"A recent Brookings Institution report found four North Carolina metro areas (Winston-Salem, Greensboro-High Point, Raleigh, and Charlotte) fell within the top 10 in the nation for both growth in poor population and growth of poor neighborhoods.
From 2008 to 2012, the poverty rate within the state has grown from 14.6% to 18%, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts."
That was 2014. On October 25, 2017, Triad City Beat reported:
"When Planning Director Sue Schwartz saw the most recent 1-year estimate released by the Census for the city of Greensboro last month, she was astonished. The latest numbers show the poverty rate jumping by 6.6 points from 2015 to 2016, from 16.2 percent to 22.8 percent.
“This looks like something catastrophic,” she said. “It’s like something you would expect to see in a city where there had been multiple plant closings. You would expect to see this in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, or some towns in Florida. We haven’t gone through anything like that.”
There you have it, proof that Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and the Greensboro City Council have stood aside and done nothing to improve the economy of Greensboro in the last 2 years. Or at the least, nothing that worked.
So what do I propose we do? Well for starters:
Work programs.
Address the needs of our city by putting people to work on those needs using systems modeled after the Civilian Conversation Corps and the Works Progress Administration. Do we need low income housing in Greensboro? If yes then let Greensboro's version of the WPA build them instead of giving the money to slum lords as the current mayor and council are doing.
We could call it the Greensboro Progress Administration and set it up so that the GPA must show progress to remain funded.
Housing could be provided with a means to home ownership. GPA workers could pay off homes all or in-part with sweat equality. My home isn't much but as a kid I helped my Daddy saw boards and drive the nails that went into the building our home-- nothing makes a man happier than knowing he built the roof over his very head.
No, I'm not talking about eliminating private contractors. I'm talking about putting more small private contractors to work. The current system as funded by the City gives the money to a handful of big money developers who are already cozy with city council. The Greensboro Progress Administration, as a new entity, won't have those same connections and it also won't have equipment of its own-- therefore the GPA will have to hire small, local contractors for much of its work. These smaller contractors will work along side GPA workers as the middle men and brokers are eliminated. This will reduce costs to the City while making more money available the the contractors and workers.
Out with the leeches.
As is obvious, our various economic development "gurus" and their agencies have failed us. The Greensboro Partnership, Action Greensboro, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Greensboro Inc, The Piedmont Triad Partnership... none of them have lived up to expectations... Not even close. And while the City of Greensboro does not have the legal authority to close any of them the Mayor and City Council do have the authority to end all taxpayer funding to all such agencies. If property owners within the Downtown Improvement District with to continue funding DGI they are free to do so-- just don't expect additional funding from the City and do not expect the City to act as your agent. You are on your own to do as you will.
That, my friends, should go a long ways towards recovering the costs of operating the Greensboro Progress Administration and actually put some money in the pockets of working class people who will spend their money right here in Greensboro.
Perhaps you've got ideas too?
AND SHARE! PLEASE SHARE SO THAT OTHERS CAN JOIN THE REVOLUTION AND OUST ALL THE INCUMBENTS ON THE GREENSBORO CITY COUNCIL!
