The N&R follows up Tuesday night’s Greensboro City Council meeting with a front-pager (unposted) on the vote turning down GPS technology for city buses.

I took that as a sign that the local paper of record was pissed off that the council rejected anything to do with mass transit, but today’s editorial called the tracking technology a lost proposition:

For some perspective, almost that exact amount ($82,300) was what the city has said it couldn’t afford to contribute toward security for involuntary commitments at the county’s mental health facility.

As fascinating as tracking bus times may be, it ranks right up there with talking cars as a critical need. Said council member Danny Thompson: “I’m just not sure exactly why you would spend $83,000 a year just to know the bus is late, even though you can’t do anything about it.”

Better to spend the money on something more pressing. Or not at all. To do otherwise, in this economy, would be wasteful. And so 1980s.

The Rhino’s John Hammer says the vote was a sign that the conservative bloc voters elected in 2009 is finally emerging. Hammer notes audience reaction following the 6-2 vote, adding “(t)imes they are a changing when a conservative vote by the City Council gets a round of applause.”

But another vote got a round of applause: the ‘City Council special’ accepting the plan proposed by the appointed sustainability council. As you can probably imagine, the plan featured the usual environmental groupthink such as ‘investing in green jobs,’ promoting higher density development, encouraging mass transit and greater government influence over the behavior of its citizens.

The was suprisingly little discussion and debate over the plan, which, according to the N&R, will cost “a minimum of $12.3 million.” If the city can’t afford tracking technology for buses, one has to wonder where the money for the sustainability plan is. (Yes, yes, I know the plan will ‘pay for itself.’)

Conservative bloc emerging on the Greensboro City Council? I’m not holding my breath.