Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan in July was elected to another four-year term.
Well, not really a four-year term but more like a three-year-and-four-month term because the November 2021 City Council election wasn’t held until July 26, 2022, and the newly elected City Council, which was scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, wasn’t sworn in until Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022.
Vaughan was first elected mayor in 2013, and with the July win under her belt, has been elected to serve until December 2025, which will be 12 years as mayor, no matter how the terms are divided up.
Vaughan said that when you consider all that happened during the past four-year-and-eight-month term, including a devastating tornado, civil unrest and a pandemic, “We made a lot of progress despite everything.”
Vaughan said that priorities for the new term would be housing, particularly affordable housing and public safety.
Two big wins for Greensboro during the last term were the announcements that Toyota would be building an electric vehicle battery plant at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite and that Boom Supersonic would be building its facility to manufacture supersonic passenger jets at the Piedmont Triad International Airport.
The two combined are expected to employ over 3,500 people.
Vaughan said, “Now we have to make sure our residents in Greensboro and Guilford County are qualified to fill those new jobs. “
Vaughan said Greensboro Workforce Development was already in the process of training people for the jobs at Toyota and Zoom.
This summer the North Carolina legislature passed a bill to provide economic incentives for expansion of the Toyota site to include a vehicle manufacturing facility in addition to the battery plant, but Vaughan would not comment on the current status of that potential economic development project, except to say, “I hope we continue to see good economic development announcements.”
Vaughan said that for each job created by Toyota and Boom, there would be five jobs created in supply chain businesses that could locate anywhere within an hour’s drive of the plants. She said that to ensure Greensboro got its share of those companies, “We have to make sure our permitting is truly business friendly.”
Vaughan said that it would be a challenge to make sure the process in Greensboro was as streamlined as possible and that there was data indicating that this is an area where Greensboro needs to improve.
Well, let’s see. A giant battery plant NOT in Greensboro, not even in Guilford County. An airplane maker at PTI, incentivized by PTIA and State funds.
Then there’s the astronomical tax increase, the riots last year, over $2,000,000,000 in bond debt for local folks. Yup, she’s doing a heck of a job.
Lots of turnoverin our police force and turmoil related to public safety in the past 12 years. Also a total lack of transparency and accountability for a police force that has had body camera footage suppressed heavily and regularly by our Mayor and council. Lots of overreach and unconstitutional actions as well especially related to free speech, ,assembly and gun rights.
However if you work for a government agency, or a supporting non profit, or a public-private enterprise, or are in line to profit from real estate and zoning regulations that Mandate Mayor is the perfect fit.
If you are poor, an entrepreneur, a student, or someone who works a regular job and are concerned about debt and crime then you will have to wait a few more years to get a real shot at any tax relief or actual inprovement in public safety.
Logistics, logistics, logistics is what it is all about, too bad this council does not have good record when it comes to logistics. There is a lot of hot air passed around at the council meetings but little else. Hope the folks at Boom do not need to get back to GSO via Ballinger Rd that has been closed almost three years.
God help Greensboro.
Lol..” business friendly”…next few years ought to be a doozy!
Lol..” business friendly”…really?
Any more news on Amazon opening distribution center off Elm Eugene?
Didn’t the majority of voters want someone else to be mayor other than Vaughan?
If so, they should have voted. Opportunity missed.
Did you ask her what is going on at the American Hebrew Academy? About how she and Hoffman, Skip Alston, Kathy Manning, ect sold the people who live near there down the river. The contracting company sent 700 people home from airport hotels and told them they know longer have jobs. Can someone in one of the levels of government tell some of the highest tax payers in the city and county WTF is going on? Or did Manning pull some strings until after the midterm?
Contrary to what others have written about the ownership of the American Hebrew Academy, AHA is owned by American Hebrew Academy, Inc. AHA has not operated as a school since 2019 yet paid no property tax until this year for the first time. During the time AHA was not operating as a tax-exempt school, property taxes should have been paid but were not. That is at least three years of property taxes that were not paid to Greensboro and Guilford County. This year the property tax bill is $265,972.14, which seems to be low considering the grounds and facilities estimated value as of 2019 was $84.5 million.
The interesting question is why did AHA decide to start paying property taxes? Could it be because the politicians and especially the AHA board saw an opportunity to make a lot of money and solicited the Biden Administration with Kathy Manning in the lead to house illegal “minors” at the school long ago? By keeping the local residents in the dark about their scheme, they would face less pushback. The 18 and 19(+) year-old minors started to arrive in July. Our government is so corrupt.
You cannot get an answer out of any level of government about what is going on at the AHA. The “feds” do not even know how they will secure the place to keep the residents safe from the illegal gangbangers they are importing into our city. Vaughan and Hoffman don’t give a s@#$. They do not live across the road from that place. I know someone who emailed Hoffman in March, got a response in April that was condescending and hostile claiming complete ignorance about anything going on at the AHA. When one 17 year old El Salvador gang banger hops that fence and commits a crime in one of the surrounding HIGH TAX paying neighborhoods we will see their non reaction. and F You Kathy Manning. She has feigned ignorance while an email signed by her assistant was circulated among the owners of million dollar homes across the street.
Let’s not pretend that this debacle will not have an affect on legal citizens of Greensboro’s safety. Let’s not pretend that the woefully understaffed patrol division of the GPD will not have to respond to calls in that area. They are fools who act like we are stupid. Well I am stupid. I should have moved out of this town 25 years ago when I had the chance. And never come back.
I especially like when she said her top priorities were public safety and affordable housing, and then proceeded to ignore that statement and spent the rest of the interview talking about Toyota and Boom Supersonic.
The mayor and city council were elected by a small percentage of eligible voters. The majority of eligible voters don’t seem to care how business is run in Greensboro. If you don’t vote don’t complain. There you have it.
Mayor in the original Jaws movie was Mayor Vaughn.
Same head in dark and remote places style of leadership.
Interesting. Did not know that.
I’ve noticed that the local liberal TV news has reported very little on the AHA; probably were told to leave it alone.
Go on myfox8.com. They had a detailed article on the bleep show at the AHA.
I am not a Nancy Vaughn fan but if you recall we did not have a lot of choice in July. We might have been the least dangerous of the two leading candidates. Just three more years of liberal progressiveness for the city.