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Back in December, Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday told Scoop that he'd make a decision about running for a fourth term by February or March. Having not heard any news about his future, Scoop called to check in today.

"I'm still not ready to make an announcement," Holliday said. "It hasn't been as quick of a decision as I hoped for."

Holliday said he'd probably make an announcement one way or another by the end of May. Candidate filing for the November election begins July 1. He said that his family and job weighed on his decision, and he said he would be working out the decision with his "team."

The mayor's decision would have a big impact on the races for the other eight council seats. In 2003, Holliday won with nearly 80 percent of the vote and is still considered widely popular. If Holliday opts to step aside, other council members (Yvonne Johnson and Robbie Perkins are often mentioned) might vie for the job, opening competition for the seats they currently hold.

The only other open seat as of now is District 4, currently held by Florence Gatten. She promised to only run in her district for two terms, so she is seeking to remain on the council in one of the three at-large seats.

Here's another in our continuing series on things that North Carolina lawmakers want to names as the official something-or-other of the Tar Heel state.

Today, a shout out to our friends down in Randolph County and the rest of the Seagrove area, which Rep. Jerry Tillman, a Republican from Archdale, wants to declare the birthplace of North Carolina traditional pottery.

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On a completely separate note, the big sport at the legislature tonight will be seeing if the Senate will actually roll out a budget as they've threatened to do. Remember, it's the Senate's turn to take a stab at the budget first this year before the House. What will make the Senate budget extra fun is that it is widely expected to have language authorizing a new state lottery on board, rather than separating that controversial provision off as a standalone bill.

The House and Senate are scheduled to meet (separately) for regular business at 7 p.m. tonight with the Senate's gaggle of appropriations committees on deck to hear what could be a draft budget proposal at 5:30 p.m.

Update (3:15 p.m.): Looks like all bets might be off today. The Senate has just cancelled those subcommittee meeting, interpreted by many folks as a sign that the budget writers aren't ready to roll out their work yet.

The year was 2001. The city was High Point. An election had been delayed. So, it turns out, would be a thorough explanation of exactly why.

Residents of Guilford County's second city will remember that while everyone else was going to the polls to elect city councils that year, High Point voters stayed home. At the time, I was the High Point city government reporter stuck covering the non-election. We were searching for some answers to what I thought were really simple questions. Now, 42 months later, we might have some.

For the full story, take trip in the way-back machine curtsey of your friends and mine at the U.S. Justice Department.

At the High Point Museum from 7:30 to 9 a.m. May 13.

The High Point City Council member turned N.C. House member will discuss happenings at the General Assembly.

Registration is required, and the event costs $5 to help pay for breakfast. Anyone interested can register by calling Tonia Stephenson at 889-8151, Ext. 24. The registration deadline is May 11.

First off, no lame car insurance joke here.

Second, Gov. Mike Easley says the state is in the money, relatively speaking. In a press release issued Monday Easley said that revenue collections were expected to be about $425 million ahead of predicted for the year.

Of course, most that money will come by virtue of tax scofflaws paying up in exchange for amnesty.

And curiously, the windfall didn't help Senate budget writers put their spending plan on the table. Although they had put things in place to unveil a budget Monday, budget writers pulled back, canceling a series of meetings scheduled to lay out the Senate's budget proposal.

The group of Democratic leaders responsible for compiling the initial draft emerged from behind closed doors just before 7 p.m. Monday to say they might have something Tuesday.

Hey folks. The other kids here at Inside Scoop asked me to stop littering the place with all my %$#$@!!* legislative stuff. So we've started a new blog.

Those interested in state government news can head on over to Capital Beat. See you there.

Before last night's meeting, the Greensboro City Council voted to hire an executive search firm out of Norcross, GA to help find a replacement for Ed Kitchen, who is retiring in August. They met with Bob Slavin of Slavin Management Consultants, who billed himself as one of the leading city executive search firms.

Slavin's company will be paid $13,675 plus expenses to recruit the new manager. That includes processing drawing up advertisements, taking in resumes, doing background checks on potential candidates and interviews.

"Our process is designed to find someone that meets your needs, not just someone who has succeeded somewhere else," Slavin said. "I may not know the next city manager of Greensboro, but I know folks that do."

Slavin's firm has helped find the city managers in places like Dallas, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Wichita. Their firm also helped pick two of Greensboro's assistant city managers, Ben Brown and Bob Morgan. Slavin said a typical search takes about 90 days from when a "profile" is drawn up and the candidates are brought to be interviewed by the council.

In an email, tbe Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced it is delaying its first public hearing into the 1979 Morningside Homes shooting until late June. The hearing was originally scheduled for May 20-21 and was to cover the actual events leading up to and including the shooting. The message did not explain why the delay was necessary.

Here is the message:

FROM: Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission
TO: Ubuntu Weekly Recipients

The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission has rescheduled its first hearing for June 27-28, 2005 at Triad Stage (232 S. Elm St, Greensboro, NC). Please pass this message along to anyone who may be interested. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Guilford County commissioners will tackle a relatively light agenda on Thursday. Don't expect a trend, however, as 2005-06 budget talks will soon begin in earnest.

Included on the agenda is a public hearing on the county's proposed noise ordinance, brought forth by Sheriff BJ Barnes and modeled after similar laws in Greensboro and High Point. The board tabled the proposal at its first meeting in April.

The ordinance would regulate loud or annoying car and home stereos, barking dogs and loudspeakers, among other noisemakers, in unincorporated parts of the county. Exceptions include farm noise and government-sponsored street construction.

Violators would face hundreds of dollars in fines, though a written warning would be issued first.

Commissioners will also schedule a series of meetings on the budget. A draft schedule has the board talking about the budget at six meetings starting June 2 and ending June 16, when commissioners could pass a plan that will likely account for about a half-billion dollars in spending.

The full agenda is here.

We had a story on Saturday about Guilford County commissioners Bruce Davis and Paul Gibson traveling to Hawaii in July for the National Association of Counties annual conference.

Mentioned in the story is a memo from Todd McGee, communications director for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. McGee alerts politicos to the possibility of "negative press" and provides some "talking points" on how to handle media inquiries.

Click on the link below to read the entire memo.

Every year about this time, city departments submit their wish lists, equipment or programs they'd like to have but can't afford without more money in the next year's budget.

One of those items is $185,000 for a T.V. studio for Channel 13, the city's cable outlet where you can see council meetings, community events and such. Right now, Channel 13 produces documentaries but doesn't have a studio where they can do live shows like call-ins and other programs. Here's how the proposal is explained in a request to the city manager:

"Having a studio would allow, for instance, the Chief of Police to be on the air, answering questions from the public or explaining a difficult to explain issue. It would also allow for regularly scheduled program for departments of City Government which don't currently have a good communications vehicle to reach the public directly."

Then the description explains why having this direct outlet is important for the city; "Avoiding the filter of the news media, television or radio, is important to getting the correct message to the public."

If the term "filter" sounds familiar in describing journalists, it might be because President Bush said in October 2003, "I'm mindful of the filter through which some news travels, and somehow you just got to go over the heads of the filter and speak directly to the people."

Channel 13's proposal expands on how the studio will "change outcomes."

"We will able to control the message, totally ignoring the 'spin' theory. We can lay out the facts, professionally and quickly, and repeat it as often as we need. Having a live studio gives the City of Greensboro direct access to citizens with a message we totally control. No interpretation, no mistakes!"

It will be up to City Manager Ed Kitchen to decide whether to find money for the studio, and ultimately the City Council's to give final approval in June.

UPDATE: After the closed-session, Commissioners Chairman Bruce Davis and Jenks' attorney Seth Cohen got into a verbal sparring match (click here to listen) later joined by Commissioners Linda Shaw and Billy Yow.

In front of newspaper and TV reporters, Cohen accused Davis of slandering Crayton. A minute into the recording, Shaw steps in to point out that Davis was late in paying his own taxes. Later, Yow says that Davis can't carry himself as an elected official, to which Davis responds by turning the insult around and repeating the charge against Yow.

The three-minute recording is somewhat muddled but well worth listening to.

From our county government reporter Nate DeGraff:

GREENSBORO - The N.C. Department of Revenue presented the findings today of its weeks-long inquiry into suspended Guilford County tax director Jenks Crayton.

The state found "no evidence of any wrongdoing" by Crayton as it relates to his duties under the state's property tax statutes, according to a one-page letter to county attorney Jonathan Maxwell from David Baker, director of the property tax division at the N.C. Department of Revenue.

The commissioners were in a private meeting this afternoon with state revenue officials to hear findings of the full report.

"It's wonderful; it's what we expected," said Seth Cohen, Crayton's attorney. "I don't see how the Department of Revenue's report could be stronger."

Democratic commissioners ordered the inquiry after receiving numerous complaints about Crayton from current and former tax department employees, though the commissioners have declined to name names. Crayton has been accused of giving property-tax favors to Republican Steve Arnold and unduly influencing a board that hears property-tax appeals.

Democrats also have fielded complaints about Crayton's management style, though the state inquiry has not addressed those issues

Bonus material: Read Baker's report online here.

You may have seen my story Monday about a conceptual plan to clean up a contaminated 163-acre site along Riverdale Drive that was once home to a chemical-recycling site and a city of High Point landfill. The site is near Deep River, which will feed to future Triad drinking-water source Randleman Lake.

You can now see the entire plan by clicking here. It's a 74-page PDF file.

While pleased that City Manager Ed Kitchen proposed only a one-cent tax increase, Mayor Keith Holliday said he'll push to get that increase to zero. In other words, keep the tax rate at 56.75 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Is it possible? Well anything's possible, including cutting taxes. Doing that means cutting expenses or entire programs, not always the easiest thing to do politically. Even Kitchen noted Tuesday that anytime it seems there is political support to cut something, the constituency that benefits from that spending rises up and convinces the council to back off. Witness the attempt in 2003 to cut arts funding.

But if Holliday pressed for a zero-cent increase, what would he have to do? Basically find $2 million somewhere in the $351 million budget. There are plenty of existing programs to cut, but it could be possible to find the money by not adding instead of subtracting.

The mayor, with the support of four other council members, could freeze the tax rate by taking away most of the additions Kitchen proposes. Here's a possible list:

Was unveiled yesterday. It includes higher taxes, water and sewer rates and electric rates. It also provides more firefighters and cops.

If you'd like to know more, read this. (And don't forget to come back.)

So, what's your opinion on the budget? What do you think about the tax and rate hikes? Do you see any new spending you think should be cut? Is there anything missing you'd want to add?

You can share your thoughts here and/or tell City Council what you think about the budget at 5:30 p.m. June 6 and 9 a.m. June 9.

Thursday's county commissioners meeting saw the board reinstate suspended tax director Jenks Crayton on a 9-2 vote. Democrats Bruce Davis and Skip Alston voted against the measure.

But that's not all that happened.

Commissioners quoted Scripture. They rehashed old battles. They talked about how they arrived at their positions regarding Crayton's reinstatement, and how their votes would help them sleep at night.

Crayton had been on leave since early April, when Democratic commissioners ordered an investigation of the tax department by the N.C. Department of Revenue. The inquiry found no evidence of wrongdoing, but some board members weren't satisfied.

Scoop's got audio of everyone who made extended speeches Thursday except Democrat Kirk Perkins, who spoke near the end of the meeting after our recorder had filled up. The recordings are presented in chronological order from top to bottom.

Skip Alston: (14:50) voted against reinstatement

Billy Yow: (3:55) voted for reinstatement

Jenks Crayton: (8:27) answering questions about certain tax parcels from Alston, Davis and Carolyn Coleman

Bruce Davis: (14:24) voted against reinstatement

Paul Gibson: (2:04) voted for reinstatement

Trudy Wade: (2:02) voted for reinstatement

Steve Arnold: (5:37) voted for reinstatement (Arnold's microphone is off during the first part of his remarks. It comes on later, but only after a shrieking sound from the mic. Be aware as you listen.)

Linda Shaw: (3:25) voted for reinstatement

(Democrat Kay Cashion and Republican Mike Winstead did not speak on the matter. Both voted to reinstate Crayton, as did Perkins and Coleman.)

N&R Editor John Robinson asks about Mayor Keith Holliday's promo for Fox 8's live coverage of the implosion of the domestic textile industry Burlington Industries headquarters:

The promo spot I saw twice last night has him standing in front of the building. He says something like this (I had to find a pencil to scribble it down last night so I may have a few words wrong.): "I'm Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday, and I would love it if you would tune in to watch live the demolition of this building on Fox 8."

Reached by telephone this morning after boom went the dynamite, Holliday said he did the spot for Fox 8 at the end of an interview late last week he did about the implosion. He said that many radio and tv stations ask him to record promos and he usually obliges.

"I kinda took it as a public service announcement," Holliday said.

The mayor said that while the implosion was a terrific spectacle, if something were to have gone wrong, it would be better if folks watched it on television instead of putting themselves in harm's way. He did say though that he was there in person for the explosion, and he called it "neat, but at the same time pretty sad."

"There were definitely some mixed feelings."

As for Robinson's suggestion that the promo was related to the fall municipal election, Holliday said he hadn't made a decision yet about seeking another term and would have an announcement "within two weeks."

With all the partisan wrangling over now-reinstated tax director Jenks Crayton, some Scoop readers might have forgotten that a legal dispute for a Guilford County commissioners seat remains unresolved.

Enter the state Board of Elections, which will consider Republican incumbent Trudy Wade's appeal of a recount recently completed by the Guilford County elections board. The meeting is scheduled for May 31.

Wade gained ground last month when the Guilford board threw out hundreds of provisional ballots deemed to be cast in the wrong precinct, but she still trails Democratic challenger John Parks by 89 votes. The 6 1/2-month-old standoff has entered the commissioners' chambers, where more than a dozen speakers during the past two board meetings have either offered Wade support or told her to give it up.

In her appeal, Wade asks the state board to throw out an additional 307 provisional ballots that were "erroneously allowed to be counted" by the Guilford board, which has two Democrats and one Republican. The appeal also requests another recount or a new election.

The battle won't end at the state board; a superior court judge will examine the recount results. Wade's attorney has indicated that the case could return to the state Supreme Court, which declared out-of-precinct ballots illegal after the November 2004 election.

Reader jwg brought up an interesting question over at Allen Johnson's place regarding Guilford County tax director Jenks Crayton:

"Is Mr. Crayton entitled to reimbursement for his legal expenses?"

Nope, according to county attorney Jonathan Maxwell. He said the county defends employees from job-related lawsuits filed by outside parties, but that policy doesn't apply when workers have disputes with their employer.

"State law doesn't let it apply," he said.

There was a question about an exchange quoted in our story Friday(unposted), "Board majority opposes additional police officers."

In it, I describe an exchange between Tom Phillips and Claudette Burroughs-White about funding for the police department:

While all the council members would like to hire more police officers if money were no object, it was clear that the three representatives from east Greensboro see the need for more police as more urgent. When Phillips suggested earlier in the meeting that the police department could cut wasteful spending, Burroughs-White responded by saying: "Yeah, we can cut some officers. Buy me a van and I'll bring some criminals to your neighborhood."

First, while a plain reading of that paragraph might not indicate it, Claudette was being facetious. But as with all comments made at council meetings, there is a kernel of sincerity buried in the comment. Claudette feels that council members who live outside of high-crime districts don't appreciate the need for more officers.

Second, Tom was not singling the Police Department out for being spendthrifts. His suggestion came after Mayor Keith Holliday proposed an across-the-board cut to what he called "non-essential" departments. After considerable debate over which departments were "non-essential," Tom made the observation that usually there's room in any large organization, including "essential" services like police and fire, to cut spending that isn't necessarily wasteful, but isn't entirely necessary to get the job done. Claudette took that as an indication that he felt there wasn't a need for better police coverage, which I don't believe was his intent.

With that cleared up, it's worth noting that unlike last year, when there was virtual consensus on the budget and it passed exactly how it was proposed by Ed Kitchen, there will need to be a bit of coalition building to pass this year's budget. Some want to spend more for more police, some like Kitchen's middle ground of a one-cent increase, while others are intent on having no tax increase. Even among the cutters, there's disagreement over how to cut. Right now, there aren't five votes in any one of those camps.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

Every year, the city comes out with a list of big ticket items they think the city needs, from new fire stations to parks to sewer lines. This year, there are quite a few new projects on the Capital Improvements Program that are listed as being funded by "unauthorized bonds."

That's code for "this project will probably be lumped into a bond referendum in the next few years." Right now, the plan refers to referendums in 2006 and 2010 and has $104 million in projects ready for funding. This doesn't include the $25-30 million in estimated costs to renovate the Coliseum's War Memorial Auditorium.

There are too many projects to go into detail, but I'll list a few and if one piques your interest, you can go to the source to read more:

Libraries: