Early voting is going on now in
Greensboro for the July 26th election
in a city of almost 300,000 people.
Only 7000 have voted so far.
Don't let other people decide
your fate. Go vote to be counted.
And welcome back, we are
wrapping up our conversation
with the candidates for Greensboro
Mayor. Our last question today
is really the most direct
and because of that it will be 1 1/2
minutes each with no rebuttal time
and follow up Councilman Outling.
We're going to start with you.
Why are you the best candidate for mayor?
I deeply love Greensboro.
It's at the core of who I
am in every significant way.
My wife, Cora and I met as
teenagers at UNC Greensboro.
My mother is an Aggie alum.
After graduating law school
from Duke University,
my wife and I are raising our children
here who attend Jones Elementary
in the Warnersville neighborhood.
I'm also an attorney at a
wonderful law firm here.
As someone who's molded by Greensboro,
I know that our potential is
limitless and we have assets that
include some of the best colleges
and universities in the state.
But the gap between.
Greensboro and our Pure cities is wide
and it's getting wider year after year.
Also, the gap between East
Greensboro and West Greensboro.
Is wide and it's getting
wider every year as well.
We need to have bold,
visionary leadership that
focuses on not just talking,
painting a rosy picture,
but action,
and creating a reality that matches
our potential by doing things
like providing support to the
Police Department both in election
years and outside election years.
Like providing repairs directly
to property so that they're in
safe habitable and on the rolls
to be affordable housing,
doing things like holding property
owners accountable when they keep their
properties and blighted condition.
And don't do things like.
Accepting $500,000 settlement or wiping
away $500,000 in fines from slumlords.
We can do those things,
but it takes a change from the status quo.
We know what it's like to be a city
that has the highest poverty of
all major cities in North Carolina.
We can change that.
Alright,
and so the same question to you,
why should you be the next mayor?
Well, thank you and thank you for this
opportunity for us to show our differences.
You know one thing that Mr Outling
continues to overlook is that
in the 2000s the Piedmont Triad,
the city of Greensboro,
we lost more net jobs than the entire state.
We are in much better shape than many other
cities who lost their legacy employers.
That was certainly no fault
of the mayor of that time.
The governor of that time,
we were really caught up
in the vortex of NAFTA.
We lost our Burlington Industries Cone
Industries Guilford Mills and we have
really struggled to reinvent ourselves
and we have been successful at it.
We have people from all over the country
looking at us to see what is that,
what we did,
how we built that aerotropolis
out at the airport,
how we were able to get the Aquatic
Center in the middle of a recession,
how we were able to build.
The Tanger Center and not put
the burden on the taxpayers.
We really are a role model in many ways.
You know, a lot of cities who went
through what we went through.
They have yet to recover,
so I have a track record of building
collaborations not only with
communities and the business community,
but my Council members.
You know,
you have to be able to count to 5 and get
5 council members to go along with you,
and I know that I've been able to do that.
My opponent he's been sitting
on council for seven years.
Alright, that is the bell we do wanna
remind everyone that the key voting
dates early voting is underway.
Right now. You have until Saturday at
three to get to a polling location.
You can register on site
if you're voting early,
you cannot do that on Election Day,
and that's in six days.
Election Day is July the 26th.
And do not forget this election also
has five separate bond items on the
ballot altogether totaling $135 million.
It could impact your property tax too,
so it is very important
to make your voice heard.
Thank you both for coming on.