Greensboro City Council Candidates 2011

"It can reasonably be argued that Mayor Perkins was subjected to a potential financial detriment, e.g. the potential loss of his real estate listings with Park View Development" If that is the view of the City Attorney, then Robbie Perkins and his wealthy cronies may not have the taxpayer-funded, pocket-lining adventure they had hoped for since he was elected mayor. I question how long this will last before Perkins fights back.

Here's results to date for my own Greensboro Performing Arts Center survey. The numbers remain low so they can't be considered represenative but unline the publishers of that push poll, I will keep you informed. Questions and results below, click here to take the survey.

1. Can Greensboro afford a performing arts center?
Yes 62.5%
No 37.5%

2. Should Greensboro build a performing arts center?
Yes 50%
No 50%

3. A Greensboro performing arts center should be
privately owned. 37.5%
publicly owned. 62.5%
Comments: "As being publicly owned it should function to provide a diverse array of entertainment that exposes all to opportunities for enjoyment."

4. Should a performing arts center be incentivized by the City of Greensboro?
Yes 50%
No 50%

5. Should Greensboro invest taxpayers' dollars in ways that will directly increase profits for businesses?
Yes 62.5%
No 37.5%

6. Greensboro's performing arts center should be located
Downtown. 50.0%
Northeast Greensboro. 12.5%
Greensboro Coliseum Complex. 12.5%
in another concentrated poverty neighborhood other than Northeast Greensboro. 25.0%

7. The Greensboro performing arts center should be managed by
Matt Brown. 14.3%
Greensboro Parks and Recreation. 0.0%
a public/private partnership like the Durham Performing Arts Center. 85.7%
Comments: "Other: Management selected by the private owners."

8. Should the Greensboro City Council resort to "certificates of participation" to build a performing arts center without the consent of Greensboro voters?
Yes 12.5%
No 87.5%
Comments: "If the taxpayers would have to foot the bill for "certificates of participation", then taxpayers should be allowed to vote on the item."

9. Will you vote come November to support a Greensboro performing arts center?
Yes 37.5%
No 62.5%

10. This is the final question: Do you think this survey was written fairly so that the choices you were given accurately reflect your feelings?
Yes 87.5%
No 12.5%
Comments: "I don't think that citizens have been given a choice as to whether they would be willing to support a taxpayer funded performing arts center. The people who are pushing this have skipped that step in decision-making."

If you've not taken my survey you may do so by clicking here. To learn about the official GPAC2012 "survey," click here.

If this is your first visit you might want to read the rest of the story starting with, Why Not East Greensboro? Thank you.

I ran across an open invitation from GPAC2012 to ride with the task force to visit the Durham Performing Arts Center with which GPAC2012 promoters are so enamored with so I quickly e-mailed gpacsitevisit@gmail.com and asked to be included. I deliberately waited until today to blog about it to help ensure my seat as limited seating was said to be available. This morning I got the following reply from Michele Rash:

"Thank you for your interest in visiting the Durham Performing Arts Center with the GPAC Task Force. We have a limited number of spots available and will hold a lottery drawing of all interested individuals. Those selected to attend will be notified by 5 pm on Monday, April 9."

So I replied:

"Michele,
There is no mention of a lottery here: http://gpac2012.com/news/announcements/gpac-task-force-to-visit-dpac It appears GPAC2012 is again winging it.
-Billy"

Are there really so many people asking to attend that a lottery is necessary? Or is this just one more way Mayor Perkins, the Greensboro City Council, Ross Harris and GPAC2012 plan to control the agenda.

I await Michele's reply but think that if Greensboro's citizens are so interested as to fill the bus then perhaps the powers that be should rent more buses to avoid the appearance that they might not want other voices among themselves.

Then there's this last minute Tweet inviting the public to their task force meeting this morning...

From The Evil Dr. Guarino: I understand that Robbie also resides at Center Pointe; and apparently did not recuse himself last night. This city council is, for the most part, the same group of sanctimonious prigs who, during election season last year, postured and alleged that council conservatives were not “listening” to citizens regarding the [...]

Tonight, the Greensboro City Council meets to vote on giving developer Roy Carroll over $5 Million in incentives from a pool of $10 Million in economic development bonds passed by Greensboro voters a few years ago so that Millionaire developer Roy Carroll can sell an industrial park that lies very near the Alamance County line and roughly 10 miles outside of the Greensboro City Limits. Have no doubt, when it comes to economic development, the City of Burlington will see far more positive economic impact than will the City of Greensboro.

For me, that's not necessarily as bad thing. You see, my business partners and I are preparing to open a small green business in Burlington and could use the economic impact.

But what about those of you who are being left behind-- don't you deserve economic development as well?

Oh sure, Mayor Perkins will point to things like a downtown performing arts center as economic development for Greensboro but I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. Perhaps you are too? Mayor Perkins represents a small group of elites who own property downtown and along the fringes of the county and now he and they plan to spend the majority of Greensboro's economic development funds to increase the value of their own investments at the expense of Northeast Greensboro and every other Greensboro community, under the guise of economic development using a myth known around the world as "shovel ready." Which, by the way, doesn't Mayor Perkins own a number of as yet, unsold, "shovel ready" sites along North Elm street that we-the-taxpayers incentivized several years ago and have yet to reap any tangible economic development from? And doesn't Roy Carroll own at least 1 empty housing development outside the city limits that we paid to pipe?

From Wikipedia:

"A project is considered shovel ready if it has advanced to the stage that laborers may immediately be employed to start work. The term is used in reference to projects which are candidates for economic stimulus spending: money put into a shovel ready project will have a more immediate impact on the economy than money spent on a project on which a great deal of time must elapse for architecture, zoning, legal considerations or other such factors before labor can be deployed on it."

Roy Carroll's project has no tenants, no architecture and no contracts from buyers. In other words, Roy Carroll's 104 acre industrial park is and will remain anything but shovel ready. But we plan to invest over $5 Million Dollars anyway? What's up with that?

And need I mention Roy's planned increase in Greensboro's urban sprawl issues?

On the downtown noise issue, the Greensboro News & Record wrote:

"In any event, Carroll shouldn’t receive any greater consideration than any other taxpayer with a complaint."

Shouldn't the same be true when it comes to spending $Millions in Greensboro taxpayers dollars? And shouldn't the same be true when deciding where to place performing arts centers and other forms of economic development?

And finally, who is buying the A&T Farm and what do they plan to do with it?

Yesterday, I attended the first 2 Greensboro Performing Arts Center public forums and I learned some interesting things and relearned some I already knew. Ross Harris, campaign manager for Mayor Robbie Perkins, manages the GPAC2012 Twitter feed established on February 14, 2012, and has recently modified the feed to control the message. No longer will tagging your Twitter posts, #GPAC2012 cause your posts to automatically display on the Latest Tweets widget on the GPAC2012 website Only Ross Harris' twits will display now.

Sorry Ross, you've been outed. So much for your planned social media campaign. But seriously, does anyone believe the process is really open and candid? Anyway, to help keep things honest I added a Twitter widget to the right column of every page on this website that will display all posts tagged #GPAC2012 even if I don't agree with you.

From today's News & Record:

"The task force said it will hold an "open, candid" discussion about the center, although Thursday's lunchtime public forum was a carefully controlled opportunity for residents to give their opinions."

And it started with the first question asked of the participants of yesterday's forum:

"1 Do you think Greensboro should have a new downtown performing arts center? Why or why not?"

In an open and candid discussion the first question would have been: Do you think Greensboro needs a performing arts center? Because if we don't need it then why are we rushing full steam ahead to build it? Am I the only person who has been hearing the song, 76 Trombones playing in my head for the last 3 months?

"Question 2: How could a downtown performing arts center benefit downtown and the Greensboro community?"

In an open and honest discussion, question 2 would have been: Can Greensboro afford a performing arts center?

"Question 3: What type of programming would you like to see on a downtown performing arts center?"

Should have been: Where should a performing arts center be placed? Question 3 should have been question 4 but instead:

"Question 4 How could you help spread the word and get the community engaged in this process?"

Question 4 is really a no brainer-- you take it into the neighborhoods. But sadly, the task force members privately admit they can't answer the questions that Greensboro communities are asking-- questions like hard numbers, who stands to profit and what makes downtown more worthy of a performing arts center than the neighborhood in the little green circle in Northeast Greensboro or other Greensboro communities other than downtown.

In case you didn’t know, the Triad has a few candidates primary bids for Council of State. Forsyth County Rep. Dale Folwell, is running for lieutenant governor, while UNCG professor Mike Beitler and Mt Airy businessman A.J. Daoud are running for Secretary of State. Check out below the recent debate at Wake Forest University’s Wait [...]

Greensboro has a long history of racism, classism and elitism that needs to finally be brought to a close. Every working class neighborhood in Greensboro has its own bucket of broken promises made by city leaders. Promises are made to improve neighborhoods and the bonds are passed but the bonds are never sold before the next bond being pushed by Greensboro's "movers and shakers" gets pushed through, passed and quickly put on sale.

Take the Summit Corridor improvements for example. The Aycock Historic District fought hard to get the city to improve the streetscape and save the historic World War I Veterans Memorial Stadium back in 2002. Bonds were approved by the voters but 10 years later the bonds have yet to be sold. But the proposed downtown performing arts center is supposed to be voted on, passed, bonds sold and concerts playing in 5 and 1/2 years.

And the promised streetscape improvements? Never happened.

Construction on the Downtown Greenway continues while other Greensboro neighborhoods get nothing.

In 2004, my neighborhood was promised a grocery store the city council knew they'd never make happen. Instead, we get 1000 acres of empty promises and a bill for $8 Million Dollars to close the landfill.

All the while they talk about economic stimulus and jobs, the only stimulus goes to our downtown developers and out of state general contractors. And the occasional local good old boy who happened to make a donation to a campaign fund or offered to fly city council members around in his personal jet.

The numbers don't jive. They never do. They don't even know where the money went.

There are over 24,000 locals out of work and they want to build in the one neighborhood that according to downtown boosters, is thriving? Where's the Citizens for Economic & Environmental Justice when you need them?

It's about our neighborhoods. All our neighborhoods and not just downtown and Irving Park. Please e-mail city council and tell them that until our neighborhoods get our fair share, downtown Greensboro gets nothing. And please tell them to place the Greensboro Performing Arts Center in the little green circle or don't build it at all.

Continue to article #60. While Downtown Goes Up, Your Neighborhood Goes Down.

Make no doubt, Ross Harris, campaign manager for Mayor Perkins and appointed leader of the performing arts center task force is not going to recommend any location other than downtown but as shown in this video from Fox8, not all of the 50 members of task force are convinced. And neither am I.



Imagine that?

I still believe that every Greensboro community is in need of economic development and not just downtown. I believe that communities other than downtown and northwest Greensboro deserve to share in Greensboro's economic treasures and that jobs should be made available where those most in need of jobs live and not way out on the county line where the people who live there, moved there to get away from the city.

That's why I support putting the Greensboro Performing Arts Center in the Northeast Greensboro so that all of our neighborhoods can share in the prosperity.

And for those of you who found this site by googling, "are robbie perkins and ross harris an item?" I haven't a clue.

Continue to article #62. Downtown Greensboro Performing Arts Center In The News.

Allen Johnson, Editorial Page Editor for the Greensboro News & Record would be lying if he made the claim that he doesn't know about the effort to bring the performing arts center to the very neighborhood he grew up in. The proof is in the Tiny URL that is contained in this letter to the editor submitted by Professor David Wharton. But in his own editorial blog post, How's that arts center task force thingy working for us so far?, Allen Johnson conveniently leaves out any mention of his old neighborhood.

Could it be Allen no longer cares about the very neighborhood he grew up in? And how can Allen write the following without mention of the very neighborhood in which he grew up? Or any other Greensboro neighborhood?

"But, again, none of this is surprising. Nor is it unhealthy. This should be a rich, open and vigorous conversation, and not all of it has to take place in task force meetings.

That said, the participants should trust the process and try to keep open minds. There’s a lot of critical fact-finding to come. My only cautionary advice is that task force members need to talk to each other as well as the media and the community.

But so far, so good. Being inclusive builds trust and familiarity and squelches conspiracy theories before they can take root."

In case you're wondering why there is an effort to build a downtown performing arts center you need look no farther that this explanation by Bill Heasley to the City Council on Feb. 21:

"A small, yet highly organized group, the special interest representing the notional proposition of building a performing arts center, would very much like to place a bond on the ballot for voters to approve or disapprove regarding such performing arts center.

The bond becomes the cash-conduit for economic rent seeking of taxpayer dollars by special interests via politico enablers leading to crony capitalism. Yes, the wonderful world of public choice theory. James M. Buchanan of George Mason University defined public choice theory as “politics without the romance”.

One must note that the bond is by no means going to appear on the ballot due to spontaneous order/emergent order/ grass roots clamoring for a performing arts center. The bond will appear due to a special interest through political enablers. The notional proposition is for collective action to build a performing arts center for the enjoyment of the very-select-few. That is, the plans of the few vs. the plans of the many."

Like I said before, Tax the poor to entertain the rich.

Also, as I've said before:

"And should you be a first time visitor to this blog, please don't assume I'm against building a Greensboro Performing Arts Center. I'm not. But I am against a downtown performing arts center built at taxpayers expense. Unlike the NIMBYS, I want the PAC built in in my back yard as a means to make Government responsible to the needs of the entire City of Greensboro and not just the rich elites."

You see, Allen Johnson, the News & Record, downtown boosters and Greensboro's "movers and shakers" are unable to make sound, logical, long term arguments against placing the Randall Jarrell Performing Arts Center, aka, Greensboro Performing Arts Center, inside the little green circle in Northeast Greensboro. They haven't even considered neighborhoods outside of downtown. So they simply try to ignore me.

It's called the sin of omission in the news business and in your churches. It's as if they're making my point for me.

And lest we forget the News & Record is one of the parties attempting to sell downtown property to the City of Greensboro as a site on which to build their PAC.

Don't forget to use the Twitter hash tags, #GPAC2012 and #GSO to get their attention. I promise you, they are following me.

Continue to article #68. GPAC2012 ‏ @gpac2012.

by Tim W Flowers

A couple of weeks ago the NC House Committee on Transportation met in Raleigh to discuss funding for rail improvements. These improvements will eventually result in high speed rail service from Raleigh to Charlotte, including stops in Greensboro and High Point. Mayors from Raleigh and Charlotte attended the meeting to plead their case in favor of the improvements. Leaders from the Triad were completely absent. This is unacceptable considering how much we stand to gain as key recipients of the planned upgrades. The long term economic benefits to the Triad can't be calculated at this point, but it's logical to conclude that metro areas served by fast, efficient transit will be favored by companies looking to expand or relocate, over areas that have no options except for congested highways full of cars running on $5/gallon gasoline.

Last week Raleigh made the news again by revising rules governing urban gardens. It's now legal to start a garden on most vacant city owned lots, and rules that regulate community gardens on private land have been relaxed. There's even a 200 page list available of possible garden locations provided by the city. The reaction from our city's leaders has been...silence.

On the Progress for Greensboro Facebook group, which some city leaders are subscribed to, I've suggested we take advantage of our "green" name and re-brand ourselves as a sustainable community; a leader in green initiatives. There are many things we could do that wouldn't involve expenditures of taxpayer money but rather would be adjustments to zoning or other ordinances to encourage private initiatives. No one has taken the time to comment on my proposals.

Today in the News & Observer, it was reported that Raleigh has beaten us once again, this time by being named the "most sustainable mid-sized community". The city was commended for its green-building worker training program, an electric plug-in vehicle program that will bring up to 30 charging stations by September; and one of the nation's two convention centers with a LEED silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said, "The city is a careful steward of the environment and has a long-term vision for a prosperous future."

Back in Greensboro, do we have a long-term vision? Do we know where we're going? Is there a plan, or are we so stuck in a past of ancient disputes over civil unrest in the 1970's and the more recent alleged misconduct of former police chief Wray that we can't find our way into the present day, much less the future? While we bicker over history, cities like Raleigh are forging ahead, building the future they want to see. This keeps them in the media spotlight, which also keeps them on the "A" list for high-tech corporations offering good paying jobs.

Where are Greensboro's leaders? What is our city council really accomplishing except arguing over the budget? Can we find our future and establish ourselves as a place other cities envy and copy, or will we continue to stay stuck while our neighboring cities pass us by?

Make some calls. Write some emails. Demand that our elected officials do what we voted them in for: Lead...or get out of the way for someone who will.

by Tim W Flowers

We now have three possible candidates for the Greensboro mayor's office. It's presumed that mayor Bill Knight will run for re-election, and announcements have been made by Robbie Perkins and Tom Phillips. While I'd like a fourth choice, to be honest, it's not likely anyone will come forward. I suppose we should be grateful we have this many choices, even if all three are registered Republicans. Having at least one candidate from the Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or an independent, would round out the field much more nicely. But we have what we have, so what is the way forward?

Bill Knight doesn't deserve another term. While he promised a great many things, his legacy will prove to be even weaker than Yvonne Johnson's or Carolyn Allen's. Both are fine women, and I believe Bill Knight is an honorable man, but none of them have had a real vision for our city, or if they did have a vision, they were ineffective in articulating it and putting it into place. We've had more than a decade of poor leadership and almost total stagnation, while our neighboring cities of Raleigh and Charlotte have forged ahead. It's time to put former police chief David Wray behind us, along with the Klan-Nazi shootout that some people insist on talking about despite it being more than 30 years ago. We need to do more than cut programs everytime conservatives complain about every penny spent that doesn't personally and immediately benefit them in some way.

So, who do we choose? I know very little about Tom Phillips except that he is considered to be further to the right than Robbie Perkins, and it's been said that Mr Phillips is "stiff" and not a great communicator. With that in mind, I feel Tom Phillips would simply be a younger version of Bill Knight, so a change in that direction would be no real change at all. That leaves us with Robbie Perkins, a career politician, no doubt, but also a pretty good businessman with an MBA. He knows how the city works, who the movers & shakers are, and his political stance is reasonably moderate compared to his opponents. And he really truly seems to want the job. Is he the ideal candidate? No, not by a long shot. But if he is elected and can pull our city together and move us forward with even a percentage of the effectiveness of former mayors Jim Melvin and Victor Nussbaum, that will be a very good thing indeed.

We need vision. We need progress. We need leadership. Let's give Robbie Perkins a chance as mayor.

by Tim W Flowers


Ever controversial, ever divisive, Greensboro city council member Dianne Bellamy-Small has filed paperwork to run for mayor. The woman we have to tolerate because the voters in her district refuse to pick another candidate actually thinks she has chance to win the mayor's seat.

I have no personal grudge against her, even though she refused to even glance at me, much less speak, when I encountered her in an aisle at the Walmart SuperCenter last year. I remember thinking how poorly it reflected on her and our city council, and I began to understand why so many people dislike her. Maybe she's just shy. Yeah. Sure.

In any event, her bid to become mayor shows a disconnect between who she thinks she is, compared to what the mayor's job requires. Being mayor means you are the peacemaker, the coalition builder, the face of the city, and herder of cats. Bellamy-Small's history shows her as independent, combative, and, I have to use this word again, divisive. She's spent years being a thorn in the sides of countless council members, and now she thinks she can build consensus and lead us forward?

It's not a matter of her race, sex, or political positions. It's her attitude. I find it hard to believe she could ever win the mayor's race just on that one issue alone.

But fear not. Unofficial word on the street is that she's already thinking about dropping out before she even gets started.

We can only hope.

UPDATE: Ms Small dropped out of the race not long after she entered it.

(image source: Greensboro News & Record/Joseph Rodriguez)
MV8M7T2KUBNE

by Tim W Flowers

Driving around Greensboro the other day I spotted a yard sign from mayor Bill Knight's re-election campaign. In big letters it said something about "moving forward". I zipped past the sign before I could read it in its entirety, so I went to Knight's website to get the scoop.

And there it was again.

"Go Forward Greensboro" is the command issued by his site. And I'm puzzled.

While I believe Mr Knight is an honorable man, I see no evidence from his first term in office that he wants to move our city forward. As a self-proclaimed conservative, "progress" is the last thing he should be promoting. Dictionary.com defines "conservative" as "disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change." Does that sound like the way to move forward?

Moving forward, also known as progress, is defined as "a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage". How much progress have we seen in the past two years? Other than infuriating residents by threatening to reopen the White Street landfill, what has been accomplished? How is Greensboro better off today than when Knight was first sworn in?

Of course, all the blame shouldn't fall on mayor Knight, since the entire city council has been functioning in its traditionally dysfunctional manner. But the job of the mayor is to create a vision, to lead, and to create a climate where diplomacy reigns and real progress is made. And I don't see much evidence of that during Knight's term.

Our city, as well as our state and nation, are faced with some of the most challenging issues since the Great Depression. We need fresh ideas, bold initiatives, and real progress that isn't mired down in partisan politics. A spiffy slogan like "Go Forward Greensboro" might help you win an election, but if the same tired agenda is trotted out, we're not really going anywhere, are we? Except maybe backwards.

If pictures of women in tennis attire is pornographic,
should all Greensboro women’s tennis programs be cancelled?


Are members of a church more likely to give campaign contributions
to a "pious" Council Member who attends the same church,
after said church’s preacher gives a sermon on the dangers of pornography?


Should public schools should be segregated by sex?


If a Catholic Priest says it’s OK for him to touch you wherever he wants,
should you believe him?


Does the government always act in the majority’s best interests?


Should contraceptive measures for raped woman be outlawed?


Should morning prayers be instituted in public schools
and end with “in Jesus’ name we pray”?


Should no mosque on American soil
be within a mile of an elementary school?


Can a robot be one of God’s children,
and if so, is it OK to enslave intelligent machines?


Do you get to wear clothes in heaven
but not in hell?


Should elected lawmakers seek to avoid imposing their religious views
upon the communities in which they reside?



What do you believe that you can’t prove?


Why are weak governments and/or fringe political movements
more likely to embrace religion or nationalism
in times of economic and social instability
and/or when distractions appear helpful to bury other more important issues?


Should all those of a religion other than those sanctioned by government,
wear an insignia stating their religion on their garments at all times in public?


If sentient beings on another planet played chess with Earthlings
would God would be on our side, as long as the player is a white, not gay, Christian American?

Several months ago I had a conversation with a good friend of mine named Chris Lawyer. We had a discussion about politics, which wasn't an unusual topic for us to discuss. We both share a conservative political philosophy and we have a habit of discussing political issues.

While in this particular conversation, I was reminded of the passion that Chris has for helping people and establishing a better form of government. Suddenly, I remembered that municipal elections are coming up this year and an interesting idea came across my mind: Chris would make an excellent candidate for public office.

After pondering the thought for a moment, I asked Chris if he would consider running for Greensboro City Council. Without hesitation, Chris told me that he would, indeed, consider running for public office. This was a surprise to me, because I fully expected him to say no. After all, there are a lot of folks out there who would make a good candidate for public office but they don't want to enter the rugged world of politics.

But Chris had an important caveat along with being willing to run for public office: He said that he would only do so if I agreed to manage his campaign. Because I believe in Chris to such a great degree, I told him that I would be more than willing to help him get elected.

Shortly thereafter, we filed papers to form a campaign committee for Chris to run for Greensboro City Council At-Large. He decided to run for an at-large position on the City Council because he wants to serve all of Greensboro rather than a fraction of the city.

Since launching his campaign, Chris has proven to be a fantastic candidate. This is his first run for public office, but he handles himself in a professional manner and campaigning seems to come natural to him. He understands the issues facing Greensboro and he is dedicated to making his campaign a success.

Chris is a true conservative and he is passionate about securing a better future for the citizens of Greensboro. He understands that we can't spend money that we don't have and he knows that it is our citizens, not the government, that make Greensboro such a wonderful place.

As a physician assistant in a local ER, Chris has dedicated his career to helping people. While working in the ER, Chris has made a habit of listening to problems that people are having and coming up with solutions. He knows how to handle high-stress situations and he is able to work under pressure.

Furthermore, I am writing this in hopes that you will join me in supporting Chris. Running for City Council as a first-time candidate is a difficult task, but Chris is on the right track and he has an excellent chance to win.

Please vote for Chris Lawyer in the upcoming City Council Primary and encourage your friends to vote as well. Early voting began last week and the Primary Election is on October 11th.

If you have questions for Chris, feel free to send him an email: lawyerforcouncil@gmail.com. You can also find Chris on the web: www.lawyerforcouncil.com.

I really hope that you will support Chris. He is a person of sound character and he sincerely wants to serve the community.

Chris Lawyer, who is a close friend of mine, made an excellent run for City Council at-large. He did not win but he ran a very effective campaign and came close to getting elected.

There are three at-large seats on city council. Six candidates, including Chris Lawyer, advanced through last month’s primary contest. Out of those six candidates, the top three get elected to City Council.

With the results being complete but unofficial, Chris finished in fourth place out of the six at-large candidates. Out of more than 90,000 votes casted, Chris was less than 1,000 votes behind third place. He also won the second most amount of precincts, second only to Yvonne Johnson.

This is a very strong showing for a first-time candidate. Chris is a bright young man who has natural ability as a political candidate. Chances are good that you haven’t seen the last of Chris Lawyer.

The Greensboro News & Record has a section of their online site titled "Meet the candidates". In the online edition they interviewed At Large Greensboro City Council candidate Nancy Vaughan CLICKHERE.In the article here is what Nancy Vaughan had to say:"She got drawn into politics again recently, when she began to follow the fight to get protest petition back to Greensboro. Advocates pushed City