Note to Mayor Knight –Say what you mean, mean what you say

No shortage of suggestions from Dr. Guarino, although they target all conservatives running for Greensboro City Council. But certainly the most high-profile race is between incumbent Mayor Bill Knight and City Council member Robbie Perkins.

Here’s the strategy outlined by Guilford County GOP Chair Michael Picarelli:

Picarelli said some of the conservative candidates appeared to take a page from conservative political strategist Karl Rove.

“Rove says you don’t go to places where people aren’t likely to vote for you anyway. You don’t try to change the minds of individuals” Picarelli said. “You turn out the people you know you can get. You get them to the polls.”

Picarelli said he agreed with that strategy, which led some candidates to turn down invitations to public forums and events where they’d face criticism.

“But maybe now it’s time to be having a conversation with some of those voters and address the record, stand clear on what they did and why,” Picarelli said.

My gut tells me it’s too late for that, just like it’s way to late to court the media, given its incredibly biased reporting. Honestly, why would Knight sit down with the N&R and Yes!Weekly when they’ve both made it clear they wouldn’t endorse him anyway?

No doubt many average citizens believe it’s local leaders’ responsibility to make themselves accessible to the media. However, is that really necessary when public officials have the opportunity to make their views known every two weeks during public board meetings, which are broadcast on TV and the Internet?

Face it, that’s been a problem with Knight. When he was elected two years ago, I looked forward to him stating some no nonsense views from the center of dais, one of which I had hoped was ‘hell no we don’t want no stimulus money.’

Unfortunately that hasn’t happened. So what I suggest the mayor do is go to his base and tell them that if he’s reelected, he’s going to leverage that political capital and start saying what he means and meaning what he says.

OWS: Land of Opportunity

Note the pitch the old hippie-looking dude is making.

Via Locker Room.

Not exactly appropriate workplace language

Former employees of the Forsyth County Board of Elections file a lawsuit, claiming director Rob Coffman sexually harassed employees and used inappropriate language:

The plaintiffs accuse Coffman of calling one employee a “crack ho,” and of saying of another that she “runs her mouth too much and she’s too fat.” The suit accuses him of calling an employee a “dyke” in front of co-workers and asking aloud if a teenage girl had won a costume contest by dressing “like a prostitute.”

One of the employees filing suit is the ex-wife of Winston-Salem Journal reporter Richard Craver. The alleges that during an interview Craver regarding an election issue, Coffman made the comment that he “knew why he divorced her.”

Coffman’s got a lot baggage, dating from his days as a nonprofit director in Michigan, where he was also sued for sexual harassment. How the elections board can look away from this conduct baffles me.