news-record.com

Job well done by police

Containment and patience prevailed after a long standoff in the Lindley Park neighborhood last week. In the end, an armed and apparently disturbed man was taken into custody without anyone being hurt — an excellent outcome.

It might have been different. Shots were exchanged during the early part of the encounter. Tear gas was deployed, ineffectively. Police were forced to get more creative, even making use of robots.

Officers from High Point and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office aided their Greensboro comrades. Protecting the public was top priority. A very difficult job was done very well.

A better approach

The Greensboro City Council will create a task force and a timeline for providing “a razor-sharp focus” on a proposed new downtown performing arts center.

The task force will be guided by an executive committee that will hire a consultant “to develop an economic report and create a business plan.”

It also would recruit a wide variety of stakeholders to take part, including Keith Holliday of the Carolina Theatre, Matt Brown of the coliseum, Richard Whittington of Triad Stage and Tom Philion of the United Arts Council.

Other committees will be devoted to “Economic Impact and Feasibility,” “Development” (as in private fundraising) and public relations. This is more like it.

Yes, there will be lots more moving parts and points of view. Which means this initiative won’t happen as fast as a top-down, seat-of-the-pants process.

But, in the end, it should have a much better shot at succeeding and earning public trust.

Perdue’s extra $2 million

Among the people most upset with Gov. Bev Perdue, writes Democratic political consultant Gary Pearce on his blog: those who contributed big money to her campaign.

Perdue announced recently she won’t run for re-election.

Before then, however, her campaign raised more than $4 million and spent about half that amount, according to a report filed last week with the State Board of Elections.

The campaign still had $2 million in “cash on hand” as of the end of 2011. What will happen to it? Perdue hasn’t said, but she could give it to charity, turn it over to the Democratic Party ... or save it in case she wants to run for office in the future.

If she does return to politics, though, it might be hard to ask donors to give again.

Grass-roots giant

Not all of our best leaders were elected to the post or captains of industry who use their power and influence for good works. Many simply are devoted, hard-working regular folk who see what’s been broken and set out to fix it.

Such a person was Dorothy Brown, who died last week at the age of 81. Brown fought to chase away the drug dealers who had infested an area of town called The Hill. She led efforts to remove criminal elements from Douglas Park and make it safe for children again.

She was a president of the Ole Asheboro Neighborhood Association and helped rally residents to revitalize that part of town.

She led by doing, with courage, tenacity and conviction.

She made this city a better place, and she’ll be dearly missed.

Allow the winter cover

Enforcement last month of an old city ordinance limiting how long someone can put up a tent came as an unpleasant surprise.

The Sherwood Swim & Racquet Club had been granted a 180-day permit to place a temporary structure over its pool. The Greene Street Club received similar permission for a tent on its roof. Only later did inspectors discover the ordinance, which places a 60-day limit on such temporary structures.

Fortunately, the city seems willing to work with these accidental violators. There ought to be a reasonable accommodation for winter swimming or rooftop nightclubbing as long as there’s nothing offensive about the kind of cover put up. Maybe the rule could be 180 days, as long as the structure is then taken down for the next 180 days.