N&R front page —Rep. John Blust is identified as “The Man of Conviction.” I’m not saying Blust is or isn’t a man of conviction, but that’s a little editorializing for the front page, isn’t it?
N&R ed page editor Allen Johnson:
On the day before the long Fourth of July weekend, Greensboro residents were instructed on how far the leaders of this state have strayed from principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.
To secure the rights of the people, that great document said, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The state legislature made a mockery of those words Thursday, imposing on Greensboro a form of municipal government to which its citizens did not consent, by means that should shame everyone who had a hand in it.
Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan on a possible legal challenge:
Vaughan said she’ll meet Monday with the city’s legal staff. The subject: whether there are grounds for a lawsuit somewhere within the N.C. House and Senate’s decisions to restructure the City Council through House Bill 263.
Vaughan and the attorneys will consider possible violations of the federal Voting Rights Act. They’ll also discuss whether it’s unconstitutional to strip the council of its right to draw its own district lines.
“I think they cracked the door for a legal challenge,” Vaughan said.
Rhino’s John Hammer:
It is an absurd argument that the new eight-district system should not double bunk sitting councilmembers when you have a mix of at-large and district councilmembers.
One of the funniest arguments made was by Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford). She said that only Democrats on the City Council were double bunked. The current City Council is made up of eight Democrats and one Republican. If councilmembers are double bunked they have to involve Democrats.
Meanwhile, new date for the upcoming City Council election is Oct 6.
