Today’s Winston-Salem Journal weighs in on Dan Clodfelter’s suggestion that the state place a moratorium on selling bonds, saying “the Mecklenburg senator is right. This is no time to be adding debt payments to the state’s spending.”
It’s a nice gesture, but does it really mean that much, considering the debt was run up without voters’ approval to begin with? And while Greensboro is asking voters to approve $205 million in bonds, the city is promising not to sell them until the market improves. Just give us the money and trust us, Mayor Yvonne Johnson says. But not only do voters need to wonder why the city needs to come to them in the first place for transportation projects, but they also need wonder about why they’re doing it while making big plans up and down Lee Street.
So excuse us if we’re not impressed by the gestures.