Residential address: Pinecroft Road (map)
Incumbent or challenger? Challenger
Age: 35
Campaign website or blog: cornellforcouncil.wordpress.com (link)
Endorsements: Guilford County Community PAC and Occupy Greensboro Media Group
Occupation and employer: Executive director, Community United Staffing
Previous elective
experience (including election campaigns): Candidate for city council at large in 2009
Civic and volunteer
experience (including service on city commissions and boards): Member, Guilford County Schools Safe Schools
Committee; feeding the homeless; speaking engagements at Guilford College, NC
A&T University and Beloved Community Center; Guilford County Coalition for
Just Laws and Peace Among Street Organizations
Education (highest degree
attained and name of institution): High
school graduate, Ross High School, Brentwood, NY
Party registration: Unaffiliated
Where were you born? Brooklyn, NY
When did you move to
Greensboro? 2002
Paid consultants working
on your campaign: None
Campaign manager: Vonda Sampson
Treasurer: Katie Yow
Do you favor or oppose reopening the White Street Landfill for household waste, beyond the small amount of sewer sludge currently accepted? Briefly explain your position.
I totally oppose the re-opening of White Street Landfill. You cannot put a dollar sign on somebody’s life. The main reason I oppose the re-opening of this landfill in the White Street neighborhood is that there’s no money in the world that is worth risking young people and families’ health. The value of life should outweigh the value of a dollar.
Where do you stand on the “strong manager” form of city government and why?
The city manager should be answerable to city council. City managers are hired by the city, not elected. Decisions about real policies and real issues should be made by the people who are representing Greensboro’s citizens.
Should the city of Greensboro place more or less emphasis on maintaining a healthy water and sewer fund to plan for future growth? Why or why not?
I want to maintain those funds so that they are available for our city's sustainable growth. We also need to have them ready in case of natural disasters or emergencies. For example, in order to sustain our water supply, seeing as we are face near-constant drought conditions in our county and state.
The city’s tax base has remained flat for the past two years in a row, and the foreclosure crisis continues unabated. As a member of city council, how would you balance the need to fund services such as police patrol, fire protection and park maintenance that citizens care about with the reality that the revenue picture remains bleak?
These are all services we need to keep Greensboro’s people healthy and safe, which is very important to me. But the “tax base” is made up of a lot of working people and families in this city who are already struggling with job security and foreclosure.
Do you believe that city staff deserves council support to implement a program to spend federal grant money to improve the energy efficiency of residences and businesses, or does this program warrant additional oversight from council? Briefly explain your position.
I believe the city staff should oversee the implementation of the federal energy grant funds. I would hope that the city staff would also believe that the grant money should make it to the neighborhoods that need it the most for updating homes and saving money on their bills.
How would you assess the value and effectiveness of Greensboro’s Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy program, which is now prohibited by state law?
I advocate for the standards it imposed on landlords to maintain livable housing spaces, and to keep neighborhoods from turning into slums. RUCO is valuable for the people because it gives agency to the renter; usually for lower-income folks, housing is unstable and out of our hands. If RUCO could be actually implemented there is great potential for it to be an effective tool in the hands of the city and renters to protect against slumlords and vacant housing, but we haven’t been able to see it come to fruition due to state legislation.
How should the impasse over management and operation of the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market be resolved?
[Leave blank; council already voted in favor of the private group.]
What, if anything, should be done to resolve racial tensions, and to enhance professionalism, integrity and fairness within the Greensboro Police Department?
We need a citizens review board with subpoena power, which would allow the community to hold the police to a higher standard of accountability. We need to provide a check on class and racial disparities between the citizens and the police, and we have to keep them honest, even the higher-ups. What’s most important is that we ensure greater safety for the people. Keeping an eye on integrity and honesty within the force is a good way to start.
What would you change about Greensboro’s land use patterns if the decision were yours to make? Please answer the question in terms of places people live, work and shop, in terms of the modes of transportation people use to get from point to point and the vitality of neighborhoods and commercial corridors?
People with jobs but without cars in Greensboro have it rough. Not being able to depend on public transportation for late shifts puts a huge strain on lower-class folks’ job security. What we need is better infrastructure in place to insure access to more affordable, efficient and sustainable transportation, like expanded bus routes and longer and safer bike lanes.
What is Greensboro’s greatest asset? What is Greensboro’s most pressing problem?
Greensboro’s
greatest asset is the people, because we have the potential to be a whole
community, and with that we have unity and strength and we’re building each
other up. The most pressing problem, right now and in the past, is our racial
tensions, because we’re still divided, and we need to change this.
Articles about this candidate:
Wade, Knight make no apologies for landfill decision (link)
Crawford officially withdraws from District 5 race (link)
Candidate profile: Jorge Cornell (link)
Campaign season underway in Greensboro municipal elections (link)
