1) Why should the people elect you?
I am running for Mayor to bring 50,000 jobs to Greensboro and Guilford County over the next 10 years. I want my kids to be able to live and work around Greensboro after they graduate college. The status quo is currently an impediment to the chances of my being able to watch my grandkids grow up close by. We cannot bring in good paying jobs with an uneven playing field for businesses looking to relocate or expand. I believe we don't have a level playing field, which means some of our city's leaders have acted in the name of our community, while favoring a select few in an ethically inappropriate manner.
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How would your leadership differ from the current Council?
I intend to act in the best interest of the city's taxpayers, as opposed to some rentier capitalists who finance our local political system in order to skim some of everyone Else's money into their own pockets.
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2a) Economic Development: What do you believe is the City’s role in creating jobs?
The Piedmont Triad could create more than 10,000 jobs by designing and manufacturing a high quality, simply designed, inexpensive, fuel efficient, modifiable automobile with interchangeable parts that can easily be exchanged between different model years, like Jeep CJ’s and VW Beetles.
Inexpensive replacement parts. Manual windows. Textile interior. Easily up-gradable and/or modifiable. Designed with a high enough clearance to be worked on without a jack, and/or roomy enough to be slept in or underneath if necessary. Would include a plug for a smartphone as a computer instead of an expensive to replace installed system. Partner with GTCC for worker education. Partner with Cone for health care. Residents of the municipalities receiving subsidized capital could receive a stake. Employees could be paid on productivity and profitability and executive pay wouldn’t exceed 25-35 times the average hourly wage. Parts could be easily shipped to just about anywhere from the Triad. Parts could be made in North Carolina or somewhere in the United States if necessary.
As we enter what very much looks like a global recession, auto manufacturing equipment should be relatively inexpensively acquired, as some auto makers succumb to new realities.
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2b) What policies should the City encourage to spur economic development downtown and in the Central Business District?
Eliminate DGI and the Greensboro Partnership's geriatric approach.
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3) Do you support diversifying the tax base to include sources of revenue beyond property taxes? (e.g., sales taxes on certain goods, impact fees, transfer fees)
No, our tax rate is one cause of our not attracting new jobs to the area.
"Tax rates in GSO have risen more than 4 times faster than in Charlotte and more than twice as fast as rates in Raleigh."
"Effective Tax Rates...2012.......2003.......% Chg.
Charlotte.............1.2310......1.1448......7.5%
Greensboro............1.4067......1.0746......30.9%
Raleigh...............1.0092......0.8809......14.6%"
G. Donald Jud, Ph.D.
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4a) Do you support the private property rights of citizens to submit a protest petition?
Yes, but I am considering supporting a higher threshold than 5%.
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5) Do you consider applying public funds toward the building of a downtown Performing Arts Center an economic development tool that the City should pursue?
If the city matches what private funds raise, the only sustainable avenue would be to pay cash, which the city has at present.
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6) Would you say that the Greensboro City Council has a good working relationship with the County Commission, the local NC General Assembly delegation, and the surrounding towns?
Sure
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7) What is Greensboro’s biggest infrastructure need right now and how do you propose to improve it?
The City of Greensboro’s street system is in “poor” condition with an average PCR rating of 64.2.
The City of Greensboro’s PCR rating is significantly below the average PCR of peer North Carolina cities Charlotte (83), Raleigh (81), Winston-Salem (74).
The Field Operations Management Accountability and Performance (MAP) goal is for an average pavement condition rating of 80
Thirty-two percent (343 miles) of streets are recommended for resurfacing within the next year, but we are only doing 10 miles.
Sixty five percent (700 miles) of streets are currently in need of some level of maintenance (crack seal, patching, or resurfacing)
The percent of streets in “very poor” condition has almost doubled since 2008.
Present day costs to complete needed repairs exceed $112 million.
"In 2010, $500,000 was sold and subsequently used for contracted resurfacing. In 2012, another $2 million was sold and will be used for contracted resurfacing this summer.
Thirty-two percent (343 miles) of streets are recommended for resurfacing within the next year.
• Sixty five percent (700 miles) of streets are currently in need of some level of maintenance (crack seal, patching, or resurfacing)
• The percent of streets in “very poor” condition has almost doubled since 2008.
• Present day costs to complete needed repairs exceed $112 million."
Where did the money that should have gone to the roads go?
If the % of very poor streets has doubled since 2008, and we committed to borrowing $8 million and didn't...?
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8) Did you support the City’s inclusion of various stakeholders in the rental registration program policy development process?
Marlene Sanford and some TREBIC members harmed poor renters state wide with illegally deducted money.
There is a middle ground somewhere, but not what Marlene wrote up for the city passed ordinance.
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9) How do you propose to deal with the General Assembly’s anticipated cuts in revenues that have previously returned to local governments?
Good question.
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