There's been a good deal of conversation here in the local blogosphere about Action Greensboro, even among myself included. I shared some personal thoughts earlier this week over at my flagship blog, Guilford School Watch. And I shared a letter I sent to Judy Morton here last week.And while I won't repeat myself chapter-and-verse as to my thoughts on the future of Action Greensboro, the latest revelation that the organization made a $5,000 political contribution to the Simkins PAC in this past campaign season (via Keith Brown's Triad Watch) does, in my opinion, raise an eyebrow or two.
My friend Ryan Shell from Greensboro Politics asked me to be a little more positive:
I understand and equally appreciate how much you care about the school system, but sometimes you have to look at things from a positive standpoint. AG is attempting to jump start some action. While things might not appear to be perfect, conversations have started and the ball is rolling.
And our resident blogger Dr. Sue Polinsky said similarly:
Eric, have you contacted Action GSO and offered to participate in the education portion of Phase II? If not, do just that. They are eager for volunteers who commit to long-term projects. Heck, I've been doing this for 7-8 years. That's LONG term :)
...and I have, Sue. That's why I'm feeling so puzzled about this campaign contribution.
Guarino has more on this:
Action Greensboro is a not-for-profit organization, so the legality of its contribution is open to question.
He's right. Guarino, as usual, is on point with this. AG is a noble group, but this is really bugging me a little.
Skip Moore, AG's past president, in a response to Guarino, tried to explain the contribution:
A nonprofit by federal law is allowed to advocate on policy issues. The contribution to the PAC was part of our support for the bonds that, in our opinion, were beneficial to the future economic and community development of Greensboro. The funds helped pay for poll workers.
And Guarino appropriately responded:
...while federal law allows non-profits to speak on public policy issues, it does not allow them to endorse candidates or engage in activity that could be construed as partisan. The Simkins PAC does not even remotely restrict itself to advocating on behalf of bonds. It is composed almost exclusively of Democrats. It endorses political candidates, and its endorsement has carried a lot of weight locally. And in the last election cycle, it endorsed the straight Democratic slate.
So Action Greensboro's contribution inevitably went to support partisan political activity. That appears to me to be a flagrant violation of the law.
Despite your opinions on Simkins (positive or negative), one thing is clear, I think we should look a little more closely as to what AG is doing down on S. Elm. Are they advocating for the citizens of Greensboro in an appropriate manner?
When I tip-toed into this town nine years ago, the same conversations were taking place...job-losses were mounting, our local economy wasn't diversified, we had failing schools, we have a brain-drain problem, local politicians cared more about being in power than dealing with our issues head-on, etc.
And I got involved. I was proud to become involved.
Nine years later, there are nearly NO jobs in this town, there is no diversification of our local economy because we have no local economy anymore, we have even more failing schools, our brain-drain problem has increased, and local politicians STILL care more about being in power than dealing with our issues head-on. And now we have a public-safety problem in our midst.
Guarino says: And in a relatively small city like Greensboro, we should be represented directly by our elected officials; and we should not have to go through a quasi-governmental organization that, for some reason, is granted unique access and power by those same elected officials.
He is absolutely correct. The conversations and action plans from AG should be emitting from our City Council and our Mayor, directly. And when we question what's going on in our city, we have the RIGHT to ask, we have the RIGHT to complain (if necessary), we have the RIGHT to question our mayor, our city council (Zack), our city manager, our police chief, our economic development officials...about the direction of this city.
And when pet projects are put on the front burner, ahead of bringing more diversified companies into this town, like Guarino, I have the RIGHT to question that.
Rumors are swirling about an aviation-related company possibly bringing as many as 800 jobs to town...if it comes to town. I will be excited if it does come to town, but we have to expand beyond manufacturing. We must diversify our economy once again...it is part of the reason why our area has been stuck in this rut in the first place.
For far too long in this town, there have been reports after reports, action plans after action plans, meetings after meetings...
Enough.
Actions speak louder than words. It's time to get busy and get this city moving again. It's time to do away with the corruption in our city hall, it's time to get rid of the criminals on our streets, time to get the local economy out of the garbage can and get it moving again. We have real problems that require real solutions, and I want to start hearing these real solutions directly from our elected officials.
...climbing off the soapbox...
E.C. :)
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1 comment:
Glad to see you are not willing to pander to the "elite" as some are Eric. But your friend just may no longer be your friend, and Dr. Sue will probably start to give you the old worn bit about getting your buns sued if you dare to ask too many relative questions. This has been standard operating procedure used against any of us who dared to question the way things have always been done in Greensboro. BB
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