News-Record.com

Once again, Scoop gives you David Crawford for Council, unedited from the press release he sent us this week:

"David crawford Has pick to re-run for the City Council of
Greensboro n.c. in 2007! If You can Make a ONE-TIME
donation to David crawford For City Councle Today it will
help alot! Contributions can be mail to : David Crawford
5603-B west friendley Ave #221 , Greensboro n.c. 27410.

"The Young Republicans Of Greensboro N.C. Office: 5601
Roanne Way 103, Greensboro N.C. 27409 Local President:
David E Crawford Upcoming Meetings: Monday Night at 7pm
RSVP: 336-997-5051"

I called Crawford to ask whether he was running in his district or at large. He said he was running as a Republican. After a brief discussion, I figured out he plans to run in District 4 for the nonpartisan seat held by Mike Barber.

Crawford had previously sent us this in October.

Hmm. What do these tidbits from the Greensboro Coliseum commission this say about all you Baby Boomers?

The March 9 show 'Chicago Live in Concert' made no money. In fact, it actually cost taxpayers $4,720. We're sure the 1,503 people who bought tickets are richer for having gone. Didn't sell many concessions, however.

The night before, 'The Temptations and Four Tops in Concert' cost taxpayers nearly $3,000 from their no-money-making show. Again - not many people buying snacks.

But Bob Weir and Rat Dog? They raked in $15,800 for the Big Brown Box. And, surprise, surprise, much of that came from people buying food. Fans scarfed up almost three times the amount of food consumed at Chicago and the Temptations combined. Whoa. Those fans must have had a bad case of the munchies, huh?

We're not implying anything here. We're just saying.

Sandra Anderson Groat said this morning that she will run for reelection.

More here.

We've got a story this morning examining conditions Guilford County's jail system.

Other large counties have built new jails over the past 15 years, but not Guilford. Some county commissioners say the crowding can be fixed with more jail-diversion programs, but court officials say the problem is too severe.

Should the county build a new jail? If so, should voters get a say?

Today, at the city council's briefing session, Mayor Keith Holliday was talking about rehabbing the old Canada Dry building.

He said the city shouldn't do "a half rear-end job" on construction.

The city has been down this road before with the owners of the Canada Dry property on High Point Road, according to documents I got last night.

Last March, the city made an informal offer to buy the old Canada Dry site for $3.05 million. But City Manager Mitchell Johnson put several stipulations on the deal - including removing underground storage tanks and removing other debris.

Commercial agent Carl Essa, who is trying to sell the property for the Spence family, turned down the deal, saying they could only go as low as $3.19 million. But they agreed to the environmental clean-up. Essa told me yesterday that the owners have either completed most of the requested fixes, and will make the other improvements after closing has occurred.

By the way: The property is owned by Susan Robinson, the wife of News & Record Editor John Robinson, and her brothers, W. Hardy Spence and Royall Spence III. The family, which owned Canada Dry of Greensboro, sold its franchise to distribute soft drinks in 1998 and has since focused on developing the land.

Oh, the new asking price is $3.7 million

Guilford County commissioners designated $150,000 Thursday to the Pleasant Garden Community Center so the organization could install new ballfield lights.

Some might call that pork. The proposal came from an unexpected source: Republican Billy Yow.

Here's where commissioners got the money: $90,000 came from funds previously slated for the planned Pleasant Garden YMCA (that project is on hold), and $60,000 came from Manager David McNeill's contingency fund. To get the money, the community center must raise $75,000 in matching funds.

But some commissioners balked at Yow's request. Among them was Carolyn Coleman, who said Yow was overstepping boundaries because the project was in her district. Yow said Coleman had ignored pleas for the lights from area residents, and added that some of the folks who supported the project live in his district.

Coleman offered another way to pay for the lights, but that proposal was voted down.

We just got a press release from the sheriff's office about a fight that occurred last night in the Greensboro jail.

If you click on the jump to read the whole thing, you'll notice something you don't see in most press releases: Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes complaining about county commissioners.

Barnes has been warring with commissioners over the past decade over the crowded conditions in the county jails. As you can see from the release, he really, really, really thinks the county needs a new jail.

This just came in. For background, read the original article and the blog post. Matt Brown's e-mail to me is pasted in the comments section:

**************************

Dear Members of City Council and War Memorial Commission members,

I wanted to forward to you a copy of the formal letter of apology I sent earlier today to Mayor Holliday and Councilman Phillips regarding my inappropriate actions in response to their comments following Tuesday’s presentation to City Council of the proposed purchase of the Canada Dry property.

I have also spoken with Councilman Phillips this morning and have attempted to contact Mayor Holliday via phone on two occasions to express my regret over the comments I relayed to the News & Record yesterday.

Matthew G. Brown, Director

Greensboro Coliseum Complex

_____________________________________________
From: Brown, Matt (Coliseum)
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:06 PM
To: Holliday, Keith; Phillips, Thomas
Cc: Johnson, Mitchell
Subject: Letter of Apology

May 10, 2007

Mayor Holliday and Councilman Phillips,

I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for the comments I made to Margaret Banks of the News & Record yesterday in reaction to your comments from Tuesday morning’s presentation which appeared in her article published on May 9.

Having worked on this project for over 12 years, and as the person who presented this concept to state legislative leaders which resulted in the awarding of $2M for the proposed ACC Hall of Champions, I obviously have a long standing and passionate desire to see this project succeed.

I was frustrated that Margaret detailed your comments regarding possible misappropriation of state funds without including my response that clarified that the presentation made on Tuesday was the same presentation made to the State Legislature, and that the state is aware that the relocation of the CVB, Sports Commission and Visitors Center, as well as identification of the Canada Dry property as the proposed site, are and have always been, integral parts of the overall ACC Hall of Champions concept. My frustration was compounded by the inclusion of comments regarding a perceived lack of support from the ACC and its member institutions, when in fact all 12 schools unanimously approved (at the conference’s Spring Meetings in 2006) both the concept of, and potential location at the current Canada Dry property, of a proposed ACC Hall of Champions.

I overreacted by taking your comments personally and acted in an inappropriate manner by criticizing both of you in an e-mail to Margaret detailing my frustrations with what I felt was a lack of balance in her reporting. Regardless, as a city department head, my actions were inappropriate and I respectfully apologize for my comments. Please understand my primary objective in regard to this is to see the purchase of the Canada Dry property become a reality as I firmly believe this would spark the revitalization of the High Point Road corridor, which I think we all agree is a critical component to the future of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and the City of Greensboro as a whole.

Sincerely,

Matthew G. Brown, Director

Greensboro Coliseum Complex

Here's a handy-dandy guide to the City of Greensboro's budget process, which I stole (shhh) off the city's Web site:

* May 15, 5:30 pm: City manager gives proposed budget to council
* May 22, 8:30-11:30 am: Council budget work session
* June 5, 8:30-11:30 am: Council budget work session
* June 5, 5:30 pm: Public hearing on budget

Well ... City Manager Mitchell Johnson presented his proposal for next year's budget to the city council last night. It included a 4-cent property tax hike and 5 percent higher fees for water and sewer.

Your thoughts?

Well, it's happened again.

Guilford County is proposing another tax increase. This one would cost the owner of a 200,000 home an extra $138.20 in property taxes annually. And that doesn't count any new taxes levied by Greensboro or High Point, which could jack those tax bills up further.

Read more in today's story.

Update: The proposed budget, which includes the tax increase, is online.

This statement just came in from Steve Bowden, chairman of the George C. Simkins Jr. Memorial PAC, a group of African American civic leaders that can make or break campaigns.

"The position of the George C. Simkins Jr. Memorial PAC relative to the pending recall vote regarding City Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small is that the law that permits this recall effort is flawed.

"We believe that a law that permits a small segment within a district to initiate a recall effort such as this is capricious and subject to abuse. This is true whether the effort is against a councilperson regardless of ethnicity.

"We believe there should be identifiable standards which should be the minimum that triggers a recall effort. For example, we believe, at a minimum, a person must have convicted a high crime, misdemeanor or malfeasance in office before being subjected to this process. Anything less opens the process to abuse against duly elected officials regardless of ethnicity."

The Simkins PAC, it should be noted, did not endorse Bellamy-Small in the 2005 election.

Tonya Clinkscale says she'll announce at noon on May 31 that she's running for Greensboro City Council in District 1. The announcement will take place at the Warnersville Community Center.

That seat is occupied by T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, who hasn't announced her plans for the November election. She faces a recall election on Aug. 21.

Clinkscale says she's 45 and is a self-employed construction and renovation project manager. She was previously A&T's renovation project manager.

Ironic: She's a member of the Community Resource Board and was appointed by ... wait for it ... Greensboro City Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small.

Paul Gibson, the chairman of the Guilford County commissioners, is taking Triadblogs up on its blogging offer.

Gibson is the second commissioner to start a blog in recent weeks. We'll see if he sticks with it as long as Skip Alston, who has been posting strong for about a month now.

Gibson told me he's been impressed with Alston's blogging so far. The chairman hasn't posted anything in more than a week, but he said it was just technical difficulties (mostly with him, not the site), that prevented him from doing more. Those issues have been resolved, he said.

"I'm a blogger," he said. "Put me down for blogging."

As Scoop noted earlier, The Simkins PAC is critical of Greensboro recall law.

So, just by way of completing the record:

Rep. Earl Jones, a member of the PAC, has authored and successfully shepherded through the House a bill to create a recall election in Pleasant Garden. The bill now goes to the Senate.

I wonder if he didn't get the memo?

To be fair, the Pleasant Garden measure seems a little more stringent. From the bill:

To be sufficient, a recall petition must bear the signatures of at least thirty-three percent (33%) of the registered voters of the Town as shown by the registration records of the last preceding general municipal election.

City Councilwoman Goldie Wells will hold a town meeting for her constituents in District 2 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday. She'll hold it at the Greensboro Historical Museum, 130 Summit Ave.

Wells said in a meeting last week that people in her district haven't complained to her about a possible property tax increase. It will be interesting to see if anyone does complain on Monday.

Last week, we ran a story about interest from hotels in buying the Canada Dry property near the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. It quotes Carl Essa, the commercial agent charged with selling the property. The story raises questions about whether taxpayers should spend money – the asking price is $3.7 million – to revitalize High Point Road if private developers are interested.

Essa, I understand, has called some members of the City Council to say that the story is untrue. I’d like to respond to that:

1) On Thursday, before I left the office, I read back to Essa the parts of the story that included information attributed to him. It’s not something I’m in the habit of doing, but it seemed a way to assure Essa that the story would be accurate. In our telephone conversation, he assured the accuracy of each part I attributed to him.

2) He left a voice mail on my telephone that explained the following information: The hotel that was most seriously considering the property was NOT the one that offered space for the ACC Hall of Champions. Unfortunately, I deleted the voice mail. But I followed up by sending him the following e-mail (with some e-mail addresses and phone numbers deleted):

-----Original Message-----
From: Margaret Banks
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 3:38 PM
To: 'xxxxxxxx@essainc.com'
Subject:

Carl – sorry I missed you. I got your explanation about the most serious prospect NOT being the one that expressed interest in the HOC. We’ll go over it and confirm that I understood you correctly when I call you back, though.

Margaret Banks
News & Record
373-7031
Cell: 707-xxxx

It's looking more and more likely that taxpayers will have the chance to vote on a new Guilford County jail.

Story here.

But before voters cast ballots on a bond referendum, county commissioners must decide to hold one. Look for a preliminary vote June 21.