SYNERG YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, DOWNTOWN GREENSBORO INCORPORATED & ARTSGREENSBORO CONTINUE WITH FIRST FRIDAY ON THE BLOCK PROGRAMMING

"GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 31, 2016) The second in the First Friday On The Block series will continue on June 3^rd from 6-9pm. Elm Street from MLK to Lewis St. will be closed to traffic to make room for pop up music, interactive arts programming, food trucks, and beer and wine. 

Pedestrians will have full access to the area to enjoy programming coordinated synerG young Professionals, Downtown Greensboro, Inc. and ArtsGreensboro.

Other entertainment? We have plenty. The organizations are collaborating with Funky Funk NC - North Carolina's B-Boy talent that will showcase their skills and teach you a few in various short programs during First Friday; The Artist Bloc will be hosting art battles throughout the evening for kids,  Ambleside Gallery will be hosting a street gallery, the UNCG Art Truck will be out, there will be free cornhole and more. And of course, many of the Downtown businesses will be open late during the event!

Getting hungry and thirsty?  In the pedestrian area, we will have brews served by Gibbs Hundred, Natty Greene’s and Preyer Brewing and wine from The Grove Winery. Food trucks for the event include Chirba Chirba, Hickory Tree BBQ and Gnam Gnam Gelato. You can also check out any of the great downtown restaurants, bars and breweries!

Want to volunteer to help make these events a success through helping set up, check ids, serve beer and help with programming? Email hmeredith@actiongreensboro.org.

Next First Friday On The Blocks will be held July 1 and August 5.

Other First Friday Happenings:

·         GreenHill: Mary D. Williams performance

·         The Shop at GreenHill: Influence opening

·         CVA: 100 for 100

·         Urban Grinders: Chris Reeves’ Magnum Opus

·         Int’l Civil Rights Msm.: Urban line-dancing

·         Blue Denim: Artist Denise Landi

·         Chakras Spa: Artist Sarah McClinton w/ Kim Kennedy

·         Fahrenheit Kollectiv: Artist Ashley Vanore

·         Fire Salon: Bonnie and Chris Reed

·         Natty Greene’s: NEW limited-release draft & PupUP dog park

·         Elm Street (MLK to Lewis): First Friday on the Block

·         Artist Bloc: Art Battles for kids

·         UNCG Art Truck: Julia Caston’s Manifesto of Small Works

·         Vivid Interiors: Art Exhibit

·         CTG: Cinderella Kids

·         Elements Gallery: 5th-Anniversary celebration

·         Ambleside Gallery: Street gallery

·         ReAligned: More Cowbell

·         HQ Greensboro: Local painters & photographers

·         Urban Gardener: Flowers, Art & Music

·         The Forge: Makers in Action"

- A Press Release

synerG Young Professionals, downtown Greensboro Incorporated. & ArtsGreensboro Partner in First Friday Programming

"GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 4, 2016) The community has asked for it and synerG young professionals, Downtown Greensboro Incorporated and ArtsGreensboro have partnered to make it happen. May 6 will kick off a four event series of additional community programming to enhance the already stellar programming at First Fridays. Portions of downtown streets will be closed to traffic to make room for pop up music, interactive arts programming, food trucks, and beer and wine. 

May 6 First Friday’s event will close down South Elm St. from Friendly Ave. to Market St. and from Market St. to Washington Street. Pedestrians will have full access to the area to enjoy Open Streets and Bike Month programming coordinated by Bicycling in Greensboro including a bike safety rodeo, temporary bike lanes, bike limbo and skatepark demos. 

Other entertainment? We have plenty. The organizations are collaborating with the Carolina Blues Festival to bring in Allison King and The Bitter 3 to perform on the street at Market St. & Elm St at 6:30 - 7:30 pm and 8:00 – 9:00 pm. February One will be taken over by yogis with their mats for two yoga classes – 6:30 - 7:00 pm with Downtown Yoga and 7:30 - 8:00 pm with Free Spirits Yoga. The Center For Visual Artists and Urban Grinders are also partnering on an interactive art project in the street in front of Urban Grinders. And of course, many of the Downtown businesses will be open late during the event!

Did all this excitement work up an appetite?  In the pedestrian area, we will have brews served by Gibbs Hundred, Natty Greene’s and Preyer Brewing. Food trucks for the event include Zeko’s, Mystical Sunshine and Tony’s Italian Ice. You can also walk a block away to Center City Park and check out the Porter House Food Truck. You can also check out any of the great downtown restaurants, bars and breweries!

Want to volunteer to help make these events a success through helping set up, check ids, serve beer and help with programming? Email hmeredith@actiongreensboro.org. 

Next special First Friday events will include June 3, July 1 and August 5. 

Other May 6 First Friday Happenings:

Elm Street: Bicycling in Gso (BIG) demos

GreenHill: Dance Project performance

Cultural Center Atrium: Jay Squid’s The Box of Dreams

CVA: Material Fact opening

Urban Grinders: Color Me Bad opening

Southeastern Building: Pop-up Gallery & Tours

Blue Denim: Artist Denise Landi

Mack & Mack: Walker Family Band

Chakras Spa: Artist Morganne Radziewicz w/ Blue Sands

Triad Stage: Don Juan Love Booth

Fire Salon: Band Abe Reid & Blind Dog Gatewood

Natty Greene’s: NEW limited-release draft & PupUP Dog Park

CTG: Gypsy

ReAligned: Bring Your Own Vinyl!

HQ Greensboro: Tours

GPS @ The Forge: Artist Andrew Dunnill

Elsewhere: Garden Party

PB & Java: Electric violinist Marta Richardson & friends

Gibb’s Hundred: Merle Haggard tribute

###

Media Inquiries Contact

Hillary Meredith, synerG Young Professionals Director

Action Greensboro

336-387-8350

hmeredith@actiongreensboro.org

About synerG

synerG, under the umbrella of Action Greensboro, is an active organization of young adults who lead initiatives with the mission to attract, engage and connect young professionals to Greensboro, North Carolina. Through our projects, synerG promotes social and professional networking, leadership opportunities and serves as a clearinghouse for information for young adults in the 21-39 year-old age demographic. synerG values the creation of opportunities and atmospheres that promote connectedness, diversity/inclusiveness and accessibility.

About Downtown GReensboro Incorporated

Downtown Greensboro Incorporated (DGI) is an economic development organization focused on stimulating investment and activity in the center city. DGI’s primary focus is to lead the development of Downtown Greensboro as a prosperous and vibrant urban center, memorable and meaningful for those who choose to live, work, play and invest here.

About ArtsGReensboro

With an annual budget of approximately $4 million, ArtsGreensboro is a catalyst for innovation to build recognition and support for the arts. Through its ArtsFund-supported grant programs, the 17DAYS Arts & Culture Festival, the Levitt AMP Greensboro Music Series, I HEART ARTS Month, and other opportunities including the National Folk Festival, ArtsGreensboro is driving the health and vitality of our community by supporting arts education, celebrating the diversity of Greensboro, and driving economic impact through excellence in arts programming. artsgreensboro.org"

- A Press Release

ArtsGreensboro Accepting Nominations for 2016 Arts in Business Award

Nominations recognizing small businesses

must be submitted by April 12, 2016

"Greensboro, N.C., March 23, 2016 — ArtsGreensboro, in partnership with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, Guilford Merchants Association, and the North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center at UNCG, is accepting nominations for the 2016 Arts in Business Award. This annual award recognizes a Greensboro small business for its leadership and commitment to the arts and its impact on the arts over the past year, as measured by activities, projects, and/or events in support of any aspect of the arts.

To be eligible, a nominee must be a Greensboro business with 100 or fewer employees. Foundations, individual philanthropists, government agencies, and arts organizations are not eligible.

Last year’s award recognized Tate Street Coffee for serving as a collaborative meeting space for artists; welcoming artists, musicians, poets, and writers to exhibit and perform their works; and hosting a variety of arts-related events every year.

This year’s recipient will be honored at the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards Luncheon at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday, May 5, 2016.

Nominations for the 2015 Arts in Business Award are due to ArtsGreensboro no later than 5 pm on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to nominated their own businesses or another that fulfills the criteria. Nomination forms are available at artsgreensboro.org.

About ArtsGreensboro

With an annual budget of approximately $4 million, ArtsGreensboro is a catalyst for innovation to build recognition and support for the arts. Through its ArtsFund-supported grant programs, the 17DAYS Arts & Culture Festival, the Levitt AMP Greensboro Music Series, I HEART ARTS Month, and other opportunities including the National Folk Festival, ArtsGreensboro is driving the health and vitality of our community by supporting arts education, celebrating the diversity of Greensboro, and driving economic impact through excellence in arts programming. artsgreensboro.org"

- A Press Release

Downtown Greensboro Inc. Unveils New Logo

"Greensboro, NC (October 20, 2015) Downtown Greensboro Incorporated has a new logo symbolizing the strength and bold future of the downtown. “Our mission is to support and boost downtown Greensboro. The new, bold logo represents the clear focus on downtown,” states new Downtown Greensboro Incorporated President Zack Matheny. The new logo includes a simple symbol with a “D” and “G” highlighted in white. "I knew it was important to create a strong, simple logo that can cut through all of the visual noise in our busy world. This logo is quickly recognizable and there is no question what the logo represents," said Jay Jung, principal & partner at Think Create, located in the Graphica building in downtown Greensboro since 1995. Downtown Greensboro Incorporated’s new logo symbolizes its strong support for downtown. “That is what we do – we support the businesses and residents downtown. We are here to listen to them and communicate better with the community so we can make downtown stronger for everyone,” said Matheny. “We are excited about everything downtown Greensboro has to offer and its future. We want to get people talking about downtown Greensboro, being a part of its excitement and enjoying our downtown more than ever,” continues Matheny. About Downtown Greensboro Incorporated - Downtown Greensboro Incorporated (DGI) is an economic development organization focused on stimulating investment and activity in the center city. DGI’s primary focus is to lead the development of Downtown Greensboro as a prosperous and vibrant urban center, memorable and meaningful for those who choose to live, work, play and invest here.   ### For more information, contact Downtown Greensboro Inc. at info@downtowngreensboro.net or 336.379.0060" - A Press Release

DGI's Matheny charged with DWI

Downtown Greensboro Inc President Zack Matheny was charged with Driving While impaired by Greensboro Police early Friday morning.

According to Susan C. Danielsen, Public Information Officer with the Greensboro Police Department, the police report had not been finalized but she confirmed that Matheny, 42, was charged with DWI when an officer of the Greensboro Police Department found him passed out with his head on the steering wheel of a black Landrover.

“The officer saw the vehicle parked and running in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter on North Church and East Cone in Greensboro at 3.40am this morning,” said Danielsen. “The officer pulled up and found the only occupant, Mr. Matheny, in the running vehicle. He had his head on the steering wheel and appeared to be sleeping.”

According to Danielsen, the officer knocked on the window to wake him and had him roll down his window and step out of the vehicle. He was given a field sobriety test and failed blowing over the legal limit. Danielsen could not confirm the specific results of the breathalyzer test, only that is was over the legal limit.

Matheny, who resides at 3204 Roundhill Road in Greensboro, became DGI President early this summer after announcing his resignation from Greensboro City Council at their June 16, 2015 City Council Meeting.

“He was very cooperative and complied with all the officers instructions,” said Danielsen, who noted that this was his first such charge in Greensboro.

By Charles Womack

Ham's Restaurant Announces Relocation and New Concept

"GREENSBORO, NC (July 5, 2015) - The Ham's Restaurant is moving from it's current location at 324 S. Elm St. to a space one and a half blocks north on Elm Street.  The new location will be the Ham's Grille & Oyster Bar at 214 S. Elm St. (across from Crafted and Fincastles).

The move comes amid many new changes in downtown Greensboro, as more dining and entertainment options are moving in to the central business area.

“As more and more people come downtown for dining and a night out, we recognized an opportunity to launch a new concept that has been in development for the past year.  The Ham's Grille & Oyster Bar concept will put an emphasis on the main items that Ham's has become known for along with a seafood and raw bar menu and expanded craft beer offerings,” said Rocco Scarfone, president of Ham's Restaurants, “We are excited about the atmosphere downtown with all of the new breweries and restaurants and we look forward to being a part of the scene for a long time.”

“We wanted to offer variety as well as a more health-conscious menu.  Over the years, we have seen our guests enjoy special limited seafood items, and we lean heavily on the coastal Carolina influence in our own backyard,” said Marty Isom, Food and Beverage Director for Ham's Restaurants.

"I think it is great that Ham's is challenging themselves to bring the best in concept and cuisine for their downtown Greensboro location," said Zack Matheny, President of Downtown Greensboro, Inc., “"I look forward to this new restaurant concept and believe it will help be a great addition to downtown."  

The current Ham's location will be the site of a new project spearheaded by a different group, continuing the development of downtown Greensboro.  Said Scarfone. “There's so much going on, between new apartments, hotels, retail, and live entertainment, we really feel that this is the place to unveil our new concept.”

The new Ham's Grille & Oyster Bar is scheduled to open in August.  For more information, call the Ham's Corporate Office at 336-854-5546, or check www.hamsrestaurants.com"

- A Press Release

Did the 4th of July weekend SPARK an idea? Don't forget to submit by July 17th

"Action Greensboro is pioneering a new method of community development by way of a micro-grant program, titled Spark Fund! The fund aims to support unexpected, fun and exciting projects in downtown Greensboro with an effort to create buzz and community involvement.

Recognizing that big ideas do not need a lot of money to get off the ground, Action Greensboro will make quarterly grants to individuals, businesses or non-profits looking to launch new projects that will improve downtown and make it a better place to live, work and play.

Proposed projects must be consistent with Action Greensboro's mission and projects must demonstrate the potential for long term impact on Downtown Greensboro.  Grants may not exceed $5,000. The first deadline for the first Spark Fund micro-grant is July 17, 2015 and the application is available online here."

Phil Berger Jr. to run for vacant 6th Congressional District seat

Phil Berger Jr.

Rockingham County District Attorney Phil Berger Jr. will announce plans to run for the 6th District Congressional seat currently held by US Rep. Howard Coble, who announced plans to retire almost two weeks ago.

Phil Berger Jr., a Republican who is the son of NC Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger Sr., will announce his candidacy at Bethany Community Middle School in Reidsville on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., political operative Dallas Woodhouse confirmed. Woodhouse is the former state director of American For Prosperity North Carolina.

Greensboro City Councilman Zack Matheny, a moderate Republican who has supported economic development projects such as the Greensboro Aquatic Center and the expansion of the Greensboro Science Center, told the News & Record that he is seriously considering running for the seat. The newspaper has also reported that Lawndale Baptist Church associate pastor Mark Walker, High Point GOP activist Don Webb and Jamestown area pastor Dan Collison have said they plan to run for the seat.

Former UNC System general Counsel Laura Fjeld is a Democratic candidate for the seat.

Filing for Greensboro City Council election begins

Filing began today at noon for the upcoming Greensboro City Council election, and already several candidates have filed to run.

Sal Leone, a perennial candidate in past elections who has alternated his party affiliation, and former councilman Mike Barber filed to run at large (meaning citywide, for those of you who don't follow local politics).

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny filed to run for reelection, the first sitting council member to file this time around. Matheny represents part of downtown and northern Greensboro and is a strong proponent of the teen curfew.

District 2 challenger Jamal Fox and mayoral candidate George Hartzman filed today as well. Both attended the council's emergency meeting about the teen curfew on Wednesday morning and have been at numerous other council meetings, particularly Hartzman who has become a well-known and regular critic of council's decisions and what he says is a lack of transparency.

Other candidates, like Tony Wilkins who was appointed to serve as Trudy Wade's fill in for District 5, have announced their intention to run, but this is the complete list of those who have filed (as of 5 p.m. on Friday). We'll have in depth coverage of the election races coming soon. Until then, you can read more about Mike Barber here and Sal Leone here.

UPDATE (July 9, 5 p.m.): Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson, Chris Lawyer and Jean Brown also filed to run at large. Tigress McDaniel filed in District 1 and Wendell Roth is challenging Matheny in District 3. Nancy Hoffmann, incumbent, and former Mayor Bill Knight are both running for District 4. Nobody has signed up for District 5 yet.

Tree saga with Duke Energy continues to unfold

Last week, we covered a story about trees being cut in the Fisher Park neighborhood to make way for power lines. In order to provide service, Duke Energy contracts with Asplundh Tree Expert Co. to keep the lines clear from any potential interference caused by branches, and in order to save money, the cuts are done about every nine years.

This angered many residents in the Fisher Park neighborhood, and after the story ran we heard that residents clear across town — just outside High Point, actually — are experiencing the same problem. They say the trees are cut drastically, that residents weren't warned as Duke claims and that Asplundh employees were rude and left a mess.

One of the residents featured in the article, UNCG professor Kay Lovelace, called us the morning the article ran. After initially telling her that they would only trim a single mulberry tree in her backyard, an Asplundh representative called to say they would be cutting all the trees lining the edge of her backyard because they interfered with a power line. Lovelace believed the change was in retaliation for her public criticism of the company, and invited YES! Weekly to attend her meeting with the company the following morning.

Asplundh representative Eddie Webb was one of the people Lovelace expected, and when I wrote the initial article I spoke to Webb and he refused to answer any questions about his company, saying I needed to call Duke. After explaining that I understood and would do that I asked him to confirm that they contracted with Duke, but when I asked if Asplundh was based in Greensboro, he hung up on me. In fact, even after finally getting a hold of Asplundh's spokesperson I still couldn't get any questions answered, and while I spoke with her briefly she did not call me back with any information.

The meeting was set for shortly after 7 a.m., so I arrived a few minutes before the hour with a photographer trailing a few minutes behind (because it was early, not as an intentional move).

Asplundh representative Phil Moser was already there, and when Lovelace introduced me he was visibly bothered.

"I'm not going to talk to her while you're here," he said. "I'm just going to cut. You need to get with Duke Power."

The purpose of the meeting was to explain to Lovelace which trees needed to be cut, how it would happen and why, and she hoped to convince them not to cut as severely as she feared, even showing them photos of the birds that roost in the trees as a deterrent. I stated I had no intention of leaving but would leave it up to Lovelace what she wanted to do. After all, it was her property and her trees.

She decided I should wait in the drive way along the side of the house, where I could see the representative but not hear him as he gestured towards the trees and pointed out specific branches with a green laser pointer.

Soon after Eddie Webb showed up, and as he walked past me I introduced myself and asked for his name, to which he replied that he needed to get to the backyard. Webb and Moser did not give their names, but Lovelace provided them because she was told who would meet with her.

They took photos of the trees with a digital camera before leaving and telling Lovelace they would be back the next morning —Feb. 24 — at 7 a.m. so she would be home from work and could watch.

"The homeowner has to negotiate with them," Lovelace said to us after the meeting. "If you're not there you don't have any control."

At least three Asplundh trucks were already parked in front of her house at this point, with cones behind her property marking off space around the trees in question. The result of the meeting was that two trees, the mulberry and a cedar, would be cut, but Lovelace felt they might be more reasonable about how much was removed. They agreed to cut the cedar at an angle, she said, leaving more of the tree in tact.

Along with photographer Justin Jackson, who snapped a few shots of the trio standing in the backyard from the same distance I stood, I talked to Lovelace briefly before leaving to see if we could find Asplundh operating anywhere else in the vicinity. Sure enough, we found a whole fleet parked along East Bessemer, and while there was no active cutting, nearly 10 employees were on hand.

As I drove Jackson back to his car in front of Lovelace's house, just over an hour since Lovelace's meeting began, we noticed Webb sitting in an Asplundh truck on her block.

Webb had returned, and so after dropping Jackson off I circled around and parked so I could see her house from a concealed location around the corner to see what would happen. As I parked, Lovelace called to say she was on her way to work but Webb had just contacted her to say they were actually going to cut the trees as soon as possible. The only explanation she was given was that Asplundh's arborist had insisted they finish it that day as originally planned, she said.

Lovelace said she also knew the company was cutting on Carolina Circle a few blocks away, and a quick check while I waited for Webb's crew to set up confirmed it. Before long, a myriad of Asplundh trucks was parked in front of and behind Lovelace's house. I felt like we were playing a cat and mouse game of sorts, so once they were set up and I was positive they intended to cut her trees, I parked and approached.

Webb was less than pleased to see I was back, but neither he nor his employees said anything to me as I stood and waited for them to cut. Before long, everything was in place and Webb explained to his men which specific branches would have to be cut. Once one of them was in the basket on the end of a truck's arm, hovering above the center of the tree's crown, Webb occasionally stopped him from cutting a branch, saying it could be left in tact.

Coincidentally, District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny, the district where Fisher Park is located, drove up for a business meeting nearby and got out of his car to watch briefly. He understood the residents' concerns, he said, but once spring came and the leaves were back it wouldn't look so bad. He knew because it happened in his neighborhood before too, Matheny said, and he saw little alternative for Duke because the lines needed to be maintained and cutting more frequently would likely be much more expensive.

Photo 1: Asplundh representative Eddie Webb, left, uses a tool to indicate which branches should be cut.

Photo 2: Webb, left, watched as an Asplundh employee cut branches, some of which can be seen on the ground, from Lovelace's mulberry tree.

Photos and article by Eric Ginsburg.

Simkins PAC endorsements: Bellamy-Small in, Wade out

Time was when the endorsements of the George C. Simkins Jr. Memorial Political Action Committee was awaited with anticipation, anxiety and speculation depending on one’s political viewpoint in Greensboro. Named after civil rights pioneer Dr. George C. Simkins Jr., who led successful efforts to desegregate the city’s golf courses and hospitals and the campaign to establish a district representation system, the committee’s recommendations are mailed out to black voters across the city.

I’m not sure now. There is a wide array of civic and media actors with both complex and overlapping ties to various constituencies that are closely vetting the candidates.

This year’s endorsement slate is, not surprisingly, shaped by the White Street Landfill controversy:

Robbie Perkins for mayor: “Robbie has supported our issues across the years, voted and worked to close the White Street Landfill.”

Yvonne Johnson for at large: “Our former mayor who has advanced our issues should be returned to the council.”

Nancy Vaughan for at large: “Voted to close the White Street Landfill and is committed to keeping it closed.”

Marikay Abuzuaiter for at large: “Longtime community activist, against opening White Street Landfill.”

Dianne Bellamy-Small for District 1: “Our senior representative on council who stood against the landfill and continues to represent his district well.”

Jim Kee for District 2: “Has stood against the landfill and continues to represent his district well.”

Zack Matheny for District 3: “We believe we can count on his support in the future.”

Nancy Hoffmann for District 4: “A fresh voice who also opposes opening the landfill.”

The committee did not endorse in the District 5 race between incumbent Trudy Wade and challenger Jorge Cornell.

The endorsement of Bellamy-Small is quite a switch. Two years ago, the PAC endorsed her challenger, Luther T. Falls Jr., reasoning, “He is the change that District 1 needs. He will fight for the people of this district to increase police presence, to stop crime, focus on economic improvements and respond to the wishes of the district.”

Another switch is the withdrawal of support for Wade, whom the PAC endorsed in 2009 without explanation. Wade has voted to reopen the landfill in a series of decisions this past year.

The Simkins PAC’s 2009 endorsement mailer made no mention of the landfill as an issue.

Committee Chairman Steve Bowden acknowledged the omission as a strategic misstep after the election, in which Johnson lost her mayoral reelection bid to conservative upstart Bill Knight.

“The main issue for our community is there’s going to be an effort to open a dump back up in our section of town,” Bowden said at the time. “These new people [who were annexed], I’m sure they wouldn’t want to have dump where the Cardinal golf course is. That’s what the people of east Greensboro are facing. There’s going to be a big push to cut taxes. And [reopening] the landfill is an easy way to make up the revenue if you want to cut taxes.

“The most pressing issue that I see in our community was not put on the forefront,” he continued. “I regret that. I was in a meeting of the Greensboro Men’s Club last night. I made the point to them that I regret that we did not make a concerted effort to let the community know what was at stake.”

This year, Matheny is the only candidate whose endorsement is qualified on an expression of faith rather than a proven record or a stated position. Matheny is considered a swing vote on council, and perhaps it’s not surprising that Wade is courting him, too. A glossy mailer received today by District 5 voters names Matheny as part of a group of “city council members that share her positive vision for the future of Greensboro,” also including landfill proponents Knight, Chris Lawyer, Danny Thompson and Mary Rakestraw.

Other recent endorsements

Mayoral race

Bill Knight: Rhinoceros Times

Robbie Perkins: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro

At-large race

Marikay Abuzuaiter: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro

Yvonne Johnson: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro

Chris Lawyer: Rhinoceros Times

Nancy Vaughan: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro

District 1

Dianne Bellamy-Small: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro

Donnell “DJ” Hardy: Rhinoceros Times

District 2

Jim Kee: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro, Rhinoceros Times

District 3

Zack Matheny: Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro, Rhinoceros Times

District 4

Mary Rakestraw: Rhinoceros Times

District 5

Trudy Wade: Rhinoceros Times

Taxes and spending: Where Greensboro City Council candidates stand

Assuming a new city council reaches an agreement on what to do about solid waste early in the next term, the budget is likely to be the major challenge in the next two years. Revenues are likely to be lower than hoped for because of the depressed housing market, while services and infrastructure remain in demand. Mayoral challenger Robbie Perkins would like to move forward with the Downtown Greenway. At-large challenger Wayne Abraham wants to repair city roads. District 3 challenger Jay Ovittore wants to hire additional police officers.

No surprise that the four conservative incumbents on council, including Mayor Bill Knight, have pledged to not raise taxes or water rates, as documented in a video clip produced by Conservatives for Guilford County. At-large incumbent Danny Thompson and at-large challenger Chris Lawyer also took the pledge. Mayoral challenger Robbie Perkins has left his options open when asked the question.

“It’s a qualified maybe answer,” said Perkins when asked during a candidate forum hosted by the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club on Oct. 25 if he would vote to raise taxes. Asked if he would raise water rates and if he would cut spending, he responded, “It depends.”

Abraham may be the only challenger that has campaigned against cutting taxes, calling the council vote in 2010 to cut property taxes by a quarter of cent, “a jobs-killing tax cut.” He argues that the reduction had an insignificant impact on taxpayers, but stripped the city budget with the result that council cut funding to the Greensboro Partnership, which works to recruit new businesses to the city.

Only one candidate has expressed active interest in raising taxes.

“I don’t believe we can move Greensboro forward if we keep our taxes the way they are,” District 2 challenger C. Bradley Hunt II told an audience at the downtown public library for a forum hosted by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress on Oct. 24. “I am a citizen and I believe that everyone wants to keep taxes low. It makes us all comfortable. But in order for us to spur economic development, in order for us to improve our infrastructure and to improve our services we must look for new ways to generate income for the city. So I believe we have to look at new ways that we may increase our tax rate so we can provide services for our citizens. So I think that in order to improve our services and infrastructure, in order to increase our police department, fire services, and also to give small business owners and minority business owners a chance to compete, we must look at ways to raise taxes.”

Incumbent Jim Kee was happy to take the opposing side on the issue.

“Certainly I would not advocate raising taxes,” he said. “Matter of fact, I voted to lower taxes. In this type of economy, citizens could not afford any increase in taxes. The way we can expand the revenue in Greensboro is to bring more businesses, to create more small businesses right here in our city. And that’s exactly what I have been doing.”

Kee, a developer, said he worked with Kotis Properties to open the H&F cafeteria at the corner of Church Street and Pisgah Church Road, creating 60 jobs. He said he has also worked with Kotis Properties to open Pace Medical at the intersection of East Cone Boulevard and Summit Avenue, which employs 30 people.

“That’s the way we keep taxes low and keep services great in Greensboro,” Kee said.

Zack Matheny, a registered Republican seeking reelection to the District 3 seat, told the audience at the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club Forum that he would not vote to raise taxes. One day earlier he gave a somewhat more qualified answer to the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress.

“I don’t know, quite honestly, what’s going to happen with taxes,” he said. “My goal would be to not increase taxes. I’ve said that and we’ve been able to accomplish that by not increasing and actually have a very small, slight decrease for the city. One of our major issues is going to be real estate valuations in the next couple years.”

Historically, home values have appreciated over all, with the result that local governments can cut the tax rate and maintain neutral revenue. Real estate is revalued every eight years, and Guilford County is due for a revaluation next year. If, as expected, property values have depreciated overall because of the foreclosure and housing crisis, then local governments will have to choose between increasing the rate to maintain neutral revenue or cutting spending to compensate for reduced revenue at the current rate.

After the candidate forum Matheny said in an interview that his ultimate objective is to keep the tax bill flat, whatever that requires.

Jay Ovittore, who is challenging Matheny for the District 3 seat, stressed spending needs.

“I don’t want to make promises that I can’t keep, so I don’t want to say that I’m not going to vote to raise taxes, if necessary,” he said. “We need 200 more police officers on our police force. We need more fire people. We need our roads taken care of. We need to upgrade the Osborne water treatment plan so we can handle a capacity that’s almost near full at this point and continue to bring clean water to our communities. So that money’s going to come from somewhere. We can either get creative and do something about the landfill: Keep it closed, make it a regional solution, maybe own a regional solution, maybe cut off some of that as a portfolio, do some waste to energy. And if we spend the money on waste to energy now, that waste to energy is going to make us back millions more. And if I can keep your tax rate flat, I’ll do that. But I simply don’t know until I have the numbers in front of me.”

Mary Rakestraw, the conservative District 4 incumbent, has consistently pledged that she will not vote to raise taxes.

“With the present economy that we have we’ve got to be good stewards of your money and my money,” she said. “And I pay taxes, too. And this is a situation, y’all, that we cannot go the well but so many times. You have a budget in your own home. And you have to look at how you spend your money. And when you don’t have enough money, what do you do?... And, you know, I bet you even if you go home this coming week and you say, ‘What could I cut out that would not hurt my lifestyle, what would it be?’ Surely there is something. And we’re going to have to look at that as we go into the next two years. We have to be smart. We have to be prudent. And again, y’all, I cannot say this enough: We cannot tax ourselves out of this situation that we’re in at the present.”

Like Ovittore, District 4 challenger Nancy Hoffmann emphasized spending needs, prefacing her remarks by saying she is “committed to sound financial stewardship.”

“No one can predict the future,” she said. “So we really have to see what the situation is next year or the following year, but we know that we have possibly deferred some very important maintenance in this city. Those things catch up with you sometime down the road, and when they do the cost may be greater. We bear the cost of training the police staff and the fire staff in this city. And if we lose them a year or two years after we train them, then we have lost the cost of that investment in those people, and they’ve gone to High Point, or to Burlington, or Reidsville for another thousand dollars a year.”

Hoffmann said that a city, like any business, must “drill down” to see what spending items are “not absolutely essential” during difficult economic times, and have an honest conversation with citizens about what services they want to maintain, what they’re willing to give up, and what they’re willing to pay for.

Trudy Wade, the conservative incumbent in District 5, said she would not raise taxes.

“There’s two ways not to raise taxes,” she said. “And no, I wouldn’t raise taxes. Two ways to do that. Either you’re going to have to cut things or you’re going to have to bring in more jobs, more people, and increase your base of people paying in. There’s only two ways to do it. I think we’ve tried as a council to bring more jobs here. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that. For 12 of 16 years the unemployment rate’s been going up. This last year it’s started to go down again.”

In fact, data for the Greensboro-High Point metropolitan statistical area posted by the NC Employment Security Commission indicates that the unemployment rate increased in eight of the past 16 years. The rate has been declining over all over the past two years, but has remained at above 10 percent since 2009 after bouncing between 3 percent and 7 percent during the period from 1996 to 2008.

Wade credited the city council’s efforts to keep property taxes and water rates low with what progress has been seen in reducing the unemployment rate. During her remarks the councilwoman linked the tax rate to efforts to reopen the White Street Landfill, which she favors.

“If we were using our own landfill, we could save $8 million a year,” she said. “We won’t talk about the $30- or $40 million we’ve lost over the past four or five years.”

The $8 million figure tossed around by Wade, Thompson and The Rhinoceros Times is at odds with the $3.1 million per year in annual cost savings estimated by the city’s solid waste consultant for the plan to reopen the landfill that was adopted by the conservative faction. The difference can be chalked up to closure costs once the currently permitted portions of the landfill are depleted. Those who cite the $8 million figure argue that closure costs should not be included because the landfill would eventually have to be closed anyway. But under the current arrangement, the permitted portion of the landfill accepts a miniscule amount of screening, allowing it to remain open indefinitely.

Wade blamed a group of citizens who filed suit against the city to prevent the landfill from reopening with scuttling the city’s ability to pursue a regional approach, recycling, waste-to-energy technology, investments in infrastructure and cost savings.

“And we tried to take a regional approach,” she said. “And we tried to take the companies on the cutting edge of waste management and bring them into an RFP, and say, ‘What can you do for this community with technology, with recycling, and do a long-range plan for us.’ This is the first council that really stood back and said, ‘Let’s take a look at that.’ What can we do to cut this $8 million-a-year cost? And, of course, we ended up in a lawsuit, so all that technology, infrastructure, all that additional money we were going to have for the city, of course that won’t be the case now.”

Candidate profile: Zack Matheny

Zack Matheny wrapped up his endorsement meeting at YES! Weekly and cut short the chitchat in front of the office this morning.

“I got to go play golf with Jim Kee,” he said. “That’s how you build consensus, buddy.”

Matheny is seeking his third term on Greensboro City Council, and defending his seat against challenger Jay Ovittore.

Matheny takes pride in noting that he is almost always on the prevailing side of close votes. Council members at either end of the political spectrum often need to court him to cobble together the votes to get their goals accomplished.

In his first term, he cast one of the deciding votes to fire City Manager Mitchell Johnson.

“Ultimately, that was one of the biggest decisions the city has seen,” Matheny said during his endorsement interview.

“If you think about it, that shows you I can build consensus,” he said. “I don’t stake myself out too quick…. I’m methodical, I gather the facts and talk to a lot of people.”

The sitting councilman reeled off the names of three of his fellow district representatives on council: Kee in District 2, Trudy Wade in District 5 and Mary Rakestraw in District 4.

“I work well with Jim,” Matheny said. “Jim and I are doing some awesome cool stuff in District 2. I helped Trudy try to get some things done in that park on Hilltop Road. We’re going to give the skate park a home there. Mary, I’m helping her with these [AT&T] U-verse boxes. How would I build consensus on a new council? The same way.”

A registered Republican on a nonpartisan governing body, Matheny has alienated some conservatives, who fault him for his support of major economic development projects such as the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The councilman takes a practical approach. Earlier this month, he joined Kee during a visit by President Obama at GTCC.

“I’m not an Obama supporter, but when he comes to town I want to hear what he has to say,” Matheny said, adding that he would be willing to have a beer with the president.

In December 2009, Matheny voted along with Kee, at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins, District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small and Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Vaughan to support the use of hotel-motel funds to complete financing of the aquatic center, and months later voted with the same group to approve the sale of certificates of participation to complete the project.

On many other votes, he has sided with the controlling faction of conservatives. Matheny voted in May 2010 to move speakers from the floor to the end of the meeting. He voted in September 2010 to accede to the wishes of property owners north of Fisher Avenue by exempting their properties from the Downtown Design Overlay. He voted last November to reduce water rates by 3 percent and use the proceeds of a lawsuit settlement to make up for the loss of revenue.

In a rare instance of ending up on the losing side of a vote, Matheny voted against a motion to reduce a special service district tax rate for College Hill at the instigation of a group of landlords and homeowners when council approved the 2011-2012 budget in June. A month later, officers of the neighborhood association complained to council that they had not been consulted about the action.

During the budget vote, Matheny joined conservatives in holding the line against restoring funding to the Greensboro Partnership, which markets the city to outside companies considering relocation or investment in Greensboro. Later, in September, he championed a $20,000 request for city funding to support a National Public Relations Initiative, also funded by the partnership, to pay a local public relations firm to pitch stories about the city to national publications.

On the largest and most divisive issue that has been handled by the city council, efforts to reopen the White Street Landfill, Matheny has been recused because of a conflict of interest, with his employer being an investor with one of the companies vying for the city’s solid waste contract in redevelopment project near the Atlanta airport. Now that the solid waste company has withdrawn its proposal to operate the White Street Landfill, Matheny has become more voluble about his ideas for dealing with the city’s solid waste.

Matheny said he has a list of considerations relative to pursuing a regional solid waste solution, which hinges on Guilford County’s southern neighbor, Randolph County, going forward with plans to re-permit a landfill.

“We’ve got to be down in [Randolph County Commission Commissioner] Darrell Frye’s office every day,” he said. “We have to get that landfill in Randolph permitted as soon as possible. [NC Senate President Pro Tem] Phil Berger, if he doesn’t want the landfill in Rockingham County, he can help us with the permit in Randolph County. Recycling could build revenue for us. If we can free up the transfer station, we can expand that for recycling.

“At the White Street Landfill, you’ve got two cells that are capped,” Matheny continued. “We need to pop some solar panels on there to do waste to energy. We need to do something with the methane gas. We can have a mini campus at A&T as part of a Ph.D. program. I’ve talked to [Chancellor Harold] Martin about that. We’ve got to do some education, so the residents feel comfortable with it. We can alter the truck traffic going into the White Street Landfill.”

Matheny said before he was conflicted out on the issue, he listened to both citizens that wanted to reopen the landfill to save taxes and to community leaders opposed to reopening the landfill.

“I’m an emotional business guy,” he said. “Figure that one out.”

Until Nancy Vaughan’s conflict was lifted, the recusal of the two council members left a mini-majority of four conservative members advocating the reopening and three members opposing it. Matheny said he couldn’t say how he would have voted on reopening the landfill if he had been allowed to.

He added somewhat cryptically that he sent an e-mail to a citizen concerned about his employer’s business dealings with the solid waste vendor to the effect that she didn’t know what she was doing, and “if you conflict me, it gets worse.”

Matheny has taken heat for leading the charge to institute a downtown teen curfew. The night council voted to approve the curfew, throngs of business owners, downtown patrons and other citizens pleaded with council not to do it. More recently, challenger Jay Ovittore has made it a campaign issue and courted a group of business owners alienated from Matheny and Downtown Greensboro Inc.

Matheny said the curfew had been discussed among city leaders and business owners for years before council voted to put it into effect, that at least one bar owner had complained about teenagers blocking the entrance to his establishment, and that it was needed to prevent friction with teenagers clogging the sidewalks when older nightclub patrons spill out at closing time.

Matheny led a press conference to announce a raft of proposed downtown public safety ordinance changes, including the curfew, on Nov. 10, 2010. Less than two weeks earlier, a 22-year-old man had opened fire in a sensational shooting incident at the intersection of South Elm Street and February One Place after leaving a popular nightclub. Many critics, including Ovittore, said it was unfair to blame teenagers for a crime they did not commit.

“It did not happen because of the shooting at February One and Elm Street,” Matheny said, adding that the sequence of events was “bad timing.”

Unlike the teen curfew and an anti-loitering ordinance that was also passed last November, a much discussed nightclub ordinance has not come to fruition. Matheny said he is still working on a plan that could require nightclub owners to file security plans under an ordinance that would cover the entire city. He said he respects business owners that invest money in Greensboro, and wants to try to gain their buy-in.

During current term, the council also voted to appoint Matheny as liaison for redistricting. At-large Councilman Robbie Perkins objected to a district representative leading the process. Matheny, along with a majority of council, rejected District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small’s overture to work with him on the initiative.

Matheny hosted two community meetings. No maps had been drawn at the time, and the overwhelming consensus among citizens attending the meetings was that no changes should be made to the existing districts. That was the last anyone heard about the process until four days before a council meeting in April, in which a narrow 4-3 majority voted to approve a map submitted by District 4 Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw that angered citizens by jettisoning progressive voters out of her district and creating bizarre boundary lines, and shuffling several precincts between Kee and Bellamy-Small’s districts.

Matheny was out of town at the time of the vote. He said he had communicated to fellow council members that citizens preferred to have no changes to the district map. Vaughan said shortly after the vote that she assumed the Rakestraw plan had been based on input Matheny received from citizens. Responding to a public outcry, the council, led by Vaughan, voted to reconsider the plan and instead passed one that was less disruptive.

Matheny staked out a qualified position on taxes during a candidate forum hosted by the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress on Monday.

“I don’t know, quite honestly, what’s going to happen with taxes,” he said. “My goal would be to not increase taxes,” he said. “I’ve said that, and we’ve been able to accomplish that by not increasing and actually having a very small slight decrease for the city.”

Matheny noted that property in Guilford County is scheduled to be revalued next year. Historically, property values appreciate so that local governments are able to reduce the tax rate and maintain neutral revenue. If, as is predicted, overall property values turn out to have depreciated because of the housing and foreclosure crisis, local governments would have to choose between increasing the rate to maintain neutral revenue or cutting spending to compensate for reduced revenue at the current rate.

“We want to keep the tax bill flat,” Matheny said later, explaining his position.

Matheny wears his passions on his sleeve and has the ability to turn on a persuasive sales effort.

“From my perspective, I’m not done yet,” he said at the end of his endorsement interview. “I think that we do need to expand the water-sewer pump station out near Rock Creek where [the American Express data center] is going. When AmEx comes on line, that pump system’s going to be at maximum capacity. We’ve got to increase that, because what happens if we get the next American Express that needs water and sewer? We need to spend that money and we need to upgrade that. We need to look at partnering with somebody. I don’t care who that somebody is, whoever has the land so that we can have a ready-made site. If all these consultants from businesses are saying, ‘The way you get jobs is to have a flat surface ready to go,’ then the city of Greensboro should do it. If it’s [local developer] Roy Carroll — I don’t care who it is. Roy, fortunately or unfortunately for him, has a bunch of land. And he can’t do what he wanted to do, so maybe we can partner with him.

“The other thing I look at on infrastructure is downtown and making our downtown look prettier,” Matheny continued. “We’ve got to push some folks down there, and we’ve got to step it up a notch. I want to help [local developer John] Lomax. My opponent said he’s not for any tax incentives and would never incentivize real estate. And then after I was asked I said, ‘You know, we’ve got a deal potentially for Lomax Properties that would take the North State Chevrolet property, go vertical with some heads in beds that could be great for our tax base, great for the aesthetics of our downtown. It would be great for small businesses because you’ve got people downtown that will actually walk and shop and spend money downtown. You’ve got Deep Roots [Market]. My thing, I would incentivize how to make those deals happen, and if you can work conjunction with the Downtown Greenway, because that’s one of the main reasons they’re coming. And if it’s an incentive, we’ll help with some street lights and clean up the joint. Let’s think out of the box, man!

“Let’s clean up the sidewalks," Matheny concluded. "Let’s get the gum off the sidewalks. Let’s pressure-wash these things where the hot-dog vendors have put grease everywhere. Let’s clean ’em up and make it more aesthetically pleasing and do that in conjuction with getting more heads in beds. That’s great! The deal going down on Elm Street going across to the other side of Lee Street, that is major right there. That could be the slingshot that throws the rock. The greenway’s coming in on the backside.”

CORRECTION: This article erroneously stated that Matheny refrained from taking a pledge to not raise taxes. In fact, a video produced by Conservatives for Guilford County indicates that he did take the pledge.

Matheny and Ovittore on teen curfew, youth activities, jobs

Last week’s candidate forum at Congregational United Church of Christ marked District 3 incumbent Zack Matheny’s first foray into the campaign, and challenger Jay Ovittore, who has been talking to community groups for more than a month appeared to relish the opportunity to be in the same room with his opponent.

“There’s a few things I want to accomplish on council, and that’s if you will elect me to be your council man,” Ovittore said. “First and foremost, we need to move speakers from the floor back to the beginning of the meeting. I made that promise in other interviews and other forums. That will be the first motion I make as a council member. My job as a councilman? First and foremost is to represent you the citizens in this city, and then secondly to do the city’s business. It’s not the other way around.

“Second thing I’d like to do is repeal the teen curfew downtown – it’s hurting our small businesses and our downtown nightlife – that was instituted by our current councilman in District 3,” Ovittore added.

An audience member also challenged Matheny on the curfew, which affects young people under 18 years old after 11 p.m.

“I find it hard to believe that very many businesses downtown – which it is the businesses that told me to create the curfew in the first place – I find it very hard when people 16 and under are supplying that much business for those businesses, because the curfew starts at 11 p.m. Now, during the school year, I got to be honest with you – I’m not going to be anybody’s parent – but I don’t think a 14-year-old needs to be downtown at midnight. And if they’re hurting the businesses downtown, what businesses are they? Because most restaurants are closed after 11 o’clock. The food’s cut off. They can’t buy beer, can they? And you get free refills on Coca-Cola. So, are they really hurting that much business?”

Matheny lead the effort to implement the curfew last year based, in part, on prodding from Downtown Greensboro Inc. Matheny said he also received encouragement from the police department.

“I was meeting with the captain of my central division yesterday at the Green Bean, at a small business in downtown Greensboro,” Matheny said. “And I said, ‘Captain, there’s a lot of talk about this curfew. Y’all are the ones that told me, with the business owners, to put the curfew in. In your professional opinion as the captain of this division, what do you want me to do?’ ‘Keep it.’”

Speaking before council in November 2010, police Chief Ken Miller offered measured support for the curfew proposal, citing his experience with an under-16 teen curfew that was applied citywide in Charlotte.

“My concern is – I have to police the entire community, not just downtown,” Miller said at the time. “And I have to manage police relationships with diverse communities. And as we implement ordinances that are enforcement based, there’s generally a more in-depth process of analysis and understanding that goes into them before you’re voting on them. This one’s moved very fast, but it is limited to the downtown.”

Later, the chief added, “I am comfortable with the downtown provision, but I’m not comfortable with the process we went through to get there.”

In other comment, Miller expressed both support for the concept and concern about the process of arriving at a decision.

“Well, both the truancy and the late-night activities really ought to require some thoughtful analysis,” he said. “I think, in terms of our strategies and our approaches. The curfew – and I’ve heard the comments here earlier today, but my experience with applying curfews has not been heavy handed in my prior jurisdiction. And we just didn’t have any backlash from it. We were able to take kids off the street and get them home. And we think, Charlotte-Mecklenburg felt, reduced victimization and some late-night crime.”

During his exchange with Matheny last week, Ovittore said he had spoken with business owners at the southern end of Elm Street near the Green Bean and M’Coul’s, adding, “They are seeing a loss in business.”

An audience member asked Ovittore and Matheny what council could do to provide training and employment to young people so that they’re not tempted to engage in criminal activity.

“I can’t tell you how long ago it was, but a bond passed by the voters of Greensboro for, I believe, a skate park or a teen center in downtown Greensboro,” Ovittore said. “That bond needs to be put into action. That money needs to be allocated for that teen center-slash-skate park…. And as far as jobs go, taking some of the incentive money we throw around to real estate developers and putting it into a fund for small businesses that apply for grant money from the city that are looking to expand their businesses that don’t necessarily have the money to do it right now but would hire more people if they did have the money, I think that’s a wise investment for our city.”

Parks and Recreation Director Greg Jackson said the city is currently planning to build a skate park, which was approved by voters as part of a 2006 bond referendum, at the Hilltop Recreation Center and Park in the southwest corner of the city. As to a downtown teen center, the city recently closed the Folk Teen Center on Clifton Road. Jackson said that while the city plans to continue teen programming at other facilities, there is no bond funding currently allocated for a downtown teen center.

Matheny indicated that he does not believe it is the city’s role to create employment opportunities for youth beyond supporting small businesses.

“From a council perspective, in reality, what can a council do to help youth become workers?” he said. “We can’t really do a whole lot, in reality. What we can do is focus on the small businesses, which the small businesses can hopefully hire youth. That’s the reality. We can continue to have outlets for them to go to such as our parks and rec department, and we can have things which council can support, the city can support. We can have outlets, but as far as income-producing outlets, I think the main thing city council can do is focus on the small businesses….”

Zack Matheny said he asked his family recently if he should run again.

“My wife, who I love dearly, looked at me and said, ‘Well, if you don’t run – you love the city of Greensboro – you’re not going to sit still and sit idle, so you might as well go ahead and run again.’” Matheny said. “My 10 year old, the wise person that he is, looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, you should run again.’ What would he know? Why should I run again? He said, ‘Because I get to see you in the newspaper and on TV.’ You do think about it. He is my stepson, but he’s every bit my son. And you want your kids to look up to you. And you realize that what I do is important. And he realizes that what we do and the decisions we make and how we carry ourselves are important. It’s important for me to look up to me. It’s important for me to represent my citizens.”

Matheny outlined a stance on economic development that featured flexible standards for incentives.

“Jobs – we’ve got to think out of the box,” he said. “We’re in an environment we’ve got to throw the box away, as Dr. Nido Qubein said over in High Point. We’ve got to do everything we can, whether it’s lower the minimum wage, higher wage, in the city of Greensboro, outside of the city of Greensboro. We got to figure it out and we got to work together.”

Ovittore sought to differentiate himself from Matheny by establishing distance from the real-estate industry, whose members have contributed lavishly to the incumbent’s campaigns over the years.

“I am first and foremost a citizen of Greensboro,” Ovittore said. “I am not owned and operated by real estate developers. I will not take money from real estate developers. I will not give them a larger seat at the table than any other person sitting in this room today.

To see the next round, attend the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress' district candidate forum tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Nussbaum Room in the downtown public library.