When the curtain drops tonight at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, over 65,000 people will have seen Hamilton. This one show had an economic impact of over $11M. Our restaurants, hotels, shops, and hospitality workers feel the momentum. Ten new restaurants are being considered for downtown.

At our last council meeting, we voted on a budget amendment to accept $12M in unexpected revenue from The Tanger Center. The Tanger Center has exceeded all expectations!

I am grateful to former Mayor Robbie Perkins and Coliseum Director Matt Brown for their vision to move the theater downtown. I am grateful to Congresswoman Kathy Manning and Community Foundation President Walker Sanders for their fundraising prowess and dedication. I am grateful to our generous donors who believed in the project and made it happen. A model of teamwork.

I am proud I was “In the Room Where it Happened” (if you saw Hamilton, that song is now playing in your head). To drive this forward, but I’ll just list two decisions:

• Zack Matheny and I served on the Finance Committee. We wanted to find a way to minimize the use of property tax. Our philosophy was “ let the people who use it, pay for it”. The formula we developed included a “facility fee” in the price of the ticket, a portion of generated hotel/motel tax, and direct parking revenue. Without this formula we would not have had the number of votes we needed to pass this project. And it didn’t take revenue away from other projects.  

• Together, with City Managers Denise Turner-Roth and Jim Westmoreland, we negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with Kathy Manning and Walker Sanders that took months to balance the needs and expectations of Greensboro residents and our generous donors. It gives us a framework for long term operations.

When my opponent Councilman Outling says I was just “another vote on council” it shows how little he knows about being “In the Room Where it Happens!” Big projects don’t happen on schedule; you have to be nimble and flexible to make things happen.

I need your help to “stay in the room where it happens”. Your support will ensure that we continue supporting Greensboro, its businesses, and its residents.

-Nancy