Guarino

Riva's Trattoria: The Closest to the Real Thing

Riva's Trattoria has been operating downtown for a few years.  When the restaurant opened, it was announced that the emphasis was to use fresh, local ingredients; and to prepare meals in a manner that is faithful to the Italian tradition.

I finally had a full meal at Riva's last weekend for the first time, and it was superb.  My family spent a couple of weeks in Italy four years ago; and had the opportunity to experience what real Italian food is like.  This is to be distinguished from Italian-American food, which is what we have for the most part in the United States.

One local Italian restaurant operator once told me that their biggest challenge in this area is to obtain high quality ingredients.  They apparently cannot get the same quality of ingredients here that are readily available in Italy.

Riva's overcomes this disadvantage with the approach it has taken.  The result is a delectable delight that is the closest I have seen to the type of experience one enjoys in the better restaurants in Italy.

This is a restaurant that merits support.  It is located in a part of downtown that has less foot traffic-- not far from the ballpark.  So one has to make a conscious plan to go there; but if you do, the decision is amply rewarded. 

Republicans Given Little Time to Produce Alternative Redistricting Map

Skip Alston now controls the process of redistricting for the Guilford Board of County Commissioners.  His redistricting committee met yesterday and apparently set a soft deadline of next Wednesday, July 6, to received proposed maps.

If Republicans and conservatives want to have any input into this process, they need to submit a map by Wednesday.  Although it seems extremely doubtful that Alston will seriously consider any such submission, it is nonetheless important to be a part of the process in the event the matter is litigated later.  There is not much time.

Rakestraw Opponent

Mary Rakestraw has an opponent who appears formidable, at least on paper.  He is Tony Collins, who apparently has support within the Melderec/TREBIC crowd.

Why did former Mayor Keith Holliday think he would be a good council member?

Whether you’re going right or left, everybody needs to be rowing together to take this city in a progressive direction. 

Translation: we need to enforce conformity among council members, as we did when I was mayor; and get them to push together toward more liberal outcomes.  Tony Collins would help make that happen.

More Insane Perdue Vetoes; One Silver Lining

What did she do today?

She vetoed the bills that would have spurred auspicious regulatory reform; and that would have begun moving us toward greater exploration for oil and natural gas.

But there was one silver lining.  She is apparently going to allow annexation reform to become law.  She did not sign the bill, but she is not vetoing it either.

Democrats, African-Americans and Racism

Nancy Vaughan's Flip-Flop: Mayor Pro Dem

Politicians flip-flop all the time.  But this week, Nancy Vaughan committed the ultimate flip-flop.  She had previously announced, with great fanfare, that she was not going to run for reelection, in part because of the dysfunction she perceived to exist on the Greensboro City Council.  But now, she indicates she is going to run for reelection after all.  And her mission? To fix any perceived dysfunction on the city council.

Nancy Vaughan is completing her lurch to the left.  Perhaps we can refer to her as "Mayor Pro Dem."  She previously  functioned as a swing vote, or as a moderate; and she had seemed conservative on some issues during the 2009 campaign.  But now her true colors are shining through.

Her identification with "business progressivism" as reflected at the Greensboro Partnership is well established.  That organization's failure to help develop our local economy has become painfully obvious during recent days, but Nancy is its cheerleader at budget time.  It is a profound mistake to lead the cheers for a failed political ideology. 

Her identification with the Simkins PAC is a matter of concern.

Recently, she has made public allegations that the city council "pushed out" City Attorney Rita Danish.  However, she has offered no credible evidence; and the allegation is untrue.

She has had 18 months to demonstrate leadership on the city council, but she has not done so on a single issue that I recall (excepting perhaps some measure about a dog, or something like that).  She has oft expressed her opinions; but she has not led on hardly anything.

She has had to recuse herself on some key votes because of her husband's business activities.  Most notably, she has had to recuse herself on the landfill issue.  But there have also been rezoning issues such as that which involved a huge development-- the student housing near UNCG off Spring Garden St.  Her missed votes mean she was not able to do the job she was elected to do.

When the budget passed a couple of weeks ago, she voted in opposition over two matters-- the cut to the Greensboro Partnership and the withdrawal of pay for reserve officers.  But the reserve officers were unpaid when she previously served on the city council.  It should be noted that only T. Diane Bellamy-Small joined her in opposition to the budget.  That is distinguished company to keep. 

Perhaps Ms. Vaughan feels she is entitled to change her mind about running because she is a woman.  Some might interpret that as flightiness, however; or even as a reverse form of sexism. 

If she is reelected, what is she going to give us?  More of the same?  Or a new and improved version?

Addendum: Sam Spagnola also has some insight on this situation.  He correctly takes her to task over the issue of transparency.  What a fraud!

Spinning in Favor of SuperJam

The SuperJam event took place at the Greensboro Coliseum last weekend.  This event had previously been associated with considerable amounts of crime and disorder locally.

But immediately prior to Superjam, it was interesting to see that WFMY had a segment promoting the event:

Note how Frank Mickens suggests it is just a bunch of young people having fun; how the second-in-command at the Coliseum sings Superjam's praises; and how another person suggests the event is great for Greensboro because attendees rent stretch Hummers.  I guess being green no longer matters, at least for a night.

But then a comment on this blog from Axelskater suggested that downtown Greensboro did not experience a disorderly Superjam aftermath.  Why?  Because the Greensboro Police Department had implemented a plan of proactive policing, and headed off some problems.  Ed Cone made it sound as if the scene downtown was idyllic, but it was not quite so simple as that.  The after-midnight Superjam mess downtown was headed off by police, apparently to a large extent.

I do not know what the scene was like on High Point Road.

I put in a public information request to learn how much the GPD had spent to contain Superjam.  I received a response on Friday; but magically the city reported to the media the police report that very same day.  The bottom line?  There were quite a number of arrests, and at least one gunshot incident.

Some parties might feel the need to minimize the problems associated with SuperJam.  But I would argue that an entertainment event that results in a gunshot incident can hardly be viewed as a success.

The GPD reported that calls for service were down 33 percent from the previous year.  This was apparently to be regarded as progress.  But then I read an article in Yes!Weekly that might explain the situation further.  It turns out that SuperJam this year did not attract any major headliner "artists".  Attendance was therefore down 25% compared with last year.  You would therefore expect a commensurate 25% reduction in crime associated with the event.   

In any case, the city has reported that the additional police expenses attributable to SuperJam totaled approximately $75,000.  And the city advised me that it was Chief Miller who authorized these expenses from his departmental budget.

Yes!Weekly reported that the paid attendance was approximately 12,000.  I believe the price was $10 per ticket (correct me if I am wrong about that).  That means the gate revenues from the event were $120,000.  The Coliseum would also accrue some income from concessions and parking.  But on the other hand, I think the "artists" probably must be paid a significant amount out of the gate revenues.  Some simple arithmetic suggests that the exorbitant police-related expenses because of the historic crime pattern makes the event overall highly questionable from a financial standpoint.  How much money does the city have to make from parking, concessions and its percentage from the gate in order to justify this police expense?  It almost seems ridiculous.

But the more fundamental question is why the city continues to sponsor an event at its Coliseum that breeds so much crime and disorder, and that requires such an outsized police presence.  Some of us wonder why we sponsor events that train young people to be thugs.  Frank Mickens' explanation is absurd, of course.  But I think the true answer is that SuperJam returns every year because the city's politics will not permit otherwise.  The Coliseum management doesn't give a flip about the public safety.  And it is simply unthinkable that any elected official will decide that this is a battle worth fighting; or that other public officials will stick their neck out in opposition.  It is easier to let the shootings and the crime continue.

Perdue Wrong About NC Woman's Right To Know

When Governor Perdue vetoed the Woman's Right to Know Law in Greensboro on Monday, she made an erroneous statement.  I don't know if she was lying, or if she was simply uninformed.  But here is what she said:

"This is a dangerous intrusion into the confidential relationship that exists between women and their doctors.  The bill contains provisions that are the most extreme in the nation in terms of interfering with that relationship."

But in fact, Texas has just passed a law that makes an ultrasound mandatory; and that requires the abortionist to allow the pregant mother to hear the fetal heartbeat.  That sounds similar to the North Carolina legislation.

And in South Dakota, a 72 hour waiting period is required.  This is longer than what the North Carolina legislation required.

I have not done a comprehensive evaluation of what has been done in the many states that have this type of law.  But it appears, at least on the surface, that Governor Perdue was plainly incorrect, because some other states have passed legislation with requirements that are similar to or more stringent than what was passed in North Carolina.

The Failure of Business Progressivism and the Greensboro Partnership

There was a fascinating discussion that took place at the last Greensboro City Council meeting.  The news had just been published that Guilford County had lost 11,000 jobs from 2005-2010; and that median income had dropped 21% in the county over the last decade.

The discussion was about a reduction in funding for the Greensboro Partnership.  John Hammer reports:

(Councilwoman Nancy) Vaughan...asked that the $14,000 cut from the Greensboro Partnership budget be restored. All nonprofits were cut by 10 percent.

Perkins noted that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners fully funded the Partnership but didn't note that the commissioners raised taxes by 4.5 cents.

Matheny said, "we have a bigger problem than $14,000." Matheny talked about the recent job loss report and said, "We are the worst in the State of North Carolina on jobs."

He said that people had to stop pointing fingers and get together and figure it out.

Knight said, "I couldn't agree more. There has to be an all out assault on this problem."

Thompson said that nobody was talking about not funding the Partnership, but the funding for the Partnership was going to be reduced like the funding for all other nonprofits.

The effort to restore full funding to the Partnership failed 4 to 5, with Perkins, Bellamy-Small, Kee and Vaughan voting in favor.

This was very interesting because Councilman Zack Matheny pointedly argued that the approach taken by the Greensboro Partnership to economic development was not working; and the recently released numbers regarding job losses and declining income were clear evidence of that fact.  Matheny has previously been a big booster of the Partnership.  But this time, he left the heavy lifting to Nancy Vaughan to advocate for the Melderec crowd.

There is a larger point, however. 

Both our local government and our state government have previously been governed, to a great extent, according to a philosophy referred to as "business progressivism".  Among the exemplars we have seen espousing this philosophy are, at the state level, Kay Hagan, Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, Marc Basnight, Jim Black, Don Vaughan (and because she tends to tag along, Maggie Jeffus).  At the local level, we have seen folks like Keith Holliday, Yvonne Johnson, Jim Melvin, Robbie Perkins and Nancy Vaughan.  I suppose we could also add folks like Matheny, Kirk Perkins and Kay Cashion to this category also.

Carolina Journal recently had a very interesting critique of business progressivism written by Rick Henderson:

As North Carolina has remained fixated on a nearly century-old strategy for economic development, our neighbors and competitors have chosen policies more in tune with today’s dynamic economy. They’ve done a better job acknowledging that taxes are not delivered by a fat man in a red suit piloting a sleigh, but instead come from the proceeds of private economic activity. In other words, profits are generated by hard work, commerce, and entrepreneurship.

Other states in the region have invested in transportation networks, public research universities, and cultural resources. But they also have kept taxes lower and regulations less invasive. They’ve maintained and expanded a commercial base by providing an environment that welcomes private enterprise.

Globalism, the financial crisis and the great recession have exposed the utter failure of business progressivism.  We were able to remain competitive under this philosophy twenty years ago, but no longer.  The data indicate we are now falling way behind.

The Greensboro Partnership has been a frank manifestation of business progressivism.  Its intense advocacy for robust public spending and borrowing (and implicitly, for tax increases), even for unnecessary projects, is an outrage.  But that is the deal we bought when Jim Melvin's Action Greensboro was merged with the local chamber of commerce and the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance several years ago.  As long as that merger holds, and the old guard remains in control, we are going to have problems.

This is the same crowd that maintains an alliance with the Simkins PAC; and that even gave the PAC an illegal $5,000 contribution to get a huge bond issue passed at the polls.

As long as self-defeating policies continue to be championed by those in positions of power, both at the local level and at the state level, we are going to have problems.

Speaking the Unspeakable About Race and Redistricting

The local Simkins crowd harbors a certain perspective regarding race and redistricting.  They want to have their cake, and eat it too, with respect to the requirements imposed by the Voting Rights Act.  And they are being aided in the process of advancing their perspective by the Southern Coalition for Socialism.

One black Republican in Forsyth County, however, has a different point of view.

Ken Raymond:

I'm really looking forward to the day when race is no longer a factor in redrawing lines. The fact that so many people believe that there must be districts with African-American majorities proves that many people believe that all African-Americans think alike.

And that's not true. There are black liberals, conservatives, moderates and everything in between. And yes, most black people vote Democratic. But that's not because black people think alike. A big reason for it is cultural conformity, not ideological agreement.

Drawing boundaries that ensure African-American majorities is one of the residual effects of the Jim Crow era. Many people are still sensitive to a time of institutional disenfranchisement. Therefore, any significant demographic change in the districts would certainly bring accusations of racism.

But when organizations such as the NAACP play racial and partisan games, it's going to take much longer for society to get to a place where race will not be a factor in redistricting.

Robbie Perkins Watch: The City Attorney and the Failure to Recuse

We learn in the Rhino that Robbie Perkins had directed City Manager Rashad Young not to release the fact that City Attorney Rita Danish had resigned:

On Wednesday, June 15, City Manager Rashad Young had a press release about the resignation of City Attorney Rita Danish, who had reached a separation agreement with the majority of the City Council to leave, but did not send it out because Perkins asked him not to.

Perkins later in the week said he didn't want the press release to go out because he didn't think it was honest. Perkins admitted that he didn't think there were five votes to fire Danish but said he still didn't think the press release was honest.

The result was that on June 15, councilmembers were told that Young wasn't going to distribute the press release unless he had five councilmembers tell him to do so.

It is interesting that Robbie felt he had the authority, as a single council member, to make this demand; and that the city manager was responsive to this demand.  Of course, there was an effort to make it appear that conservative council members were in the process of firing Danish.  An early resignation would have made that narrative appear less likely.  (I had heard that the resignation might have taken place before June 15.)

Meanwhile, Abner Doon had a great post over at Triad Watch suggesting that Robbie Perkins' non-recusal from the White Street Landfill issue is a violation of state law.  And Ms. Danish helped arrive at the determination that Perkins' conflict of interest did not rise to the level that it required his recusal.  Abner wonders whether that might have been part of the reason that Ms. Danish resigned.

Some of us have felt it seems very strange that Nancy Vaughan and Zack Matheny had to recuse themselves on the landfill issue; but Robbie Perkins did not-- even though he has a conflict of interest.  Yet, he feels emboldened to direct the city manager as to when it is appropriate to release information about the city attorney's resignation-- when she had helped with his non-recusal!

 

Medical Care of Humans vs. Care of Automobiles

Craig Cantoni compares the costs associated with providing medical care for human beings versus the cost of providing care for automobiles.

Guilford Health Department Budget

Here is the video of the presentation I gave at the recent C4GC Spending Reform Summit: 

Greensboro's Shame

We learn from Mark Binker that Governor Perdue picked Greensboro to stage her veto of Woman's Right to Know legislation.  Apparently she knew that our amoral, dark, progressive political culture would provide her with a hospitable backdrop for this task.

And the event took place in the world headquarters of the Bryan Foundation, the home base of Greensboro's power broker and former mayor, Jim Melvin.  Binker says that local elected officials also were in attendance.  I wonder who they were.  Officials from Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, were also present.

If Republicans are unable to override, they need to make adjustments to the bill.  Eliminating the ultrasound provision would probably make a difference in terms of making the bill more likely to succeed in a politically liberal state like North Carolina.  It is important to get this done, notwithstanding Governor Perdue's strident pro-abortion position.

Update: The morning paper reports that Don Vaughan, Pricey Harrison, Alma Adams and Marcus Brandon were present for the veto.  No surprises.

Bachmann Announcement

Crime in East Greensboro

Yesterday, the local paper had an interesting article about crime disproportionately affecting east Greensboro.  I am always glad to see the city's crime problem highlighted.  Some readers' reaction to the article, however, must have been, "Well, Duh!"

The reporters  brainstormed about the reasons for all the crime; and seemed eager to attribute it to poverty.  Captain James Hinson was queried:

The reason for so many burglaries in eastern Greensboro may be as random as the homes that get hit.

Opportunity.

Greed.

Hinson, the Eastern Division captain, won’t go so far as to say that poverty is one of them.

But it might be.

Gee, do you think the problem might have anything to do with some of these young men trying to come up with money to support a drug habit-- or to pay monies owed to drug dealers?

Interestingly, Hinson was a central figure in the GPD fiasco and the extended series written in the Rhino Times by Jerry Bledsoe.

During the course of that series, Bledsoe laid out a powerful circumstantial case that one or more officers within the GPD were assisting local drug dealers and/or kingpins.

The young men breaking into houses can tend to feed these particular parties.

Constitutional Amendment Now More Imperative

There has been much media celebration over the outcome of the New York State gay marriage debate.  That is not unexpected because the media has been pushing the gay sociopolitical agenda for two decades.  It is also not unexpected that it was Republicans who allowed it to happen because New York, of course, is the home of Rockefeller Republicanism.

One of the unsurprising aspects of the coverage we have seen over the last couple of days is that we have seen little discussion of the effects on children; and on the ability of the institution of marriage to fulfill its promise to children.  The North Carolina Family Policy Council has published a handy issue brief to aid in understanding. 

I think one of the inevitable consequences of the change in New York State is that it will make it more imperative for individual states to pass marriage protection amendments; and for a constitutional amendment of some kind to be enacted at the federal level as well.  Why?  Because the activist courts will tend to rule in favor of gay marriage; because the media is determined to see this issue through to completion; and because legislators will behave like weathervanes, and merely twist in direction according to however the winds appear to be blowing.  Various parties will be eager to portray an air of inevitability regarding gay marriage.

Let's hope the North Carolina state legislature lets the voters decide on a constitutional amendment here.  This should be a decision for the people of this state.

State Legal Reform: Two Out of Three

The News and Observer reports that Governor Perdue signed two pieces of legislation: tort reform and workers' compensation reform.  But she vetoed medical malpractice reform.

A key part of the process of making North Carolina competitive again is to reduce the cost of doing business here.  That means reducing costs related to insurance and lawsuits.  The state legislature dutifully produced legislation that would achieve these objectives.  We are making progress, but work remains. 

City Staff Knows Best...?

The presumption is that city staff possess all the right values; and have knowledge that is more relevant for purposes of decision-making than city council members.

But if the Greensboro City Council cannot be empowered to set policy on behalf of citizens, then why do we even bother having such an elective body?  That is the unstated premise we are supposed to accept-- that council should not set policy in a manner that contradicts what city staff recommends, and that council should simply be deferential toward staff.

This is yet another example of agenda-driven news coverage (unposted, front page article in today's N&R).

Hammer on Guilford Redistricting

Rhino:

It appears the Republicans in Raleigh may be earning the moniker "the stupid party" one more time.

In redistricting for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the Republicans cut the number of commissioners to nine, which is good, but then they decided the commissioners could draw their own districts. There are seven Democratic commissioners and four Republicans. Does anyone think that Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston is not going to draw districts that favor Democrats? If there is any way for Alston to draw districts that all have a Democratic majority, he will do it.

The Republicans in Raleigh could have drawn districts to give Republicans a chance, but President Pro Tem of the Senate Phil Berger, who represents much of Guilford County in the legislature, chose not to. Berger met with Alston and Democratic Guilford County Commissioner Kirk Perkins before making the decision to let the commissioners draw their own districts. If he had met with Republican Commissioners Billy Yow, Mike Winstead and Bill Bencini, he might have made a different decision.

If the Republicans don't draw the state House and state Senate districts to benefit Republicans, they are making a huge mistake. It is the way the game is played, and the reason that elections right after the census are so important.

The people of the State of North Carolina elected a Republican majority to the state House and state Senate because they want Republicans to run the state, not because they want the Democrats to continue to run the state as they have for the past 112 or so years.

The rules now favor the Republicans, but only if the Republicans are smart enough use those rules to their advantage. In Guilford County the Republicans did not. Statewide they had better be prepared to play ball.