Peeler Center Park

It is absolutely amazing the secrets you can stumble across while using the Internet for completely unrelated things. For example, while posting an ad to Craigslist I was shown a map that showed Peeler Center Park extending from Phillips Ave along Sykes Ave and Elwell Ave all the way to Woodale Lane.

That's 2 blocks farther south than the park extends now. And it will require a property belonging to one of my brothers and several lifelong friends who I am certain have never heard a word about this project.

This is also directly in the path of Greensboro's recent tornado with several of the homes there having not yet been repaired.

As you can see on the Google Map the current view is very different with Lacy Ave not connecting to Easton Road as it does in the first screen grab.

Now don't you wonder where map makers like Open Street Map get their information from?

And how would Open Street Map, a UK based organization, know of such a project when no one living in the effected area has yet to learn about it.

Move Homeless Services Away From Downtown?

Recently Amy Murphy wrote an article titled, Move Homeless Services Away from Downtown? in which she seems to advocate moving services such as the Interactive Resource Center out of Downtown to Maple St in Northeast Greensboro.

Why not move homeless services to Irving Park instead? Have Irving Park residents ever lived with door to door panhandlers? Here on the far east end of Textile Drive-- east of US 29-- it's happened many times. And no, I'm not talking about overly aggressive sales people, I'm talking about people knocking on doors begging for money-- something that takes place each and every time Downtown cracks down on panhandlers.

But what about the people living on and around Maple Street? The people pushing to move the homeless there seem to be conveniently "forgetting" that the Maple Street area is a mixed residential and commercial area just as is Downtown. And has been such since before it was annexed into the City of Greensboro. Is it fair to the residents of the mill village to simply push the problems off on them?What the people talking about when they say move the homeless out of downtown really mean is out of sight and out of mind.

Perhaps instead of talking about moving the homeless out we should be talking about real long term solutions instead of the band aids we currently apply.

But nooooo, real long term solutions cuts into the profits of local developers and sends non profit agencies (Greensboro's biggest growth industry) looking for real work. Haven't you figured it out yet? Creating more problems creates more work in the non profit industry, which bleeds the working classes and creates more problems, thereby shrinking the middle class while non profit leaders get filthy rich.

Why aren't we talking about home ownership instead of renting tiny houses?

Why aren't we talking about creating local businesses that will stay here instead of recruiting businesses who will leave the first time another city offers bigger incentives?

Want to change things for the better? The old men who taught me Capitalism taught me to PUT PEOPLE FIRST! Everything else will follow. It has been the failure of Modern Capitalism to adhere to the rule of putting people first that has caused us the pain and poverty we face today. Give the people what they want and the money will follow.

That, my friends, is the focus of my write-in campaign for Mayor of Greensboro. Share if you believe that is the way Greensboro should be run.

What Sharon Hightower's Neighbors Think of Her

This sign is hanging on a beauty salon on McConnell Road just around the corner from the home of Greensboro, District 1 City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower. Click on the photo to enlarge.

You can find the Facebook thread by clicking here, express your opinion of Sharon Hightower and join the many who are sharing the thread.

CANDIDATE FORUM FOR DISTRICT 2 CITY COUNCIL

Greensboro City Council District 2 Representative, Jamal Fox has resigned.

Citizens of District 2 are invited to hear from candidates for the District 2 seat.

A candidate forum will be held on Thursday, July 13, 2017, 6:30 pm, at
                                                                                                                               
Laughlin Memorial Church
1417 Huffine Mill Rd.
Greensboro, NC  

Say No To Destination Districts: Updated

This is how it begins. Gentrification is now coming to District 2. Mark my words, in a few short years the working classes won't be able to afford to live in these neighborhoods and people will lose their homes to rising property taxes. From Fox 8, Abandoned Greensboro mill to be redeveloped into apartments, retail:

“We said District 2 is going to be a destination district,” Councilman Jamal Fox said. “In that district there is going to be the Mill District. It’s going to be the place where you can sit there and look on the map and say I’m going to the mill area.”

Notice I've made no mention of tearing down anything.

Some will ASSume I want it torn down. Others will ASSume I advocate saving it. In reality I advocate neither.

I grow very tired of people Assuming they can read my mind.

The good news: As far as I can tell. The Alexander Company has a much better reputation than any local developer who could have arranged the deal. Of course they do profit heavily from various incentive deals on various old properties they redevelop nationwide.

But I would like to see Print Works put to the best possible use for the community no matter if the building stays or goes. And frankly I don't believe a "destination district" as described by Councilman Jamal Fox is the best for our community.

Will a "destination district" provide anything better than minimum wage jobs? The people who work there won't even be able to afford the $640 a month rent required for a 1 bedroom apartment. I mean, damn, when I worked at Print Works all those many years ago even Cone Mills paid better than minimum wage. And health insurance was free if you were single.

Then there's the added congestion. I have a niece who lives next door to Revolution Mill. That's right, next door. Even though Revolution Mill is not yet finished the increased traffic is causing problems. People park in front of her driveway, throw trash into her yard, come and go all hours of the night. Even when Cone Mills operated there, the Mill Village never suffered those kinds of problems.

Will Print Works not cause more of the same sorts of problems for the existing community? And how will becoming a "destination district" benefit the existing community?

Damn people, I am the most literal person you will ever meet-- stop dreaming up things I never said. Concentrate on the issues. Is there a better use for this property? Could The Alexander Company be encouraged to consider better uses? Would Jamal Fox get off his ass, quit taking credit for things he had no part in, do his job, and approach the developers about other possible uses?

Uses that might better benefit the community?

You know, like a job training center for those high tech jobs we are told exist but no one in District 2 has the education to do.

There is no shortage of housing in Greensboro. And while some might argue there is a shortage of low income housing that isn't what they are building. Well, not according to the article on Fox 8.

Why is it downtown and the west side get the good paying jobs and we get housing projects?

Here's another possibility. I admit it is a long shot but "The World's Largest Sustainable Indoor Fisheries", Blue Ridge Aquaculture located just 45 minutes north of Greensboro, is looking to expand:

"Because of the high water re-use and the small footprint, these systems are very scaleable. The farm has developed a proven system that raises a healthy, sustainable food source. The business has generated attractive financial returns with a dedication to social responsibility. The demand for a healthy seafood product raised in the United States will continue to grow and be strong. With these concepts, Blue Ridge Aquaculture sees large-scale expansion very possible, and has developed a strong business model to achieve its vision. BRA is actively seeking investment partners to facilitate the expansion of its tilapia production."

I bet those downtown restaurant owners would love a local source of sustainable seafood.

"Currently, the United States imports over 80% of the seafood it consumes. Imported products arrive with little oversight for food safety, ecological impacts and social issues. This large seafood trade deficit is in stark contrast to the other food proteins we grow in the United States, chiefly poultry, beef and pork."

Is it not the job of Greensboro's Councilmembers and economic development gurus to seek out all kinds of economic development or are they limited strictly to real estate development to the detriment of Greensboro's working class poor?

Or perhaps we could put some of those aviation jobs there that City tax dollars are subsiding already? Don't give me that crap about East Greensboro being too far from the airport, some of those subsidized aviation jobs are in Forsyth, Randolph, and Davidson counties-- a lot farther away from Piedmont Triad International than District 2.

And folks, when it comes to cost, nothing is more expensive to build than residential, retail, and restaurants. For far less money The Alexander Company could gut the building and turn it into manufacturing space. Hell, the loading docks, railroad access, and fast access to Wendover Avenue, Cone Blvd, and US 29 (Soon to be an Interstate) still remains.

Surely there are better uses than a minimum wage "destination location" and the gentrification and destruction of a neighborhood that remains in good repair and is currently a good place to live and raise a family.

Yes, if these better uses are chosen then property taxes will also go up just as taxes go up with gentrification but with better uses come better paying jobs so people can afford to pay the higher taxes. In the long term Greensboro's tax base is better off.

And who knows, maybe you've got even better ideas about what could become of the old Proximity Printworks. Why must Greensboro always settle for less?


Update: May 31, 2017: For those who have yet to get it, the sole business model of The Alexander Company is Historic Tax Credits, aka Government Incentives, Federal, State and Local. This will be their first job in North Carolina but for 35 years they have been taking taxpayer dollars across the nation. There is no law that states that historic tax credits must be used for residential and retail construction. Why not, since we-the-taxpayers are paying to put Millions of Dollars in profits into the already fat bank accounts of The Alexander Company, shouldn't we demand they build what is best for our community?

Give us good paying jobs where we live.

What The News & Fishwrap Never Told You About Tiny Houses Greensboro: Part 4

On Tuesday I published What The News & Fishwrap Never Told You About Tiny Houses Greensboro. In that article I highlighted how the plan being put forth by Scott Jones and Tiny Houses Greensboro only differs from other failed efforts at public housing in appearance only. It's still rental property that traps people in the cycle and keeps them in the system for the rest of their lives.

On Wednesday I published What The News & Fishwrap Never Told You About Tiny Houses Greensboro: Part 2. There I uncover the fact that Tiny Houses Greensboro Director, Scott Jones, has had a somewhat checkered business past of his own. Scott hasn't been as successful as he would like for you to believe he has been.

I get it, I've failed at business too. Lots of people have. But honest people don't go changing the name of their business 3 or 4 times in a decade or so. Honest business people spend lifetimes building up the names of their businesses and when things go wrong they do whatever it takes to restore their good names so that their customers will always remember them as having done their best. Are the type of business people who hide their mistakes the kind of people we want controlling public and private donations?

What I wrote in What The News & Fishwrap Never Told You About Tiny Houses Greensboro: Part 3
 was completely unplanned. How was I to know that Scott Jones would attempt to have me removed from Facebook? That, my friends, is surely the act of a desperate man.

When I was growing up, the students in the drafting, carpentry, plumbing, masonry, and electricians classes at Northeast Guilford High School completely designed, built and sold at least one new house every year. It was the best way to teach new home construction to teenagers.

All the proceeds from the sale of the house went back into the program making the program self-funding for the Guilford County Schools.

Susan Ladd of the Greensboro News & Record calls Tiny Houses Greensboro, "A creative solution for housing the homeless" but is it? As I pointed out in Part 2, tiny houses for rent are different from other failed housing projects only in appearance. No one wants more rental public housing projects built in their neighborhood and the poor don't want to live in them.

And if Scott Jones thinks he can get the support of east Greensboro to put them here.... Well look out folks because I'm betting lightning is about to strike because for the first time in history Billy Jones and Goldie Wells are set to agree.

Not that I've talked to Goldie about it but being she and I both live almost next door to Claremont Courts I'm sure she has had enough. A route to home ownership with a stipulation that the tiny houses always remain owner occupied will be the only way East Greensboro will accept tiny houses. When Claremont Courts were built, we were promised by the Greensboro City Council that East Greensboro would get no more low income housing projects. Put them in Irving Park if you think you can. A low income rental project of any kind will be the end of any east Greensboro politician who supports it and everyone knows that to be true.

It's a route to home ownership for the poor or nothing at all. You've abused them long enough.

Then there's this little tidbit I found on Google:

The page had been removed from the Guilford County Schools website but right there on Google it says:

"Tom Bader and his students are currently building a 'tiny' house as part of a shop class project. The project was funded by Guilford County Schools."

Now compare that model to the model that was used at Northeast High School throughout the '50s,'60s and '70s and you'll begin to understand why everything must cost so much. Same school system, different model-- why?


A link in this article from the News & Fishwrap explains: Students at Guilford County's Weaver Academy to build 'tiny' houses:

"Bader, who has taught at Weaver for 13 years, said he was introduced to the tiny-house concept through the Interactive Resource Center of Greensboro. Some local organizations and individuals are embracing tiny houses as a possible solution to homelessness."

Wonder why the reporter at the News & Fishwrap decided to call Tiny Houses Greensboro a "local organizations" using the plural and linking to only one organization in the link?

And yes, while building tiny houses allows students to see the project through until completion why are the Guilford County Schools giving them away? Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not helping our already overburdened school funding problems.

Hey Scott Jones, are you beginning to understand how much damage your stupidity has caused.

I've proposed a factory located in East Greensboro where jobs are needed most to build tiny houses to be sold and or given to anyone who wants them. They could also be sold and shipped to communities hundreds of miles away. Greensboro's non profits and the City of Greensboro should be using their energy and resources to end the cycle of poverty and homelessness by doing what is know to work instead of repeating decades old mistakes by dressing them up in new packages. Rental properties are not now and will never be a creative solution to housing the homeless and in just a few years they'll all look just like every other low income housing project in the nation.

And they must remain forever owner occupied.

Please continue reading What The News & Fishwrap Never Told You About Tiny Houses Greensboro: Part 5

Remember Sonny Vestal

Sonny Vestal's goons are busy throwing the personal property out of an East Greensboro home on Textile Drive this morning. This is the same address where Reginald Demarcus Wrenn was murdered in cold blood on November 3, 2012. Over a month later the liquor house that myself and neighbors had been complaining about for months was still operating there.

So how did we get the liquor house closed down? Then Police Chief Ken Miller personally went to the home and had the tenants removed for their own safety after he received a tip that a group of neighbors planned to burn down the house with them inside. How did he get the tip? I told him.

Since that time we've had great neighbors in that home. Yes, sometimes their German Shepherd dog opens the front door and gets out of the house but he isn't mean and I always run him back home-- no problem. It's just that the dog worships their little girl and goes searching for her when they take her away from home without him by her side.

Yes, the dog really does know how to unlock and open the door.

If you don't remember Sonny Vestal, perhaps you remember the recent artificial about when his daddy Gloyd Vestal murdered Angelo Pennisi. The paper of record called it The trial of a liftime.

Yes, they really did misspell lifetime in the title of their story but hey I mispell words too sometimes.

Sonny Vestal's name also came up a lot in the many stories about Heritage House-- the townhouses the City of Greensboro seized control of in 2014 because of unpaid water bills and excessive crime there. The numbers of Google results for Sonny Vestal Heritage House are staggering. And little good can be found.

People close to Sonny tell me he is no different than his daddy and just as dangerous.

But what I found most interesting about my neighbor's situation is this: She admits that she fell behind on the rent. She admits that an eviction notice was filed and properly served by the Guilford County Sheriff's Department. But when she went to Sonny Vestal's offices after scraping together all the money she could borrow-- $800 to be exact-- Sonny Vestal and company took her money and then locked her out of the house.

Now she, her mother and her daughter are living on Greensboro's streets.

Remember Sonny Vestal, this is what he does. He destroys homes, families and neighborhoods.

Update: 12:00 Noon. Vestal has allowed my neighbors to come back for 1 hour to remove as much as they can load into their cars and the cars of friends but still refuses to return the $800 he took after having evicted them from the home.

And they are powerless to fight him.

If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 34

Maybe the future of Greensboro lies in making brooms from plastic bottles?



Then again, perhaps not... Looks like a lot of labor for little return. But should you end up broke and need a cheap broom...

But what if I told you the future of Greensboro might lie in a 5,000 year old technology that evolved simultaneously in Asia and Central America and was modernized by North Carolina State University 30 plus years ago?

And what if I told you the closest English language school that teaches an accredited class in this proven technology is located in Australia? That's right, the land of kangaroos, kola bears, the duckbill platypus and lots of other things most of us will never see.

What if I told you this could usher in high tech jobs (average pay $80,000 a year,  manufacturing, technology, feed the hungry, employ the unemployed, increase Greensboro's tax base, fill empty shopping centers, industrial parks and the abandoned business and commercial buildings all over Greensboro?

What if I told you we could increase Greensboro's tax base?

Most of you would say, bullshit, but you'd be wrong as it is already being done all over the world.

But I have a way to make Greensboro the center of this up and coming industry for all of North America.

I'm going to share with you a plan that could help turn Greensboro around but before I do I want to share a quote from someone named Amy at The Miracles I See, in a post titled, What I've Learned So Far:
 

"The first one is the significance of really getting to know people that we tend to “other.”  Knowing people who are different from you on a personal level is “othering” prevention.  As far as I can see at this juncture, it’s the only way.

The second thing is empowerment of the individual and thereby the community.  Having something to give, anything, and having a way to contribute, are both personal power.

As I strive to understand what will make this world a better place, at this point in my experience (and oh, boy, I know I don’t know all the things I don’t know J), here’s where I stand:

I’ll support any effort that brings communities together, black and white, rich and poor, from any class, for the purpose of knowing each other better and breaking down the barriers.

I’ll support any effort that empowers, but does not cause people to be beholden. "

Let that sink in for a few minutes...

You see, every effort of any significance that has ever been put forth  in my 60 years here in Greensboro has forced someone to be beholden for what should have been theirs all along. This is a form of corruption and this must stop if Greensboro is to succeed.

We have scratched each others' backs until the skin is gone and the blood flows.

That part about not being beholden to anyone is important to me.

You see, I have already attempted this project once before. I had no intentions of making anything for myself, no personal profits, wanted no cushy job, no percentage of profits, nothing for myself. I made it quite clear to everyone I spoke with about the project that it was solely for the good of our community. My only requirement was that it be put in the part of the city that needed it most. I even found free land to make that possible.

I presented the idea to the Greensboro Partnership at one of the slam events hosted at The Forge.  They loved it and jumped at the chance to help telling me I should "cement" my position in the project as I could make a lot of money from it and move it across town to some property we'd have to rent or buy.

I saved all the e-mails.

When I took the idea to the County they brought in the Cone Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro and others and planned to move the project to the County Farm in Gibsonville as a solution to an old problem of their own creation. Problem for the County was that the projected needed community support and the area residents, churches and others who had lined up to support the project had all been there because the project was to be located in East Greensboro-- not in Gibsonville.

I found that the project was eligible for Federal Grants plus unsecured Federal Loans-- quite possibly enough to build the entire project-- and found a church just 4 minutes walking away from the chosen site that was willing to rent us office and classroom space until the brick and mortar construction was finished. That way we could be up and running before construction was finished. And years before anyone else could have ever got it up and running.

We managed to get 501 (c) 3 status for the project in only months.

I worked with representatives of NC State University, NC A&T State University and the Guilford County Schools. The universities agreed to run the program so that this really would become the first accredited program of its kind in North America.

Because this non profit would be unusual in that it would actually produce products and earn revenue as well as train students I decided to start small and build our way up investing in the project and the community as we go. I found corporate sponsors who wanted nothing more than recognition for having helped us along the way-- no graft, no kick-backs, no seats on our board of directors. Just local companies who want Greensboro to grow so that their Greensboro businesses continue to grow.

I named this project Bessemer Aquaponics and I wrote of the many ways all of Greensboro would benefit from its founding. I figured out how to build it without city or county tax dollars.  I even created a popular Bessemer Aquaponics Facebook page for the project.

But that wasn't good enough for the people who control Greensboro. They have no intention of allowing anything to happen unless they can get a piece for themselves.

If I am elected Mayor of Greensboro I will revive the effort to build the first accredited Aquaponics school in North America and I will place it not on County owned property but on part of the 500 never before used acres that makes up half of the City of Greensboro owned White Street Landfill.

We'll power it with the landfill gas that is currently being given to International Textile Group for free. And this time no one will be able to stop us!

 Billy Jones for Mayor of Greensboro, 2017. Please share widely. And please continue reading If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 35

If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 32

I drove past Peeler Recreation Center this morning. It's one block from my Northeast Greensboro home where my family has resided since the 1950s. At 60 years old, not many folks have lived in  Northeast Greensboro longer than I have and most who have are the parents of people I grew up with.

We used to call this neighborhood, Bessemer. Before annexation, Bessemer was much larger than Greensboro. Even before annexation by Greensboro we had our own recreation center, modern fire department, water, sewer, shopping centers and Clarks-- the first big box retailer in North Carolina. We also had North Carolina's first McDonald's restaurant and 2 more fast food restaurants, a Biff Burger on Bessemer Ave. and Tasty Freeze on East Market before what was then Greensboro, had any. Bessemer was, at that time, economically, the most successful community in all of the Piedmont Triad. Then, according to the City of Greensboro website: http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/index.aspx?page=1749

 "From the turn of the century to the late 1950s, the East Market Street Corridor flourished. It was the shopping and social center for many of Greensboro's African Americans, who owned businesses on the street and provided services to those shut out by segregation practices in other Greensboro neighborhoods.

This lively community began to wind down in the late 1950s and 1960s when, under the guise of "urban renewal," thousands of people and more than 80 businesses (many minority-owned) were displaced. Most of those businesses never reestablished."

All of Greensboro has been paying for that "mistake" ever since.
What the City website doesn't tell you is they bulldozed 3 miles of East Market St all the way to Burlington Road or that the community was a mixed community, overall more white than African-American. And despite the racism of the 1950s, everyone on Greensboro's east side was better off economically than we are today.

As a matter of fact: Were it not for the racism Bessemer would have been the perfect place for anyone to live and raise a family. You see, in America we treat the symptoms rather that the causes.

Another thing they don't tell you is that what happened to East Greensboro was the result of a jealous feud between the Cone Family and the Burnettes who owned Bessemer Improvement Company. You see, the Burnetts invested heavily in East Greensboro and the Cones wanted it so they used the power of the City to try to destroy everything the Burnetts owned-- even if it meant destroying the lives of thousands of people, black and white. Don't believe me? Former Greensboro Mayor Jim Melvin tells the whole story in the book, Once Upon A City by Howard E. Covington.

As I drove by Peeler Center I noticed a sign out front announcing free lunches for children on Fridays.

My first thought,  Children only eat lunch on Fridays? It's been a long time since I was a child but I seem to remember eating lunch every day when I was growing up and we were poor too. Thankfully, my parents, my daddy born a sharecropper, were fresh off the farm and knew well how to grow lots of food. Today my entire yard, front and back, grows food for friends, family, neighbors and anyone else I happen to give it to. And if someone steals my organic grown watermelons growing out front... Well I just hope you wait until the melons are ripe so you can enjoy them, I've got more melons in the back.

And please don't trample things down-- other people might want to "steal" some too. Everything growing there is some kind of food.

It's good that someone is feeding children on Fridays-- I hope the children are eating every day. But aren't we simply treating the symptoms while at the same time bleeding the working classes-- who donate the most to these efforts-- to death?

I used to volunteer at a food pantry a couple of days a week. It was run by a group of nice conservative old folks, mostly elderly, who just wanted to help people. The folks from Occupy Greensboro might remember the car loads of Panera Bread that appeared in camp there. Those nice old conservative ladies knew I was taking the bread to Occupy Greensboro-- they asked me to do so. They didn't see a bunch of liberals, they saw people who needed help so they arranged for me to help being that they knew I was somehow involved.

Some of them were none too happy about their disappearing retirement accounts either.

The thing that bothered me about volunteering at the pantry was that nothing ever changed for the better. Even now that the so-called recession is over, friends who still volunteer there tell me the lines are longer than ever before and shortages ever worse. Despite their best efforts, heroic efforts, they are not solving the problem. Not even close.

And they never will as they are treating the symptoms rather than the problem.

The problems are jobs and corruption. No jobs equal no money and corruption takes away the money needed to fight the problem.  Throughout my platform, If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro, I've written about jobs and the economy, today I'll tell you how, as Mayor of Greensboro, I can help end the corruption.

It's judges who allow out of court settlements in which neither party admits responsibility and no blame is assigned that keeps the public in the dark as to who is really at fault, and allows politicians, high ranking officials, police, and the well-to-do to escape public scrutiny and punishment for their crimes so they can continue commuting crimes.

Judges are a huge part of the problem.

But in America we look only at symptoms rather than causes.

As Mayor of Greensboro I can't do anything about our judges or America's legal system and its many flaws. But I can promise you this: As Mayor of Greensboro I can promise you that any Greensboro City Attorney who attempts to use such tactics in defense of the City of Greensboro, the Greensboro Police Department or any employee of the City of Greensboro will be dismissed from his or her job.

Hiding the names of the guilty simply isn't acceptable, and is the means by which government corruption is continually carried out.

How can we honestly expect those at the bottom to maintain law and order when those at the top get a free pass to do anything they want? Leaders lead by example. When we look at our televisions and see that the people at the top have repeatedly gotten away with robbing millions or billions of dollars, how are we to convince our children it's wrong? We already have a generation of leaders today who believe stealing is okay as long as you steal enough to buy your way out of it.

And Greensboro is no different.

Don't believe me? Read Lies From The Wyndham Hotel Study--the documents are all there.
Read The Yvonne And Walter Johnson Saga-- documented too, court records and all.
Take a look at Wyndham Championship 2013 Federal Form 990 and see the documents we dug up on yet another Greensboro City Council member.

You didn't know any of these events ever happened so you never knew to act. And folks, that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Come back for If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 33 or catch up on the rest of this series at Billy Jones for Mayor of Greensboro, North Carolina, 2017.

Bob Clendenin Dead

Facebook forums for various jr high and high schools where Robert Clendenin served as principal including Bessemer High School, Bessemer Jr, Aycock Jr and Page High School are all sounding the news that Bob died at 6:05 PM tonight.

Bob was friends with my parents, attended Bessemer United Methodist Church for many years and a fixture in the Bessemer Community where I grew up and live today. He was my principal at Bessemer Jr and Aycock Jr High Schools as well as an old friend.

I'll never forget riding home from school in his '66 Thunderbird after staying after school or the way Bob swung his paddle.

He will be missed.

News 2 Kept It A Secret

On Sunday the 27th I reported Will Greensboro's Media Smell This? concerning the smell coming from Cone Mills White Oak plant as has happened so many times before.

I've always thought it strange that WFMY TV 2 never reports these strange odors as the TV Station is located closer to the mill than I am and in the direct path of the prevailing winds.

Well it just so happened that we here at EzGreensboro.com have intercepted text Twitter messages proving that Watchdog Ben Briscoe was made aware of the problem but just as the rest of the local media has failed to report it.

I'm almost 60 years old and have lived with this environmental abuse on the part of Cone Mills all my life as a resident of east Greensboro. But our local media fails to report it.

Share this post with everyone you know and demand a change. It's bad enough that our Mayor and her husband are paid $20,000 a month by Cone Mills for the free $1 Million Dollars in gas given to Cone by the City of Greensboro but must we smell their stench too?

And for those of you in the media, this blog is fast becoming a force in local news. Like it or not you will have to deal with us someday. You'd be smart to start doing some real journalism.

Bait Cars Put City And Children At Risk

I'm sure some people thought it a good idea and without a doubt it will catch more criminals but who else will they catch?

Neighbors in Claremont Courts are telling me bait cars have been left in their community keys in the switch and engines running. So what happens when say a 7 year old child decides he or she wants to take his or her first driving lesson-- alone?



I'm e-mailing this post to Chief Wayne Scott, Police Attorney Jim Clark, City Attorney Tom Carruthers, City Manager Jim Westmoreland, Mayor Nancy Barakat "Grasshopper" Vaughan and the entire Greensboro City Council as well as the local media expecting an immediate response.

Maybe Compassion, Broken Bones And Bruises Are The Answer

There's a 400cc dirt bike locked up at my place this morning. It's not mine, I don't intend to keep it and I came by it via some unusual circumstances.

Just minutes before I was supposed to leave to go to the Bessemer Aquaponics meeting last night I heard the sound of a small crash on the street right outside my window. Looking out I saw a young black male getting up from the ground and his motorcycle partially underneath our Mercury Marquis with the Police Interceptor Package-- the car Daddy worked his whole life to buy.

By the time I got out the door another young black male who lives just up the street was already on the scene and the two of them were pulling the bike out from under the car oblivious to the fact that I was there. My mind quickly assessed the situation, dirt bike, no tags, no helmet, obviously no insurance, this guy is instinctively going to try to ride away from the scene of the accident.

My mother being my mother came out the door and started telling him what he was and wasn't going to do. He and his friend acted as if she wasn't there not out of spite but because of the instinctive adrenaline rush. I know this because I've seen it too many times before when myself and mt friends wrecked motorcycles as young men. Also knowing that the flight instinct can switch to a fight instinct I decided I needed to get my 83 year old mother back into the house but to get that old battleaxe to do anything without a fight... Well I whispered to her to run in and call 911 as there was damage to her car.

The rider of the bike got on the bike and tried to start it, his adrenaline was pumping 100 miles per hour even though he wasn't moving. I'd seen him around the neighborhood as he hangs out with the other young black male who lives just up the street and has never been a problem but I also knew I had to discourage them from leaving the scene of the accident. I positioned myself not directly in front of the bike but in a position where I could pull him down as he sped away, "Why don't you just lean your bike over against my old truck," I told him. "You can't hurt that old truck."

His young friend agreed that would be the best idea and talked him into getting off the bike.

The old battleaxe came back out and announced that she had called 911. Really, I thought, great way to defuse a situation, Mom. Can't you see I'm outnumbered here should things turn ugly? Momma has no concept of street smarts, men pushing 60 vs young men in their 20s. Damn I hate having to think for other people. I wanted to choke her. I looked again at the Mercury. The only dent was in the bumper cover at the exact same place where she had put a small tear in the bumper cover a few years before. She thought the tear was new but I knew better. I thought about his situation: dirt bike, no tags, no helmet, obviously no insurance, excessive speed, probably no motorcycle endorsement, driving while black in Greensboro...

Even without the driving while black thing my white friends and I can all relate to the rest if we think back about 40 years or so. It ain't nothin' we haven't done before. I told Momma we had it all worked out, his mother was on the way and she needed to go back inside and cancel the 911 call. Amazingly she did what I said without argument.

As the adreline left him he got sick on his stomach, threw up and started feeling the pain of his fall. He actually took a pretty hard lick as hitting the car threw him into a landscape wall at about 50 MPH. He was losing color and hurting.

I gave him a down the road speech on why dirt tires don't work on pavement and pointing to his skid marks how it was obvious he had failed to use his front brake but being a motorcycle enthusiast myself I couldn't do the usual old person, you need to stay off that motorcycle crap. Trust me, he got that when the other, not quite so old battleaxe-- his mother-- arrived to take him to Cone Hospital. And did he get an earful, "I told you not to buy that motorcycle. You don't need no motorcycle. You gonna kill yourself on that motorcycle..."

Took me back 40 some years to the words of the other battleaxe... We get it Mothers of the world, you love us, you want us to stay alive and be safe. But you don't get it, it's in our DNA, some of us can't live without it. If you take our 2 wheels away we will kill ourselves... seriously. Even when our bikes don't run there's always the hope we'll someday ride again. Don't try to understand us, just accept us and realize its not because you did anything wrong. Some men are born to like other men, some men prefer motorcycles.

He'll be back. Like I said, I've got his bike and it's not a cheap motorcycle. I got his drivers license info to. With his help I'll be happy to load the bike on my truck and haul it home. In the long run I think he and Greensboro will be better off for his having met an old white biker than for having gone to jail. Even if he did have to do it the hard way.

MEME THAT MESS!

Good Evening Greensboro!
I'm your host Black Mamba and I welcome you to today's MEME THAT MESS.
This is how you play. you have to come up with a phrase based on the content of the pictures below. Get creative... our councilman does! Post in the comments below. I'll start. Please be sure to put what meme you are commenting on.!

1.

 Paint and Politics?? Hmm sounds like a Gay Bar
Silver Level- I wont block you on Twitter
Gold Level- You can get your full two minutes to speak at Council
Platinum Level- Gets you ONE get out of a full and complete police report
I'm running for District 2 but all of my fundraising events are in District 1
How all this got paid for will show up months later on my financials but Mary Kotis donates in CASH

2.

 Did someone tell the people in District 2 we were summoned to court?
Lord he wants District 2 to bring chicken... SMDH
None of these questions have to do with him?
Who has the damn gas to drive to Reedy Fork Pkwy?
How can you say everyone is invited and you have blocked half of District 2 on Facebook?
If you have questions call someone else besides me

 3.

We all know who "confirmed" her FIRST

4.





Just smile for the camera, in my staged office, and I'll take you to Taco Bell

Is that gold foil sticking out from under the desk??

Yes! Today only is 30% off @ Belk's!

Dear Councilman B#^%$... Sorry was choking on Methane Gas while being Racially Profiled in East Gboro

Dear Councilman B&$#%

Hello, how are you? It’s interesting that when I ask questions when I see you at events, I don’t get a response. I’m looked at as if English my secondary language and is inaudible to your ears. I am one of many of your disgruntled tax paying constituents of District 2. You remember that district? The district you said you would bring about change and represent us at the council? The district you said you wanted to be the CHANGE and instead became FOR SALE? Yeah I had to Google your candidate survey as well to remind myself. The excerpts below were taken from your candidate survey back when you had integrity and a duty to the community.

Sincerely

Half Blank Police Report

http://www.greensboro.com/district-questionnaire-jamal-fox/article_e9472d78-3663-11e3-8242-001a4bcf6878.html

Policy issues

How do you react to recent criticisms of the Greensboro police? How should the city respond, if at all?

Councilman B: The only way to move forward is by improving the police professionalism, accountability, and promoting stronger partnerships and dialogues with communities in our city.

District2Says: LIES AND LACEFRONTS! You refused to support House Bill 193 sponsored by Cecil Brockman. Black Young Men should support Black Young Men doing positive things to advance equality. But when you abuse your power with the police and have them clean up all your " alleged" domestic violence issues than it wouldn't seem right to stress the police with the bill! What is even more embarrassing is this headline from Fox 8 * See Below*

Greensboro City Council passes on opportunity to support Prohibit Racial Profiling bill

http://myfox8.com/2015/05/05/greensboro-city-council-passes-on-opportunity-to-support-prohibit-racial-profiling-bill/

Direct Link to Bill

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015/Bills/House/PDF/H193v1.pdf

In summary (1) Prohibit the use of discriminatory profiling by law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties (2) Amend the types of information required to be reported by certain law enforcement agencies concerning traffic law enforcement (3) Require certain law enforcement agencies to report certain information concerning homicides; (4) Require law enforcement officers to receive annual education and training concerning discriminatory profiling; (5) Authorize the use of citizen review boards to investigate or review allegations of certain police misconduct; and (6) Require that certain training be provided to members of neighborhood crime watch programs established by counties and cities.

Here is what our GLORIOUS City Council had to say. (Direct Copy and Paste)

City Councilman Jamal Fox said while some of these measures are “common sense” he’d also like to see community meetings held to determine what issues are being seen in Greensboro.

The council decided not to put a resolution supporting the state guidelines for police departments and sheriff’s offices to a vote Tuesday night.

City councilmembers said there are good elements to the bill but said they didn’t want to give blanket support to measures that weren’t specific to local issues.

“The will to create change is there and we need to keep it there,” said Councilwoman Sharon Hightower.

Now according to the East Greensboro Study Committee Summary Report; Greensboro population is 40% black, East Greensboro’s population is 68% black making up 2/3 of total black population of Greensboro. Now for some reason, which since Sharon Hightower is the chairperson of this committee can answer why isn’t there any statistics regarding crime rates in the survey??  The only mention of crime in this 40 page report is “Aspiration” to reduce crime, Reduce crime, safe area/ less crime, “crime”, etc. (You get the point). Now residents that give a damn in East Greensboro really know the areas of crime and the raw numbers. The GOPD does as well

**Shakes Bob**

Ian Mance wrote in article in June 2012, regarding racial profiling in general, but specifically NC from 2000- 2011.

http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/papers/Trial_Briefs_Ian_Mance_2012.pdf

The numbers show black drivers are more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers; they show significant disparities in treatment once these motorists are in police control. Statewide, blacks are 77% more likely to be searched. This data doesn’t come from a sample of data like the Crooked Council, (excuse me I mean City) like to use. This data was taken from ALL STOP AND SEARCH ACTIVITY IN NORTH CAROLINA! Over 3,800 CONSECUTIVE DAYS!!!! The report provides powerful evidence of profiling and differential treatment of minority drivers. This report lists several counties surrounding Guilford County and the council is under the impression regarding HB193

******see below again*******

City councilmembers said there are good elements to the bill but said they didn’t want to give blanket support to measures that weren’t specific to local issues.

So let me understand this Jamal, Sharon, Mary, Mike, Tony, Mayor Vaughn, Yvonne, Justin, and good ole Nancy.
Wake County, Durham County, Cabarrus County, and Mecklenburg County were dealing with racial profiling as a local issue in 2011. So it’s safe to assume than it’s still a very real issue for those counties in 2015… So Guilford County has been delivered and set free from the bondage, illegal police searching and stigma caused by racial profiling, by who? JESUS!!???
***Speaks in inaudible Pentecostal tongue***
Maybe Jesus had mercy because Councilman Fox works at Belk’s? Black people in East Greensboro and police get along and there is mutual respect?? I’m sorry I must have been inhaling the methane in my backyard from the White Street Landfill that District 2 isn’t making ONE THIN DIME FROM!
(I have gas money in my backyard but none in my car) #ALLGASMONEYMATTERS

Now riddle me this Batman? What district is showing the highest Citizen Generated Calls for Service? The most man-hours by police? Yep, that’s right you guessed it!

DISTRICT 2 YOU ARE THE WINNER AGAIN!

So let’s put this all together to prove my point.

·         68% of the black population is in East Greensboro

·         25.5% of man-hours for police are spent in District 2 (which is the highest)

·         District 2 Citizen Priority Level 1, 2, 3 calls from May1 –June 13 2015 where the highest was 26.6% of the total city in 43 days.

·         In 2011, a complete review of all stop and search activity in NC showed 77% of blacks stopped in surrounding counties were profiled and stopped and searched

·         Greensboro City Council went on record and said those are not our local issues

·         Councilman Fox wants to have more meetings and "forget" ( I mean discuss these issues)

·         Some council members might be open (allegedly) to buying food stamps from the spouses and baby mommas of East Greensboro who get EBT because their spouse or, child’s father was profiled and locked up. ( She cant draw them anymore)

·         Nancy has one of the best bob’s in Greensboro. Seriously it moves and swings perfectly every time she thanks concerned citizens for their support and outcries at council and reminds them this isn’t the forum for that type of talk and directs them to the City Attorney. (Seriously though Nancy I do need your stylist # my stylist in East Greensboro can’t understand I want the privileged white woman with good credit bob).

Come out to Bennett College this Sunday @ 3pm at Pfeiffer Chapel or Hall. (Look for the signs) and hear your local candidates debate on why they need that 13K a year and HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE AND REFERENCE THIS BLOG!!!