City Council Candidate Questionnaire Response-- Kevin Green

I received today a response from Kevin Green, who is running for an at-large seat.  I appreciate his completing and returning the questionnaire.

His responses are as follows:

1. What do you regard as the single most important function or purpose of local government?  To provide basic services to all the citizens of Greensboro (parks & rec, water & sewer, public safety, libraries).

2. What should be your specific plan or approach to attract new employers, and retain existing employers, in the City of Greensboro?  We must improve our reputation as a business friendly city by taking advantage of all opportunities available to us.  Proper use of the $10 million Economic Development Fund should allow us to better prepare for future growth and planning.  Working with existing companies on their needs cannot be forgotten.  The use of incentives under qualified situations are vital to the growth and retention of our business industry. 

3. What would be your specific plan to reduce crime in the City of Greensboro? First and foremost, we must rebuild the citizen's trust in the police department and I feel Chief Bellamy is the right person to lead that change.  We must continue to provide the resources to police and fire departments for them to be effective in their jobs.  I also feel that if we can build a better job market, it will provide a healthier environment for all citizens and maybe direct some of those involved in crime to a better life.

4. Would you ever vote in favor of a tax increase? Yes.

5. Are you going to seek or accept the endorsement of the Simkins PAC? Yes.

6. Are you going to seek or accept the support of TREBIC? Yes.

7. Do you support same-sex domestic partner benefits for city employees? I understand that the city has a policy in place already addressing this issue.

8. What would be your specific plan to clean up the Greensboro Police Department? Chief Bellamy was an excellent choice to lead the police department through this very difficult situation.  I think it is only fair to let the SBI report come out first and give us all the facts before we decide what actions need to be taken.  The Chief has made some positive changes and we need to follow the progress closely and with time rebuild the trust of all the citizens.

My reaction: Once again, I am grateful to Mr. Green for his response.

The first question asked for what he regards as the single most important function of local government.  While he provided a single function-- the provision of basic services-- it was very broad, and made it difficult for us to know what carries the most priority in his mind.  He proceeded to list several individual functions.

His response to the second question on attracting and retaining employers was good.

He would be amenable to raising taxes, and at least some would regard this as problematic.  He also plans to seek the support of both the Simkins PAC and TREBIC.  This should cause warning bells to ring.

Another question was whether he supported domestic partner benefits.  He proceeded to advise that the city already had a policy.  Unfortunately, that was not the question.  The question was what his position is.

The responses to the questions on crime and the Greensboro Police Department are lacking.  It is difficult to see how rebuilding trust, "providing resources" and creating a better job market will cause crime reductions in the not-too-distant future.  While the question asked for a specific plan, the response included generalities that do not necessarily correlate with crime reduction.

In addition, awaiting the findings of the "SBI report" is a recipe for inaction or the status quo.  I somehow doubt that the SBI report will be released to the general public.  Instead, we will merely find out whether the State Attorney General's office plans to seek indictments and prosecute.  Even then, we would not be able to be certain about innocence or guilt-- for those indicted, or for those not indicted. 

The burden of the newly elected city council will be to act based on the information we currently have at our disposal.  Mr. Green seems to indicate he would keep the City Council's approach to the Greensboro Police Department matter on its present course, even though many serious questions have been raised.

The responses for the other candidates may be found by clicking "Council Candidates" in the upper right column of this blog page.

Comments

[Brenda Bowers]

I was afraid of this exact problem Joe; we simply do not have a candidate for mayor. He admits up front that he is for sale to the highest bidder. I was not going to vote for Yvonne Johnson because she goes along to get along, but I would rather have a whuss in office that a bull dog who is owned by the status quo. BB

[tonywilkins]

I have a question for Mr. Green under #8.
Response..."The Chief has made some positive changes and we need to follow the progress closely"
If you are following these comments Mr. Green what specifically would you consider "positive changes"?
(And do not include shift changes because response time now is 30 to 60 seconds longer than before shift changes went into effect.)
Also, what grade (A-F) would you give our current city manager?
Joe, thanks again for this forum. (if asking direct questions is unacceptable just let me know)

[Joe Guarino]

Brenda, I think we all need to look real hard at the candidacy of Milton Kern for mayor, and see what that is all about. Green is running for city council, and has numerous opponents. I hope we get more questionnaire responses so we can compare them side-by-side. Thanks, as always, for commenting.

And thank you also, Tony. I think it is perfectly fine to ask questions.

[Brenda Bowers]

Joe thank you for not calling me the fool that I feel like right now. I was reading up on Milton Kern and for some reason I actually "saw" his name at the beginning of this response. Dear Lord, I do want to hide my head.

That said, I won't be voting for Kevin Green either because my comment about him from above is at least accurate IMO.

So that knocks out Robbie Perkins of Project Homestead fame and Kevin Green for an at large vote. So far only Greg Woodard is looking good to me for an At Large seat. Mary Rakestraw is also a possibility from what i have been reading but need more info. We need two more to go along with Joe Wilson of District 3. Who knows we the people just may prevail in this election. BB

[Joe Guarino]

Brenda, the at-large field is vast. Some of the candidates are not well known. I am eager to learn more about these folks.

[Brenda Bowers]

Joe, I have been logged onto Lessons Learned Behind the Woodshed which is Greg Woodards blog for a time now and he really sounds good to me at this point. Also know that Diane Davis who is so involved with city council doings feels he is one of the best running. But, yes we need to hear more from him and others. BB

[tonywilkins]

Brenda, I was also following Woodard until I read this on his blog "how about a partnership with the city or private business to get the Civil Rights Museum completed".
Regardless of your opinion on this museum the voters of Greensboro rejected that bond soundly.
To recommend a "partnership" goes against local voters wishes and was not a good political move imo.

[Bubba]

"To recommend a 'partnership' goes against local voters wishes and was not a good political move imo."

Going against the voters' wishes?

No big deal for city council people.

Just business as usual.

[tonywilkins]

Joe,
Kevin Green posts this on his blog, "I look forward to working with the citizens of Greensboro, if given the opportunity, to see that we are all proud to call Greensboro “Home”."
Yet remember the poster issue that was designed in PA.
And on his blog the following copyright info:
Copyright © 2007 Elect Kevin Green
Surprising Sunset by Britisch-Invest.de, Webschnaeppchen.de & PG
(neither link is to an American company)
Is there a pattern here or do you think it's a non issue?

[Joe Guarino]

That is interesting, Tony, and I suppose his opponents might make an issue of that type of thing. Some might ask about supporting local or regional small business.

My particular interest is what-- and who-- Mr. Green's presence on the Council would represent.

[Sue]

Let me clear up a mystery, please. Tony Wilkins question: "Surprising Sunset by Britisch-Invest.de, Webschnaeppchen.de & PG"

This is the person who designed the template for WordPress. It's free and attribution is given to the original designer, even though we changed/edited/recolored the template.

This is so fundamentally standard to blogging, I'm a little surprised it's misunderstood. We'll have someone go in and make it clearer.

[Joe Guarino]

Thanks for the clarification, Sue.