Yes!Weekly endorsement

Thank you, YES!Weekly, for the endorsement! (Scroll down to District 5.)

High Point Road-Lee Street corridor study

Progress! The city is holding a public comment meeting on the West Lee Street-High Point Road corridor study on November 15. Hope to see YOU there!

Leaf collection delayed

The city is delaying the beginning of the loose-leaf collection program for a week due to the limited number of leaves on the ground at this time -- trying to make more efficient use of our time and manpower.

That's good news for folks like me who haven't had time to even touch a rake yet!

The one that got away. . .

No, I did not receive the George Simkins PAC endorsement this election cycle although I have had it in past years. Reasons? They are hard to gauge. I'd summarize some of the key issues as follows:

#1 Control - No, I am an independent council member. Being controlled by a special interest group is not my leadership style. I do not make behind-the-scenes deals or promises.

#2 Support for "Black Issues" - It is unclear to me what this really means. My service on council has been about CITY issues. My votes have been for the good of ALL citizens whether it be to support the revitalization of East Market Street, building a bus system that helps citizens get to work and back, advocating for and funding affordable housing programs and stringent inspections under RUCO, and creating new jobs.

#3 Funding for the Civil Rights Museum - A double edged sword here -- after two bond referendum votes, it is clear to me that citizens do not want Greensboro tax monies used for this project. However I do support exploring use of Federal Community Development Block Grant money to complete what will be a community asset.

#4 Truth & Reconciliation Project - My vision is for the future, not on the past.

#5 Police Department and Mitchell Johnson - Again, I am focused on what needs to be done NOW rather than what occurred in 2005. I strongly favor DUE PROCESS over the POLITICAL PROCESS in these important matters.

#6 Police Review Board - Having such a body with subpoena power has been shown nationally not to work as intended and actually hampers addressing citizen complaints.

#7 Non-support of Michael King and Project Homestead - I voted in favor of proposed projects that were selected in the city's routine competitive review process, but did NOT support proposals that relied on political deals and side-stepped established procedures.

While I regret that my record of service was not validated by the Simkins PAC endorsement, the real endorsement that matters is that of the voters on November 6th.


VOTE FOR SANDY CARMANY ON NOVEMBER 6!

More on the gang forum cancellation

Many thanks to the News & Record for an excellent editorial exploring the sensitive issues surrounding the recent cancellation of the gang and drug awareness forum. "...Stuck squarely between a rock and a hard place..." is the perfect description!

I've asked city staff to identify available dates to get this forum rescheduled as soon as possible. From the phone calls I have received from citizens (many from the black community) offering their support and help, there is an obvious thirst for this type of information. One person described this education effort as "preventing a fire from starting in the first place by teaching our children not to play with matches."

The door is still wide open for those wishing to participate in this effort.

Campaign flyer #2

Councilwomen Yvonne Johnson, Sandy Carmany and Goldie Wells.

Sandy Carmany,

your District 5 representative on the

Greensboro City Council, works closely

with citizens and fellow city council members to --

a Ensure that all citizens are treated with respect,

a Create high-paying, equal-opportunity jobs in a variety of careers,

a Make sure our housing is safe, decent, and affordable,

a Allocate resources to address crime and gang-related issues,

a Provide a reliable bus system (new 30-minute service came on line in 2007), and

a Resolve police issues fairly and with respect for due process.

Your vote will keep Sandy working with and for all of us!

VOTE FOR SANDY CARMANY ON NOVEMBER 6

Campaign flyer

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR CHOOSING YOUR CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE

Sandy Carmany knows District 5.
a Sandy has lived at the same address in the heart of District 5 for 34 years.
r Her opponent moved into Grandover two years ago.

Sandy Carmany works to protect neighborhoods.
a Sandy opposed the Twin Oaks Golf Course rezoning at Adams Farm.
a Sandy helped buffer Oaks West from the expansion by DH Griffin.
a Sandy selected Lindley Park for the city’s first neighborhood plan.
a Sandy helped quiet a noisy nightclub disturbing Ardmore Park residents.
a Thanks to Sandy’s efforts, plans to revitalize High Point road are underway.
r Her opponent has no experience with these neighborhood issues.

Sandy Carmany has an impressive record addressing major issues.
a Sandy successfully led the charge to hire 32 new police officers in the budget.
a Sandy chairs PART (regional transportation) and co-chairs the Early Action Compact (working to improve your air quality).
a Sandy helped increase our water supply, including voting for the funding for the Haw River pipeline to fill our city lakes in the winter.
r Her opponent draws cartoons and jokes about our serious water situation.

Sandy Carmany knows governing is a team effort.
a Sandy is well liked and respected by her fellow council members.
r Her opponent was part of the embarrassing partisan bickering of a previous Board of Guilford County Commissioners.

Sandy Carmany has a vision for a better Greensboro.
a Sandy knows the issues -- crime, taxes, water, jobs, transportation, and the environment and continues to work towards practical solutions, not slogans.
r Her opponent is focusing on issues in the past.

Make the positive choice. Make a difference on November 6th

Vote for the proven leader - Sandy Carmany!

Realtors endorsement --CORRECTION

I have received the endorsement of the NC Association of Realtors PAC.

CORRECTION: I obviously misinterpreted the $500 check to my campaign from RPAC as an "endorsement." I just learned from the News & Record's Margaret Banks that the NC Association of Realtors PAC does NOT endorse candidates, only makes contributions to candidates.

This PAC also contributed $500 to my opponent's campaign as well -- guess they figured they needed to cover all their bases!

Sorry for the confusion and error!

Another endorsement

I received a call from Richard O'Brien of the Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro this afternoon informing me I had received their endorsement for this election.

That was an absolute surprise to me. Nonetheless, I gladly accept this latest endorsement.

Thank you!

Wonderful friends and supporters

Sometimes it takes stressful situations to make one realize just how wonderful and supportive the friends one makes over the years can be. Numerous folks -- some who I haven't seen for quite a few years -- have been "stepping up to the plate" since the October and offering all sorts of help in this election campaign.

That was driven home when I read my mail this afternoon. There was a lovely note from the media specialist/librarian with whom I began my "volunteer career" in the schools and PTA 30+ years ago when my oldest son entered school. I cannot even remember the last time I saw or spoke with her, at least ten years ago and likely longer. She wrote "I am deeply offended by Trudie [sic] Wade's campaign and know you will need money to combat her innuendos..." Enclosed was a contribution check for $300, which I suspect took a good chunk out of her pocket since she is now a retired public school educator. I shed a few tears over this one.

And I cannot even begin to thank my trusty treasurer/friend who has stood by me every step of the way -- even when we disagree on specific issues.

It's caring folks like this that keep me going. Thank you, thank you, to every one of you!

City Connections

City Connections goes green this week!

News & Record reiterates its endorsement

Today's News & Record features Margaret Banks' excellent assessment of the District 5 race (on A-1 in the print addition, not on line?) plus a confirmation of the editorial staff's endorsement of me for District 5. (Glad to see they are still reading this blog.)

Gang and Drug Awareness Forum postponed

Over the past couple of days, I learned that some members of the black community have serious reservations about the intent of the Gang and Drug Awareness Forum that was scheduled to be held Monday evening, October 29 in the Odeon Theater at the Greensboro Coliseum under the sponsorship of Councilmember Bellamy-Small and me. Although this educational workshop was targeted towards parents and other adults who work closely with our youth to help them identify the warning signs of gang activity and to find ways to lessen the lure and impact of gangs, there was apprehension that it might be effort to specifically target black youth. I agreed to help sponsor the forum to demonstrate that gangs are a citywide problem and should be of concern to everyone -- white, black, brown -- and not make the mistaken assumption it was only an issue in certain areas of Greensboro.

However, in recognition of the fact that the proposed forum appeared to be dividing the city, not unifying it, I have agreed to postpone the workshop in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation to give everyone more time to better understand the expressed concerns. I am issuing a personal invitation to those who have concerns about the proposed forum (initially planned to be a duplicate of the one held at A&T University several weeks ago) to participate in the planning and delivery of a rescheduled forum as soon as possible.

As soon as consensus can be reached on the format and focus of the forum, we will get it rescheduled and let you know when and where it will be held. This ENTIRE community must join in the work to resolve the gang problem that is resulting in the tragic loss of lives in our younger citizens -- the one thing we absolutely cannot do is sit back and ignore it.

I'll keep you informed of progress.

UPDATE: A bit surprised that this was the front page headline this morning!

Haw River water flowing into Greensboro's lakes!

Water from the Haw River is now flowing through the pipeline the city constructed in 2002 into the city's reservoir thanks to the rain that has been falling the last couple of days. City Manager Mitchell Johnson shared the wonderful news this evening when I saw him at the NCCJ dinner at Koury Center. The estimated flow is in the 10-13 million gallons per day range and will begin the process of filling the lakes up again. Yippee - that $10 million investment five years is paying off big time now!

Sierra Club Endorsement

I received a letter today from Charles Prysby, Chair of the Political Committee of the Piedmont Plateau Group of the North Carolina Sierra Club. They have endorsed me in the upcoming election.

My email to John Hammer

Posted below is a verbatim copy of an email I sent to John Hammer of The Rhino requesting a correction to his report in this week's editon.

John,

I am amazed by the misreporting in this week's edition of The Rhino of our conversation when you asked me about a supposed federal "gag order" pertaining to information about the GPD.

First of all, I HAVE said "There are federal restrictions prohibiting the release of certain information." However, I cannot recall ever using the words "gag order" with you or anyone else -- those words came out of your mouth, not mine. It was wrong for you to portray them as being my words.

My initial reply to you was that I/the city council could not discuss information that might be used or may have already been used in federal grand jury proceedings. You then replied, "You mean STATE grand jury, don't you, not FEDERAL grand jury?" I then responded to you, "No, John, FEDERAL grand jury."

You looked puzzled, then asked for further clarification, at which time I responded that you should contact the city manager or the police chief for further explanation as that was all I knew about it.

As I left the room, I saw you approaching Councilmember Tom Phillips who later told me he had confirmed and clarified to you that what I was referring to was the federal Rule 6(e).

While you were having your conversation with Mr. Phillips INSIDE the conference room, I did indeed check with Mitch Johnson who was standing OUTSIDE the conference room to make sure I had given you accurate information. Mitch confirmed that our outside counsel had indeed cautioned councilmembers in closed session about not releasing federal grand jury-Rule 6(e) evidence without specific clearance from the appropriate federal officials. There is no way you could have overheard that conversation since you were still inside the conference room talking with Tom.

When you exited the conference room after your conversation with Tom, you came up to me and said that Tom told you about the Rule 6(e) restrictions, and I replied, "Yes, John, that's what I was talking about." There were numerous people who overheard that exchange between us.

Furthermore, I have never stated or implied that Rule 6(e) was the reason I was not willing to release ANY information whatsoever, just cited it as one reason that certain things could not be released. I have repeatedly stated -- and will reiterate yet again -- that I support the release of all information we legally can. PERIOD!

I am requesting that you print a correction in the next issue of the Rhino.

Sandy Carmany

Garrett update

'Little" Garrett isn't staying little very long. Here he is at three weeks old.

The political "dangers" of blogging

I've read comments on various blogs recently discussing the downside of my efforts to communicate with the public on political issues on this blog and how my opponent is now maliciously twisting my statements in her negative campaign ads.

Folks, this is nothing new! Unscrupulous politicians have employed this tactic from day one in order to smear one's opponent and try to gain advantage from it, long before the existence of the Internet and blogging. Snagging my words off this blog is just a new form of the same old tired political game.

So never fear, I will not "shut up" and play it safe just to avoid further attacks. The only thing that will silence this blog is if I am defeated on November 6 and have no further impetus to tell "the rest of the story." But I do not intend for that to be the case!

Greensboro Partnership candidate forum

The Greensboro Partnership sponsored a candidate forum early this morning at the Downtown Marriott. Each candidate was asked to give a ONE MINUTE (that's tough!) opening statement outlining one's vision for Greensboro for the next five years. Here is mine.

I’m Sandy Carmany, and my vision for Greensboro is that of a vibrant, attractive community renowned for excellence in education, employment, housing, transportation, and recreational opportunities, where all citizens are valued, enjoying a high quality of life in a crime-free and pollution-free environment. The economy is booming, riding the wave of success generated by FedEx, HondaJet, and RF Micro Devices and the other businesses that moved here to be close to them. Water flowing from Randleman Lake has quenched our thirst. Air quality is greatly improved and traffic is moving smoothly on our well-maintained network of streets and interstates, thanks in part to the many citizens who are now choosing to travel on our first-class transit system. Greensboro is greener than ever thanks to renewed emphasis on the environment and preservation of trees as well as the “green dollars” from our thriving economy. My strong leadership has helped make this vision OUR reality.

The humor highlight of the morning occurred when District 4 candidate David Crawford cited his military experience in Iraq, stating that he had walked through cities carrying a gun and worrying about getting shot. The audience erupted in knowing guffaws and appreciative applause when his opponent Mike Barber quipped, "I can relate to that -- I served on the Guilford County Commissioners!"

While everyone laughed, this really is not a joking matter! Greensboro cannot afford to have that same shameful scenario played out on the city council. District 5 voters, you have a clear choice -- Sandy Carmany, who uses facts, clear communication, and mutual respect to hash out issues with colleagues -- or my opponent who was an active player in that raucous circus Mr. Barber jokes about. Choose wisely!

Candidate forum at Congregational United Church of Christ

Many thanks to the civic-minded members of Congregational United Church of Christ for conducting tonight's candidate forum (and providing candidates with a delicious lasagna supper as well).

Here is my 3-minute opening statement:

I’m Sandy Carmany, a 34-year resident of southwest Greensboro who has represented the citizens of District 5 for the past 16 years professionally and honorably. My “special interest group” is the everyday citizen, and I am in constant touch with my constituents, making sure their needs are met. I am a servant-leader who works well with my colleagues and base my decisions on facts and mutual respect.

* I am a proven leader in transportation – helping to secure scarce state funding for Painter Boulevard and improvements to Wendover Avenue, improving our bus system with 30-minute service and HEAT that serves our college and university students, and developing our highly successful regional transit service – PART.

* I am a proven leader in the fight against crime – successfully spearheading the budget fight to hire more police officers and supporting the creation of a gang squad. * I am a proven leader on environmental issues – working to improve air quality through the Early Action Compact, promoting preservation of greenspace, and actively supporting the Cool Cities initiative and energy conservation.

* I am a proven leader for neighborhoods, standing firm against incompatible development and making sure problems are addressed.

My action plan for Greensboro includes:

· Strengthening our efforts to fight crime and make Greensboro safer

· Expanding our reliable transportation network that includes pedestrian, bicycle, and mass transit options in addition to safe uncongested streets

· Providing effective, efficient city services at the least cost to taxpayers

· Attracting good jobs and desirable growth by providing appropriate infrastructure and services to support new businesses

· Building stronger neighborhoods by addressing substandard housing, and the creation of more community crime watches

· Protecting our environment through wiser management of our limited resources

· Insuring adequate water and sewer capacity with continued conservation, sensible use policies, and getting Randleman Lake on line.

New faces will be joining the city council soon, and Greensboro needs my seasoned, experienced leadership to maintain continuity and our forward momentum. We are facing many challenges – lack of adequate funding for transportation improvements, updating of our Comprehensive Plan, ongoing repair of our aging water and sewer lines, continuing air quality issues, the rising crime rate, and “how on earth are we going to pay for all this without bankrupting our citizens?”

I offer myself as the experienced candidate with the knowledge, time, energy and commitment to provide strong leadership on these and other issues. I stand ready, willing and able to serve you and Greensboro, the city I love.

Drug and Gang Awareness Educational Forum

I have been encouraging District 5 community groups to schedule presentations about gang and drug activity in Greensboro, and GPD officers have told me they were getting lots of requests. In order to simplify things, it was suggested that we sponsor another community-wide forum instead of a series of smaller presentations. Thus we have scheduled a repeat of the well-attended forum held at A&T earlier this fall. The October 29 forum has now been slightly extended with an additional half hour allotted for questions and additional community dialogue.

Greensboro Police Department
Drug and Gang Awareness
Educational Forum

Presented by Sgt. G.M. Richey, Greensboro Police and Darryl Kosciak, Parks & Recreation

Monday, October 29, 2007
6:30-9PM
Greensboro Coliseum -- Odeon Theater

The Odeon Theater is located between the Coliseum Arena and War Memorial Auditorium

Admission is free.

Free parking is available in front of the Coliseum along Lee Street

Please plan to attend this educational forum on drugs and gangs. This session is especially for parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children and teenagers.

Invite a neighbor, friend or relative to attend with you!

This free workshop will help you identify signs of drug and gang involvement and activity and help you determine the best course of action. Greensboro needs you well-informed to help keep our youth safe and trouble free.

I hope you will join me there and learn how become part of the solution to this growing problem.

The Gangs/Police Issue: The Facts (not political fiction)

A recent political ad distorted the active role I have taken over the years as a member of the Greensboro City Council to address gang issues and make public safety a top priority. While some may find the cartoon amusing, gangs and crime are serious issues and should not be treated in such a trivial manner. Let the FACTS speak for themselves.

#1 I have been an active supporter of the Greensboro Police Department and have voted in favor of ALL funding requests submitted in the budget throughout my years on the city council. This includes the funding of 67 new officer positions so far in reaching the suggested goal of 100.

#2 I initiated the successful fight to include and fund 32 additional police officers in the 2006-07 city budget, working with fellow councilmembers to secure the 5 votes needed to accomplish this. If I had not led the charge, the funding for these positions would have been postponed yet again due to monetary constraints.

#3 The stated number of current vacancies in the GPD is somewhat misleading and not as dire as one might be led to believe. Of the most recent figure I have heard (90 vacancies), 32 are those additional positions listed in #2 above that are funded but not yet filled and trained. They are NOT positions that were once manned but are now vacant -- the positions/vacancies did not exist until created in the budget. Subtracting those vacancies leaves 58.

34 new police officers are scheduled to graduate from the 6-month police training academy on Monday, October 22, 2007 and will immediately "hit the streets" with their training coaches. Subtracting those vacancies leaves 24.

Recruitment and hiring of an additional 40 officers is currently underway to fill the next police training academy scheduled to begin in January. Assuming the long-standing trend of 1-2 retirements and/or resignations per month continues, the city should be "caught up" by the time those rookies graduate next June.

It is planned for an additional class of 40 recruits to begin their 6-months training in August 2008. Those new officers will fill new vacancies as they occur as well as allow for the Community Resource Teams to be fully staffed again after the reallocation of some of those CRT members to the new gang squad.

#4 The creation of a gang squad was NOT even listed in the 2006-07 proposed service enhancement requests submitted by the police department for funding in the 2006-07 budget. I served on Committee C that conducted an in-depth review of the GPD requests -- the stated enhancement priorities were the 32 additional patrol positions, 5 additional officers for the downtown unit, 2 detectives, and a variety of equipment and vehicles. A gang squad was NOT mentioned.

#5 Once GPD identified the creation of a gang unit as a top priority due to a recent spike in activity, I fully supported the creation and funding of a gang squad. This included both a short-term solution -- reallocating existing positions within the GPD -- and a long-term solution -- committing to additional funding in the 2008-09 budget to hire more officers, create a fully-staffed squad, and replenish the positions that were redirected.

#6 As noted by the co-chair of one of the active District 5 neighborhood crime watches, I have been a staunch supporter of gang education and intervention programs. Community education about the existence and identification of gangs coupled with intervention efforts with the youths who are potential recruits for gangs are just as important, if not more so, than police enforcement actions. I have actively encouraged District 5 neighborhood associations and crime watch groups to take advantage of the awareness program conducted by GPD and Parks and Recreation staff.

Even blogger buddy/frequent critic Billy Jones recognizes my efforts in fighting crime and supporting the police department. He posted the following on his blog two weeks ago:

Sandy Carmany responds to every e-mail I send her and I don't live in her district. Sandy and I have had many a fight over these issues but even when we disagree I find I respect her for standing up. Sandy has taken her hits from myself and the rest of the local blogosphere and often many of us challenge her thinking but I'd rather cast my vote for someone with whom I don't always agree than for someone who hides in the darkness. Sandy has on several occasions helped me through the maze that is City Government and very quickly puts me in touch with the person or persons who can resolve my issues. Sandy takes a lot of hits because she's our only elected official who even tries to make her positions known.

Sandy has voted to increase the number of police officers in Greensboro and has a son who is a patrol officer in the Greensboro Police Department. Thus I think she has an interest in making our police department stronger. She's the longest running member of City Council and it's easy to understand why.

Sandy, I know this isn't actually an endorsement but it's far more than our other incumbent leaders will get from me. Thank you for not being one of the spineless cowards and good luck in your district.

Sandy Carmany has not been "fiddling" and doing nothing -- Sandy Carmany has been leading the band to get the job done!

The Water Issue: The Facts (not political fiction)

A recent political ad distorted the active role I have taken over the years as a member of the Greensboro City Council to ensure Greensboro has an adequate water supply. While the ad's cartoons may be cute and attention-getting, the responsibility to provide water is no laughing matter. Let the FACTS speak for themselves.

#1 The Piedmont Triad Water Authority, not the Greensboro City Council, is the body that makes the decisions about Randleman Lake water. Decisions about the permitting, construction and operation of the Randleman Lake -- including its pumping facility are made by water authority. Greensboro cannot single-handedly make these decisions. we must work cooperatively with the other member governments to move forward. Greensboro has exhibited leadership in removing roadblocks such as offering to build and operate the treatment facility (which was not accepted) and offering to "host" the bonds to speed up the process and get a lower interest rate (under consideration).

#2 Greensboro representatives, with the backing of Council, have taken a leadership role in moving an agreement forward that presently INCLUDES all the surrounding municipalities except High Point. Negotiations with High Point continue, if they break down, Greensboro will take the lead in moving a water treatment plant forward. Greensboro has already offered to build and operate the treatment facility (offer rejected) and offered to "host" the bonds to speed up the process and get a lower interest rate (under consideration).

#3 You were able to water your lawn this summer because we were able to buy water from surrounding municipalities to preserve our water supply in the lakes. These agreements were negotiated long before the current drought began to make sure we were prepared.

#4 The drought is region-wide, quickly approaching historic levels. Having established relationships with our neighbors allows us to continue to buy some water (but at a reduced amount).

#5 Active conservation, including a campaign kicked off on October 15th, has helped citizens reduce water usage. In fact we are using less water now than ten years ago with 18,000 additional customers on line, a tribute to the cooperative efforts taken by YOU THE CITIZENS.

#6 Proactive work in 2002 resulted in a the construction of a pipeline to the Haw River in record that has given us the capability to fill our lakes in the winter. This will be key if the dry winter and spring predicted materialize as predicted.

#7 Remember the sink hole on Wendover Avenue? It was a reminder that we have almost 1500 miles of aging water mains. We are in the middle year of an aggressive (and expensive) five year plan to repair or replace these lines to reduce leakage and loss - not headline grabbing actions but absolutely essential.

#8 Adoption of an effective city ordinance that uses scientifically-based steps to control water consumption as needed to reduce water usage during drought situations with the least possible impact on citizens and businesses.

#9 Deliberate decisions to implement pricing policies that encourage less water use. In the past, the more water you used, the less per unit you paid. The city council has totally reversed that policy, charging MORE per unit as usage increases, treating water as the precious resource it is.

Fact: Greensboro's water supply is estimated to be 140 days compared to 120 days for Raleigh and 70 days for Durham. This is tangible proof that our proactive priorities and policies are working.

Elected officials, however, cannot make it rain. I did have a citizen tell me, however, a bit of folk wisdom: shake two chickens under a full moon and it will rain in three days. At this point, that does not sound too far-fetched! {smile}

Water is precious. Please join me in conservation -- together we can do what's right for Greensboro!

Primary reactions

In this practice round for the "big race" for the District 5 seat, my windshield may have picked up a few mud splatters, but I made a strong showing and am charging full speed ahead into the one that REALLY counts on November 6. My team was waiting for the results of the primary to see what we needed to do, and now that we know, and it's being addressed.

VROOM! VROOM! See you in Victory Lane!

Kammie knows her "Grammy" is a winner!

Hydrant flushing -- necessity or waste?

Here's a city press release explaining the practice of hydrant flushing that must be done even this period of drought and water restrictions. (I have added emphasis on a couple of points.)


Flushing Hydrants Keeps Water Safe

GREENSBORO, NC-(October 10, 2007) – At first glance, the City of Greensboro’s practice of flushing fire hydrants during an extreme drought may seem counterproductive. In reality, however, flushing hydrants helps the City guarantee that water in our community is safe to drink.

The City’s Water Resources Department routinely flushes its hydrants to help ensure water quality and to comply with state requirements. The practice is nothing new: water system operators throughout the country regularly flush hydrants to help protect their water supplies. Greensboro uses technology to help balance the need for safe drinking water with the need for conservation.

About four years ago, the City installed 25 automatic flushers on certain hydrants in Greensboro. The automatic flushers are programmed to run at intervals to keep adequately-chlorinated water flowing to all customers, not just those closest to the center of the water system.

“Chlorine tends to diminish over time,” said Water Supply Manager Steve Drew. “Unlike fluoride, which remains at a constant level throughout the water system, chlorine reacts to other substances in the water and at the end of the pipe, there’s less of it than there was at the beginning. Our goal is to make sure that those customers who are farthest away from the center of the water system have an adequate amount of chlorine in their water supply, just like those customers who are closer to the center of the system.”

By using these automatic flushers, the water loss is minimized. In fact, the water used to flush hydrants is barely a drop in the bucket. For instance, in September, the water used for hydrant flushing amounted to a mere three-hundredths of a percent of the water used each day.

“Flushing hydrants is a process that used to require a great deal more water,” Drew said. “Most of us can remember seeing open hydrants, with watering pouring out uncontrollably for hours at a time. By using the automatic flushers, we have minimized that type of waste while still maintaining our program and still meeting the standards set by the state.”

Here’s why the City flushes hydrants, even during a drought:
The State of North Carolina requires that water suppliers like the City of Greensboro keep chlorine at a certain concentration all the way to their customers’ water taps to stop the growth of harmful bacteria. “The levels established by the federal government were put into place to protect people’s health, and the City works diligently to comply with the federal and state standards so that the public can trust in the quality of its drinking water,” Drew said.

The City has no violations of this requirement, in part, due to its effective flushing program.

“We understand that our messages may seem mixed,” said Allan Williams. “On the one hand, we’re flushing hydrants and on the other hand, we’re asking people to conserve and restricting how and when they can use our remaining water supply. In actuality, both messages have the same goal, and that is protecting our water supply and keeping it healthy and adequate for our city.”

Water conservation campaign

Here are the ads you will start seeing as part of a city-county joint effort to encourage all of us to conserve water.

The entire ad campaign’s creative direction and development were done in-house by the City of Greensboro’s Public Affairs Department. Fairway Outdoor Advertising contributed five billboards at no cost to the City.

Controversial rezoning request withdrawn

Councilmembers received an email copy of a letter from Attorney Derek Allen this afternoon officially withdrawing the highly-contested Comprehensive Plan amendment and rezoning request for the corner of Lawndale Drive and Lake Jeanette Road.

That's one less controversial item for the October 16 city council agenda.

Remember to vote for Sandy!

A reminder to District 5 voters -- I need YOUR vote on Tuesday, October 9!

All dressed up and nowhere to go...

Earlier today, I received a call from a local TV reporter wanting to do a story on me exploring "what does a local candidate do the day before the election?" Today was one of those rare "down days" with no official meetings so I agreed to the interview and got busy changing out of my grungy shorts, putting on make-up, and fixing my hair.

Wouldn't you know, half an hour before the appointed time for the camera to arrive, I received a second call. Due to a breaking news story, I've been "bumped."

Oh well, the people who are expecting me to deliver yard signs to them today will be treated to a well-coiffed, well-dressed candidate instead of a more casual "me!"

That's the way it goes sometimes!

Police Protection Update

During recent forums, I have heard several candidates cite the number of existing vacancies in the Greensboro Police Department (ranging from 88-90 positions) and express concern about those vacancies. I too share those concerns and want to see many more officers on the street as soon as possible, but those figures taken alone can be somewhat misleading.


First of all, that vacancy figure includes the additional 35 positions originally funded in the 2006-07 budget due to my successful efforts. Those 35 are NOT police officers who were once out on the streets that are no longer there -- those are NEW positions, yet unfilled due to the length of time it takes to train new recruits (each Police Academy lasts for six months).


32-35 new officers (not sure of the exact number) will graduate from the 87th Police Academy on October 22 and "hit the streets" with their field training coaches shortly thereafter, lowering the vacancy number to the 53-58 range (of which I will repeat, 35 are brand new slots which have not been "occupied" yet). That lowers the number of actual "once-occupied" positions to 18-23, not an unusual number at all given the average of 1.5 resignations/retirements per month.


Efforts are currently underway to hire 40 new recruits who will enter the 88th Police Academy in January and graduate next June. The main obstacles in recruiting is 1) to find suitable persons who are willing to enter this dangerous profession when there are so many other career options available, and 2) quite frankly, young people who can successfully pass the drug screening requirements. GPD's salaries are comparable to those in nearby communities and do not appear to be as big an issue as the first two factors I listed. This will lower the number of vacant positions to 13-18, not an unusual number at all given the long-standing average of 1.5 resignations and/or retirements per month.


With the recruitment of an additional 40 officers who will enter the Police Academy in August 2008, GPD should be at full force, even allowing for those inevitable resignations and retirements PLUS the additional positions for a full-staffed gang squad this city council has already gone on record as supporting.


With that said, we citizens would be foolish to believe that crime and gangs will disappear overnight, even we could afford to add 1,000 new police officers. In addition to professional law enforcement, neighborhood crime watches (or 'nosy neighbors' as CRT Officer Dewey Smith likes to say) are highly effective as well. Fighting crime is a COMMUNITY effort, not just a police effort -- it takes ALL OF US!

A citizen's perspective on my gang/crime efforts

I received the following email from Julie Schindler, one of the co-chairs of the Highland Park Neighborhood Crime Watch, who was highly offended by a recent campaign flyer she received that distorts my efforts in the area of gang and crime issues. Julie wrote:

• You faithfully attend all neighborhood Community Watch Meetings you're invited to, schedule permitting. How many council members make the time to do that? Safety concerns such as gang problems are addressed at these meetings with Greensboro Police Department experts, concerned neighbors, parents, school teachers, all affected parties, and information, solutions and recommendations are disseminated among residents and discussed with our safety experts, the Greensboro Police Department. This is EXACTLY what was happening at the Highland Park Neighborhood Community Watch Meeting Ms. Wade referred to in her ad, where gang activity experts Detective Ernest Cuthbertson and Chief Harold Scott were presenting the brand new Drug & Gang Awareness Program for residents' education and benefit. You were the first Council Member to be introduced to the new Drug & Gang Awareness Program and you immediately stated your support for this program on your blog.
  
  
• You [were responsible for the] budgeting for 32 additional police officers and have continued to lobby for more.
  


• You faithfully attend all National Night Out Functions (another very effective resident-level anti-crime strategy) that you're invited to, schedule permitting, and NOT just during election years, as other council members and the Mayor do. It was at a Highland Park Neighborhood National Night Out picnic in August 2005 where residents first brought you concerns with Chief David Wray's drastic transfer of numerous officers out of the Western Division, and the resulting property crimes that plagued this neighborhood for the first time. This was after Chief Wray summarily dismissed residents' concerns. I had this conversation with you myself, and told you that after emails from residents to the Chief and after speaking with him personally at the GPD NNO Kick-Off about these concerns, his indifference had resulted in a loss of confidence at the resident level in his abilities as Chief of Police. A police chief's job is to reduce crime, and we no longer felt this was even a focus of his. I remember you telling me this was the first you'd heard of complaints with Chief Wray from residents. Which brings me to my next point:
  
  
• You are always available to residents to discuss safety concerns. I knew you considered Chief Wray a personal friend, and I dreaded telling you that he'd lost support at the neighborhood level, but I also know you to be fair and interested in residents' concerns, so I wasn't afraid of you "shooting the messenger," even though I hated being the messenger of such unpleasant news.



• You attend Police Citizen Advisory Council functions whenever invited, schedule permitting. PCAC citizen volunteers appreciate your continued demonstration of support for and involvement in neighborhood and school safety, and your support for our safety experts, The Greensboro Police Department. We know we can always count on your considerable expertise in these safety matters and on your continued support in Council.

That's MY Grammy!

I attended a cookout at my son Mark's home this evening and ended up feeding little newborn Garrett his bottle while his dad attended to the hamburgers on the grill. One-year-old granddaughter Kammie was also there with her mom and dad (my youngest son and his wife), and she had a fit when she saw me holding the new baby. Kammie ran over to me, tried to climb into my lap along with Garrett, and when she couldn't get up, started swatting at him. She was not satisfied until I handed the baby off to his mother and picked her up, where she sat with a satisfied, smug look on her face.

And so it went for the rest of the evening -- Kammie could be running around happily playing, but let me get anywhere near the new baby and she wanted me to pick her up RIGHT NOW.

"Cousin" rivalry, I guess, since they aren't siblings!

GTA earns an A+ from the FTA

Every three years, the city's transit system -- GTA -- must undergo a "triennial review" conducted by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as required by law. This assessment checks "GTA's compliance with federal requirements determined by the examination of grant management and program implementation" according to letter from the FTA's regional administrator. The review examines 23 factors such as financial management, ADA compliance, security and safety, maintenance, procurement, and drug-free workplace, to name a few.

GTA aced the review -- not a single deficiency noted! According to the FTA administrator, "It is rare in the triennial review process for a grantee to have no deficiencies, and GTA and its staff are to be commended."

Congratulations to the GTA board and staff for their stellar performance! Well done!

Replacements Ltd. endorsement

I was pleasantly surprised to receive the endorsement from the Replacements Ltd. PAC even though I did not support domestic partner benefits.

Thank you!

Vote on Tuesday, October 9

Per Darkmoon's request, here is a reminder that the Primary Election for Greensboro City Council at-large seats and Districts 1, 3, and 5 seats will be held on Tuesday, October 9. Please remember to vote that day!

Correcting an erroneous statement in the Rhino

In an article in this week's edition of The Rhino, John Hammer wrote the following:

"...Councilmember Sandy Carmany had SID investigate a stripper from Twiggy's who had reportedly made some allegations. Again this was not a criminal investigation, but because it was for a councilmember, it was evidently OK..."

ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! Thank heaven I saved enough of the correspondence from that alleged incident and can present the FACTS of that particular situation.

In late September, 2004 I received an "out of the blue" email from someone purporting to be a stripper at Twiggy's and alleging that drugs were being sold in the establishment, prostitution was occurring, and other unsavory things were taking place. She was aware of my efforts to regulate sexually-oriented businesses in Greensboro and trusted that I would be willing to provide some help in dealing with those issues.

I immediately forwarded that email to then-Police Chief David Wray for his information and/or action as he deemed appropriate, noting that I had received this information anonymously and did not have a clue if it was legitimate or not. I do this on a routine basis when I receive "tips" about alleged criminal activity, drug houses, etc. -- I pass along the information and let the police investigators determine if it is real or not.

This email was obviously deemed worthy of investigation by someone in GPD because I was soon contacted by Detective Scott Sanders who gave me his phone number and asked me to share any futher communications should I receive more. I did receive several more emails over the following six weeks or so that contained details of specific transactions and "who was doing what." I quickly passed those along to Detective Sanders, who at some point suggested that I encourage the writer to communicate directly with him, that she could trust him to keep everything confidential. I gladly did so as I was not comfortable being the "middleman" in this situation.

That ended my involvement and knowledge of the case -- I did not receive any further communications from the writer so I do not know if she even cooperated with Detective Sanders or not. Detective Sanders did not communicate with me further on this case either nor did he ever inform me if there was anything to the allegations. Thus to this day, I do not have a clue if the allegations and information were substantiated or not -- and don't care to know, that's police business.

That's it! I did not have this supposed stripper investigated. I merely passed along information provided by her to the appropriate person -- the chief of police -- about possible crimes and let him take it from there. End of story!

Where were you, District 5 voters?

The Democratic Women of Guilford County hosted a candidate forum this evening for district and at-large candidates for city council. The format was a bit different from other forums I have attended. At-large candidates were allowed to give a 2-minute presentation to the entire group of attendees, after which they responded to a couple of questions. At the conclusion of that segment, us district candidates were dispersed to five different locations so that we could have district-specific conversations with constituents from that district.

There was a big problem for us District 5 candidates, however. NO residents from District 5 came to talk to us. After a quick chat with our moderator and a short visit from one at-large candidate accompanied by one non-District 5 citizen, we all agreed to call it quits and go home.

I can only hope that District 5 voters are taking the time to learn about the candidates and our issues somehow, some way!

Candidates asked to leave

Candidates running for election to the Greensboro City Council received invitations a couple of weeks ago from the UNCG College Democrats to participate in today's "Turn up the Vote" activities on the front lawn of Jackson Library on the UNCG campus from 11AM-4PM. Other political organizations were participating as well, including students from the Democrat, Republican and Libertarian parties offering voter registration services as well as several other student activist groups, including one trying to raise awareness of the Darfur problem.

Several of us candidates took advantage of that opportunity to interact with the students -- Marikay Abuzuaiter, Joel Landau, Donna Riechmann, Zack Methany, and me. I was particularly interested in being there because UNCG is located in District 5.

Unfortunately, that opportunity was short-lived! It seems there is a requirement for "outsiders" like us candidates to get written permission from the college administration 48 hours in advance of coming on campus for an activity. Since we were unaware of this requirement, none of us had submitted that letter. We were politely and courteously asked by campus security officers to leave even though we had copies of our invitation from the College Democrats to be there since we did not have the "official permission." So we obliged by packing up our signs and handouts and leaving the campus. Student representatives of the organizations present were quite displeased and disappointed that we were asked to leave.

What a shame! I have been a frequent visitor to the UNCG campus giving presentations to numerous classes on a variety of topics as well as participating in countless meetings as the District 5 representative --everything from trying to resolve UNCG's handling of noise/rowdy behavior fraternity issues in the 1990's when the College Hill neighborhood was part of District 5 to one in late July to tweak the HEAT bus service and plan for its future. While I can understand the rules and the security need to know "who's on campus doing what," we candidates were not being rowdy -- sedately sitting behind our tables -- and were giving interested students an opportunity to get more informed about local issues and politics.

So much for bureacracy inteferring with academic freedom -- I guess I'd better wait for that "official permission/invitation" before going on the campus again.

Drought/water restriction questions

Many citizens have been asking questions about the city's water restrictions -- why weren't they imposed sooner, how many days of water do we have left, what happens next, are we going to run out of water, etc. Here's an email that came into today --

Dear City Council:

This morning's News and Record reported that the drought and water restrictions will be on the agenda for tonight's meeting. The article also noted the long range weather forecast is quite "grim" in terms of expected precipitation. This is consistent with NOAA predictions of worsening drought for at least the remainder of 2007.

On the City's web site, the link to water resources states that as of August 27, 2007 there was "less than a 150 day water supply" remaining. Does this mean that with no significant rain, and there has not been any, Greensboro's water supply will be depleted in less than four months, at the end of January 2008?

I recall during the 2002 drought, the last level of water restrictions called for the city to evacuate. Is this contingency still in place?

If so, what type of implementation plan exists? As we witnessed with New Orleans, evacuating a large metropolitan area is extremely problematic and lack of planning can have devastating consequences.

I imagine some of you may regard this as unnecessarily alarmist, but the current combination of a dwindling water supply and predictions of a dry fall, winter, AND spring requires forward thinking. Would you please consider addressing these questions?

Here's the response and an excellent explanation from Water Resources Director Allan Williams to that inquiry.

Water Resources calculates the "days of water" remaining as the volume of usable raw water in our lakes above the point at which our pumps break suction. We have rigorously measured the lakes to provide a reliable quantity relationship between stage and storage, unlike most cities. We estimate our days by dividing the raw water volume by our recent withdrawals of raw water from the reservoirs (some cities fail to acknowledge that it takes about 10% more raw water to make a volume of finished water due to losses to sludge and filtration backwash). As of yesterday, that yielded a number of about 142 days.

The reason we called for restrictions was because during the hot dry weather (which unfortunately continued) demand was forcing us to use a high withdrawal from the lakes, hence we dropped down to about 150 days.By limiting irrigation, and now the cooler weather, we have only slightly fewer "days" left because the drawdown is less.

While it was at one point I believe in 1998 reported that evacuation was an option, this was not to my knowledge ever planned for. Our primary focus is to see to it that such an extreme is not necessary through restrictions and public education. I would suggest browsing the Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, and other NC news sources and you'll find that we are actually in better shape than several other cities, although our restrictions tend to be more proactive. For example, Durham reports 70 days of water with 70 days below their lowest intake (a very optimistic inclusion we do not use) and yet allows watering twice a week. This drought is exceptional, and can best be appreciated on some drought sites like...

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_southeast.htm

Charlotte and now all of northern GA including Atlanta have basically banned outside irrigation in general with few exceptions.

Just one more fact... Greensboro in recent years uses less water than it did 10 year ago, through aggressive public education and pricing structures. While we did lose one large industry (Guilford Mills) we have done this while going from 80,000 to 98,000 customers. The point is that our problem is one of weather and drought, not excessive growth. In fact, we've added almost 10 mgd [million gallons per day] of interconnections for backup in the same time period. Good thing we did!

Allan Williams, P.E.Water Resources Director

WOMAN candidate forum

Many thanks go to WOMAN (Women Over-40 Meeting And Networking) for hosting a candidate forum tonight in the Empire Room under the able leadership of founding member Judith Abraham. About 2/3 of the candidates for all the City Council seats were there to share a two-minute presentation. Woe be it to any candidate who failed to RSVP and let Judith know they would not be attending -- that fact was shared with all in attendance.

Those two minutes sure pass by quickly, and I had to skip over a few sentences near the end to stay within the time limit. Here are my remarks in their entirety.

With the retirement of three veteran councilmembers and exciting influx of new faces and fresh ideas, Greensboro is at a crucial point that demands experienced leadership with the expertise to maintain our forward momentum. As the District 5 representative for the past 16 years, I am the person with that experience, expertise, and time to keep this city progressing during that transition. I am in touch with the issues and with my constituents, working hard on their behalf.

I’m active on the regional level, working with neighboring communities to provide transportation options through PART and to improve our air quality through the Triad Early Action Compact.

My priorities for Greensboro include:

1) Promoting quality economic development and creating good paying jobs for ALL our citizens. We are accomplishing this by offering a high quality of life, an educated workforce, good infrastructure, and suitable sites for development. We must continue city assistance in the development of small businesses and remain as business-friendly as possible.

2) Effectively managing growth and its challenges such as traffic congestion, poor air quality, lack of affordable housing, and environmental impacts. Using the Comprehensive Plan as the guide, we are finding ways to “grow smart” by increasing density and promoting walkability to stimulate more use of transit while being ever mindful of compatibility to minimize impacts on existing neighborhoods.

3) Providing effective, efficient city services and maintaining city assets while keeping fees and tax rates at reasonable levels. As infrastructure ages and demands for services increase, I will continue to focus on providing the essentials such as public safety, garbage and recycling collection, and water and sewer in a cost-effective way.

4) And most important of all -- remaining accessible and responsive to citizens.

I offer myself as the experienced candidate with the right tools to provide that strong leadership. I offer myself as the right person with the right skills at the right time for District 5, Greensboro, and the Triad.

Learn how to reduce energy consumption

The State Energy Office issued the following notice last week. Those of you who want some practical tips on how to reduce energy consumption in your home or place of business should try to attend one of these sessions. The one closest to the Piedmont Triad area is in Guilford County on October 22.

NOTICE

As thermometers drop and energy prices climb this fall, public agencies and local residents can learn no- and low-cost ways to save on energy bills by attending the free educational workshops “Reducing Energy Expenses in Public Buildings, Commercial Facilities and Homes,” sponsored by the State Energy Office (SEO) of the N.C. Department of Administration and the E-Conservation Program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

Public agency operations and facilities staff will benefit from attending the morning or evening sessions, and local businesses and nonprofit organizations are invited to attend these workshops as well. Homeowners and renters are encouraged to attend the residentially-focused workshops which will be held in the evenings. Dates and times for all workshops are listed below.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to implement energy-saving measures in their homes and businesses. The workshops will also include energy-saving tips and information on assistance offered by the E-Conservation Program, the SEO and its partners that can further help businesses and residents reduce their energy costs.

Events for each county will be held in the county's Cooperative Extension Office. Registration for the programs is required. Contact your local office to register

(http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=countycenters).


Schedule

Carteret County
Sept. 27 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Sept. 27 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Madison County
Oct. 1 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 2 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Orange County
Oct. 2 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 2 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Cherokee County
Oct. 2 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 3 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Wake County
Oct. 3 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 4 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Iredell County
Oct. 4 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 4 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Gaston County
Oct. 8 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 9 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Pitt County
Oct. 8 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 8 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Northampton County
Oct. 9 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 9 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Cleveland County
Oct. 10 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 10 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Perquimans County
Oct. 15 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 16 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Tyrell County
Oct. 16 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 17 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Henderson County
Oct. 16 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 17 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Surry County
Oct. 18 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 19 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Moore County
Oct. 22 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 23 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Guilford County
Oct. 22 2:00 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 22 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Columbus County
Oct. 23 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 24 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses)

Wayne County
Oct. 30 1:30 p.m. (public agencies and businesses)
Oct. 30 6:30 p.m. (residential)

Vance County
Oct. 30 6:30 p.m. (residential)
Oct. 31 9:00 a.m. (public agencies and businesses