Author: John Hammer

This year, the grandmother of all neighborhood parades in Greensboro, the Kirkwood Fourth of July Parade, along with celebrating the nations birthday will be celebrating its own 70thbirthday

Good news.  The Greensboro City Council has finally figured out where the first off-site City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 8 will be held. 

The city staff is fighting a rear guard action against the stakeholders concerning the proposed “Good Repair” ordinance that would place a detailed set of regulations on every nonresidential building in Greensboro.

Mark Robinson announced he is running in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina at noon Tuesday, July 2 in front of city hall in downtown Greensboro.

It’s easier to list the city facilities that are open on Thursday, July 4 than the ones that are closed, so the open ones come first.

Last week the Carroll Companies, which owns this publication, received a ticket from the City of Greensboro for some small piles of brush on the 6.6 acre site at the corner of Hobbs Road and Friendly Avenue which has been cleared of buildings and is zoned for mixed use development.

If there was still any question about the purpose of the proposed “Good Repair” ordinance being only about safety, it was dismissed at a meeting to discuss possible changes to the proposed ordinance held Friday at 9 a.m. in the office of the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC).

In keeping with long standing tradition the Fun Fourth Festival in downtown Greensboro begins on July 3 and then packs in full day of activities on the Fourth.  But this year there is a significant change in the schedule

Economic development in the region and where it’s going from here was the topic discussed by a panel of economic development professionals at a luncheon held by the Realtors Commercial Alliance of Greensboro in the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association office on Oak Branch Drive on Tuesday, June 25.

The Greensboro Police Department has released the body worn camera videos of the officers involved in the incident on Monday, June 17 on Maybank Drive involving Aaron Michael Andrews who stopped breathing while Guilford County Emergency Medical Services was preparing to transport him to the hospital and was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later

District 59 State Rep. Jon Hardister ( R-Guilford) who is the House majority whip held a fund raiser at the Painted Plate at the Vineyard last Thursday with North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) as the featured speaker.

This is the last week glass will be accepted in the brown residential recycling bins. 

City Councilmembers say this year is the first time property taxes have been raised in over ten years, but that doesn’t mean that it’s true.

Earlier this week the Rhino Times posted an article, “Public Not Informed Of Public Hearing.”  The agenda for the Tuesday, June 18 meeting stated that a public hearing had been held on June 4 on the “proposed economic development appropriations” but the agenda for the June 4 meeting had no such public hearing listed and no public hearing was held.

The Greensboro City Council spent far longer discussing whether to delay a public hearing and vote on the good repair ordinance that it has spent over two work sessions and two meetings discussing the 3 cent tax increase. 

The Greensboro City Council passed the $566 million 2019-2020 budget with a 3 cent tax increase, a 4 percent water rate increase and a new $2.50 monthly recycling fee and there is no doubt about it because the Council passed the budget twice at its meeting Tuesday, June 18 in the Council Chamber.

The Guilford County Behavioral Health Crisis Collaborative, a new mental health care system for Guilford County moved a step closer to becoming a reality at the Greensboro Zoning Commission meeting on Monday, June 17 in the Council Chamber.

It appears the Greensboro City Council held a public hearing, but didn’t tell the public about it.

Greensboro is about to find out if the City Council places as much value on requests from property owners and taxpayers as it does on the homeless and homeless organizers.

The North Carolina Board of Elections decided on Thursday, June 13 not to certify any new voting machines. About 30 percent of the counties in the state including Guilford will have to purchase new voting machines to comply with state law requiring paper ballots for the 2020 elections.

The attorneys representing the City of Greensboro and eight police officers who have been sued by Mary and George Smith the parents of Marcus Deon Smith who died Sept. 8, 2018 after being in police custody, filed a motion Thursday, June 13 to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim that entitles them to relief.

Both Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Greensboro Communications and Marketing Department Director Carla Banks have responded to questions about why the newly reformatted offsite City Council town hall meetings won’t be televised.But they don’t agree.

Roy Carroll, the owner of the Carroll Companies, with the help of his wife Vanessa, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Zack Matheny cut the ribbon to officially open the Hyatt Place hotel downtown on the corner of Bellemeade and North Eugene streets.

Councilmember Sharon Hightower initiated a discussion of the “excused absence” policy for boards and commissions at the June 4 City Council meeting.

If you’re scheduled to speak at the next City Council town hall meeting, you’d better change your schedule.  The meeting won’t be held in the Council Chambers at city hall on Tuesday, July 9 as the schedule states,

Water rates in Greensboro are going up 4.5 percent beginning July 1, assuming that the Greensboro City Council approves the budget recommended by City Manager David Parrish. Since the City Council has shown almost no interest in the budget that seems like a sure thing.

More people in Greensboro seem to be upset about the fact that on July 1 the city will no longer accept glass in the brown residential recycling carts, than they are about the 3 cent tax increase or the $2.50 recycling fee which go into effect on the same day.

Greensboro had an unusual problem last year, it had money it couldn’t give away.The city had a down payment assistance program for first time home buyers with money in the form of forgivable loans, but in 12 months it only made 17 loans. 

The Republican led North Carolina Senate sent a message to Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this week when it voted to approve the proposed North Carolina budget for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. 

The City Council waited until the very end of the Tuesday, June 4 meeting to hold the public hearing required by state law on the 2019-2020 budget.

It only took the City Council about 30 minutes to resolve its one issue with the proposed $566 million 2019-2020 budget at a work session on Tuesday, June 4 in the Plaza Level Conference Room.

A rift between the City of Greensboro and one of its longtime community partners, Greensboro Beautiful, Inc. burst into public view at the Tuesday, June 4 City Council town hall meeting. 

Guilford County Commissioner Jeff Phillips spoke to about 50 Republicans at the Guilford County Republican Party Executive Committee meeting Monday night at the Hilton Garden Inn on Big Tree Way.The Guilford County GOP currently has no office, no headquarters, no physical location at all, so party meetings are being held in a meeting room at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The ribbon cutting for the Hammer Tiny House Community on Causey Street was held Saturday, June 1 with over a hundred people in attendance.  The board members and many of the volunteers who had a hand in the construction of Tiny House Community Development Inc. were more than a little bit excited about having completed the project.

Looking back, the month of May was a stellar month for Greensboro and Guilford County for economic development.On Thursday, May 30 the long awaited ground breaking for Slugger, the nine story office building on First National Field property was held.

If at first you don’t succeed try, try again.The City of Greensboro will hold a second public meeting on the proposed Good Repair Ordinance on Wednesday, June 5 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the District 4 Greensboro Police Patrol Station at 1106 Maple St.

The Greensboro City Council has scheduled a second budget work session for Tuesday, June 4 at 4:30 pm in the Plaza Level Conference Room.

In the past the Greensboro City Council has always instructed the city manager what it expected in the budget as far as a tax rate increase.  Managers have been told that they could formulate a budget with any tax increase they desired, but the Council also wanted to see a no tax increase budget.  

Two major downtown Greensboro development events in two days is a good way to start the summer.

Three cents may not be enough of a tax increase for this City Council.

After the Council budget work session on Wednesday, May 29 where councilmembers expressed a desire to add more spending, but little if any desire to make cuts, it appears the Council may be headed toward an even higher tax increase.

The Greensboro Board of Adjustment may not be in revolt like the Zoning Commission but it is certainly annoyed by the new regulations imposed by the Greensboro City Council on members of volunteer boards and commissions.

City Manager David Parrish announced today that he was promoting two longtime city employees to become assistant city managers, raising the number of assistant city managers to four.

The Greensboro Recommended Budget FY 2019-2020 includes $500,000 to start a new department to offer a service never before offered by the City of Greensboro.

In this case the photo says it all.  Over 100 people showed up on a rainy Thursday morning at the Smith Senior Center at 2401 Fairview St. for the grand opening of six new outdoor pickleball courts beside the center.

How does a brand new $2.50 recycling availability fee get in the city manager’s recommended budget without the City Council discussing it?

The Greensboro City Council voted unanimously to hire Chuck Watts as the city attorney at the regular meeting Tuesday, May 21 in the Council Chamber.

Two seemingly similar zoning requests a few hundred yards apart on McConnell Road had the exact opposite outcomes before the Greensboro City Council at the meeting on Tuesday, May 21 in the Council Chamber.

A property tax increase, water and sewer rate increase and a brand new recycling fee: the 2019-2020 Greensboro Recommended Budget of $566 million presented by City Manager David Parrish at the Tuesday, May 21 City Council meeting has it all.

Seeing the big picture is something the Greensboro City Council is accused of not doing well, but sometimes it’s not their fault.