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Monday's Short Stack.

Public officials should follow a simple rule regarding possible conflicts of interest: When in doubt, sit it out.

Greensboro City Councilman Robbie Perkins, a real-estate broker, represents Lincoln Financial Group, which wants to sell its former Jefferson Pilot property on High Point Road. Perkins introduced a potential buyer to an assistant city manager, who suggested possible incentives to facilitate a new development.

While Perkins insisted he would not participate in any council consideration of such a deal, his involvement at any level creates an impression that this is a special case. City staff members are bound to take notice when an elected official shows an interest.

Nothing illegal, or even unusual, was done. In North Carolina, politicians often appear to take advantage of their office to further personal or business interests. They should be much more careful to recognize potential conflicts and more willing to sit them out. If that approach is too restrictive, then perhaps they’re not cut out for public service.

Profiles in courage

Three former Greensboro students were among 11 individuals honored last week by Gov. Mike Easley and the General Assembly for integrating public schools in Greensboro, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

Among those receiving the North Carolina Award for their courage more than 50 years ago were Brenda Florence, her brother, Jimmy Florence, and Josephine Boyd Bradley, the first black graduate of Greensboro Senior High School, known today as Grimsley High School.

They and four other black students integrated previously all-white schools in Greensboro in the fall of 1957.

In addition to the challenges of reading, writing and arithmetic, they were forced to weather threats, taunts, icy stares and feelings of loneliness and isolation.

It’s hard to imagine a world so rigidly divided and restricted on the basis of skin color. Then again, even though the segregated restaurants and movie theaters of that era may seem a universe away, some Guilford County schools are as racially segregated today as they were then.

Driving in Charlotte’s a gas

Men’s Health Magazine ranks Charlotte’s as some of the least environmentally friendly drivers in the nation.

The magazine included Charlotte among cities across the nation “that are driving us to extinction.” The Queen City finished 90th among the “100 Greenest Cities.”

The ranking are based on miles driven, gas consumption, air quality, mass-transit use, and vehicle size, age and maintenance.

“It’s almost as if the citizens of Charlotte think they’re driving on the nearby Lowe’s Motor Speedway — the city was in the top 10 percent for most gallons of gas consumed,” Men’s Health Deputy Editor Matt Marion told The Charlotte Observer in an e-mail.

How did Greensboro fare? Not great, not terribly. The Gate City received a C+ and ranked 38th. Durham got a B- and ranked 31st. Raleigh made only a C and placed 56th.

Oh, the places he’d go

On the heels of Gov. Mike Easley’s cushy travels abroad comes word that a former Wake County waste management employee kept his own junkets stateside, but, boy, did he get around. Wake recycling program manager Craig Wittig charged 50 trips and other expenses to Wake taxpayers, totaling $161,233 and including: a whale-watching cruise; four visits to Disney World; a trip to Yellowstone Park; accommodations at a Vegas casino hotel; a hand-held GPS device; a DVD on how to catch lobsters; a John Denver CD; and, of course, a book about elves.
Wittig was fired, but he may yet have one more trip to make: to the courthouse. The Wake County manager has released his travel records to the district attorney for possible criminal charges.

This is why careful oversight of government spending is so important — even though, amazingly, Wittig’s boss approved every charge.