City proves nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.

• Author: Speizer, Irwin
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler

In Winston-Salem, a business that wants tax breaks doesn't have to stick out an open hand. And if that business is Chicago-based Sara Lee Corp., the city comes running with an open wallet. Just hinting that it might move its 2,900 jobs out of Forsyth County was enough to get the company a half-million dollars' worth of tax rebates.

"We never said to either the city or the county, 'Do this or that,'" says Peggy Carter, the company's Winston-Salem spokeswoman. "We never even suggested."

City officials admit as much, saying they volunteered the breaks for a proposed office park. "There was never any threat by Sara Lee," says Derwick Paige, the city's planning director.

Earlier this year, SARA LEE started reviewing its space needs in Forsyth County. Paige and Mayor Allen Joines met with company officials and learned that they were considering building a $35 million office park on the city's north side and moving most of their local work force there.

Paige and the mayor asked what the city could do. Help us with water, sewer and roads, Sara Lee replied. Paige and...