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.
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