[poll id=”19″] State Sen. Trudy Wade proposed some significant changes to Greensboro City Council yesterday. Read them here. Do you support her ideas? Tell us why in the comments. We’ll be publishing the results of this poll in next week’s paper.
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While it’s true I disagree with the proposed changes, what I disagree with more is the process. For example, High Point last year put changes to their council elections to a vote of the people, not by state legislative fiat as Sen. Wade is attempting to do. What is it about Guilford/Greensboro that its people cannot be trusted to change its own elected officials? Whether making a school board partisan or radically reshaping city council in numbers, representation, terms of office, and mayoral powers, it appears Sen. Wade believes the state knows more than the people.
excellent comment
Trudy should leave the spay/neutering business to the pets, not City Council… Although she may be looking at it as Roy Carroll’s personal pet.
News and Record; “Wade’s plan dilutes power of voters” Rhino; “Wade Releases Reformed City Council Map”
http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/news-and-record-wades-plan-dilutes.html
This is nothing but raw/power politics and a direct infringement on local sovereignty (lawful self governance) that should be exposed and fought with absolute vigor. Further, this should be used as a political wedge to get people engaged in the general issue of elections reform which is in truth the only issue that matters- locally, nationally and internationally. The reality is the public doesn’t own its democracy, and there is only “marginal self governance”. Without functional democracy, mankind gets authoritarianism every time. It is unavoidable.
Democracy proper we have not, despite the mythos. The primary reason is because our elemental right of self governance (best preserved by having as much government and control LOCALLY and state-based as possible, so the people can better control same), is being taken from us; and we must take it back- civilly/lawfully at the ballot box by electing new people based on a new approach to elections and politics.
Let Greensboro, now embroiled in the issue of the Int. Civil Rights Museum (elections/democracy being the “sine qua non” civil right) lead the way nationally, and in doing so restore her soul/purpose. Greensboro can use this issue to make a point in Raleigh that while we strongly support state and local government (at the expense of DC based government), this community and likely others, will challenge anything that limits the right of the people of NC to control their own affairs free from unnecessary infringement- especially partisan gamesmanship.
Make Greensboro the city of record which not only hosted the Greensboro Four, but also hosting the Greensboro Million- which is comprised of citizens everywhere who want their democracy back; realizing that if we dont control our elections and local government, we control nothing and democracy is but a sad, cruel joke even in America. The very idea of democracy is at severe risk and this is but one more example why. Use it and fix the problems at hand. Elections Reform NOW- there really is no other issue to begin the process of change. Without it we are done for.
Big disparity between City Beat voters & News and Record voters. I expected nothing less.
Is that a good thing?
hi victoria, the news & record poll i’m seeing is very similar to the city beat—almost unanimously NO. is this the poll you saw?
http://www.news-record.com/blogs/killian_lehmert_the_inside_scoop/update-wade-proposes-smaller-greensboro-city-council-video/article_61257e14-acae-11e4-8b06-1fe547b9154f.html
I recently attended a board of alders meeting in New Haven, CT. Under that model the city’s legislative body has 30 members, each of which represent a specific neighborhood. The purpose of the meeting was to gather input from residents on what they would like to see in a proposed police civilian review board. Given my experience in Greensboro, I was amazed A) that the city would hold such a meeting and B) at the extent to which the alders seemed committed to actively receiving input from their constituents. I have no doubt there are myriad cultural/historical differences between New Haven and Greensboro that contribute to this, but I also have to think the alders are influenced by the fact that their constituents live on the same block they do.
I voted No, but only because there wasn’t a aww heck no.
There wasn’t a choice for hell no!
Trudy Wade demonstrated her proclivity for ignoring the will of the voters early on when she held the county commission hostage rather than show any grace after defeat by John Parks. She followed up by being a loyal ideolog on the City Council and was rewarded by being the beneficiary of redistricting to get a Seat in the State Senate. She prooved herself a good soldier by engineering the politicization of the school board so that interests of Guilford County students will conform to the vision of the republican controlled state legislature. Again ignoring the wil of local citizens affected. Her political reward was to be designated as the champion of some high profile legislation and choice committee assignments. Ms. Wade’s current task is to represent the interests of those local ” concerned” business people who have been willing to provide significant funding both to her and her mentor Sen. Berger to ensure their concerns were heard and heeded. The concept of letting Greensboro citizens have any control over how they want to be governed seems to be lost on the political masters in Raleigh who obviously know what is best.
This is seriously bad precedent.. Once this horse is out of the barn, who knows what will happen when the shoe gets on the other foot. All politics is cyclical and no amount of redistricting can change the fact that demographics are changing. Once it cycles back, NC Democrats have an excuse to start redrawing the city councils of more conservative rural towns of the state in the name of getting more minority representation on those town councils or some such.