Whether the council’s actions were legal
depends on whether a majority of members continued to discuss the contract issue privately...
...They didn’t, reported the News & Record’s Margaret Moffett.
Doug Clark and Allen Johnson
John Hammer; "Speaker Drives Council into Kitchen
As a result of deliberations at what was clearly an illegal private meeting, the Greensboro City Council postponed action on awarding the contract to allocate the downtown Business Improvement District (BID) funds at its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 17, in the Council Chambers.
The problem is that the deliberations on how to handle the contract were not done in the Council Chambers with the public present and in front of the television cameras, or even with the city clerk taking minutes. It was done in the backroom with only councilmembers and two reporters present.
The fact that the reporters were welcomed into the meeting doesn’t meet the definition of a public meeting according to the North Carolina open meetings law. The meeting in the hallway outside the council offices and in the small kitchen area was clearly held to make a decision in private rather than in public, as is required by law. It’s not enough to simply allow two reporters to attend the meeting; the public has to be invited and have access, and they did not.
Whether the council’s actions were legal
depends on whether a majority of members continued to discuss the contract issue privately...
...They didn’t, reported the News & Record’s Margaret Moffett.
Doug Clark and Allen Johnson
...Robert said that he had been told about an hour before the meeting that Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI) was allowed to revise its proposal five days after the deadline.
Zack Matheny cheated with David Parish's help
DGI used David Parish as a reference in the proposal
...Once they got back to the council offices, Barber said in response to a question from Banks about what was going on, “Based on the history of litigation, I think we need to postpone this for two weeks.”
Mike Barber violated North Carolina open meeting laws
by discussing the issue
...the other councilmembers did discuss the matter among themselves.
Margaret Moffett lied
It was certainly not a formal meeting in any fashion since most of the deliberation appeared to take place in the small kitchen where there were chicken wings and pizza, so there was a crush around the food, but in that crush the councilmembers were discussing what to do about the contract to award the downtown BID money.
Right after Barber made his statement, Councilmember Sharon Hightower asked if there were a time element involved in awarding the contract.
Margaret Moffett lied to News and Record readers
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that DGI was funded through the end of the fiscal year, June 30, so delaying the contract for two weeks shouldn’t be a problem.
Nancy Vaughan discussed and deliberated illegally
Then councilmembers discussed rebidding the contract, since questions had been raised about the bid process. But the decision made in the backroom was to have the staff go over the proposals and make certain that everything was in order and then award the contract at the next meeting, scheduled for June 7, the date of the congressional and state Supreme Court primaries in North Carolina.
City Attorney Tom Carruthers was late arriving at the backroom meeting and warned that no deliberations should be taking place.
Doug Clark and Allen Johnson misled News and Record readers
The councilmembers who were in the midst of deliberating said none were, but were still discussing whether to rebid the contract or not while they ate pizza and chicken wings..."
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Allen Johnson and Doug Clark; "Whether the council’s actions were legal depends on whether a majority of members continued to discuss the contract issue privately, Jonathan Jones of the N.C. Open Government Coalition said in an email to blogger Roch Smith Jr. that was copied to media and council members. (They didn’t, reported the News & Record’s Margaret Moffett.)
...It gives the appearance of backroom discussion even if there was no violation of the open meetings law or if there was perhaps a relatively minor violation.
Doug Clark and Allen Johnson misled News and Record readers
...The question of DGI is especially sensitive. Its CEO, Zack Matheny, is a former council member. What’s more, before Matheny got the job in 2015, a DGI administrator alleged that a councilman — Barber — had pressed the nonprofit’s board to hire Matheny or risk losing city funding.
...Appearances do matter. And right now, our City Council isn’t looking so good."
http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/our-opinion-a-pregnant-pause/article_f086e976-4e4b-5904-8549-efe352a8d512.html
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Margaret Moffett; "Council halts discussion on downtown contract amid allegation
In previous years, the council didn’t have to let other groups compete with DGI to get that contract. But a vote by the General Assembly changed that last September...
Councilman Mike Barber then asked for a recess. Council members left the chamber and walked back to the common area outside of their offices. John Hammer, editor of the Rhino Times, and I accompanied them.
Barber told council members they needed to stop the discussion until the city’s legal staff could investigate the matter.
“Based on the history of litigation,
I think we need to postpone this for two weeks.”
Mike Barber
The council returned to open session a few minutes later, then voted to postpone its decision on who should get the contract.
Barber said afterward that he stopped the meeting after “hearing an allegation from one of the legal bidders that completely put the process in another context.”
The move was necessary, Barber said...
...Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the council needed to stop the meeting to make sure there is no hint of controversy when the council finally does vote on awarding the contract.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that DGI was funded through the end of the fiscal year, June 30,
so delaying the contract for two weeks shouldn’t be a problem.
John Hammer
When someone with a history of litigation against the city makes an allegation, “you want to make sure you get it right,” she said."
http://www.greensboro.com/news/council-halts-discussion-on-downtown-contract-amid-allegation/article_b0dc63cc-a825-5901-8437-f9ed5e561e33.html
Margaret Moffitt lied for Nancy Vaughan, Mike Barber and the rest of council
Margaret should be removed from her position covering Greensboro's City Council
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News and Record's Margaret Moffett; "Council halts discussion on downtown contract amid allegation"
On DGI at this evening's Greensboro City Council Meeting; This is what non-transparency looks like
The City of Greensboro shafted their own employees; "401(k) Fees, Already Low, Are Heading Lower"
