The Rhino had some interesting comments about the Greensboro City Council at-large race:
(Danny) Thompson is the new candidate in the City Council
race this year who has really impressed people. His enthusiasm is
contagious, and he has a lot of ideas. He also seems to have grasped
the essence of the issues quickly. On controversial issues he has been
promising, not what he would do but how he would vote. It's a subtle
difference that indicates he understands he can't do anything without
the votes of four other councilmembers. He appears to be the kind of
candidate who could bring the council together.
Thompson is a
small business owner who was just annexed into the city. He's a fiscal
conservative who is not in favor of raising taxes and in favor of
cutting city expenses. It is his enthusiasm that sets him apart and the
council could really use it. Thompson has that ability to connect with
people, and in our opinion will be able to turn some of his good ideas
about sound fiscal management of our city government into reality...
If the (Simkins) PAC gets out the voters and makes sure they
vote for the candidates the PAC has endorsed, then (Marikay) Abuzuaiter has a
chance at being elected. It is more likely that she will move up a spot
or two but not make it on to the council.
She has noticeably moved left since she ran in 2007, and appears to have aligned herself with Mayor Johnson.
At a recent forum, Abuzuaiter did an unusually complete job of avoiding the questions...
This year (Robbie) Perkins received the Simkins PAC
endorsement and has good name recognition and will most likely win. But
his old District 3 supporters should take a good long look at whom
Perkins has been supporting in this last term.
It is a poorly
kept secret that Perkins wants to be mayor. He has said that he ran for
City Council in 2007 because Mayor Yvonne Johnson asked him to. He has
certainly been her right-hand man. Perkins has voted with Yvonne
Johnson and Councilmembers Dianne Bellamy-Small and Goldie Wells so
consistently that other councilmembers call them Perkins and the
Perkinettes.
Perkins supported former City Manager Mitch Johnson
and still supports his actions, even though much of what Mitch Johnson
told the council has proven to be untrue.
Perkins has suggested
that the city loan the money to the state to buy the land for the
interstate highway that is planned to go north of Pisgah Church Road
and south of the lakes – the northern leg of the so-called outer loop.
It is far inside the Greensboro city limits now, so calling it the
outer loops seems misleading. Whether loaning the state money is a good
idea or not is certainly debatable. That the loop would be a boon to
those in the commercial real estate business, like Perkins, is not.
Perkins
is a huge proponent of regional initiatives and is one of the driving
forces behind the Heart of the Triad regional development effort. Once
again, whether or not developing land in the area around Colfax and
Kernersville is necessarily good for Greensboro is debatable; whether
or not it will be good for a commercial real estate company named NAI
Piedmont Triad, headed by Perkins, is not.
Perkins will no doubt
be back, but hopefully other councilmembers will keep a watch on
Perkins, like Councilmember Mike Barber did in this last term, when
Barber found that Perkins had bypassed normal channels to get a $1
million sewer line needed for the development of the old Pilot Life
property that Perkins was selling as the real estate agent for Lincoln
Financial.
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