million for the city of Greensboro — is used for water resources, transportation and debt service: my areas of expertise. My approach to resolving differences of opinion will make the city council more effective. In my professional career I helped many communities to create and implement regional approaches to needs. I hope that you will pick up one of my campaign fliers that have more detail on my military and education background. I’d like to leave you with a thought — that my vision is to create an atmosphere for a unified and progressive city while providing taxpayers with affordable infrastructure, basic services and recreational facilities. Thank you.
Members of the sitting council have recently clashed over the proper relationship between the council and the city manager. What, in your view, is the proper role of each of these important entities?
Greensboro, like most communities in North Carolina, has a city manager form of government, as opposed to a strong mayor form of government. Therefore, the city manager should be running the show, and the city council should be giving them overall direction of how they should proceed. If the city council doesn’t like it, then they can fire the city manager. I do not think that the city council at all should be involved in any of the day-to-day operations of the whole city. That’s the city manager’s job and his staff. I think the relationship should be set goals, the direction you want to go, and let the staff, starting with the city manager, implement that. Thank you.
Would you be in favor of reopening the White Street Landfill to household waste? Why or why not?
I was hoping you’d ask me that question. I’ve had a lot of experience in creating regional opportunities for communities and getting them to work together, including Greensboro going to Reidsville to get water and Burlington to get water. Regarding the question at hand, I think that the city unequivocally made a promise to those residents twice that we would not reopen that landfill, so I think we have no choice even though it was the economical way to go, and I would honor that twice decision and not reopen the landfill. As Nancy said – steal my thunder for a little later – this is the obvious project that we should do regionally. It makes sense. Everybody has the same issue. And my advantage over the other members up here is I know all the players and all the communities because I’ve worked with every one of them, from staffs to the mayors and the councils. And we could make that happen, we could be the leader in that, and I would like the opportunity to complete that type of a project.
Economic growth and development have not occurred in east Greensboro to the same extent as in other areas of the city. If elected, what would you do to ensure that there is balanced economic growth and development across the various parts of the city?
If you look around the city at the wonderful East Market Street renovations from the street, it makes it more appealing. If you look out at West Friendly Avenue, as an example, between Holden and Westridge, for the life of me, I cannot see why city council spends $6 million to put a center divider. We did get sidewalks there. So those sort of improvements can be moved to the northeast portion of the city. I think there’s also ways of giving some sort of tax incentives, especially basic needs, like grocery store chains. I suppose now you don’t need them for pharmacies because there’s one on every corner almost everywhere. But anyway you can put some tax incentives for that type of basic services. You can put some of our road dollars into those areas. And do away with some of the things we’ve been doing for years and years and years just because it was done that way. How many of you have driven on the streets of Greensboro and seen a street repaved, and shook your head and said, “Why does it need to be repaved? It’s in good shape.” And so we can save money that way to reinvest in ways like this to encourage investment in the other parts of the city.
Candidates say they will represent their constituents. This means they need to know their constituents’ wishes and perspectives. What, in your experience prior to running for office, can you point to that tells us you are person who is in touch with your constituents?
The way I interpret your question is, whoever you’re working for, how do you stay in touch with them? And I had a firm and we had 300 employees. I was the largest shareholder in that firm. And our door was always open to our staff. Because, you know, when you open your door to your staff sometimes they’ll come in and sometimes they won’t, so the best way is to go out and talk to them. And we did that all the time with our staff. For 34 years, I’ve been a consultant for cities and their capital needs and infrastructure improvements. And my expertise was in water and wastewater. When we were doing a project, sure, we worked with the city manager. And when it came time to go to city council, we worked with city council. But our most important work was done when we were talking to the people who were doing the day-to-day jobs in the facility that we were working at. We were talking to them, getting their ideas. Sometimes there they didn’t know what they were talking about, but we sat there and we listened to them. They did have some good ideas, and we incorporated them anytime that we could. So basically it’s a listening process, it’s an education process where we have a chance to go back and forth with each all the way up the tier. And so that we understand and they understand, and then we end up with a successful project.
How do you plan to include immigrants and refugee communities in the city council?
To be honest with you, I don’t have a plan for that. I think that just including people to be on a committee is not the right approach. What we’ve done in our Rotary Club is, I think, a good way of handling this type of situation. That is, to encourage people to be involved. We need to have people involved and coming to different meetings and getting some background and education for that type of assignment. You just can’t force people — you don’t have the right process to put people on committees and say, “Go to work,” when they don’t have the qualifications. You have to give them the qualifications, the backing and the education to do it. This, unfortunately, is going to take years, but that’s the way it should be handled.
Closing statement
My wife and I love it here in Greensboro. That’s why I’m offering my specialized experience and qualifications to solve complex issues that need addressing. I want to restore confidence in the city government. We need to find long-term solutions for our solid-waste garbage disposal we talked about. We need to reduce the traffic congestion. We need to resolve the legal issues so that the plaintiffs and the defendant don’t win the legal issues; the voters do. So we need to mediate those issues. I want to become the leader in promoting regionalism. I want to look for ways we can consolidate many city-county consolidation opportunities that economically make sense. Thank you very much, and I hope you will pick up one of my fliers on your way out so that you’ll know a little bit more about me. Thank you.
Triad Elections ’09
Gary Nixon, former engineering consultant and candidate
At-large candidate Gary Nixon, who is retired from an engineering company that provided consulting services for municipalities and counties, says he would like to put that experience to work as a member of the Greensboro City Council.
"My experience working with numerous municipalities, their staff and elective officials should be a positive factor in the election," he says. "I have worked with many good councils and those that don’t do well together in my 34 years as a consultant to municipal governments in four states. Although there are several effective members on the Greensboro council, many of the incumbents have been ineffective or, worse yet, have done very little."
"My experience working with numerous municipalities, their staff and elective officials should be a positive factor in the election," he says. "I have worked with many good councils and those that don’t do well together in my 34 years as a consultant to municipal governments in four states. Although there are several effective members on the Greensboro council, many of the incumbents have been ineffective or, worse yet, have done very little."
Greensboro election mop-up
I overlooked one at-large candidate who filed to run for Greensboro City Council today: Gary Nixon.
That brings the total number of at-large candidates to 11. The total number of candidates in all Greensboro races stands at 33. Take that, Winston-Salem!
That brings the total number of at-large candidates to 11. The total number of candidates in all Greensboro races stands at 33. Take that, Winston-Salem!
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