Then there's my pea patch in the front yard and the fact that I sometimes grow crimson clover instead of grass to add nitrogen to the soil. You see, when we moved here many years ago there were farms in my neighborhood and I guess it's just in my blood. I harvest my yard. If I were a wealthy man I'd buy out most of my neighbors, bulldoze most of the houses and return the neighborhood to a farm and preserve while placing the land in an eternal trust so the City of Greensboro could forever sweat the lost tax revenue while having to maintain the streets and such to retain connectivity.
It wasn't that Brian wanted to improve Glenwood so much-- he knew he wouldn't be staying forever-- in that Brian was out to make a name for himself in nationwide forums like Medium.com:
"Brian says that he’s,
More interested in a final solution than pointing fingers at someone. Living in a city is not about just being a tax payer -it’s about building relationship with one’s government. Our neighborhood has a lot of challenges and we need to help each other out. We chose to live in the neighborhood because we wanted to make it better."But in the case of Bulent Bediz, pointing fingers is exactly what Brian Higgins did. You see, Brian was a nobody married to a somebody who was going places. His wife, Jill, had been hired by the ever popular children's charity, Victory Junction, associated with NASCAR race driver and local hero Kyle Petty. Brian wanted to be somebody too. Jill has since moved on to Activities Beyond The Classroom, a non profit in Cincinnati, Ohio. Brian is still a nobody and will probably attempt to repeat the same thing in Ohio.
Brian didn't know when he saw the old house owned by Mr Bediz that Mr Bediz had already spent the previous 30 years working to save Glenwood and was responsible for restoring Glenwood's finest treasures. All Brian saw was a potential target and a way to make a name for himself.
Brian didn't stop at complaining to the city about broken sidewalks and overgrown city owned right-of-ways-- problems the City of Greensboro was supposed to be looking after all along. Nor did Brian concentrate on the many run down properties owned by UNCG. Oh Brian complained about UNCG but Brian set his sights squarely on Bulent Bediz, the man who over the course of the previous 30 plus years had done more to save Glenwood than any man or woman in the world.
Remember Brian's protest to save the bench on the Downtown Greenway-- the bench the neighbors were complaining the prostitutes were using to give blow jobs? Brian just wanted media attention.
After all, you can't be the hero of Glenwood as long as the Hero of Glenwood is still standing, can you? And now you know why Ben Holder and Brian Higgins don't get along. They both wanted to be the hero of Glenwood but neither cold fill Bulent Bediz's shoes.
Brian and Ben filed complain after complaint against Mr Bediz. Funny thing about Ben Holder is that he doesn't even own the house he lives in but he likes to tell everyone he does. There is no Benjamin or Ben Holder listed as owning property in Greensboro, and 1306 Oak St, the address Ben lists on his Code Enforcement Complaints, belongs to a Mr Jeffery Hatcher.
But wait, I was going to tell you the real story about Brian Higgins improper landscape materials and how it came to be-- I digress.
Someone, it wasn't Bulent Bediz, complained to the City about a pile of logs Brian had dumped in his yard. Only Brian didn't dump the logs, Brian talked someone from the City of Greensboro into dumping the logs. And they didn't dump the logs in Brian's yard, they dumped them onto a property next door belonging to none other than... you guessed it, Bulent Bediz.
When the City dumped the logs they damaged a structure Mr Bediz had built to contain the trash and recycling cans. Brian left a note on Mr Bediz's door saying he would pay for the damages. Mr Bediz went back to the man who had built the structure and asked for a repair estimate but instead of Brian paying the bill the City of Greensboro paid to repair the damages.
And Brian's pile of logs? They're still there all these years later. Bulent Bediz was victimized by Brian Higgins who was out to make a name for himself and you, dear taxpayers, thanks to Brian's coziness with Nancy Barakat Vaughan and other Greensboro City officials, paid the cost.
Better sell that house cheap, Brian, you'll not want to hang around Glenwood long now.
