When I first posted to this and other forums that Mayor Vaughan had left her husband several people told me that her marital status was nobody's business. I guess that all changed when the local media outlets began letting you know Mayor Vaughan is suspected of billing her separation and/or divorce proceedings to the City of Greensboro.
When the people who control taxpayer dollars have changes in their life that might cause them to act in desperation, everything they do becomes the people's business.
And it is the media's business to report those changes. Despite the fact that the Greensboro News & Record has reported that Mayor Vaughan is seeing an attorney who specializes in divorce, the N&R has to date failed to report that Mayor Vaughan is A. no longer living with her husband, B. has changed the address of her voter registration to a home bought by her mother last December, and according to the Rhino Times, been involved with other men.
Quite honestly, I've met Eric's wife-- Mayor Vaughan can't hold a candle in looks, charm, grace, style, brains or sex appeal. If John Hammer ever discredited himself it was with his accusation that Vaughan and Robert had some sort of an affair.
Regretfully, people who have lived lives of plenty are all too often the quickest to become desperate when hit with hard times. The life-long poor, having always been poor, simply struggle as they've always done knowing that somehow there will be just enough to survive until there is no more. Then they accept the death whose time has come. That's the way the poor have always lived, it's why they so rarely rise up against the ruling classes.
But people of means, when they get desperate, they start looking for the fastest and easiest way back to the life they once knew. Generally speaking, they simply don't know how to survive being poor. After all, it's not something you learn at school. Quite the contrary, our schools, even our most esteemed universities, only teach survival with ample money, if they teach that.
When rich Developers go broke and their projects are too risky for bank loans they look to government to finance their projects.
When Politicians go broke they look to the government to pay their bills.
None can admit they've failed. Who can remember President Richard Nixon saying, "I am not a crook." when in fact everyone in the nation knew he was a crook.
Ever notice how every time you read a biography of someone running for public office you see a list of that person's successes but not a list of their failures? I'm betting most had more failures than successes. And I'm betting most of their successes aren't really successes at all-- just things they managed to attach their names to. Real leaders don't just serve the people and attach their names to successes, real leaders bring ideas to the table.
But here in Greensboro our leaders spend your tax dollars to buy the same tired old ideas that are failing everywhere else, then fail to implement the ideas they paid for, and then hire speech writers to explain to you what they, themselves cannot understand. Every Greensboro economic development plan that has been pitched to date has been purchased from consultants but none of the plans have been followed through on-- money down the drain.
And most were ideas that had already failed elsewhere.
If I were Mayor of Greensboro I would never buy ideas. As Mayor of Greensboro it's my job to come up with ideas, to see problems as opportunities to make things better and to create a city that people from all over the world will want to emulate instead of trying to copy other cities. And I will never hire a speech writer.
And should I fail, rather than claim victory or delay, obfuscate & manipulate, I'll man up and admit my failures just as I'm admitting now that most of my life has been filled with failures. But it was never for lack of ideas.
So far this series, If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro has been filled with ideas-- more than I'll ever be able to accomplish-- but you've yet to hear any ideas from existing City Council members as of the date of this posting. Why? Because most are only there to serve themselves and not the Citizens of Greensboro.
You see, it's not that I don't respect authority...
Also, from the dedicated research staff here at EzGreensboro.com: (Yes, we really do have a research staff made up of dedicated professionals who volunteer their services for the good of Greensboro.)
"Occupation Forecast for North Carolina
Billy,
I thought you might be interested in the data I found through the Bureau of Labor and Statistics which show the projections for job loss/growth for North Carolina through 2022. I sorted this by industries most likely to be lost or stagnant through high growth based on average annual openings.No surprise, the most available positions are fast food, retail sales, cashiers, waitstaff. Also not surprising are the disappearing skilled labor (wood working, leather working).What did surprise me is some of the zero or less than 1 growth industries. Agricultural engineers.Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors. Electro-Mechanical Technicians.
Just something to chew on."
And if you really want an awakening as to the job market in North Carolina check out the far right column labeled Average Annual Openings in the chart our researchers sent us. This is the kind of information normally available only to Mayors and other elected officials who continue to do nothing but allow you to pay their bills.
More from our research staff:
"State Occupational Projections is a site that allows you to look up the short-term (3-5 years) and long-term (10 years) employment projections for your profession. The source of the national projections is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. State projections are developed in the labor market information sections of each State Employment Security Agency.
Note that this is not the NC Chamber of Commerce material; it comes from the federal level."
And this:
"Actually, compare that to the NC Chamber of Commerce presentation of the same data.They carried over the numbers for "total, all occupations" but narrowed the occupational categories from 745 to 22."
And who funds the various chambers of commerce? City and county tax dollars everywhere you go. In Greensboro the Chamber of Commerce has multiple names including Action Greensboro, the Greensboro Partnership, Chamber of Commerce, Young Greensboro Professionals, Entrepreneur Connection, Economic Development.....
