Greensboro District 3 Town Hall get together: Will Zack be back?

I can't fault District 3 City Councilman Zack Matheny for trying. I think he is sincere in wanting to get in front of his constituents and listen to what they have to say. However, I'm not quite sure he was expecting the response he got at last night's meeting at Lawndale Baptist church.

It was clear from the beginning what Zack wanted to talk about. Upon entering the Worship Center where the event would be held, each of the 40-some attendees were handed a sheet entitled "2008 Priorities. What's Important to YOU?", which apparently came out of the City Council in January.

The list was interesting because of the topics listed and because of the topics NOT listed.

Here are the issues that made the cut:

Business friendly
Jobs/Economic Development
Communication
Police
City of Greensboro employee morale
Social Capital
Equity
Transparency
Gang Awareness
Transportation
Homelessness
Water Supply
Increase Public Trust
Other (please specify)

"Specify" we did.

The group wasn't too keen on discussing several of those issues, and immediately started airing their feelings about crime, and Matheny got an earful. A large segment of time was spent on this discussion, and GPD Eastern Division Commander Captain Chris Walker did a good job fielding many of the questions.

Bottom line: A number of people are angry about this; a number of people are flat out afraid, and it's a matter of major concern. Matheny was short on answers, plans, and solutions, preferring instead to frame the issue as a funding problem.

I brought up the question of re-opening the White Street Landfill, and immediately Matheny went on the defensive. He dodged the question artfully, but but the Rhino Time's John Hammer and I wouldn't let him off the hook.

Matheny claims that White St. is "not closed", which may be technically correct, but he danced all around my question of costs for the current way trash is handled. He refered to the issue as a political one, saying the votes aren't there (on City Council) to open it, and it would invite lawsuits if we did. I made a mental note to ask about lawsuits when we got around to discussing the fiasco of the management of the GPD and its on-going internal problems. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to bring that aspect up.

By that time, I think poor young Zack had started to wonder why he ever decided to do this sort of event, but he gallantly pressed forward. I think he used the term "exposing myself", which he most certainly did.

It was apparent by then that he wasn't relishing a discussion about the ongoing soap opera that has become the GPD and the City Manager's office. That led me to make the statement that "We (the City of Greensboro) lack the political will and management ability to solve the problem". His blood pressure must have shot up 30 points, and he immediately came back with a question that bordered on losing control. I resisted the urge to engage him, and instead told him he would be better served by calling on the other people who wanted to respond in light of my comment. Afterward, he made some whiny comments about the media, not so subtly directed Hammer's way, followed with an exclamation of "I'm one person!"

Things were a little anti-climactic from that point on.

Other things to consider.

Protest Petitions are no big deal in his eyes, that they "leave us open to sprawl", and claims that the Guilford state legislative contingent "passed the buck to City Council" with he recent statement.

Because time was short, he briefly covered the rest of the items on the 2008 Priorities sheet. I managed to camouflage my snorts of derision when he talked about Equity and Social Capital, and it was all I could do stifle loud guffaws when Transparency came up.

It's pretty clear.....Matheny is over his head. We made a bad choice in electing him, and we need to fix that mistake.