news-record.com

In case you didn't catch it, the City Council candidates' answers to the News & Record questionnaires are now up online here.

We thank the candidates for their participation. Everyone responded except Jorge Cornell and Daron Sellars.

Due to a minor technical glitch, you will have to read Joel Landau's answers here for now. (See below.) Answers from Luther Falls Jr. and Joseph Rahenkamp, which were submitted in paper format, will be added Monday.

Scoop will let you make your own judgments about the quality of the answers. But we would like to make one observation.

Tons of candidates declined to answer our final question: What would you ask your opponents?

We were hoping to start a conversation. We gave them a chance to truly test their opponents. But the lack of response is puzzling.

Are they not curious about their opponents? Do they fear questioning the other candidates will start trouble?

Did we ask too many questions and they just got tired of filling it out?

Who knows.

Any how, as promised, Landau’s answers:

1. Candidate name:
Joel Landau

2. How would you define your leadership style? Please give an example of a time you led a group that describes this style.
My role as co-chair of the Community Sustainability Council includes facilitating our monthly meetings. My leadership style involves providing direction and/or a starting point for group discussions, encouraging participation and input and actively listening, looking for points of agreement, and clarifying any next steps that are needed. I also delegate tasks and authority and keep discussions on topic.
In my leadership role as general manager of Deep Roots Market, I do the above, plus I set guidelines and goals for staff to meet and give feedback on performance.

3. What skills or qualities set you apart from your opponents?
I’m quick with numbers and skilled at budget review and financial oversight.
I’m excellent with details, as well as having a broad perspective.
Training in, and a history of, cooperative decision-making.
I’m an excellent listener and work well with others.
I’m an experienced, successful business manager.
Solution-oriented and customer-service oriented. These have been essential to my success in business management.

4. What community or business interests could possibly create conflicts of interest for you on the council, and how would you handle them?
If an item came up that might impact the operations of Deep Roots Market, I would ask to be recused.
During my time on the planning board, I recused myself when we considered a plan to build apartments at the east end of the former Cotton Mill Square. Since Deep Roots is located just a couple of blocks away, I felt this might impact our business, so I asked to be recused.

5. What is one thing you have done to make the city a better place? Please use an example of something that would not have happened without your effort.
I think it’s fair to say that the Community Sustainability Council (CSC) would not have taken form without my involvement and follow-through. It was the mayor’s idea to form the committee; I (and Steve McCollum and Bob Powell) helped give the committee a form, a mission and possible nominees. Contrast this with the two other committees that were proposed at the same time by City Council at their early 2008 retreat. The other two fell by the wayside due to no one following up on them. As a result of the formation of the CSC, more people (including City Council members) have become more knowledgeable and committed to sustainability. The fact that we have a sustainability committee in place also gives us favorable standing with the EPA and DOE in their viewing grant requests from the city.
For other initiatives of mine that have positively impacted Greensboro, please visit my Web site: www.JoelLandau.com.

Communication
6. How do you plan on reaching constituents if elected? Please be specific.
I’ll have regular town hall meetings at recreation centers in my district, and I’ll be available to meet with neighborhood groups as well. More importantly, constituents know how to reach me and will find me accessible and responsive.

7. Describe a time when you had to work with somebody toward a common goal but you vehemently disagreed on how to reach it? How did you resolve this difference? What was the outcome?
Back in 2007 I helped lead the effort to have our City Council adopt the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. At the start of this process, we had some council members undecided and others strongly opposed. We resolved this by talking individually with each council member. After we made our case for their support, I listened to the objections of those who were still opposed. Rather than just repeating our earlier presentations, I addressed their specific objections and was able to change a couple of minds in this way. We also engaged the larger community. They responded overwhelmingly with over 100 e-mails sent to each council member, and over 60 people showed up at each of two consecutive City Council meetings in support of the project.
The outcome was that only one council member remained opposed to the agreement. By happenstance, this council member was not at the meeting when the agreement was voted on, and so it was adopted unanimously.

Goals and issues
8. What is your vision for the city of Greensboro? Please describe specific steps you will take as a council member to achieve this vision?
My vision of Greensboro is a city where people care about, respect and look out for one another. A city of fairness, where resources and opportunity are available to all. A city that is prosperous and a safe, healthy place to live. A city where local government actively engages and listens to the community.

9. What is the No. 1 problem facing Greensboro? Please say specifically how you, as a council member, will address this problem.
I think the biggest problem we face is the public feeling disconnected from city government. Addressing this will be an ongoing process. We need to reach out beyond the usual groups who are already deeply involved. We need to elect people who clearly have no private agenda other than doing what’s best for Greensboro. We need a City Council that puts its energy into working together to forge solutions, not fighting one another as the current council does. We need to be excellent stewards of the taxpayers’ money and to clearly communicate what value people are receiving for the taxes they pay. When we ask people for input, that input needs to be incorporated into what actually happens, not just written up in a policy statement that gets ignored. The public needs to see the City Council responding to the “little guy” and not just to the powerful special interests groups.

10. How would you address the problems surrounding poor planning and communication for the Urban Loop that has resulted in development being approved in the path of the highway and some home buyers not knowing the road was coming?
In a recent planning board meeting, we recommended that a prospective home buyer be required to sign a separate disclosure document early in the process, not just initial a statement mixed in with all the other papers at closing time. This will better inform the potential buyer of the site’s location in relationship to the loop. The city also now has a locator site: you can enter an address and it will show you where the loop is in relation to the site. This is an excellent tool to assist home buyers.
We need to better integrate transportation planning and land use planning. They need to be done in tandem; this would reduce surprises. Plans need to be announced clearly. This, combined with the steps above, will help ensure that future buyers are informed.

Fiscal issues and management
11. Where do you stand on merging some city and county services? Which services should be considered, and how would you help make that happen?
If a department merger can be done in a way that saves Greensboro money without compromising our standards or policies, then I would consider it. It will also have to be structured so that the city manager would still be accountable for performance.
As to which services: inspection services, land use planning, transportation planning, and solid waste disposal are promising areas. I’d like more information on other possible areas.

12. What should be Greensboro's long-term plan for household waste disposal? Is reopening the White Street Landfill part of that equation? Why or why not?
Our long-term plan should involve pursuing a regional landfill solution and aggressively reducing the amount of waste we generate. I’d like to set a goal of reducing our waste tonage by 50 percent. This can be achieved by setting up a rewards program to increase recycling rates (the Community Sustainability Council, which I co-chair, is working on a proposal with city staff) and educating people to change their habits. At Deep Roots Market, almost all of our customers now bring their own shopping totes, eliminating the use of throw-away plastic bags at our checkout counters. This was the result of a year’s educational effort on our part, and our customers responded. The city needs to show similar leadership.
Re: the White Street Landfill: The city promised not to reopen it for municipal solid waste. I might have disagreed with that decision when it was made in 2006, but integrity is important to me. People have moved to the area since then based on that promise, and businesses have been opened. The city needs to keep its word. I would pursue other options, as listed above, to reduce the cost of waste disposal. This would also include examining new technologies that can turn waste into useful products.
The above notwithstanding, if the people in my district were to give me an overwhelming message that they want the landfill reopened, as their elected representative I would need to strongly consider their wishes. However, to date this has not been the case.

13. What is one city expense that you question?
At the Community Sustainability Council, we are preparing a report that will include various ways to reduce expenses through energy efficiency measures. As far as an expense I question, one is the over $100,000 we pay each year for a lobbyist in Raleigh (a lobbyist we found to be sometimes also representing the opposing side of an issue). Our locally elected state representatives and senators can do our lobbying work. We also now have an experienced lobbyist in Denise Turner, our new assistant city manager for communications.
Contract over-rides is another area of concern, but you only asked for one expense, so I’ll leave it at that.

14. Please describe specific steps you will take as a City Council member to encourage job growth in the city.
Provide excellent, accessible support services for businesses.
I shop as much as I can with locally owned businesses and encourage others to do the same. This has a greater economic impact on the city than buying from chain stores.
Provide inducements for business development in needed areas of the city.
Provide low-cost loan programs for qualified businesses.
Maintain the good qualities that make Greensboro an attractive place to live – this helps retain existing entrepreneurs and attract new ones.
Partner with the local business community; draw on their expertise.

City policies
15. What, if anything, needs to happen next to bring closure to the lingering wounds created after the resignation of former police Chief David Wray? What role should the City Council play?
We need to support the police chief and implement the recommendations of the Buracker report. The concerns of officers need to be examined and addressed.

16. Should the council also be graded against a set of objective goals and measures? Would you pledge to set up such a system? If you failed to deliver on a majority of those goals, would you agree not to seek re-election?
In my workplace we use a system called policy governance. This involves a set of policies that specify performance standards and objectives. We have policies that apply to the general manager and policies that apply to the board of directors. It would be useful to have a set of goals and measures for City Council members. They would self-evaluate their compliance and publish the results. The voters would then decide if they agree and whether the Council members are doing a good job.
Setting up such a system is a time-intensive job. I would assist, using my expertise from my current job, but I feel an outside consultant would be needed to accomplish the task.
If I felt I was not up to the job, I would not seek re-election. Of course I’m running because I believe I can deliver. The voters get to decide.

Your turn
17. What question would you ask your opponent(s)?
Have you EVER, or will you ever, accept any campaign contributions from special interest groups such as the N.C. Realtors Association PAC, BuildPAC, TREBIC (Triad Real Estate Building Industry Coalition) or from attorneys who often represent development or other interests in front of the City Council?