Roch Smith Jr of Greensboro101 sent the following e-mail to Greensboro City Manager, Jim.Westmoreland, Councilman Mike Barber, myself and others today:
"Hello all,
It has come to my attention that the Wyndham Hotel feasibility study, previously requested by and denied to Billy Jones is, in fact, in possession of Andy Scott, who is now further delaying its release because he wants to see if he should distribute it to city council first. This is not a valid reason to withhold a public record.
From the North Carolina Attorney General's Guide to Open Government and Public Records (attached):
"The Public Records Act does not permit an automatic delay by the government in releasing public records, either to allow for approval of disclosure or to notify those identified in public records."
"Agencies may not, however, withhold records based on the agency’s belief that immediate release of the records would not be “prudent or timely.”
"Agencies are required to furnish copies 'as promptly as possible'”.
Mr. Scott, as custodian of this public records is capable of furnishing a copy now, that would be as promptly as possible -- what the law demands.
Sincerely,
Roch Smith, Jr."
Records Law Guide attachment
Councilman Barber replied,
"My limited knowledge suggests it needs to be released now or made available for inspection during business hours tomorrow or other reasonable times. This matter is not an exception under econ. incentives as it has been decided upon by Council. If I'm incorrect, please cite the statute.
Thanks to everyone trying to improve this process.
Mike Barber
CEO/The First Tee of the Triad
Attorney
408 Hobbs Rd.
Greensboro NC 27403"
My reply:
"Is there any reason why it cannot be e-mailed to me?
Thank you -Billy Jones"
The very fact that almost $2 million Dollars in Grants was voted to be given away without a copy of the study in hand is troubling enough. Every minute of delay adds suspicion. I first requested the study on December 9, 2013. Again on February 4, 2014. Still, despite the fact that there is no legal reason to keep it from me or anyone else I don't have it. On February 18, 2014 I asked the following question in a PIRT request:
"Please ask your employer to explain how they will know that the feasibility study that is presented to them the second time 'round is the same document that was presented to them the first time if they didn't keep a copy? After all, we are dealing with developers who were previously proven by 3rd party auditors hired by the City of Greensboro to have falsified their 2010 hotel study of which you've already sent me copies of that study and the audit."
I guess my questions are just too tough as I never got a reply.
At 5:33 PM Roch e-mailed the following question:
"Is there any reason why Mr. Scott has not provided the record nor cited the statute which justifies him not doing so as requested by Mr. Barber?"
My reply: A link to this blog post.
Update: From Donnie Turlington at 7:02PM
"Billy,
I understand the concern you and others have raised regarding this situation. I can assure you there was no deliberate attempt on the City's part to withhold or delay providing the records today, although our effort may have created that perception. In many cases, we send items to City Council on a wide variety of issues to be sure they're in the loop with what the public receives. Normally, that does not cause any delays in providing records to the public as it's a seamless process.
Unfortunately, due to scheduling demands, neither I nor the City Manager were aware of the request to provide the records to City Council or to you and other requestors until this evening. Unfortunately, the files are too large for me to email from my remote location tonight but I will provide to you first thing in the morning via disk and our FTP site.
We'll also take a look at today's delay to be sure our process works better in the future.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Donnie"
My reply:
"Donnie,
Were it a few hours or a day, even a few days I would have no concerns but with everything that has happened and the fact that I have been seeking this document(s) for more than a month I'm sure the City of Greensboro can fully understand why myself and my readers would be suspect. Giving incentives without feasibility studies is against state law. How are we to know the feasibility study is real and that it was one in the same as the study that was presented to Mr Scott previously? After all, Mt Scott did document a history of these same investors falsifying studies. (Yes, I can provide documentation for that as well.)
There simply was no excuse for the City not to have a copy on hand before voting to give away $1.975 Million Dollars. In fact: this is looking very much like a replay of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum boondoggle which is still being documented here: http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/02/obamas-new-greensboro-girl-in-trouble.html
Please inform your employers that having spent 40 years in private industry I can safely say these sorts of errors would never be tolerated at any level, why are they being tolerated by the most educated and well trained among us?
Thanks -Billy"
Maybe we'll have a study on Tuesday.
Update 2: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 This morning I received the long awaited Wyndham Feasibility Study. Before I finished reading the first page I e-mailed the following link to everyone involved. "The shit has hit the fan."
Stay tuned for resignations.
