Greensboro Mayor General Election

Nancy Vaughan vs Diane Moffett vs Billy Jones (write-in)

Let's not beat around the bush here, Mrs. Vaughan is going to win a third term as mayor and will do so running away. She's already running away from the Rev. Moffett in the endorsements race. Conservative West Greensboro is not about to help out Black East Greensboro in dethroning the mayor--not especially when its own slate flamed out in the District 1 and at-large contests big time in addition to John Brown's poor showing in the mayoral contest.

That said, it doesn't mean that I'm going to support someone who is partially responsible for Greensboro still being the hungriest city in America. There's still no reason to support Moffett either because of the potential lawsuits headed the pastor's way if she pulls off the upset. If Moffett's victory is invalidated, then Yvonne Johnson (assuming that the chalk holds) will end up serving another term as mayor and yet another seat will have to be filled and it will go to yet another person with establishment connections.

So, I'm recommending that the creative community write in Billy Jones for mayor.

Greensboro City Council At-Large General Election

Yvonne Johnson vs Marikay Abuzuaiter vs Mike Barber vs Michelle Kennedy vs Dave Wils vs T. Dianne Bellamy-Small

The primary results speak for themselves: Only one Tier 1 candidate and one Tier 2 candidate advanced against one Tier 4 candidate and all three Tier 5 candidates.

I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that Bellamy-Small was able to to beat Irving Allen, who would have been a breath of fresh air and an asset to the creative community. Bellamy-Small is practically a District 1 incumbent looking to seek an at-large seat. That is why I ranked her lower than the two conservatives who had backing from or supported local and state candidates who are outright enemies of the creative community.

It's been my contention over the last four years that the Tanger Performing Arts Center will be a detriment to the arts community and I'm standing by that assessment as the number of venues for artists continues to dwindle downtown. Since all three incumbents have contributed to either the PAC saga or to the city's loss of private sector jobs, none of them deserve to be reelected even though the first two seats seem to be safe.

Instead of the contest being a matter of slowing down Nancy Vaughan and the elites, it's now a contest between new ideas and continuing the same old tired ideas that have resulted in a stagnant city. So, as a result, Kennedy and Wils are the only two people I'm recommending.

Greensboro District Elections

District 1

Sharon Hightower vs Paula Ritter-Lipscomb

I'll stick to my original assessment that Ritter-Lipscomb will be a better fit to turn Southeast Greensboro around than the incumbent.

District 2

Goldie Wells vs Jim Kee vs Thessa Pickett (write-in)

Perhaps East Greensboro residents and black leaders across the nation need to look at themselves the next time they wonder why there's such a dearth of young black leaders who are interested in the political process. The older generation clearly does not want to pass the torch. Irving Allen and Syvine Hill were advancing a new line of thinking in the at-large race while C.J. Brinson promised to do the same in District 2. Instead, Allen was sandwiched between the conservatives for an eighth place finish. Hill, who was deemed by a number of people to be the most qualified candidate, finished at the bottom in the 15-person field and will now be deemed to be a perennial candidate (i.e., unelectable) by the experts. As for Brinson, he missed the chance to call a recount by a measly vote, which exceeded the 1 percentage point requirement.

Sensing the potential of a part of the district being "orphaned," Pickett jumped into the race as a write-in candidate. Her previous political experience was running against Jamal Fox in 2015 and being a part of Black Lives Matter's Greensboro chapter.

The reason why the young demographic risks being abandoned is because the two names on the ballot clearly don't appeal to it. Wells reneged on a pledge to not run for the seat after she was appointed to replace Fox. So, yeah, Ms. Wells is part of that problem of older black leaders unwilling to let the younger generation take a crack at leadership.

Meanwhile, Kee is beholden to developer interests who game the system to get taxpayer money for their projects. Also, to make matters worse, Kee decided to become a Republican on the 18th and was flanked by District 5's Tony Wilkins among others. Joining the party that likes to yell "all lives matter" and echoes the Blue Lives Matter platform is going to lose you votes in a predominately black district. It makes me wonder if Mr. Kee has aspirations for higher office next year.

The only sensible thing to do is to write in Thessa Pickett.

District 3

Justin Outling vs Craig Martin

Another short and sweet message: Consider Craig indeed!

District 4

Nancy Hoffmann vs Gary Kenton

The incumbent is the second biggest impediment to the creative community right behind Wilkins. With Wilkins, it's based on his actions. With Hoffmann, it's based largely on her attitude. In general, Hoffmann and her crowd remind me of Southwest Raleigh residents during my time at NC State. Those residents showed their contempt for NCSU students by convincing local lawmakers to pass an ordinance in mid-2000 that effectively curtailed all off campus parties (when most students were away for the summer) and wanted to restrict the number of roommates a person could have (fortunately, the measure was defeated by a unanimous vote by the Raleigh City Council in early 2003 after students and citizens from other parts of the city spoke up). It's also worth noting that Mrs. Hoffmann was also one of the architects of the dreaded noise ordinance in 2012.

Even if his campaign didn't have any substance, Kenton would have been the no-brainer for the creative community. The fact that he does have a detailed idea of what he would do as a councilman makes this endorsement all the better.

District 5

Tony Wilkins vs Tammi Thurm

The biggest shock of the primaries was that Thurm placed ahead of the incumbent. If she repeats the performance, then the creative community will be all the better for it. The big question now is just how the political clans and conservative organizations will react in the waning weeks of the campaign to the candidate who received the highest ranking from Democracy Greensboro.

Analysis and outlook

Greensboro: More of the same

Despite a high number of people running for office, voters in the Gate City decided to stay the course in most of the races (so much for early voting turning into a political earthquake). The exceptions were Tammi Thurm leading Tony Wilkins in District 5 and Mike Barber only leading Michelle Kennedy by 12 votes for the final at-large seat.

Perhaps, the backlash to Democracy Greensboro took on a life of its own after the group held a candidate forum on September 16. Maybe, as another blogger suggested, most of the residents on both sides of the political spectrum have given up hope. If money does make the world go the round, all newcomers but Thurm, Kennedy, and Dave Wils found out the hard way that if you don't have the funds, the media will ignore you--even if you have a clear message or are deemed to be the most qualified.

Eventually, though, the people of Greensboro will have to live with their choices should the elite backed council members continue to make the city unlivable for the have nots.

High Point: Move ahead with the project

The people deemed by the founder of Sunrise Books to be the "High Point Enterprise Naysayers Club" had a very long night on the 10th as their favorite candidate (Cynthia Davis) advanced to the second round in third place after topping the at-large field in 2014 and Catalyst Project skeptic Jim Davis was eliminated from the mayoral race. It's clear that voters weren't in line the conservatives' line of thinking.

That said, it would be very wise that the Catalyst Project is actually handled the right way because if it isn't, I have a sneaking feeling that either Davis or both will lead a hard right backlash in 2019 with a throw the baby out with the bathwater attitude that would ensure that downtown is lost to the furniture industry forever.

Why I'm anti-experience

As you may notice, I steadfastly refuse to support anyone who is currently in office in Greensboro and former seat holders in both cities. The reason is simple. The following people--Nancy Vaughan, Yvonne Johnson, Chris Whitley--have been in and out of office since the '90s and things got worse under the watch of all three as well as various mayors in both cities. For Greensboro, it's been about making downtown more presentable for rich, white elites who show contempt for minorities. Here in High Point, the northern part of the city sprawled throughout the '90s and '00s while downtown became barren outside of the furniture market and the older southern and eastern parts deteriorated. 

I hold Goldie Wells and Dianne Bellamy-Small culpable because they didn't do enough to stop the creeping poverty while they were in office in the second half of the aughts.

The remaining seven members of the Greensboro City Council also bear responsibility for supporting the STPAC white elephant while residents in East Greensboro continue to fall behind.

Clarification regarding Guilford County elections

Apparently, local or state law does not allow for write-ins in the primaries, so several posts have been changed to reflect that situation. The good news as I found out in 2003 when the district representing NC State had a runoff between two candidates who were hostile to the university's interests, I was able to write in "none of the above" to express my disgust, and Greensboro and High Point voters will be able to write in other people for mayor. So, Billy Jones in the former city and Damorius Fuller Ali in the latter city will be available selections next month.

Primary Endorsements for the Creative Community

Greensboro
Mayor: No endorsement 
At-Large: Irving David Allen (Mayor Pro Tem), Syvine Hill, Michelle Kennedy, Dave Wils (to advance), Lindy Perry-Garnette (to advance), Tijuana Hayes (to advance)
District 1: Paula Ritter-Lipscomb
District 2: C.J. Brinson
District 3: Craig Martin
District 4: Gary Kenton
District 5: Tammi Thurm

High Point
Mayor: Bruce Davis
At-Large: Michael Holmes, Sarah Jane Otte, or Mary Lou Andrews Blakeney 
Ward 4: Jim Bronnert
Ward 5: Victor Jones

High Point Municipal Primaries

Mayor

Challengers: Bruce Davis, Jim Davis, Jay Wagner

The city will elect its third new mayor after Becky Smothers was in office for 16 of 20 years on and off from 1992 to 2012.

The contest seems to be between the last two candidates as Jim Davis and Wagner have traded barbs against each other over a range of issues, and the mudslinging did not end at last night's forum either.

At first, I was going to go with Bruce Davis but then, I had reservations as to whether the county commissioner turned CVB head would once again have his eyes set on higher office--after all, he ran unsuccessfully for State Senate twice this decade and for Congress the last two national cycles--once the mess with the General Assembly's drawing of state and congressional lines is finally settled. However, I listened to what he said at the forum and how he laid out everything related to the proposed stadium, and it made more sense than the way the current mayor and various High Point leaders conducted themselves with the county commissioners. As a result, I have switched back from Wagner to Bruce Davis for mayor since Wagner sided with Bill Bencini and Company's rapid fire push to get the stadium built by 2019 which led to the pushback from the county commissioners.

Ward 4

Challengers: Jim Bronnert, Wesley Hudson, Jody Kearns

The three men are running to succeed Wagner. Bronnert lost to Wagner three years ago. Hudson recently ran for office in Winston-Salem before moving to High Point. Kearns's main motivation for running seems to be the fact that he has a grudge against Wagner.

Ward 5

Challengers: Victor Jones, Deric Stubbs, Sr., Chris Whitley

These three are running to replace Jim Davis. Jones was the only one to appear at last evening's forum. I was willing to give Stubbs a chance and still might if he advances but the no-show was not a good look. As for Whitley, I hold him just as accountable for High Point's status as the hungriest city in America as I do former mayor Smothers since both were in and out of City Council throughout the '90s and '00s as the older parts of the city broke down.

At-Large

Incumbent: Cynthia Davis
Challengers: Mary Lou Andrews Blakeney, Daniel Gardner, Michael Holmes, Britt Moore, Sarah Jane Otte, Don Scarbrough

Cynthia Davis is the most conservative of the current council and the only one who voted against the stadium.

Moore wants his seat back after narrowly losing it to Latimer Alexander IV. He joined Wagner in wanting to keep the City Project back in the spring of 2014 but joined what was left of City Council to kill the plan to reduce part of North Main Street from five lanes to two as a part of a street diet right before the election.

Blakeney also wants to return to the council. She won the second seat in a wave election in 2008 only to lose it to Moore in another wave election two years later.

Scarborough was a part of High Point University's rapid growth, which is part gift and part curse. On one hand, the university's growth has acted as a buffer in keeping the older east central part of the city from decaying. On the other hand, the university has helped to perpetuate the balkanization of the city into three distinct fiefdoms--the university area, the newer parts in the extreme northern part of the city and the older parts in the rest of the city. Also, I still bear a grudge over how the school handled the MLK street renaming controversy in early 2015.

While I do agree with Gardner (among others) that the stadium project should have been placed on the ballot as a referendum, most of his ideology doesn't line up with mine.

In the end, I'll go with Holmes and Otte in addition to Blakeney.