So What Have I Been Doing Since The Primaries?

So I lost my primary in May and then disappeared of the face of the planet. What have I been up to?

Well first and foremost, I took some time to breathe. Running a campaign is really the equivalent of going to the gym all day working out with heavy weights and reading quantum physics at the same time.

I also still had political responsibilities as a Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Greensboro. My dog in the fight for the last 6 months has been housing. A little back story for you...

Unfortunately, Commissioner Jim Wells, who was a staunch advocate for people with disabilities and for tenants rights, passed away. He was my Chair on the Fair Housing Committee of the Human Relations Commission and a great mentor. I was asked to take his place as Chair and accepted the task of filling some really big and well respected shoes.
Since taking over as chair I have done two major things.

My first order of business was to rename the committee in honor of Jim Wells and his predecessor Mary Montgomery. The committee is now officially called the Montgomery-Wells Housing Committee.

Next was RUCO. RUCO stands for Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy and has been an ordinance in Greensboro for the last 5 years. The original ordinance called for mandatory free inspections, every 5 years, of rental properties in Greensboro by the city inspectors to crack down on sub-standard housing. In 5 short years, the ordinance reduced sub-standard housing in Greensboro by 80%. The question on the table now is renewal of certificates. The initial push by the City of Greensboro's Engineering and Inspections Department was for automatic renewals of certificates, inspections only if there is a complaint against the property. Along with the Greensboro Housing Coalition and the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, I was entrenched in a battle to protect those who are under served in our communities and those who fear civil authority and will not file a complaint. After 6 long months, of nothing short in intensity of Congressional hearings, I am proud to claim what I consider a victory. The outcome is 100% of the rental properties in Greensboro, as they come due for renewal, will undergo and full and comprehensive exterior inspection that can trigger an interior inspection, as well as 2% of the rental properties in Greensboro will undergo a random sentinel interior inspection. Also added to the ordinance was a section on tenant responsibilities, for those tenants that damage a property holding them responsible, and a section on tenant education which will launch next year. This is an ongoing battle and I am sure I will be writing about it more as new developments take place.

This is not all I have been doing. I am still trying to recover my painting company which I put on complete hold to run my campaign. Jobs have been few and far between, the economy is certainly not helping in my efforts to recover. I am hopeful that things will pick up again sometime in January of '09.

I was asked by the Guilford County Democratic Party to run their GOTV effort and declined because of the amount of time it would take. I had too many entrees on my plate to begin with. I did however emerge from my cave of hiding on election night and even ran into BlueNC's own SCHarrison. You guys and gals are everywhere!

I am proud of my campaign effort. I learned a lot about the process, I met many really nice people, made many good friends and take away from it an experience you can not get doing anything else. I will run again at sometime for something, but the details of that is still unclear as of now. You will all be first to know I am sure. Judge Robbie Hassel(who lost his seat this year, which made me cry), called me the next morning and said,"Not always does the best candidate win. It took me 3 tries before I was elected." I believe Robbie is right. I thank him for his words of encouragement and I think about Jim Neal, Roy Carter, Marshall Adame, Ed Ridpath and countless others when I think about those words. We all still have work to do is my point.

I have a lot to say still on many subjects. I plan to write again here at BlueNC. I will continue to fight for all the social justice issues I am passionate about...housing, education, woman's rights, issues surrounding victims of domestic violence, stalking and harassment and so many more.

I do want to thank all of those who supported me during my run for office and I want to thank this site, BlueNC for it's coverage and support in my effort.