"Only eight of the 26 people seeking council seats — and none of the incumbents — turned out for Conservatives for Guilford County’s forum."C4GC is being underestimated. They put people to work in last year's Guilford County Commissioners race and, in my opinion as a voter in the district, made the difference in Jeff Phillip's defeat of incumbent Paul Gibson. They will only have learned and improved since then and, I suspect, will be even more effective in council races of more concentrated geographic area where shoe leather and word-of-mouth make a difference.
Dismissing them out of hand reflects poorly on candidates—especially incumbents. Even to those not in sync with their political alignment, it says of the candidates who won't engage them that those candidates are insulated and narrow minded. It wasn't just the 60 people in attendance who will form an opinion of the candidates who ignored the forum, but those of us reading and hearing about it are taking note too.
As it turns out, lack of transparency by city government emerged as a theme at last night's forum. That is a problem—one that is not ideological, that interests a wide swath of voters and that this current council has been completely unwilling to address. Too bad they avoided the subject yet again.
There is plenty of time left in this election and the spending hasn't begun yet, but it seems as if some candidates are complacent, maybe even cocky, about their prospects. I will not be surprised if there are some "shockers" to come.
Those who attended C4GC's forum were:
George Hartzman (mayor)
Marlando Pridgen (at-large)
Chris Lawyer (at-large)
Jean Brown (at-large)
Tigress McDaniel (district 1)
Wendell Roth (district 3)
John Alexander Underwood (district 4)
Alex Seymour (district 5)
Learn more about the candidates on GreensboroCouncilCandidates.com
You're absolutely right. The issue of transparency must be topic number-one for the citizens of Greensboro, and it doesn't matter what party you are affiliated with. Right now, deals are being made that will affect you and your family for years and they are NOT being made in pubilc or, as far as I can tell, on the basis of any sane rationale. Well, it's sane if you're one of the plutocrats who will be enriched by these decisions....
ReplyDeleteIt's as if the incumbents have already ceded defeat.
ReplyDeleteNeither,
ReplyDeleteRealistic is more like it. Good politicians are smart not to cow tow to this sliver of the electorate.
Don't give them credit for Jeff Phillips. Paul Gibson was tired and barely ran. State money rolled in and beat a long time incumbent with mailings. Not news in my book and nothing that C$GC did. Sometimes people just want change.
Yoga Man, so attending a candidates' forum is kowtowing? You illustrate the narrow-mindedness I was observing.
ReplyDeleteYou give them to much credit.
ReplyDeleteToo much? I give them some. They deployed poll workers in the primaries and the general, the went door-to-door distributing door hangers. If in your opinion that counted for nothing, so be it.
ReplyDelete"They deployed poll workers in the primaries and the general, the went door-to-door distributing door hangers."
ReplyDeleteThey only did that in certain districts. I believe they only focus on districts 3-5. I live in Aycock, in District 2, and I've never received a single piece of campaign literature in my mailbox or at my doorstep.
Why endorse in the mayoral and at-large races if you're not going to spread your message to the entire city?
I am unaware that they have made any endorsements, but doing so is a prerogative exercised by a number of groups that also don't canvas the entire city. So, I guess your point is they are just bad for whatever reason you can come up with.
ReplyDeleteNo. That's not my point at all. My point is that given the group's history, it would be a complete waste of time for a potential candidate who is not a registered Republican who subscribes to the far-right leanings of C4gc to bother showing up. Those are the only types of candidates they have a history of endorsing. What's the point of inviting candidates from districts 1 and 2 to the meeting? They won't make an endorsement in those races. Tigress McDaniel wasted her time. Do you think Joe Guarino and Bubba are going to sign-off on endorsing a convicted felon?
ReplyDelete8 out of 26 had to have stung, esp. given the fact that around 60 showed up to hear from candidates who probably won't be on the ballot in November.
That sounds like the familiar excuse other small-minded candidates use to avoid forums/meeting/questionnaires from black/gay/developer groups. So, you'll get no argument from me that a lot of candidates on the local level are petty and not good at traversing a variety of constituents.
ReplyDeleteWell speaking for myself, I had to work and would of liked to attend. I enjoy meeting people, I would love forums on weekends myself. I think going to forums are important because all people need to have a voice, regardless of agenda.
ReplyDeleteTo I think C4GC is a vital group, I would say yes, they are spreading their message, like them or not they are involved. I am not sure how or if they will endorse, its an odd year for elections, some of the same old cats with some new ones.
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