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GREENSBORO — They are veterans and newcomers. Business leaders and volunteers.

They are the 11 candidates for the City Council’s at-large seats. Six will survive the Oct. 6 primary election as the top vote-getters, earning spots on the ballot for the general election Nov. 3.

Voters can choose their favorite three candidates.

Marikay Abuzuaiter

Age: 55

Residence: 3601 Brassfield Oaks Drive

Occupation: Small business owner

Marikay Abuzuaiter got into city politics two years ago to fight a proposed increase on the license fees for businesses.

As the owner of several businesses — convenience stores, a restaurant and rental property — she said she will work to keep costs low for companies, especially those fighting to survive the dismal economy.

“I can bring the voice of the small business to City Council,” she said.

Abuzuaiter said she will be able to serve the whole city as an at-large member because she has lived or worked in each of the city’s five districts.

“I truly believe I am the only candidate who can say that. It gives me a pulse on every different district. I hear from everybody,” said Abuzuaiter, a member of the City’s Human Relations Commission and the International Advisory Committee.

Abuzuaiter said the city should consider a local sales tax to raise revenue and should keep the White Street Landfill closed.

Max Benbassat

Age: 27

Residence: 4328 Carly’s Way

Occupation: Production analysis, Bentex Mills Inc.; CFBG Dance co-owner

Former New Yorker, Max Benbassat has tended bar, sold advertising, and been an owner of an import company and a dance studio.

Now that Benbassat has returned to Greensboro to be near his native Burlington, he’d like to add City Council member to his resume.

“People are going to vote for me because they see I am honest and kindhearted,” said Benbassat.

The city needs to support existing local businesses and attract new ones, Benbassat said, but he isn’t sure whether incentives are the right way to go.

“The city should invest money in expanding the aerotropolis,” he said. He was not sure how the council should do that.

“I don’t know, but I am wiling to learn and work at it,” he said.

Benbassat would like the city to provide free wireless Internet access in public spaces. Free wireless already is available in places such as City Hall and public libraries.

He also would like to expand the city’s bus service — to be funded by advertising on buses and bus shelters.

Jorge Cornell

Age: 32

Residence: 1309 Kirkman St.

Occupation: Unemployed

Jorge Cornell has set himself apart from other candidates by pressing social issues.

As the North Carolina leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, he has worked with faith leaders, called for peace among gangs and fought local enforcement of immigration laws.

Cornell said he wanted to reach people who don’t feel represented. “We’ve been so long without a voice,” he said.

Cornell grew up on Long Island. He joined Latin Kings in the Bronx after they helped Cornell and his girlfriend. “They took us in,” he said. “They made sure we didn’t sleep in the car. They made sure we had food to eat.”

In New York, Cornell was convicted of a weapon possession charge, for which he served home arrest and probation.

Cornell has been charged by local police for more than 20 offenses, such as assault, resisting arrest and speeding. He was found or pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors. Fourteen of his charges were dismissed by the courts, including 10 felony conspiracy charges over an alleged embezzlement that were dismissed for lack of evidence. Other cases are pending.

Cornell wants to expand bus routes and said the city also should consider a light rail.

Sandra Anderson Groat

Age: 62

Residence: 505 Daybreak Square

Occupation: Construction consultant, Kelly & Co.

Sandra Anderson Groat, the city’s two-term mayor pro tem, said she ran for the council to make a difference.

“You find out when you are in there that making a difference is just chipping a way a little bit at a time,” Groat said.

She said she acted as a neutral voice on a divided council.

“I never got to where I couldn’t talk to anyone,” she said.

Groat tipped the votes against former city manager Mitchell Johnson, whom the council fired in a 5-4 vote.

“I have gotten better at making hard decisions,” she said.

She also would like to see the council come up with a vision for the next 10 years, setting major goals, such as what kinds of land should be purchased or buildings constructed.

Groat campaigned on the issue of transparency in government. “We are going to have to have a new attitude in the staff,” she said.

City staff proposed a policy that would set timelines for how quickly they respond to public information requests. The recommendation was sent to council members in a memo this year. Groat said she had not reviewed it.

Donnell 'D.J.’ Hardy

Age: 33

Residence: 1103 Ross Ave.

Occupation: Finance analyst, Ciba, a division of the BASF Group.

As the father of two children, including a girl born this summer, D.J. Hardy wants to be a representative of the young Greensboro family on the City Council.

“I don’t feel like there is really a voice for young people and young families,” he said.

Hardy said Greensboro needs better vision to overcome the recession.

“Right now, what matters is economic development, jobs and sustainable jobs,” he said.

Hardy said the City Council should build small businesses by providing more loans to companies that will add jobs.

Hardy questions the city’s persistent annexation. He said he is not opposed to it but said council members should carefully consider the impacts.

Hardy said his thoughtful nature would set him apart from the other at-large council members.

“Problem-solving has always been a part of my nature,” Hardy said.

Julie Lapham

Age: 64

Residence: 1101 N. Elm St. #704

Occupation: Nonprofit consultant, troubleshooting for organizations; teaches meditation.

Greensboro needs restored trust in its government and more social capital if it is going to be a destination city, Julie Lapham said.

To do that, council members must listen to residents and stakeholders and allow them to help the city, Lapham said.

She said she has used that same system as a consultant working to resolve problems for nonprofits and corporations.

“The only way to do that is to use the skills I bring,” Lapham said.

Lapham is the former campaign manager for Mayor Yvonne Johnson and the former executive director of Common Cause in Virginia.

She said she would apply that spirit of inclusion to work on attracting new jobs and making the city appealing to new businesses.

“You bring the people together to create a strategic plan — all the great thinkers in this town,” she said.

Gary Nixon

Age: 67

Residence: 8 Lands End Drive

Occupation: Former owner of the engineering company Finkbeiner, Pettis, and Strout

Gary Nixon isn’t pleased with the way the current City Council works.

“What motivated me to run is that our City Council is becoming a laughing stock, almost like the Guilford County Board of Commissioners,” he said.

As the former owner of a large engineering firm that designed wastewater and other projects for towns, Nixon spent his career working with municipal leaders. Nixon said good councils form alliances to help the city progress.

“I don’t think our council has respect for each other,” he said.

Nixon said he can help the city save money on capital improvements and use other sources before asking voters to approve new bonds.

Nixon said the city should go back to weekly recycling. And as for that issue of how Greensboro should be getting rid of its trash, Nixon said the city should try to find a new landfill site closer to the city.

The Akron, Ohio, native favors the city working with the county or other municipalities to save resources. He said the city should explore how the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police force works.

Robbie Perkins

Age: 53

Residence: 1612 St. Andrews Road

Occupation: Partner at commercial real estate brokerage company NAI Piedmont Triad

A seven-term councilman, Perkins said the current council wasted time fighting about the manager — whom Perkins supported up to his dismissal.

But Perkins pointed to things like High Point Road improvements as signs of success. He pushed for the purchase of a manufacturing building to add to the Greensboro Coliseum. He also advocated for the new aquatics center at the coliseum to be built this year to take advantage of reduced construction costs.

Government spending like that creates jobs, he said.

“That is going to be a shot in the arm not only for High Point Road but for the whole city,” Perkins said.

Perkins supports the city buying land for future portions of the Urban Loop.

He didn’t back a city staff-proposed ordinance that would require noise barriers to the highway because he said it was unclear they would help.

Perkins said council members can help the police department by supporting it.

“You don’t trash them,” he said. “You try to invest in the systems and education that allow them to do their jobs more effectively.”

Ryan Shell

Age: 30

Residence: 460 Arlington St.

Occupation: Marketing communications supervisor, Truliant Federal Credit Union.

Ryan Shell is a little bit old school and a little bit new school. He has gotten his name out through his blog, GreensboroPolitics.com. But when it comes to making his mark in a crowded at-large race, Shell has gone door-to-door.

Shell is a former radio DJ and current public relations professional working for a credit union. He said he works hard professionally and through his volunteer work in Greensboro — and would do the same if he is elected.

“I am a very good listener,” Shell said. “I am a very good communicator. I would like to collaborate to meet a common goal.”

Shell promotes himself as a leader who gets things done. He helped Willow Oaks neighbors whose homes flooded. He picks up trash on neighborhood streets. He created a network that links community-watch groups to share information.

When other city leaders were urged to not go to a neighborhood where a teenager was shot to death, Shell went to visit the grieving mother.

“There is nothing that will keep me away (from a part of Greensboro),” Shell said.

Danny Thompson

Age: 47

Residence: 6410 Spyglass Drive

Occupation: President and owner of Comfort Keepers

Danny Thompson said he is the “common sense,” “no agenda” candidate.

Thompson owns a family-run senior care business. So he’s got the business background — without having a personal financial stake in the decisions the City Council makes, Thompson said.

“People say it’d be nice to have someone up there who doesn’t have a personal agenda,” Thompson said.

A father of four children ages 13 and under, Thompson said he would work to build relationships with other council members so that they can set the direction for the city. He said leaders need to build more trust with the community.

Thompson said he is a fiscal conservative. He is also in favor of looking for ways the city and other municipalities can combine services to save money.

Thompson said the City Council needs to take care of both its businesses and its people.

He supports the city offering loans to small businesses that would add more jobs.

Nancy Vaughan

Age: 48

Residence: 902 Sunset Drive

Occupation: Volunteer

Former Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan got drawn into politics again recently on the issue of the protest petition.

Advocates pushed council members for more than a year before they took up the debate.

“I was frustrated that council sat on it,” said Vaughan, who spent two terms as a district representative but did not seek re-election so she could spend time raising her daughter.

Vaughan wants the council to adopt a public-records policy that sets deadlines for how quickly the city responds to requests. State law does not have such a requirement.

Vaughan said troubles with the police department have been bad for the city. She wants to address alleged errors in the findings of the 2005 Risk Management Association report, a review of the department’s troubles.

“We need to get our money back on that report,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan said she would try to find common ground with other council members.

“We all live in the city. We all want what’s best,” she said.

She said council members need to spend more time out in the community and do some big-picture planning.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com