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GREENSBORO — Stumped about who you should vote for this November?

Wondering how to differentiate all the candidates in the City Council at-large race?

Never fear, voters. The League of Women Voters did the heavy lifting for you by grilling the candidates Monday night at the Greensboro College Reynolds Center.

Here are some questions posed to them and what the candidates had to say. The candidates’ responses are listed in the order they answered at the forum. 

What are the main problems with the Urban Loop, and how should the council fix them?

Gary Nixon: “The biggest problem with the loop, by far, is it is too close. …This northern loop needs to move out farther north so we are not imposing on people who live there.”

Robbie Perkins: “The Urban Loop around Greensboro is the single most important factor in creating jobs in our community, if we can get it finished in our lifetime.” He wanted the city to buy up the final rights of way for the loop to help get it completed.

Danny Thompson: The problem is the noise and proximity to neighborhoods. The City Council needs to better communicate where major projects will be located.

Nancy Vaughan: It should be recorded in the title of a property that a highway will be built near a home. As a City Council member, she said she will ask about projects like this when considering a rezoning case.

Marikay Abuzuaiter: “It is very difficult to say what should have been done. The damage, so to speak, has already been done. You have your neighborhoods that were built there and they had no idea it was coming through.”

Sandra Anderson Groat: She said this project represented a classic example of not communicating. The city now has a Web site where people can type in their address and see what will be built. 

What is your position on annexation?

Thompson: “I am against forced annexation. I would move the City Council never to have forced annexation.”

Perkins: “The annexation laws in North Carolina have kept North Carolina cities healthy for decades. When an area looks like a city, functions like a city and is provided city services, the people in that area should pay for city services.”

Nixon: “I am in favor of Greensboro annexing anything that is prudently annexable cost-wise.”

Groat: If a community receives city services, she said, it should be annexed. But there should be better communication from developers to residents who buy homes in those areas.

Abuzuaiter: “Annexation is inevitable. However, I do have some concerns. The area we recently annexed is almost seven miles from downtown. I know it is very hard for police to respond in a timely manner.”

Vaughan: She supports voluntary annexation, but thinks the city should look at raising user fees for county residents who use city services. 

What should the city do about the White Street Landfill?

Abuzuaiter: “If I’m on council, I will hope that the White Street Landfill will stay closed. … If the health department goes out there and finds one child who got sick from that landfill, it should stay closed.”

Groat: “We are trying to look for a magic answer at the landfill, and it isn’t going to happen. ... I would like to see some way that technology can be used and it could make the problem go away.”

Nixon: Would not vote to reopen the landfill. He would like to see a regional solution to trash.

Perkins: “I was on the City Council that voted to close the White Street Landfill. We did it not so much because of economics. We did it because it was the right thing to do.”

Believes the city should hire an expert to recommend how to deal with trash. Then, the council can debate.

Thompson: “The technology is there, and I will work on a regional basis to make sure we have partners to build an incinerator to turn our trash into treasure.”

Vaughan: Sat on the City Council that closed the landfill to household trash. “I truly feel the only way we are going to solve this problem is regionally.” 

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