Nancy Vaughan's Kitchen Knife

Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan, who is running for reelection as an at-large member of the city council, startled attendees at a forum last week with this information:

There were even some surprises ... like when Nancy Vaughan was talking about crime in her Old Irving Park neighborhood, where her home was broken into three times in five years.

Because her husband is sometimes away, "I thought about buying a little handgun," she said. Instead, she sleeps with a kitchen knife next to her bed.

Ms. Vaughan is a person of privilege who lives in the city's most exclusive neighborhood.  And she is the Mayor Pro Tem.  Imagine that she would have to go to sleep with a kitchen knife beside her as a means of just-in-case protection.

Interestingly, she voted against the budget in June.  That budget laid the groundwork for the hiring of 40 additional police officers.  But she voted against it!

The city has had a crime problem for many years.  Part of the reason for this crime problem is that insufficient resources have historically been directed to the Greensboro Police Department as a proportion of the city budget.  Instead, we have seen massive spending in other less essential areas such as parks and recreation, debt, and the coliseum complex.  This is part of the "quality of life/community development" political psychology that has justified this kind of spending in Greensboro.  The Greensboro Partnership has been one key entity that has advanced that point of view.

We have therefore had non-essential projects like the Greenway and the aquatic center pushed.  These entail not only operational spending, but also the repayment of debt with interest.

Nancy Vaughan has been a big supporter of the Greensboro Partnership.  She was a big supporter of the aquatic center; and I am not aware that she has opposed the Greenway.  She made her dramatic reentry in order to stop the reopening of the White Street Landfill to residential waste.

All of these cost us tens of millions of dollars.  That is money that could have been used for crime control and the Police Department.  It is money that could have been used to hire more police officers and purchase more police vehicles.  I am hearing that there is somewhat of a shortage of usable police vehicles in the department right now.

When Nancy Vaughan and her liberal colleagues make a decision to spend money unnecessarily, they make less resources available for crime control.  Other candidates running for council who would spend money unnecessarily include Robbie Perkins, Nancy Hoffmann, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Yvonne Johnson and Wayne Abraham.

I suppose Nancy Vaughan's solution for citizens plagued by crime is to keep a kitchen knife at the bedside table,  or perhaps a baseball bat.  

She is clearly not going to resist the Melderec con Simkins/Greensboro Partnership calls for spending money frivolously. 

 

Comments

[Sal Leone]

I sleep with a 38 cal and gloock 45, I feel a lot better about my odds, lol. I be glad to give anyone on council shooting lessons, gun cleaning, handling etc.

[Sal Leone]

Sorry thats Glock 45

[Axelskater]

Uh. Sal think of some of the current city council members. Like District 1 for instance. Shooting lessons?

[Micheleforrest]

I assume that TDBS already knows how to shoot a gun. She used to be a cop.

[Sal Leone]

I agree since the council does not get along,maybe taser trainig instead,lol

[Harold Milner]

Nothing safer than keeping Big Mama and her six little ones close by.

Wife stashes a butcher knife in the bedroom. Now that fact oughta keep her man on the straight and narrow.

[ElliePTweet]

Joe, personalities aside, you hit this nail square on.

Past voting records are the best indicator of future performance. Spending priorities must align with sound fiscal AND growth principles.

I'd love to finish the greenway: We cannot afford it. What's wrong with seeking corporate sponsorship instead of issuing more debt to complete it? (Rhetorical question, Farley.) Cycling is a huge sport in the Piedmont. Who are the biggest corporate cycling sponsors in the nation? This could be a great big business-small business-municipal effort that protects the city's financial picture instead of another boondoggle paid for by massive taxpayer-funded debt.

I just don't understand the mindset, though, that says "no" to police in poor economic times (with the associated higher crime) while saying "yes" to such an optional expenditure as a longer cycling trail. As you say, the aquatic center is a memorial to that kind of thinking. These are projects we should build out of abundance rather than lack. Corporations looking to move to the area are not going say, "Gee, the taxes are steep, debt is chokingly high, but there is that indoor pool to consider." An educated and eager workforce and low crime rates, on the other hand will stand us in much better stead with business leaders.

[bubba]

"Corporations looking to move to the area are not going say, 'Gee, the taxes are steep, debt is chokingly high, but there is that indoor pool to consider.'"

Oh, but you just don't share the wonderful vision that our municipal "leaders" and their magnificent megalomania want us to (literally) buy into.

[Jim Lewis]

bubbanear--
Couldn't agree more--"Megalomania" the perfect word.
Spending priorities sequenced by self serving agendas motivated by special interest.
We don’t need jobs, we need more parks.
We don’t need jobs; we need a prepared food tax.
We don’t need jobs; we need to expand the Coliseum.
We don’t need jobs, we need higher property taxes.
We don’t need jobs, we need higher water rates.
We don’t need jobs, we need more empty buses.
We don’t need jobs; we need to give more tax money to non for profits.
and the list goes on and on-----

[Joe Guarino]

Ellie, thanks. Obviously, I agree.

Jim, if the wrong side prevails on Tuesday, get ready for more and more and more of the kinds of things you describe.

[Sal Leone]

I have used the buses in about 3 or 4 cities. I have been outside of early voting on Market St and watched the buses pull up. I have never seen so many back to back buses pull up with less then half full like every 5 minutes. Why do we pay for that, can we use less buses and have them more full. I do not think it is fair for the tax payer to pay for someone else to save money, while we pay car taxes, fuel taxes, fuel cost and other vehicle costs and they pay less then $2 for a ride. I say increase the fair and decrease service.
As per the non-profits well that word really is false, its a profit for a few people, I got a few in mind. I just think some people in Greensboro are sleeping. We waste so much money on things we do not have to that it is not funny. I say thear down the War Memorial stadium, save part of it as a piece of history. There have been many of stadiums thorn down that have rich history. I am sorry for that but to spend like 3 million for what.
I got a feeling we will be in a spend, spend mode if certain members get in, will make my run again much easier,lol.
sal

[Joe Guarino]

Sal, these are all reasons we don't have more money to hire additional cops. But there are some very powerful forces in our community trying to pull city spending in these kinds of directions.