Guarino

Performing Arts Center in East Greensboro?

Let's think about it.  Politically active individuals from east Greensboro often complain that their part of town does not get enough economic development.

Billy Jones has advanced an interesting proposal.  A performing arts center is being advanced for the city of Greensboro.  Billy is advocating that it be located in east Greensboro.

If it is preordained that we are going to have a performing arts center, perhaps it should be located in east Greensboro.  Recall how the Melderec crowd is trumpeting all the economic development benefits to be associated with the performing arts center.  And remember how that community feels shut out of all the economic development that takes place in other parts of the city.

If Robbie Perkins and his Melderec crowd are serious about being strong advocates for east Greensboro citizens, then perhaps they should put their money where their mouth is.  Forget about all the elitism and the vested interests associated with the calls to locate the project downtown or at the coliseum.  If it advances, perhaps Robbie and his minions should locate the performing arts center in east Greensboro.

Should North Carolina Eliminate its State Income Tax?

Newsmax has a report that seven states, including our neighboring state of South Carolina, are considering the elimination of their state income tax.  There are nine other states-- including our neighboring state of Tennessee-- that do not have an income tax currently.

The income tax is not equitable.  Even if rates are flat (and they are not), people who earn more pay more taxes-- all other factors held constant.

Moreover, the federal income tax is a massive scheme of income redistribution.  The graduated income tax system and the existence of the earned income tax credit assures that the system is terribly skewed.  That makes it even more compelling to suggest that income taxes should not exist at the state level.

Getting rid of the income tax in North Carolina could be a powerful economic development tool.  Citizens should be wary of maintaining an inequitable income tax system that serves Marxist ends-- from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.

Flipper Mitt

HT: Poli

Hinson, the Chief and "Racial Profiling"

There was an interesting article in the paper yesterday about the new GPD racial profiling initiative led by Captain James Hinson.

I found one particular comment fascinating:

Capt. James Hinson , the committee chairman and commander of the Eastern Patrol Division, denies the police department has problems with profiling.

“I think with the committee being formed, people are thinking, 'Hey, is there a problem?’” he said. “No, there’s not a problem. The reason why the committee was formed was because, No. 1, the chief wanted it formed, and No. 2, to be proactive.”

This is fascinating. Initially, they struck a bold pose suggesting that the department was not going to tolerate any profiling. Now, they concede that they are trying to fix a problem that doesn't even exist.

Of course, to suggest that profiling exists is to slander individual police officers who are felt to engage in that practice.

Ben Holder is all over this issue. He takes the News and Record to task for failing to report the history regarding Hinson.

I have some concerns that Chief Miller is bowing before our fair city's institutionalized identity politics. He appointed Hinson to the position of captain. It had been maintained that we were not going to consider the past, and instead were going to start afresh, with a clean slate.

But here is the problem. As Ben points out, Mitchell Johnson and Linda Miles purged James Hinson's personnel record back during 2006. That would mean Chief Miller has no access to his personnel records before then.

What did those records reveal about Hinson's record? Ben reports:

1. Hinson had associated with a known criminal, Elton Turnbull? Sustained.

2. Hinson associated with Toshia Withers, a known criminal; that he assaulted her at his bachelor's party; and that he had sex with her in a police vehicle? Sustained, not sustained, and not sustained.

3. Hinson had worked off duty while on duty? Sustained.

4. Hinson lied to his supervisor about making up a day he had taken off? Sustained.

5. Hinson was also alleged to have conducted private business at UNCG while on police time? Sustained.

6. Hinson failed to report a wreck involving his police car? Sustained. Another allegation regarding Hinson and car wrecks involved a woman named Gayle Brooks. That was not even investigated. That accident was on December 5, 2002 just in case Miller wants to show me where it was not sustained and unfounded.

7. Hinson recommended a certain private security firm to a private business while he was on duty? Sustained.

This is the man that Chief Miller promoted to captain, and placed in charge of the profiling initiative. It is the same man who had made false accusations of racial profiling against David Wray and his men when he was being monitored because of the above circumstances Ben details.

Now, all of a sudden, Hinson states the department does not engage in profiling; and yet we were supposed to believe in the imperativeness of this anti-profiling initiative.

Truth be told, this is an effort to diminish use of the legitimate tools that police officers on the street have available to them to contain crime. It diminishes proactive policing. When I consider our poor crime statistics last year, and the manner in which he has handled these matters, I am becoming very concerned about Chief Miller. Placing Hinson on a track of career advancement within the department, and giving him major responsibilities over areas such as profiling, is sheer lunacy. Yes, he has had advocates within the Simkins PAC and the Pulpit Forum. But that is no justification.

The Politics of Trader Joe's

I have been secretly hoping, praying for a long time that Trader Joe's would open a location in Greensboro.  I just want to have the atmosphere and the assortment of goods that its stores provide as a part of my life.  A big part of my life's meaning and purpose is derived from finding and purchasing consumer goods; so having a store like this in Greensboro would be a major source of gratification for someone like me.

Just kidding.

But I cannot help but regard as silly the frenetic attempts to determine whether the store chain will locate somewhere else in Greensboro other than Friendly; or the warnings in this morning's paper that Trader Joe's might forego Greensboro completely if it cannot locate at Friendly.  Somehow, I think we can get by without Trader Joe's.

Disclosure: I really have no particular dog in this fight.  While the location-- just west of the Friendly/Hobbs intersection-- is within my voting precinct, I do not feel personally threatened by this particular proposal.  Obviously, many who live closer to the proposed development do, in fact, oppose it.  The free market conservative would ordinarily allow the project to proceed.

There are a couple of interesting things about the politics associated with the Trader Joe's proposal.

First, new city council member Nancy Hoffmann lives in Friendly West, a townhome community.  Readers might recall she served as the homeowner association president at one time, and made some controversial decisions in that capacity.  In any event, Friendly West sits almost directly across the street-- across Friendly Avenue-- from the proposed development.  It is figuratively at Nancy Hoffmann's front porch, near a community where she once ostensibly worked on behalf of local homeowners.

How will Nancy Hoffmann vote?  She is allied with the Melderec con Simkins crowd, which ordinarily sides with development interests.  Will she take leadership in opposition to this proposal?

Second, there are four other council members who ostensibly represent area residents-- Robbie Perkins, Yvonne Johnson, Nancy Vaughan and Marikay Abuzuaiter.   These folks made a big issue of "listening" to community residents on the matter of the landfill during the city council campaign last year.  It was pretty shameless when they conflated the concept of "listening" with the expectation that council members accede to neighborhood demands.  Sam Hieb correctly stated recently that we have an 8-1 liberal NIMBY city council.  We learned that in part with the recent landfill debate.

Will Hoffmann, Perkins, Johnson, Vaughan and Abuzuaiter "listen" to area residents?  Let's remember also how Nancy Vaughan built her vaunted reputation a decade ago by siding with community residents against developers.  Of course, she is a machine politician also... but never mind.

Third, Keith Holliday recently commented that "promises" were made that no commercial retail development would creep further west than the Shops at Friendly.  Let's recall we were made to feel that "promises" previously made to northeast Greensboro residents had to be kept with regard to the landfill.

Fourth, I have little doubt that community residents will use the protest petition vehicle if they learn about it.  What would that mean?  Only three council members would need to oppose the project in order to kill it.  Again, the project is located nearly on Nancy Hoffmann's front porch; and the question is whether she and at least two other council members will "listen" to community residents.

In the meantime, we all need to find higher sources of meaning and purpose than shopping at Trader Joe's.

"Monumental" Trailer

I had posted on Wednesday about Kirk Cameron's new movie to hit theaters fairly soon.  Here is the trailer (HT: Polifrog):

"Tent" in Competition with Aquatic Center?

Why has the city of Greensboro been harassing the operator of the Sherwood Swim & Racquet Club?

One commenter hypothesizes it is because the business is in competition with the aquatic center. (HT: Jack)

"Greensboro's Own ACORN" to Get City Taxpayer Monies?

Bob Skenes:

We have been warned that the council is preparing to divert significant grant money to Nelson Johnson’s Beloved Community Center, Greensboro’s own ACORN. And now, they are going to do it all out of sight.

Performing Arts Center: The Wrong Path

The News and Record reports today that some kind of consensus among the Melderec crowd is developing that the performing arts center needs to be located downtown in spite of the additional cost:

“I am not looking at this as something we are going to fail on,” the mayor said. “We are going to make it work.”

Asked if Brown’s coliseum concept might be an alternative, Perkins said, “I think it is going to be downtown. ... This city doesn’t need a backup plan.”

Here are some thoughts regarding how the city should proceed:

1. Matt Brown should not be permitted to make any presentations; nor should be be permitted to advocate for the center.   The city council's decision to place him in the driver's seat was a huge mistake.  The council does not have any basis for deciding that is the best way to approach this issue.  Facts should be obtained and decisions made first before any consideration of involving Brown in the process.

2. A number of parties have referred to the performing arts center in Durham-- DPAC.  It should be noted that DPAC is operated by a private organization; and it generates a profit.  The city of Durham built the facility, and shares in the profits.  If you have Matt Brown and the Coliseum management run the facility, chances are good that it will be a big money loser for the city.  If the facility in Durham can turn a profit, we should have every expectation that any facility located in Greensboro will do so also.

3. Facts and details should be obtained from Durham before proceeding.  The Greensboro Coliseum has an influential but entrenched group of supporters who represent vested interests.  These supporters should not be permitted to have undue influence over the process. 

4. My own opinion is that we should not have another bond referendum on this matter.  The voters have already rejected it twice; and we do not need more debt. 

5. But if the bond referendum proceeds, the language on the ballot should be very specific regarding where the facility is to be located, and how it is going to be run.  City staff has already been quoted in a news article suggesting it is permissible to place non-specific language on the ballot.  But this is an invitation to mislead the public and play games behind the scenes-- similar to what occurred with the aquatic center.  The ballot language needs to be an accurate, specific reflection of what is being planned.  That means all the research and information-gathering and planning needs to be performed before the bond referendum is placed on the ballot.

More GPD Hijinx

Reading Ben Holder's blog-- if he keeps it up-- is going to be intriguing.

A couple of new items are posted. 

First, he points out some facts regarding a police officer who was appointed to Chief Ken Miller's racial profiling committee.  The name is Officer A.S. Wallace.  I had some recollection regarding this particular individual, but Ben provides the details.  He has a fairly significant discliplinary record including a sexual assault incident; and of course, he is also one of the plaintiffs in a suit against the city of Greensboro based largely on false accusations of discrimination.

Second, Holder makes a public records request.  He asks Chief Miller the date that James Hinson was elevated to captain; and also the date that captains were made eligible for off-duty work.  I do not know whether there was a close temporal relationship between the two dates.

Why is this significant?  There were some major issues with Hinson with respect to off-duty work-- from a number of perspectives.  Now he has been made a captain and the leader of a racial profiling committtee by Chief Miller.

Greensboro Guardian Reports on ACLU's Chastisement of Skip Alston

Find the report here.

And the full text of the letter from the ACLU is also posted at the Guardian website.

Mitt Romney, Circa 2002

Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts during 2002-- less than ten years ago:

Guess What? Ben Holder is Back!

And he has his eyes on Chief Ken Miller and Captain James Hinson.  Check out the e-mail exchange.

I think some people were a bit surprised that Hinson was promoted to Captain last year by Miller.  Some in the community doubtless have felt that Hinson should not even be working at the Greensboro Police Department any longer.

What is the Remedy for the Guilford County Commissioners' Election?

Joe Killian has an article on the front page of the News and Record this morning beating the drum that a lawsuit will be necessary to resolve the issue over the elections for the Guilford Board of County Commissioners.  An abbreviated version is found here.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Who will feel sufficiently embittered or violated by the situation to bring a lawsuit?

2. If a lawsuit is filed, will they seek a limited remedy to fix the problem that exists; or will they seek to delay the election, somehow void the redistricting passed by the legislature, and/or otherwise throw a monkey wrench in the process?

Let's remember all the Democratic judges we have in these parts.  There is no doubt in my mind that some of them would do whatever is best for the party, or whatever the machine directs.

Santorum vs. Romney on Health Care

Mitt Romney outperformed Newt Gingrich during both Florida debates.  He apparently has a new debate coach.  Romney is now polling ahead of Gingrich in Florida; and if he wins there, Dick Morris feels he can "run the table" during the month of February.  A Romney win Tuesday could be very hurtful to the task of identifying a non-Romney nominee.

One of the best moments during the debate tonight occurred when Rick Santorum challenged him on Romneycare:

Bev Perdue, Brad Miller Out

Interesting, somewhat surprising news.

I have my doubts that the North Carolina Democratic Party will produce anyone better than Perdue to replace her on the ballot.  They might, however, run a candidate more likely to win.

I wonder who got to Perdue to convince her to drop out, and what their primary motivation might have been.

With respect to Brad Miller-- no matter how you slice it, his stepping down raises the hope that there will be one less socialist serving in the United States House of Representatives and representing our region.  That must be regarded as good news.

Greensboro Looks to Chicago as a Model

Hammer:

At the end of the meeting Councilmembers Nancy Hoffmann and Marikay Abuzuaiter got to present their plan for spending more money, which was to give each district councilmember some money to hand out. It is, of course, more complicated than that.

The idea is out of Chicago city government, one of the most corrupt and partisan governments in the country. It's like getting legal advice from someone in prison. But the basic idea as explained to the council is that each district councilmember holds a town hall meeting in their district and the people who attend that meeting get to decide how to spend a certain amount of money in the district. Who gets credit for this give-away? The district councilmembers would clearly get credit for the projects.

And thus, district council members become the political equivalent of Santa Claus in the eyes of their constituents.  They are granted tax monies in order to create an incumbency protection racket.  And of course, favored constituents who are considered to be part of the machine get the money.

My kind of town, Chicago is...

Bias Based Policing Initiative Gains Media Attention

Fox 8 has a report tonight about the GPD's Biased Based Policing initiative led by Captain James Hinson:

 

Let's take this apart, piece by piece.

"This is something that is not going to be tolerated in way shape, or form in the Greensboro Police Department," said Capt. James Hinson.

Captain Hinson has apparently come full circle-- and then some.  He was the police officer made notorious by the Cops in Black and White series in the Rhino Times.  He had thrown the police department, and in fact the entire city, into chaos by making false public accusations against command staff.  Mitchell Johnson forced out the department's top leadership; and the department was severely wounded.

Now, he is making broad pronouncements in the media. He is telling us what will not be tolerated in the department.  He is apparently being rewarded for what he did six years ago.

A couple of young women allege in the Fox 8 report that they had been profiled.  They, however, did not have the whole story; and were making an accusation they could not substantiate.

What is the record?

Greensboro Police said they received a total of 25 racial profiling complaints from 2006-2010. The cases were investigated, and police said there was no evidence of racial profiling.

And yet, the committee Hinson heads, consisting of likely liberal community members, will be laying down an approach to policing that potentially ties up officers in knots, thereby fixing a problem that does not exist for the most part.

Homeless to Be Housed in Sports Facilities Elsewhere?

Last August, I had a couple of posts here that ruffled a few feathers.  I proposed that the Greensboro Aquatic Center open its doors to the homeless to allow them to shower there and attend to their personal hygiene.

Of course, the proposal did not get adopted by city staff or the Melderec con SImkins majority on the Greensboro City Council. 

Recently, there was a service here in remembrance of homeless individuals who had died.  Robbie and Marikay attended; but neither have advocated allowing the homeless who are still alive to use the facilities at the aquatic center.

It turns out (ht: Jeff) that another major jurisdiction is considering a similar action.   State legislators in Florida are proposing that professional sports franchises there be required to house the homeless in their taxpayer-subsidized facilities-- for instance, in stadiums and arenas used by professional sports teams.  Of course, this proposal is much more bold than that which I offered.  They are proposing housing the homeless; whereas I only requested that the showers be made available to them one hour per day. 

But they probably have a good idea in Florida.  Perhaps we can use the aquatic center to house the homeless.

"Monumental" Documentary

HT: WorldMagBlog