Where do you stand on the council-manager form of government?
Is it working in Greensboro and if it isn't, why not?
How many of Greensboro’s citizens
are aware of the city’s actual financial condition?
How would you address the problems
surrounding poor planning and communication for the Urban Loop
that has resulted in development being approved in the path of the highway
and some home buyers not knowing the road was coming?
If the City of Greensboro’s budget cut Police and Fire spending
suspended its 25-year-old Bookmobile service to 67 daycares
and saved $3.2 million by cutting jobs
while eliminating merit pay for city staff
why would who want to lend what % of the city’s reserves
to a state with a $4.5 billion deficit
to prioritize the purchase who’s Urban Loop related real estate
for how much?
Where do you stand on merging some city and county services
to improve efficiencies and save money?
Which ones should be considered
and how would you help make them happen?
If the combined total debt of the City of Greensboro and Guilford County
rose by about 967% in nine years
from $135,696,206 in 2000 to about $1,312,140,364 today
while many have been very concerned
that the total debt of the United States of America
has about doubled in the same time frame
how should Greensboro and Guilford County voters feel
about our community’s fiscal profligacy?
What should be Greensboro's long-term plan
for household waste disposal?
Is reopening the White Street Landfill part of that equation?
Why or why not?
If a few purchased relatively inexpensive homes
near a landfill established more than 60 years ago
why should the many unaffected
who may have paid more for their residences
to avoid potential hazards and easements
be taxed to have trash shipped elsewhere during a recession?
What, if anything
needs to happen next to bring closure to the lingering wounds created
after the resignation of former Police Chief David Wray?
How much should Greensboro
want to repeatedly emphasize social and intergovernmental conflicts
to profitable businesses
looking to relocate high paying jobs to the Triad
from other areas of the country
suffering from much dire economic conditions?
One city expense you seriously question is .... ?
If the City of Greensboro’s total liabilities increased by 856%
between June 30, 2000, and June 30, 2008
from $68,337,307 to $584,713,000, not including interest
was a unanimous City Council vote
to authorize an additional $205,000,000 of new borrowing
for November 2008’s election ballot
representing a 35% debt increase to the city’s residents
a violation of the Prudent Man Rule?
From "A" to "F," how would you grade the current council
on transparency and communication?
Why? And what would you do to improve or maintain that grade?
Did the 2008 Parks and Recreational Facilities Bond
not mention the bond’s biggest item on the ballot
a $12,000,000 allocation for a “competitive swim facility”
rejected in 2000 and 2006
not included in financing recommendations by city staff
and inserted on the ballot without public input?
Why would the City Council put forth a swim center ballot measure
with a proposed cost lower than it could be built for?
Which current council member do you admire the most and why?
If The City of Greensboro’s 2007-2008 actual revenues
were $453,554,862
and 2008-2009’s budget projected revenues of $435,997,828
while 2009-2010’s budget assumed 2.8% less than 2008-2009
what is the best guesstimate
of January through June 2009 actual tax revenues
compared to the same period in 2008?
What community or business interests
could possibly create conflicts of interest for you on the council
and how would you handle them?
At what point do those who promote and/or vote
for ever increasing sums of municipal debt
to finance what may not be necessities
bequeath an unsustainable burden
on the future incomes of a community’s young?
How long is long enough for a council member to serve?
How long is too long?
If elected, how long do you personally plan to serve?
Does most of Greensboro’s adult population realize the city’s young
will have to repay principle and interest on relatively large sums of debt
after the stimulative economic benefits of spending the money have passed?
Should the city manager be evaluated
according a set of predetermined goals and measures?
If Greensboro’s year to date building permits fell 53%
year over year through April
why did the City Council approve 2009-2010’s budget
assuming a 26% fall in building permits “below the current year budget”
at the end of June?
Should the council also be graded
against a set of objective goals and measures?
Would you pledge to set up such a system?
How much has The City of Greensboro’s health care costs
increased per person since 2000
and why?
And if you failed to deliver on a majority of those goals
would you agree not to seek re-election?
Are some of the community’s leaders
operating under some economic, political and rhetorical assumptions
that have ceased to exist?
Questions worth asking the candidates
Greensboro News and Record, July 19, 2009
During times of economic volatility
how can the answers be found
of what may be the best interests of the city
if what could be less than relevent questions
dominate political debate?
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