Recently I wrote of my concerns that Council members Zack Matheney and Nancy Hoffman had not filed their property disclosure forms as is required by Greensboro City Law only to find out from the Greensboro City Attorney that property disclosures are not required by Greensboro City Law. Well, they are required but they're not required.
You see, there is no penalty, no loss of voting privileges, no fines, no fees, no nothing that can be done to a council person who breaks any council rule imposed by City Council.
I didn't believe it either. I thought the City Attorney was playing me for a dumb redneck so I contacted the North Carolina School of Government to find out. The NC School of Government agreed. When they returned my call yesterday just minutes before I rushed out to get an early place in line at last night's Greensboro City Council meeting, the experts from the SOG explained to me that while all local governments in North Carolina have the right to pass laws regulating their own conduct, none have authority to establish or impose penalties upon members of their own boards.
Sadly, this is why it is impossible for the Greensboro City Council to police itself and any effort to impose self-regulation no matter how well intentioned, is merely a farce. This is why the rich will always control our local governments. This is why the poor will always suffer at their hands.
