Ryan Shell has sent me a response to the candidate questionnaire I have circulated. He is running for an At Large seat. I appreciate his participating. The following are his responses:
1. What, in your opinion, is the single most important activity in which municipal government engages? Public safety.
2. Do you favor taxpayer money being used to provide incentives for private real estate development? I am not in favor of handing out incentives left and right, but at times they are necessary and an option we need to have on the table so we can be competitive in today’s economic environment.
3. What actions do you believe are necessary to correct the wrongs our city government committed during late 2005 and thereafter with its response to the Police Department controversy?
David Wray is in the past, but the lawsuits that stemmed from the fiasco still need to be dealt with. We should continue to work towards unifying our police force and making it as strong as possible to ensure that Greensboro is a safe place for individuals and businesses to call home. I’m answering this survey on August 20, 2009… and we are currently on track to have a murder or shooting every week this month.
4. Which pattern of development do you prefer for the city of Greensboro's future-- higher levels of density with infill, or a more suburban pattern?
Higher levels of density with infill. I can’t say enough about how important I feel it is for all parties involved to collaborate at the onset to discover stumbling blocks and to proactively work to achieve the goal at hand. Infill will not be the best answer in every situation, but it should be an option we continue to consider.
5. Do you favor markedly expanding the usage of the White Street Landfill for residential trash to save taxpayers' money?
I’ve publicly spoken out against the reopening of the landfill to its previous state. Let me hit on an important point really quickly. While this was being discussed earlier this year I heard conflicting reports as to the number of years (from 3 - 50 years) we could potentially use White Street as well as the cost savings we would see from doing so. Let’s, for a moment, assume that White Street has 50 years of life left. What do we do at the end of the 50 year period? We need to step back and create a long term waste disposal plan because short-term band-aid fixes are not the best option for the future of Greensboro.
6. Will you seek or accept the endorsement of the Simkins PAC?
I am willing to talk to any group that would like to discuss my viewpoints and to discuss any endorsement that they have to offer.
7. Will you seek or accept the endorsement of TREBIC-affiliated organizations?
See previous response. I should also note that I, and other candidates, have received surveys from many groups including the Greensboro Partnership, yourself, etc.
8. What would you do to attract more employers to the city of Greensboro?
We should constantly work with the business community to ensure we are taking the right steps towards being “business friendly” and also ensure that we have an adequate infrastructure.
What would you not do to attract more employers? One thing I would not do to attract more employers is hand out incentives like they are hot cakes. Incentives that we give out should have a direct impact on the local economy.
9. Would you ever vote in favor of increasing taxes for Greensboro residents?
My goal is to work towards lowering the tax rate for the citizens of Greensboro. When compared to Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Raleigh and Winston-Salem - Greensboro has the highest tax rate. In fact, our rate is almost double that of Raleigh. Raising taxes or increasing fees is not something I ever want to do, but at times it might be something that has to be done. To be clear, it’s not something I am setting out to do.
10. Would you ever vote in favor of increasing fees for Greensboro residents? See question #9. Same basis.
11. What measures would you favor to limit the cost of benefits provided for city employees?
As the private sector typically does, we should continue to shop around for competitive pricing on things such as insurance policies to ensure we are receiving the best deal possible. Good benefits are one thing that can help employee morale so I’d be hesitant to start slashing things left and right.
12. Do you support adding more police officers to the GPD? If so, how many?
As Greensboro continues to grow, so should our police force. When we annex areas such as the Cardinal the City should be able to provide them with the same police coverage that other parts of the city receive. In regards to the number of officers needed, when I did an interview with Chief Bellamy on January 4, for GreensboroPolitics.com, and he mentioned that the department “could probably use 200 more officers.” Since then, new officers have been hired, but I am not in a position to tell you that we need X number of officers - I’d have to defer to recommendations from the Chief.
13. Do you support bringing the police chief under the control of the City Council? No.
14. Do you think our libraries' computers should be filtered to protect young people?
Do you feel as though a grown man should be allowed to browse porn at the library while sitting next to a twelve year old? I don’t, and feel as though we should take steps to prevent that from happening. I would be in favor of a filtration system of some sort so long as it did not drastically limit the use of the Internet at the library. If a filter is not an option we could look into lowering the partitions that separate the computers. My campaign has already hit on this issue and I know not everyone agrees with me. I guess when it comes down to it – keeping our youth safe is more important than whether or not someone can get their kicks by watching porn at the library.
15. Do you favor expanding mass transportation services in the city of Greensboro?
I’m in favor of expanding our transportation system and also in favor of improving what we already have. For instance, Greensboro has 1,105 bus stops and only 82 (less than 7%) have a shelter. I’ve previously highlighted that I think we can and should drastically improve that number. In addition, I’d also like to see GTA implement what I refer to as “trip planner technology” on their Web site. This technology allows you to easily input a starting and ending destination and the time you need to leave/arrive. Triangle Transit has already implemented the technology and after talking with them about the system I learned that it played a part in increasing their ridership. I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to visit GTA’s Web site and figure out how to use the system, but I consider it to be a barrier to entry.
16. What approaches do you think the police department should employ to decrease crime in our city?
I’m a believer in community policing and feel as though it can help reduce crime in Greensboro. In addition, I’d like to see the department continue to educate the community in ways that they can help reduce crime. Uniting communities is something that I view as a positive and in fact I have helped bring together more than 110 community watches in Greensboro by creating the Greensboro Community Watch - a program that has been supported by the GPD.
17. Do you favor or oppose the city planning department merging with the county planning department?
I would favor a merger between the City/County Planning Departments so long as it proves to be a cost benefit for the City. First things first though, we need to have the discussion with the County and make sure they are interested in pursuing the option.
18. What types of projects should be funded through bonds for economic development, and what types of projects should not be supported?
Bonds should fund capital projects, but projects that do not meet average wage requirements or have to do with routine maintenance should not be supported with bonds.
19. Do you favor proposing bonds to fund capital costs, or do you favor pay-as-you-go?
Utilizing bonds to fund capital projects is what I prefer, but at times “pay-as-you-go” might need to be an option.
20. Do you favor giving special, increased standing to Action Greensboro and/or the Greensboro Partnership in the formulation of policy decisions? No. The City Council makes policy decisions.
21. Do you support bringing the city attorney under the control of the City Council?
At this time I would not be in favor of adding additional management responsibility to a body that has yet to show the public that it has a strong grasp on managing its single employee, the City Manager.
22. Do you favor providing taxpayer money to Action Greensboro or the Greensboro Partnership? Yes because both groups can have a direct impact on economic development in Greensboro.
Filters as part of an effective means for protecting children are the best technique available. Even the ACLU now says filters are 95% effective and no longer block health-related information. Lowering the partitions will not work to protect children. Who said that, the library that's opposed to filters?
Porn is not a First Amendment right in a public library. Read US v. ALA that discusses this a little at http://laws.findlaw.com/us/539/194.html Basically, existing book collection policies and practices don't become useless just because of the Internet.
Ryan Shell: do not "compromise" with those who mislead you about filters.
Posted by: Dan Kleinman | August 22, 2009 at 10:07 AM
" Even the ACLU now says filters are 95% effective..."
Link?
Also, I'd like to know to what people are reacting. Is there some verifiable or documented problem with children accessing age-inappropriate sexual content on Greensboro library computers or are people reacting to some unspecified agitation against the mere thought of it?
Posted by: Roch101 | August 22, 2009 at 10:54 AM
I don't understand why it would be so difficult to have comps in the children's section that could be heavily filtered to weed out a majority of porn or other questionable media. The main computers should be free of filtering. No one should be allowed to look at pornographic material on library computers. This could be defined a number of ways, such as, does the website in question have the government porn disclaimer.
Parents could then allow their children to surf the net without any worries. Maybe I'm missing something here as to why its so difficult.
Roch, I think you have point also. I don't believe there is a major problem with anyone looking at porn at the library, with the exception of a few isolated incidents. On the other hand, there is a major problem with people chatting, playing games, etc.
Posted by: brandonB | August 22, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Assuming the below referenced activities are considered criminal and are widespread enough to where law enforcement is actively pursuing these types of people on their private computers ( and I haven't read or heard any raging controversies about that), why would anyone object to trying to prevent the same activities at a public library?
http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/08/12/article/greensboro_man_faces_41_counts_in_child_porn_probe
Posted by: cheripicker | August 22, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Roch,
This issue came up a while back when Fox 8 ran a story about a man being arrested for looking at, what I believe was child porn, at the library. I've actually not heard that kids looking at porn is the problem - it's the adults.
And hey, I know there are many different views on this, so maybe the concept of having youth/adult computer area might be a possible solution. The thought of a 42 yr old looking at porn next to someone's 12 year old daughter or son just doesn't sit very well.
Ryan
Posted by: Ryan Shell | August 22, 2009 at 12:14 PM
So a guy looking at child porn gets busted. The procedures in place worked.
I'm still wondering to what extent there is a problem with children accessing sexual content on computers at the library. Other than Ryan's "thoughts" are 42 year olds looking at porn next to someone's 12 year old daughter?
And still hope for a link to the ACLU saying that porn filters are 95% effective.
Posted by: Roch101 | August 22, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Ryan Shell has officially switched parties from the republicans to the democrats. Let's see how that plays out in the at large race.
Nice to see you back
JOE
Posted by: triadwatch | September 01, 2009 at 06:42 PM