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Blog Watch
News Watch

  4/28/2004


Latest candidate enters District 7 County Commissioner race
 
wxiivanI'd like to report that the channel 12 news van was out front of the Old Guilford County Courthouse this afternoon to catch Jim Capo as he officially entered the race for County Commissioner in District 7 (the district that roughly runs down both sides of 220 Battleground Ave. from Summerfield to Wendover Ave.)  I have to report however that if a reporter was there, he missed me.  It's possible they had already wrapped up their story on the official removal of the Health Services offices from the county courthouse sign. 
 
farewellThe three guys doing the work on the sign were extremely friendly while we chatted cordially in the warm sun outside the steps of the  county courthouse.  As a county commissioner I would certainly make an effort to contact their supervisor so I could commend them for the pleasant demeanor they displayed as they performed their task.  Then, I would ask the supervisor to make sure the budget director for county maintenance understood why it would be exceedingly difficult for anyone trying to convince me that the only option to maintain county services is to raise taxes. 
 
signteamA break in work to assess  progress afforded me the opportunity to capture the display of work flow and labor efficiency in what apparently has been decided on as an essential core competency for our county government:  To paint a name on this sign (rather than sending the work out to a local sign shop) it takes one person to man the forklift (necessity unknown), one person to oversee the ladder and one person to handle the paintbrush.  I am thinking this photograph will become the centerpiece of my campaign theme, "Better government for lower cost."  (My apologies to the good bunch of guys just out there doing the job they were tasked with.  If any taxpayer money is being wasted here it is definitely not their fault.)
 
If Mary Rakestraw survives her primary challenge (and likely even if not), voters in the 7th District will have only one choice in November if they hope to have anyone representing them that will defend our interests against ever expanding control of their lives...and pocketbooks.
 
Note: Though I am two days late here (I'll have to remember to be a regular reader now), I would like to thank the News and Record and Mark Binker for treating the Libertarian Party like the real deal by putting a plug in Monday's paper for both my candidacy and my blog.  Also, thanks to Matt Williams, who covering the day's wrap-up at the Old Courthouse for Mark, tried to reach me just an hour after I officially filed for the 7th district race. I commit likewise to conduct myself as a serious candidate.)
11:14:19 PM      comment []



Disciples of Mann

Was out of my late morning appointment too late to make anything but the close of the Kahlenberg presentation to the Guilford County School Board today.   Opponents of the Choice Plan said that Kahlenberg was open and polite in addressing their questions/concerns, but nobody had their minds changed on either side.  Our four board members who voted against the plan made their statement by not showing up to Dr. Grier's lunchtime tryst. 

interview with leading GC socialistPerhaps many people received their News and Record early today and were persuaded to believe this is a non-issue now that almost all the affected students got their first pick in the new "forced choice" system.  As you might be able to tell in the after meeting TV interview, the person the meeting mattered most to was in good spirits.

Highlights of Mr. Kahlenberg's PowerPoint presentation:

  • Top Districts planning Socioeconomic Integration: Wake County, NC, Cambridge, MA, and La Crosse, WI.  (also 10 others including Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC and Greenville, SC --- looks like the promoters like to travel along I-85.)
  • Review of Ten Factors that make for Good Schools: #1 money or in the official parlance used by Kahlenberg "financial base".  My favorite though was #6 written as it was by a leading reformer in the educational system, "A meaty curriculum and high expectations."  (I might have pulled out the thesaurus there.)
  • Plan doesn't hurt middle-class students.
  • Diversity helps students become better citizens. (The metric that validates that opinion was not in the handout notes.  I bet learning our form of limited Constitutional and representative government was not mentioned here.)
  • A plug for his two publications: All Together Now: Creating Middle Class Schools through Public School Choice and Divided We Fail: Coming Together Through Public School Choice.

Even victims of less enlightened public schools should be able to spend a few minutes on Mr. Kahlenberg's home base website The Century Foundation (with its "progessive agenda") and realize that we did not actually win our epic battle with the collectivists in the Soviet Union.  They just wear nicer suits now --- and get to drive the agenda in our local social laboratories/schools.

10:51:17 AM      comment []




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