District 4 Greensboro City Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann announced in a press release this morning that she will seek re-election. Hoffmann's involvement in citywide and downtown issues during her first term led some to believe (myself included) that she may run for council at-large.
The press release emphasizes her engagement with young professionals ("they are our future"), her work as chair of a council subcommittee addressing a post-RUCO ordinance to deal with safe rental housing and her accessibility to constituents.
Hoffmann also served on the council subcommittee designing a new tree ordinance (which is still in the works) and briefly brought up the noise ordinance again earlier this year. Hoffmann defeated incumbent Mary Rakestraw in the 2011 election. We will have much more detailed coverage of the city council campaigns once filing begins this summer.
District 4 covers the central western and northwestern parts of Greensboro including the Guilford College area and stretching as far north as Battleground Avenue. The district reaches parts of High Point Road and I-40 to the south but does not extend eastward enough to encompass downtown or surrounding neighborhoods.
Not sure what district you live in? Here's a map.
BREAKING: Nancy Hoffmann seeks D4 re-election
This week in YES! Weekly
feature: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
dirt: Winston-Salem council votes to sell coliseum and stadium
10 best: THINGS ADULTS DON’T UNDERSTAND
voices: Politics and justice in the Kalvin Michael Smith case
editorial: Voting for dollars
tunes: Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes finds his muse in the City by the Bay
flicks: Haunts of the very rich: Leonardo Dicaprio is The Great Gatsby
visions: Justin Poe provides perilous view of shelter
chow: Grandma’s Greatest Cookie Contest
crash: From the fire
The graveyard shift: Greensboro's cemeteries division
Proposed Greensboro budget includes $4.3 million in cuts
Greensboro City Manager Denise Turner Roth proposed a $459 million budget for fiscal year 2013-2014, which includes $4.3 million in budget cuts. The largest decreases would come from infrastructure funding and citywide reductions including a reducing the city's contract with Lankford Security.
From the press release:
"Included are budget reductions of $1,043,194 in infrastructure, $982,244 in public safety, $715,762 in culture, recreation and community character, and $227,569 in general government. In addition, 14 full-time equivalent positions would be eliminated under the proposal, with no impact on sworn employees, and another $2,350,201 in organization-wide reductions."
The budget does include some increased spending as well: "$40,519 is proposed for additional resources for code enforcement and inspections, and first-year funding of $70,000 for a newly proposed Office of Accountability."
The proposed budget would also "eliminate funding for the Greensboro Youth Council Carnival" and "supplemental pay for worker’s compensation, reducing the level the City pays to the state mandated amount" and would "transfer ownership of War Memorial Stadium to NC A&T State University."
The press release does not mention participatory budgeting, which some residents have been encouraging council to adopt and that several council members have said they supported looking into.
Council will hold a public hearing on the budget at its June 4 meeting and will vote on it at its June 18 meeting. The city will post the full budget at www.greensboro-nc.gov/recommendedbudget by noon on Wednesday.
VIDEO: A plea to support legislation allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition
Erendira Méndez, a Greensboro resident who works at Faith Action International, tells Winston-Salem City Council about her experience coming to the United States as a child with undocumented parents, and trying to pursue educational opportunities for herself and for her daughter. Méndez was part of a group of people who urged the council to pass a resolution in support of legislation allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition at North Carolina universities and community colleges during the public comment period on Monday night.
Look for the full story in tomorrow's edition of YES! Weekly.
Man arrested after hitting four police cars while fleeing
Normally we don't post press releases, and but this one is too unique not to share. This was sent out by the Greensboro Police Department about two hours ago.
UPDATE (9 a.m. Tuesday): Police found 2 kilos of cocaine in the vehicle. The department has not yet released the driver's name.
UPDATE (11 a.m. Tuesday): Police identified the man as Ramon Conchas-Escobedo, 33, of Asheboro. "Escobedo faces multiple felony charges including Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer. He is confined in Greensboro Jail Central on a $1,000,000 secured bond. The officers are expected to fully recover."
Fine print in agreement to sell coliseum allows for removal of Joel name
 |
| Lawrence Joel |
Garrity, via e-mail: "During the many public meetings we had on this important issue, we heard from some veterans and some supporters of Lawrence Joel that expressed concerns about the current Joel memorial. Concerns about the order of monuments, a desire for a statue to Lawrence Joel on the plaza, a missing plaque from the original coliseum and others were voiced. Because of these concerns, we very purposely added the clause you refer to below. That clause gives us the option, with approval of city council, to build a new memorial. Although there is no plan to do such, we wanted to make sure the veterans, the Joel family and community reserved such a right.
ORIGINAL POST: The Winston-Salem City Council will consider a proposal to sell Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum to Wake Forest University and Bowman Gray Stadium to Winston-Salem State University tonight.
One of a handful of items of contention has been whether Wake Forest University would agree to retain the name Lawrence Joel, a Winston-Salem native who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor during an intense firefight in Vietnam, and the words "veterans memorial" on the coliseum. The university previously agreed to keep Lawrence Joel's name in the lobby and on the plaza memorial flanking the entrance of the facility, but wanted to reserve naming rights to defray the cost of maintenance.
Then, the university reversed course, and made an agreement publicized by the city more than a week ago to keep the Lawrence Joel name and veterans memorial designation on the coliseum facade and marquee sign on University Parkway as part of any potential transfer of ownership.
A Declaration of Restrictive Covenants and Conditions prepared by City Attorney Angela Carmon includes a significant loophole governing the preservation of the Lawrence Joel name. The declaration essentially states that the names "Lawrence Joel" and "veterans memorial" will remain on the marquee sign and the rectangular stone facade above the facility entrance during a period referenced as "the memorial term."
The "memorial term" language appears to give the city, as grantor (or seller) of the property, the ability to lift the restrictions on the university, as grantee (or buyer), at any time.
To wit:
The grantor has agreed in writing to end the Memorial Term, in the event that Grantor and Grantee have agreed on an alternative way to memorialize Lawrence Joel and war veterans. In the event of a termination pursuant to the previous sentence, Grantor shall on request from Grantee, confirm such termination in an instrument in recordable form, which Grantee may cause to be recorded in the Forsyth County Registry.
City Manager Lee Garrity deflected questions by stating in an e-mail to YES! Weekly that "the terms are fully explained in the declaration." Hopefully council members have taken a hard look at the proposed deal before they cast their votes.
Posts
