WTF?! Raleigh runs Greensboro now?
This is a f&%kin outrage!
Who the Hell does The State Gov't think he/she is telling us who we can vote for and who's running OUR city?
Even Gov. McCrory hates this, especially since he was the Mayor of Charlotte.
And F&%K YOU Trudy Wade (write to her and complain) for sponsoring this disgrace!
People of Greensboro, we need to fight back this bullsh!t!!
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Links and story courtesy of News & Record.com
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This ain't over yet...
Who the Hell does The State Gov't think he/she is telling us who we can vote for and who's running OUR city?
Even Gov. McCrory hates this, especially since he was the Mayor of Charlotte.
And F&%K YOU Trudy Wade (write to her and complain) for sponsoring this disgrace!
People of Greensboro, we need to fight back this bullsh!t!!
===================
Links and story courtesy of News & Record.com
Greensboro council says HB 263 redistricting is partisan and racist
Posted: Friday, July 3, 2015 11:03 pm
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Updated: 3:40 pm, Sat Jul 4, 2015.
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Posted on Jul 3, 2015
GREENSBORO — Yvonne
Johnson, the long-serving and popular councilwoman who served as
Greensboro’s first black mayor, says she won’t run for re-election next
year.
“If they change the City Council districts and that stands, I’m not going to run again,” Johnson said Friday.
Johnson and other council members
decried changes to the council made by House Bill 263, which the
General Assembly passed on Thursday. Some argued on Friday that the
changes were partisan — the council positions are nonpartisan — and
designed to limit minority representation on the City Council.
The bill does away with at-large
council seats like Johnson’s in favor of eight districts and a mayor who
is voted on by the entire city. It also limits the mayors vote to ties
and dramatically changes the council’s district lines.
If Johnson wanted to run, it would have to be in District 2, which is already represented by Jamal Fox.
Johnson, 72, said she has no desire to run against Fox, a 28-year-old at the beginning of his political career.
She said she doesn’t believe it was an accident that she and Fox were drawn into the same district.
With last month’s appointment of
Justin Outling, the council now has four black members — the most in the
city’s history. The new district map puts two of them in District 1 and
two in District 2, meaning that they must face each other if they run
for re-election and guaranteeing that two black incumbents will leave
the council.
“When you look at a map where all
four black City Council members are drawn into districts where they
have to face each other, it’s not a coincidence,” Johnson said. “It
smells of racism to me.”
Councilwoman Sharon Hightower, drawn into District 1 with Outling, agreed.
“It’s racism, and it’s partisanship,” she said.
Candidates do not run as
Democrats or Republicans. The Republican majority in the General
Assembly didn’t attempt to change that with the recent redistricting
bill. It wouldn’t have been to their advantage to do so in a city with
far more registered Democrats than registered Republicans.
But Hightower and others said the way the new districts are drawn was anything but nonpartisan.
Democratic Councilman Mike Barber
is drawn into District 3 where he would have to face fellow Democratic
Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann. Barber couldn’t be reached for comment
Friday. Hoffmann said she plans to run for re-election.
Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter,
also a Democrat, is drawn into a new District 8 that is significantly
more conservative than her previous, city-at-large constituency. She
plans to run for re-election.
Wilkins’ District 5 contains no incumbents.
Wilkins wasn’t available for an interview Friday but said in a written statement that he is leaning toward running again.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said it should be hard for anyone to believe the new map wasn’t drawn with a political agenda.
“You double-bunk six sitting
council members who are Democrats and you take a seventh and put them in
what looks like a heavily Republican district,” Vaughan said. “You
leave the only sitting Republican City Council member unscathed and take
away the vote of the mayor, the only person who is elected by the
entire city — I find it hard to justify that.”
The council will hold a special
public hearing Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to collect public input on what,
if anything, the city should do about the changes.
Vaughan said she’ll meet with attorneys next week to consider a legal challenge to the new bill.
“In the last 24 hours I’ve heard
overwhelmingly from people who want us to pursue all of our legal
options,” Vaughan said. “There are very few people who are happy about
this.”
Contact Joe Killian at (336) 373-7023, and follow @JoeKillianNR on Twitter.
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This ain't over yet...
posted by Ken B. at 8:00 AM
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