The first weekend in December is a big night in downtown Greensboro and a busy weekend for Downtown Greensboro Inc. Friday, Dec. 2 is the Festival of Lights from 6 to 9 p.m., when the streets of downtown Greensboro are filled with lights, music and people. Then Saturday, Dec. 3 at noon is the Christmas Parade on Greene, Market and Church streets. Once again this year the parade will feature Macy’s style balloons.
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Congratulations to state Rep. Jon Hardister for being elected state House majority whip. The majority whip is generally considered the third highest leadership position in the House behind the speaker and majority leader.
This could be good news for Greensboro, except for the fact that Greensboro City Council has decided to pick fights with the state legislature.
President Pro Tem of the state Senate Phil Berger represents the northern portion of Greensboro, with Hardister moving up the leadership ladder in the House, Greensboro, for the first time in years, has considerable power in both houses of the legislature.
But that power isn’t going to help Greensboro unless the City Council decides that it is in the best interest of the city to get along with the state government.
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Speaking of politics, who would have guessed that one of the last elections in the state to be decided would be the top dog. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory hasn’t conceded the election and is asking for a recount of Durham County votes. It seems like a reasonable request since Durham County counted over 90,000 early votes on election night with equipment that wasn’t working properly.
All McCrory needs is a good reason to contest enough votes to make the difference, and the decision on who won goes to the legislature where he has a clear advantage. McCrory’s problem is that Attorney General Roy Cooper’s lead keeps growing as more votes are counted. Unless McCrory’s team can come up with thousands of contested votes, it appears McCrory will be a one-term governor.
