Greensboro City Council has hired a law firm to lobby against Sen. Trudy Wade’s bill to restructure the council.
The hiring of the lobbyist was the subject of a tense debate during last night’s meeting when City Attorney Tom Carruthers revealed—when pressed by council member Tony Wilkins –that the decision was reached following a phone poll of council members.
Rhino’s John Hammer weighs in here:
During the chaos, all sense of decorum was abandoned and Mayor Nancy Vaughan, instead of trying to bring order to the meeting, joined in with quips and catcalls of her own. It was Councilmember Sharon Hightower who finally brought the meeting back under control, but even that didn’t last.
A city that is in competition with Greensboro for a new industry needs only play five minutes of this meeting to convince sensible business owners that they do not want this group making decisions that could affect their businesses.
And here:
Anyone who doubts that SB 36 is sorely needed should look at the last 10 minutes of the Greensboro City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 7. ….The entire meeting devolved into catcalling, interruptions, shouting, fake votes, motions that were out of order but never ruled as such and general misbehavior, particularly for an elected body that is responsible for spending over $500 million a year. The behavior of Mayor Nancy Vaughan and the majority of the City Council is an embarrassment to Greensboro.
It is a clear indication that something needs to be done.
All I know is when Sharon Hightower is the voice of reason things have indeed gotten way out of control. Last 10 minutes of the council meeting is below. Watch and judge for yourself.
