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Hot off the virtual presses over at the School of Government is this year's edition of County Salaries in North Carolina.
Fascinating stuff, I guess. You can look up what Guilford County would pay a PIO - that's public information officer or flac - if the county had one. Or you can comparison shop what different places pay Spanish interpreters.
But who am I kidding. Everyone is going straight to the county commissioners' salary table, right?
There's a lot of speculation about who is running for Greensboro City Council this year. And by "lots," I mean I'm speculating. Constantly.
Tom Phillips has said he won't file. Sandy Carmany has said she's running again.
The other seven honorables? Eh, we can only speculate. That and provide to you a list of how much money council members have in their campaign accounts (based on the last available filings to the Guilford County Board of Elections):
Yvonne Johnson: $6,512
Mike Barber: $4,974
Sandy Carmany: $2,689
T. Dianne Bellamy-Small: $2,473
Mayor Keith Holliday: $1,301
Goldie Wells: $853
Sandra Anderson Groat: $829
Florence Gatten: $626
Tom Phillips: Closed his account; donated money ($4,222) to charity
A few former candidates still have open accounts:
John Hammer: $3,478.71
Joel Landau: $158.83
Janet Wallace: $11.84
*****
In other business, Bill Moffett of North Wilkesboro wants you to know he's not running for Greensboro City Council.
'If nominated I will not run. If elected I will not serve," the retired history teacher said in an impromptu (and very long) speech, which greatly amused him but not so much his (captive) audience of one.
This news should come as a huge relief to those who know my dad.
The Greensboro Neighborhood Congress passed this along today:
Mitch Johnson, City Manager of Greensboro, will be visiting with the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress (GNC) on Thursday, April 12 at 7p.m. in the Nussbaum Room of the Greensboro Public Library at 219 North Church Street to discuss issues of interest and concern to neighborhoods.Time will be allocated for questions from the floor. Residents who are interested in the improvement of neighborhoods throughout Greensboro are welcome to attend GNC meetings.
The Greensboro Neighborhood Congress is a non-proft city-wide alliance of 63 neighborhood organizations. The Congress seeks to improve the quality of life in Greensboro by addressing issues of city-wide importance to neighborhoods and by empowering neighborhoods to resolve neighborhood-specific concerns.
Anyone with questions about this event is encouraged to contact Donna Newton, advisor to the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, at 851-2748.
Organizers of a move to oust Greensboro City Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small from office say they've collected enough signatures to hold a new election. More here.
Looks like we have the makings of a race in District 3, the seat Greensboro City Councilman Tom Phillips is vacating.
Check out this announcement from Joe Wilson.
His motto: "I am a candidate for Greensboro City Council 2008."
Catchy. But the election is in 2007.
******
Zach Matheny had previously announced his plan to run. I've cut and pasted his press release:
"Zack Matheny announced (March 21) that he will be a candidate for District 3 in the Greensboro City Council Elections, slated for November 2007. Matheny is currently a financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons Investments.
"Matheny is active in numerous local civic and community activites, including the United Way of Greater Greensboro, the Community Foundation, the Greensboro Sports Council, and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.
"Additionally, Matheny currently serves on the Greensboro Zoning Commission, was selected as the chair of fundraising for the Greensboro Bicentennial and teaches continuing education classes at Guilford Technical Community College.
'I am very excited about the possibility to of being able to serve the city of Greensboro as a representative of District 3. I am constantly amazed at what Greensboro has to offer, and to be able to represent the people of District 3 on the Greensboro City Council would be a great honor.'"
From the City of Greensboro this morning:
WHAT: Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday will hold a press conference to make an announcement regarding future leadership in Greensboro.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11, 2 p.m.
WHERE: J. Douglas Galyon Depot Activity Room, 236 East Washington Street.
WHO: All media are invited to attend.
Cross-posted from Capital Beat:
So the State Ethics Commission has collected ethics forms from legislators, members of the council of state and other folks who hold positions of public trust. The forms detail things like real estate holdings and stocks in one's portfolio and such.
After getting them, the commission promptly filed those away in the basement office of the state administration building here in Raleigh where no one can see them.
Well, gosh darned it, I think paperwork like that is made to be perused. So at least for our local (Guilford County) honorables, some statewide folks and a few other hangers on, we've put their ethics forms on the internets.
Click right here to go to the page where they've been collected. And if you find the link useful or have suggestions for more folks we should put up, comment below or send me an e-mail: mbinker@news-record.com
City Councilwoman Florence Gatten says she'll make an announcement about her political plans on May 1. Gatten is widely believed to be interested in running for mayor, but she hasn't said so publicly. Yet.
So if you're keeping track of press conferences:
Yvonne Johnson: 12:30 p.m. April 19
Florence Gatten: May 1 (time TBA)
Some people have said the Recall Small campaign - the petition to hold a recall election for District 1 rep T. Dianne Bellamy-Small - hit a snag by failing to register with the Guilford County Board of Elections.
Not true, said Charlie Collicutt, deputy director of the county board of elections.
On Friday, he said the county attorney and a lawyer for the N.C. Board of Elections have told him that the group did NOT need to register with the county, since it is a recall to be held within the city.
More on the Recall Small signatures, turned in today, in the coming days.
The State Board of Elections put the George C. Simkins Memorial PAC on inactive status this month. Basically, that means the PAC can't raise or spend money until it clears up what appears to be a paperwork backlog.
Fortunately for the PAC, it looks like it’s going to get cleared up soon.
First, for background, I got a call alerting me to the following paperwork on the SBOE web page:
Like I said, this could have been a lot worse than it is for the PAC, which is named for a dentist and civil rights leader. It has been a fixture on the Greensboro political scene, particularly in the African American community, for years.
"And we're going to stay that way," said Steve Bowden, the PAC's chairman.
He and County Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston both told me earlier today that they had filed the paperwork in question and didn't know why the state didn't have it. Neither could explain why they hadn't received the notices from the state and why they didn't know about this until I called them.
"I don't know. It's probably that they're over-worked down there. They probably need some help," Alston said of the state board.
Well, the state board figured it out. The PAC filed their paperwork late and under the wrong name. (It used to be called the Guilford County Citizens PAC). According to the board, the PAC will still have to pay a $500 fine (for filing late) and is still on inactive status until they do.
By the way, when I say it could have been worse, failing to file a campaign finance report is not only subject to a civil penalty but is also a Class 2 Misdemeanor. That's what the following sentence in the March 8 letter is about:
"Further, the State Board of Elections shall consult with and notify this noncompliance to the appropriate District Attorney pursuant to provisions of G.S. 163-278.34 if the Board does not receive the report(s) by 5:00 p.m. on March 16, 2007.
Relevant references to the General Statutes can be found here and here
At any rate, let this be a lesson that campaign finance paperwork is nothing to mess around with.
We ran a short story on last night's meeting of the Animal Advocacy Coalition, the group that's revising the county's pet ordinance. Read on if you missed it.
(A shorter version ran in the paper due to space constraints.)
GREENSBORO - The coalition revising Guilford County's dated animal-control ordinance will study pet laws in other areas before drafting its proposal.
Some of what the Animal Advocacy Coalition will examine are pet licensing laws in other counties and states. Greensboro, which falls under the county's animal-control operations, is the only large city in the state not regulated by a pet licensing program that charges residents a fee to keep pets.
Some areas charge less for sterilized pets, providing an incentive for owners to spay or neuter their animals and to cut down on pet overpopulation. Forsyth County, for example, charges $5 for sterilized pets and $25 for fertile ones.
Among the other ordinances mentioned at Tuesday's coalition meeting were those for New Hanover County as well as areas in California and Oregon.
The coalition is comprised of health officials, animal-control officers, veterinarians, animal advocates and concerned citizens, among others. The group could bring its proposal to the county commissioners for adoption later this year.
We've reviewed the signatures in the effort to recall Greensboro City Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small. We verified 770 signatures, 26 more than the committee needs to trigger a recall.
More here. Much much more tomorrow.
The Simkins PAC seems to be back in good standing with the State Board of Elections, after getting their problem from earlier this week taken care of.
The SBOE now lists them on "Active" status.
Here.
Like many bloggers, Alston links to several local media outlets. One Greensboro newspaper didn't make the list.
Update: In the comments, The Shu says he put in the links.
Downtown developer Milton Kern says his odds of running for mayor of Greensboro are 60-40. That's up from the 50-50 odds he gave himself a couple of weeks ago.
Still no announcements planned, he says.
Kern would join City Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson, who declared her candidacy on April 19.