Ms Ladd calls out Councilmembers Nancy Hoffmann, Justin Outling and others who have been trying to paint Democracy Greensboro with the brush of Communism. She fails to mention that Mayor Vaughan and John Brown refused to show at the Democracy Greensboro event.
"It seems that the poisonous atmosphere of division we’ve seen in national elections has filtered down to the municipal level.
At a Greensboro City Council candidate forum hosted by the group on Sept. 16, District 4 Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann compared the graphics on the group’s brochure — a farmer scattering seeds — to “socialist workers art from the 1950s,” according to a story in Triad City Beat.
Socialist workers art? Really?
Both Hoffmann and District 3 Councilman Justin Outling, who did not attend but released a statement, criticized the group’s language as “incendiary” and its platform as “generalized.” Odd that they would pick the exact same terms, but election season produces a marvelous environment for coincidence.
“What concerns me and should concern all of you is that the platform seems to be based on the false presumption that we are not acting fairly, honestly and transparently,” Hoffmann is quoted as saying."
Hoffmann also made the claim that it was not the responsibility of City Council members to stand watch over the civil rights of the citizens of our city. It is in-fact the job of every person elected to every office in this nation.
"Of course, the council voted improperly in closed session, and many of its members sat silently while City Attorney Tom Carruthers tried to cover it up. Mayor Nancy Vaughan ultimately outed the whole council and asked city staff to revert to a policy of releasing the minutes of closed sessions once the matters discussed there have been resolved.
And the council did use a bidding process to select the best health care plan for city employees, only to reject the results when the process didn’t produce the company they wanted — for the second consecutive year. And it was Outling who made the motion to reject those bids — leaving United Healthcare with the city contract — without telling anyone that the law firm he works for, Brooks Pierce, has paid lobbyists for that company. One of their own, Jamal Fox, said it best on his last night before resigning as a council member: “This is bad governance.”
It was pointed out again and again here on the pages of EzGreensboro.com, I'm glad the folks at the News & Fishwrap have finally taken notice. Do you understand how fustrating it is to spend years trying to push these truths into the media only to be ignored time and time again?
As I understand it, Mayor Vaughan's outing of Council was purely political in nature and had nothing to do with any desire to do what is best for Greensboro. And don't you find it interesting that despite playing their game the entire time Mr Fox served on Council, that the first and last words he ever uttered as a Greensboro City Councilman were criticism of Mayor Vaughan and Council?
Ms Ladd continues:
"Efforts to provide more transparency concerning the police’s use of force have failed, and efforts to create a better oversight mechanism appear to have been delayed until after the election.
The council has earned at least a measure of the suspicion and distrust that some community members now harbor."
Are you aware that Diane Moffett, John Brown, and I are all in favor of civilian or independent oversight of law enforcement as is spelled out in Democracy Greensboro's Platform? But Nancy Vaughan has failed to make that happen.
Folks, even if I can't convince you to write in Billy Jones for Mayor, please vote for anyone other than Nancy Vaughan.
More from Ms Ladd:
"The two most radical ideas in Democracy Greensboro’s platform are establishing civilian or independent oversight of law enforcement and divesting the Greensboro Police Department of all militarized equipment.
Civilian oversight of law enforcement, with full investigative and subpoena power, is an idea that long has been advocated by many members of the community. Whether or not it’s the right policy, it’s certainly not extremist. San Francisco, New York City, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., all have such oversight boards.
The concern that police have become too militarized has surfaced across the country, even among the nation’s most conservative politicians."
Okay, I'll admit, that last line was suspect so I clicked Ms Ladd's link and shownuff' Rand Paul said:
"In an op-ed published Monday in The New York Post, Paul called the president's decision "a mistake," arguing that the line between local law enforcement officers and soldiers is "eroding."
"To support our local police, we must first realize they aren’t soldiers. But today the line between the two is being eroded," he wrote.
"Given these developments, it’s natural for many Americans — especially minorities, given the racial disparities in policing — to feel like their government is targeting them. Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice isn’t paying close enough attention," Paul added.
He also announced plans to introduce a measure when Congress returns from its recess that would bar the transfer of military equipment from the federal government to state and local law enforcement agencies."
So there, this time we can't accuse Ms Ladd of Liberal lies.
And finally she ends with:
"There’s not much there to fear — unless the idea of accountability, transparency and justice is what you find threatening."
I guess if I were Greensboro's current mayor and city council then I'd feel threatened too. Who knows, maybe the revolution will be televised?
