...there already is heavy speculation about who might run in the newly proposed districts and whether they were drawn to favor certain candidates.
Former Guilford County Commissioner Melvin “Skip” Alston, a Democrat, and prominent real estate developer Roy Carroll, a Republican, said they are already looking for candidates for the new districts...
How are both of them the same?
Alston said he’ll be recruiting candidates to run for the three black-majority districts that the new plan would create.
Skip Alston is saying District 7 would be minority,
which is the district that looks the most manipulable by Roy,
and the district with the lowest percentage of voters who voted in 2013.
In an interview last week, Alston said he won’t pursue a City Council seat — but he is looking for others to run.
District 7 contains Roy Carroll's Center Pointe
and a bunch of new apartments,
whose voters may not be actually be counted at present.
...Early analysis of the new district map suggests Republicans could win as many as three seats on the seven-member board — a significant change from the 7-2 majority Democrats now enjoy.
Alston said he cares less about that than the fact that Wade’s plan would create three districts where a majority of voters are black.
Because Skip appears to have something to gain
other than a selfless act.
“Three African American districts would give us more representation than we’ve ever had,” he said. “So I will definitely be looking for candidates to run in all of those districts, and I believe we’re going to find some great candidates.”
The chances of District 7 ending up African American
is rather very low,
unless Roy runs an African American,
who won't act in the best interests of East Greensboro,
but Roy Carroll.
Electing black council members is more important to him than electing Democrats, Alston said.
“So that would be three black council members and two districts where, even if the council member elected is white, they know they can’t ignore African American issues,” he said.
Bullshit.
...Carroll, who is also the publisher of the conservative weekly newspaper The Rhino Times, said he has encouraged such people to run for council, but they all give him the same answer.
“They say, ‘Why would I want to go and run every other year?’ ” Carroll said. “That’s basically what you do.”
What most tell me
is they don't want to get carved up by John Hammer
if they aren't one of Roy's boys.
Carroll said business leaders are used to making decisions in groups of perhaps three or four people — not nine. A smaller council, where their voices will carry more weight, would be more attractive to them, Carroll said.
Total nonsense.
See almost every corporate board in America.
At least one sitting council member said he believes that Wade drew the map in consultation with candidates she would like to see run.
“The most disgusting part of this proposal is the districts were created to benefit political supporters,” Councilman Mike Barber said last week. “Some of the very people who will now likely run for some of these districts sat around a conference room table in downtown Greensboro and helped draw the districts. This is political cronyism.”
http://www.news-record.com/news/government/candidate-shopping-already-started/article_c5877178-b17c-11e4-b63b-5b6ead52233d.html
