Fire Chief Says Promotions Not Given as Payback

The Greensboro Fire Chief is currently defending himself against reports that he has promoted firefighters as payback for work that have done for him outside of their department duties.

In response Chief Johnny Teeters says “I never promoted someone because they helped me. I’ve never even considered that.”

Continue reading here.

Ask Mitchell Johnson…

If you could ask Mitchell Johnson one question what would it be?

Tonight’s Gang Awareness Meeting

I just got home from tonight’s gang awareness meeting (held off Eugene St.) that was attended by 26 Greensboro residents. There were no elected officials in attendance… it was simply the residents and the police officers. A PowerPoint presentation was shown that did a good job showing residents the difference between graffiti artists and gang related spraying. The presentation also pointed out various gang tattoos and their meanings.

The better part of an hour was spent in a Q&A session. The questions asked made it clear that the resident’s care what is taking place in our city but have somewhat unrealistic expectations as to what will fix the problem. Actually, some appear to be looking for the magical “fix” to the crime/gang problem but the offers reinforced that they can only do so much and that the community plays a big part in fixing the current situation.

I had the opportunity of speaking with several officers after the meeting, both of whom truly appeared to care about the city and are putting in 110% to do their part.

New Job

Posting may be a bit delayed during the next several days while I get acclimated to my new job.

Thanks as always for visiting GreensboroPolitics.com.

More Response from the News & Record on Skip Alston’s Negative Comments

Doug Clark over at the News & Record has responded to negative comments that Skip Alston made about the paper earlier this week.

“The “enemy” reference isn’t Alston’s first shot at the N&R regarding the civil rights museum. I don’t understand it in light of our consistently supportive editorial policy. Today’s editorial is the latest of many urging the community to back the project.

Obviously, with $150,000 staked in the project, this isn’t just lip service. In my book, that’s a lot of money.

The problem for Alston seems to be that the N&R also has reported various setbacks and financial difficulties the museum has had, plus its very slow progress.

It’s the newspaper’s role to ask questions and report the ups and downs.

Even setting that aside, any business that contributes money to an organization has a right to question how it’s being spent.

Frankly, for the person in charge to call such a major donor an “enemy” is just unbelievable. If that’s the response donors get, it’s no wonder the civil rights center is having such a hard time raising money. It just doesn’t strike me as an effective way to encourage giving.”

Continue reading here.

Thanks to Leo Cheek

Note: This post is to show personal thanks to a city employee.

In an effort to help clean up the area near where I live I recently adopted a small section of Lee St that extends from Bennett to Eugene St.  Over the last two days I spent 5.5 hours picking up trash and filled up more than 20 trash bags.  The experience was very eye opening and something I plan to do on a monthly basis.

As I was picking up the trash around Lees Curb Market I asked myself “Why in the world do people not put this stuff in a trash can?”  Then I looked around and realized there was not a single trash can in site and as a matter of fact there are hardly any on the entire stretch of road that I adopted.

Now for the point of the post.  Yesterday I contacted Leo Cheek who runs Greensboro’s Field Operations Department and discussed the trash can issue with him.  He agreed to meet me at Lees Curb Market this morning at 9 am to discuss the possibility of getting some cans put out.  After a short meeting we agreed to put three cans in the near vicinity of the store to see if people actually use them.  I simply want to publicly say thanks to Leo for taking prompt action to help fix this issue that could be one small step towards cleaning up the area.

Greensboro Fire Chief Retires

Greensboro Fire Chief Johnny Teeters (joined the department in 1965) announced his retirement this morning and his last day will be December 15.

“My decision to retire was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make,” Teeters said in a release sent out today by the city. “I’ve had a great career and have gotten to work with some of the greatest people in the world — the men and woman of the Greensboro Fire Department. I can honestly say that I enjoyed coming to work every day of my 44-year career.”

Young Republicans 2008 Annual Kick-Off Meeting Tonight

For those interested, the Guilford Young Republicans (Age 18 - 40) will be holding their annual kick-off meeting tonight at 6 pm.  You can get more information here.

Greensboro Recycling Ad Copy & Public Perception

This is a bit off topic but it is something that I found humorous and also brought a question to mind.

I was listening to the radio last night and an ad (likely PSA) for Greensboro’s new recycling schedule came on.  The final words of the ad were something like “Help Greensboro save the environment every other week.”  I immediately thought “So Greensboro doesn’t care about the environment the weeks we don’t recycle?”  Of course that isn’t what they mean but it is exactly what they said.

Do you feel as though the City of Greensboro does a good/bad job at handling its public image?

Should Bloggers Post Anonymous Letters

Joe Guarino has posted a letter from an anonymous officer that works for the GPD who is apparently unhappy with how things are being run.  Should bloggers post anonymous letters?  Do letters of this nature fuel the rumor mill?

I know this isn’t politics but I just wanted to bring it up for a possible discussion.