The Greensboro City Council gives City Manager Mitchell Johnson a 3 percent raise. I didn’t watch the meeting last night, but I hope to catch a replay, more specifically to watch the council’s debate over a $750,000 grant for the International Civil Rights Museum.
There’s an interesting comment from the vacationing Guarino over at ConAlt:
…we can take comfort in the fact that Florence Gatten said he deserves the raise partially on the basis of his spearheading the Cool Cities initiative. And also in the fact that Keith Holliday said he showed “tremendous leadership” with all the mess associated with the GPD matter.
Reassuring, isn’t it?
Did I call it or what: Gatten would use the Cool Cities initiative as an excuse to spend money. Gatten leaves office next month, but the urge to spend money will still be there, considering the fact that Mayor-elect Yvonne Johnson stood and applauded as Holliday signed the initiative.
Meanwhile, Environment NC’s Geoff Lawrence provides some insight into the EPA’s carrot-and-stick approach to ozone standards:
Because the proposed standard would be lower than the natural levels of ozone in some areas, many cities and counties could risk a budget shortfall or even bankruptcy trying to meet the new standard — and still fail.
Lawrence adds:
In my opinion, physical impossibility of compliance would certainly seem to be a relevant issue that should be taken into consideration for any major policy decision.
The same could be said for policies that would try to reduce carbon emissions to pre-1990 levels, right?
