Rhino on District 4 Election

The Rhino had some interesting comments about the District 4 City Council election:

(Mary) Rakestraw has been a leader on this council. She has led through persistence. Rakestraw made the first motion to remove former City Manager Mitch Johnson from office a few months after being sworn in, when she discovered that Mitch Johnson was not being honest with the council. To her credit she maintained a cordial working relationship with Mitch Johnson while he was manager.

The entire Police Department scandal, where former City Manager Mitch Johnson forced the resignation or retirement of former Chief David Wray and his entire command staff, with the exception of current Police Chief Tim Bellamy, came down to the trial of Police Detective Scott Sanders. Rakestraw was the only councilmember who attended the entire trial, to hear testimony under oath of what really happened. When Sanders was found not guilty and all of the other charges were dismissed, Rakestraw asked for Mitch Johnson to resign. He did not resign but was fired less than two weeks later.

Rakestraw is the councilmember who has insisted on seeing information firsthand rather than relying on the report on that information from Mitch Johnson, who she discovered time and time again was misleading the council. Some members of the council, like Mayor Yvonne Johnson and Councilmember Robbie Perkins, continue to deny the reality of what Mitch Johnson had been doing.

Rakestraw is currently serving as an at-large councilmember representing all of the people of Greensboro, and people in every district have discovered that Rakestraw can get things done. She knows how the city works, and people who have had problems with one department or another rave about the way Rakestraw was able to get results in hours when they had been mired in red tape for days, weeks or months. Some councilmembers serve for years and have no more idea of how to get something done at city hall than the man on the street. The people of Greensboro need Rakestraw advocating for them in city hall.

Joel Landau is making his third run for the City Council. He is a nice guy but has shown his true colors in the whole episode over having Signe Waller Foxworth as a campaign supporter. Waller Foxworth was a Communist Workers Party member and one of the instigators of the Death to the Klan March, which lead to the shootout between the communists and the Klan in Morningside Homes on Nov. 3,1979. Her first husband was killed in that shootout. You cannot get any further left than Waller Foxworth. Landau put her on his list of supporters and then took her off the list. He said that she was a friend but he took her down because he was concerned she might be controversial.

Landau responded to questions about Waller Foxworth by linking Rakestraw with E.H. Hennis. You can link any two people, but Rakestraw has never listed Hennis as one of her supporters...

Landau's route to free television exposure has been through his appointment as co-chair of the Greensboro Sustainability Council. Because Mayor Johnson is a big supporter of Landau, the Sustainability Council has been on the agenda for meetings during the campaign.

What the Sustainability Council is doing is attempting to bring the industry restrictions of the Kyoto Protocol to Greensboro. The Kyoto Protocol treaty was rejected by a unanimous vote of the United States Senate...

Landau is far left, and if he is elected Mayor Johnson puts another councilmember in her pocket, which is not what the City of Greensboro needs.