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This may be slightly off subject, but isn't it curious that criminals want to put out a contract on a weekly tabloid editor in a town with a daily newspaper. You would think the muckrakers and go-getters-the sentinals of the Fourth Estate from a hard-hitting daily paper, would be the one's out there protecting the public and pissing off the criminals and instead they go after a tabloid editor. And not only that, but it looks like one of the columnists of the daily actually helped get rid of one of the guys who was trying to put the bad guys in jail.

Things get turned around sometimes.

You mean, like we did on Project Homestead, teen prostitutes, lead-contaminated homes rented by local landlords and the raw deal given veterans by the VA?
I

Exactly. You need to get your Mojo back!

We want contracts out on your lives, and we want them now. It's destined to be the new journalistic standard.

Unless somebody wants you dead, you're nobody!

Who says no one wants me dead?

Didn't mean to insult your manhood, Allen. If you're in a macho mood, you know-like not afraid answer a question truthfully, here's a question?

Do you think the police chief was the sacrifice demanded to make amends for Proj. Homestead?

I seriously doubt it.

Attack of the Former Elected Officials seems to describe a significant portion of this year's Greensboro City Council candidates.

I don't have yesterday's Rhinoceros Times in front of me at the moment, but I believe Mary Rakestraw may have begun her campaign from Greece and used the Rhino Times for some free campaign publicity. (I'll post a correction if I have those details wrong.)

Trudy Wade showed a lack of class by not conceding the last election--the one she lost to John Parks.

Wade effectively kept Parks from assuming his current at-large position on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners for what I believe was 18 MONTHS!

That took a significant bite out of Parks's four-year term on the board.

Imagine if such a selfish action was ever taken by a city council member; an elected individual could be denied 3/4 of his/her two-tear term!

Even the Rhinoceros Times did not support Wade's decision not to concede in a more timely manner.

Even those who "hate" Al Gore and John Kerry have to acknowledge that both men, for the good of the country, did not drag out the process and keep our country from having a definite leader in place.

I'm not sure if Wade ever made a public apology for what she did, but it wouldn't be a bad prerequisite for her receiving voter consideration.

I hope all of the candidates make themselves well-known before the primary election and the final election--many of them desperately need to do so as quickly as possible.

Hardy:
You give Wade a harsh assessment. Would anything change your mind?
What's your assessment of Robbie Perkins?

The issue of Trudy Wade not accepting defeat with grace, dignity, and good character may matter more to me than it does to other people in our community.

It definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

Wade, as I recall, was affected at times by the more negative nature of our Guilford Board of Commissioners; it seems difficult for anyone elected to that board not to be drawn into its members' uglier discourse and interactions.

But as an incumbent, Wade had an automatic advantage in her re-election effort, and voters selected Parks instead. (To be fair, Parks also had an established name in local politics.)

I would have accepted a Wade victory as easily as a Parks victory.

And I might have accepted Wade's initial desire to have the results examined.

But she dragged things out a bit ridiculously.

It would be like Duke playing Virginia Tech in basketball, losing the game, and Coach K refusing to accept the loss after a reviewed call at the end of the game that didn't go in his team's favor. He appeals the loss. And appeals again after still not being satisfied with the results. This drags out into the next basketball season. And maybe even into the season after that as well. (18 months.)

Elections are similar to sports--there are winners and losers.

When you lose, you should accept the defeat and consider what you could have done differently. (The one advantage losers have is that they are forced to question and evaluate their own efforts; winners might falsely assume that there was no room for improvement.)

I don't begrudge Wade attempting to make a comeback by running for the Greensboro City Council.

Mike Barber did the same, and his voice on the council strikes me as a relevant one, perhaps better informed by his experience as a county commissioner.

With Wade, I just have issues with her not accepting defeat graciously and holding on to an elected position for 18 months after she lost, effectively keeping her victorious opponent from taking his seat.

It would have been equally wrong if someone had done the same to Wade.

Imagine Wade narrowly defeating Sandy Carmany for the District 5 seat on the Greensboro City Council and Carmany turning around and doing what Wade did. Carmany could end up serving 18 months of Wade's term, leaving Wade only 6 months on the city council before she'd have to run again. (Actually, even less than 6 months left when you consider that you have to file for elections before terms are up.)

As I recall, Robbie Perkins simply decided two years ago not to run for re-election.

And now he's decided to run again.

Perkins belongs to an industry that may have too much influence in local politics.

But he certainly has a right to run.

Wade too has a right to run.

The issue I raise certainly isn't enough to disqualify Wade, but it does bring into question Wade's integrity, which I believe she brought up as a quality that she could bring to the city council.

There are definitely legitimate questions of integrity surrounding our current city council. I think it's an overall good thing that we have so many candidates from which to choose.

The District 5 contest has two very well-established political personalities for its citizens to evaluate.

Since Angela Carmichael is also running, there will be a primary election, which will likely give Wade and Carmany a chance to form initial impressions of how they rate among voters.

(I mean no disrespect toward Ms. Carmichael. But from observing past elections, it's highly unlikely that she will receive the media attention or voter consideration necessary to earn more votes than Wade and Carmany.)

If I recall correctly, the primary results from the Greensboro City Council's most recent at-large election allowed certain candidates to revisit their campaign efforts and alter some of the final election results.

With the District 5 election, the October primary may help the final two candidates gauge their support and determine what they need to do to maintain or change the results by Novemeber.

This is perhaps the best borrowed advice I can offer: "Sometimes the best man for a job is a woman."