Greensboro City Council Picks And Chooses Transparency

Have little doubt, as much as we hear about transparency, when it comes to the Greensboro City Council they pick and choose when they want to be transparent. Take for example the Civil Rights Museum. Yes, we need lots more transparency then but as Roch Smith Jr writes:

"Why is the Civil Rights Center and Museum being treated differently?"

Or as Jeff Martin writes:

"It doesn’t matter how the ICRCM responds to the Greensboro city manager’s latest round of questions and they know it. The next $750K will be forthcoming because that is the agreement supporters made with Yvonne Johnson and Jamal Fox in order to secure their votes to approve the operating agreement with the CFGG for the IGMFUPAC. Anything else that happens is mere pageantry."

Again Roch continues:

"Why does city-supported Downtown Greensboro Incorporated get a pass when it declares some of its records to be off limits to public inspection?"

 As Eric Robert writes:

"Bottom line is that WE are getting fucked!, not always and not by every nonprofit, but certainly by a few well versed ones...over and over and over!"

Eric is a DGI board member, by the way. I think he has a damned good grasp of what is going on there.

The ICRCM mess was over a $750,000 Oops! City Council demands transparency over $750,000 and yet when I asked 3 simple questions concerning the $1.975 Million Dollar Wyndham Incentive Grant:

"1. How is it possible that an out of town, independent 3rd party, in this case HVS Global Hospitality http://www.hvs.com/ is able to ascertain the outcome of City Council votes that have yet to take place?

2. Being that the Downtown University Campus site has yet to be approved does that not invalidate the feasibility study?

3. With the feasibility study invalidated is the Greensboro City Council not forced to call an emergency session to vote to invalidate the $1.975 Million Dollar Incentive Grant because it was based on a flawed study?"

The answer I was given was:

"My suggestion is that you follow up directly with folks at HVS or the study principle (Michael E. Brophy) and pose these questions to them."

HVS Global and Michael E. Brophy are located in Snellville, Georgia and as far as I know are in the business of writing feasibility studies, not answering questions on behalf of the Greensboro City Council and the City of Greensboro.

Have little doubt the Greensboro City Council picks and chooses transparency as it suits them and their personal wants, needs and ambitions.