Action Greensboro, City Center Park, And Greensboro Partnership Audits Made Public

Recently Roch Smith jr reported that Greensboro makes Civil Right Museuem audits public but hides Downtown Greenway audits.

As it turned out that was true and remains true today. The City of Greensboro still refuses to make available any information that might show just how the money spent for the actual construction of the Greenway which was first projected to cost $20 Million Dollars and is now thought to cost $36 Million Dollars.

That is, except for what was spent on trips to Bermuda.

But thanks to Roch's efforts we do now have audits of Action Greensboro, City Center Park, and The Greensboro Partnership made public for the first time.


Attachments

Attachment for Request #6734

View Action Greensboro and Center City Park LLC 2008 Audit - FINAL.PDF
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:24:03 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Action Greensboro Audited Financial Statement - 2013 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:59 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Action Greensboro Audited Financial Statement - 2014 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:54 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Action Greensboro Audited Financial Statements - 2009 - FINAL.PDF
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:49 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Audit - Action Greensboro - 2015 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:45 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Audit - Greensboro Partnership Consolidated - 2015 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:38 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Governance Letter - Action Greensboro - 2015 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:23:33 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Governance Letter - Greensboro Partnership - 2015 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:22:14 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View Greensboro Partnership Consolidated Audited Financial Statements - 2013 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:22:06 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View SAS 114 (Governance Letter ) - Action Greensboro - 2013 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:22:01 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View SAS 114 (Governance Letter ) - Greensboro Partnership - 2013 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:21:56 PM

Attachment for Request #6734

View SAS114 Governance Letter - Action Gso - 2014 (FINAL).pdf
Added by: Meta Carter on 4/27/2017 1:21:50 PM

If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 21

This is one of many in my series, If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro. All are linked is series as I prepare my platform to run for Mayor in 2017. I recommend you read them all.

When I first posted to this and other forums that Mayor Vaughan had left her husband several people told me that her marital status was nobody's business. I guess that all changed when the local media outlets began letting you know Mayor Vaughan is suspected of billing her separation and/or divorce proceedings to the City of Greensboro.

When the people who control taxpayer dollars have changes in their life that might cause them to act in desperation, everything they do becomes the people's business.

And it is the media's business to report those changes. Despite the fact that the  Greensboro News & Record has reported that Mayor Vaughan is seeing an attorney who specializes in divorce, the N&R has to date failed to report that Mayor Vaughan is A. no longer living with her husband, B. has changed the address of her voter registration to a home bought by her mother last December, and according to the Rhino Times, been involved with other men.

Quite honestly, I've met Eric's wife-- Mayor Vaughan can't hold a candle in looks, charm, grace, style, brains or sex appeal. If John Hammer ever discredited himself it was with his accusation that Vaughan and Robert had some sort of an affair.

Regretfully, people who have lived lives of plenty are all too often the quickest to become desperate when hit with hard times. The life-long poor, having always been poor, simply struggle as they've always done knowing that somehow there will be just enough to survive until there is no more. Then they accept the death whose time has come. That's the way the poor have always lived, it's why they so rarely rise up against the ruling classes.

But people of means, when they get desperate, they start looking for the fastest and easiest way back to the life they once knew. Generally speaking, they simply don't know how to survive being poor. After all, it's not something you learn at school. Quite the contrary, our schools, even our most esteemed universities, only teach survival with ample money, if they teach that.

When rich Developers go broke and their projects are too risky for bank loans they look to government to finance their projects.

When Politicians go broke they look to the government to pay their bills.

None can admit they've failed. Who can remember President Richard Nixon saying, "I am not a crook." when in fact everyone in the nation knew he was a crook.

Ever notice how every time you read a biography of someone running for public office you see a list of that person's successes but not a list of their failures? I'm betting most had more failures than successes. And I'm betting most of their successes aren't really successes at all-- just things they managed to attach their names to. Real leaders don't just serve the people and attach their names to successes, real leaders bring ideas to the table.

But here in Greensboro our leaders spend your tax dollars to buy the same tired old ideas that are failing everywhere else, then fail to implement the ideas they paid for, and then hire speech writers to explain to you what they, themselves cannot understand. Every Greensboro economic development plan that has been pitched to date has been purchased from consultants but none of the plans have been followed through on-- money down the drain.

And most were ideas that had already failed elsewhere.

If I were Mayor of Greensboro I would never buy ideas. As Mayor of Greensboro it's my job to come up with ideas, to see problems as opportunities to make things better and to create a city that people from all over the world will want to emulate instead of trying to copy other cities. And I will never hire a speech writer.

And should I fail, rather than claim victory or delay, obfuscate & manipulate, I'll man up and admit my failures just as I'm admitting now that most of my life has been filled with failures.  But it was never for lack of ideas.

So far this series, If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro has been filled with ideas-- more than I'll ever be able to accomplish-- but you've yet to hear any ideas from existing City Council members as of the date of this posting. Why? Because most are only there to serve themselves and not the Citizens of Greensboro.

You see, it's not that I don't respect authority...

 Also, from the dedicated research staff here at EzGreensboro.com: (Yes, we really do have a research staff made up of dedicated professionals who volunteer their services for the good of Greensboro.)

"Occupation Forecast for North Carolina

Billy,

I thought you might be interested in the data I found through the Bureau of Labor and Statistics which show the projections for job loss/growth for North Carolina through 2022. I sorted this by industries most likely to be lost or stagnant through high growth based on average annual openings.

No surprise, the most available positions are fast food, retail sales, cashiers, waitstaff.  Also not surprising are the disappearing skilled labor (wood working, leather working).

What did surprise me is some of the zero or less than 1 growth industries. Agricultural engineers.

Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors. Electro-Mechanical Technicians.

Just something to chew on."

And if you really want an awakening as to the job market in North Carolina check out the far right column labeled Average Annual Openings in the chart our researchers sent us. This is the kind of information normally available only to Mayors and other elected officials who continue to do nothing but allow you to pay their bills.

More from our research staff:

"State Occupational Projections is a site that allows you to look up the short-term (3-5 years) and long-term (10 years) employment projections for your profession. The source of the national projections is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. State projections are developed in the labor market information sections of each State Employment Security Agency.

Note that this is not the NC Chamber of Commerce material; it comes from the federal level."

And this:

"Actually, compare that to the NC Chamber of Commerce presentation of the same data.

http://nccareers.org/employmentprojections/occupation_employment_projections.html

They carried over the numbers for "total, all occupations" but narrowed the occupational categories from 745 to 22."

And who funds the various chambers of commerce? City and county tax dollars everywhere you go. In Greensboro the Chamber of Commerce has multiple names including Action Greensboro, the Greensboro Partnership, Chamber of Commerce, Young Greensboro Professionals, Entrepreneur Connection, Economic Development.....

Continue reading If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 22

If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 11

This is part of an ongoing series of posts that begins with If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro and is linked in succession back to here. If you haven't already I recommend you read them all before continuing.

In my post Was Billy Yow Right All Along? I promised to explain to readers how to "make downtown Greensboro and the rest of Greensboro a success for many decades to come." In this post I will explain to you what our problems are.

And seriously folks, if you think solving them can be painless you are horribly mistaken. The Greensboro Disease has long infected us but it has never been what the status-quo would have you believe it is.

The answer lies in the 2010 Action Greensboro funded, Moser, Mayer, Pheonix Associates, Greensboro Downtown Economic Development Strategy which stated:

"Despite demand retail growth has been slow Despite the fact that downtown is attracting significant spending from visitors and a growing residential base, businesses have trouble staying open. Assuming an industry standard of 10% rent‐to‐sales ratio for successful retail, a business would need to generate $420,000 in annual sales in a typical downtown space of 3,000 SF with $14/SF rent. Local market data suggests that retailers in downtown Greensboro are achieving a lower sales volume, and spending closer to 25% of sales on rent. High start‐up costs compound already tight operating margins and impede the success of many storefront retail businesses. Downtown’s retail is currently approximately 15% vacant along Elm St, and anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses do not survive the first year of operation.

Poor building conditions are the greatest economic barrier to the success of new retail. Many buildings in Greensboro were constructed in the early/mid‐1900s and are in need of major renovations. The cost of rehabilitating ground floor spaces and creating a “vanilla box” for retail use will range from $40‐$80 per square foot depending on the building’s condition and original design. This either drives rents higher or creates an extra upfront burden for the tenant. Many buildings have likely remained vacant because owners are unwilling to undertake the upgrade cost on a speculative basis."

And this one:

“Retail rents cannot fully support the cost of rehabilitating blighted buildings… Absent financial intervention, storefronts will remain vacant or will attract tenants of marginal quality and with a high probability of failure.”

I first pointed this out back on Friday, February 8, 2013 so Action Greensboro reacted by removing the Moser, Mayer, Pheonix Associates, Greensboro Downtown Economic Development Strategy from the Internet.  As you can see both the Greensboro Partnership and UNCG have copies of the same study posted online but both copies are missing the Executive Summary. The UNCG copy even has the words "Executive Summary To Be Inserted" on the last page but no where is the Executive Summary or the full report to be found.

Even Downtown Greensboro Inc has a direct quote from the missing page of the study on their website:

Sad isn't it? They all know what the problem is but none are willing to admit it.

And therein lies the problem: There is simply not enough money to be spent in Downtown Greensboro to support small businesses who must rent the buildings they do business in. There never has been.


And yet, in order to maintain a higher tax base, the Greensboro City Council subsidizes the owners of these buildings as one small business after the other folds. And it's not just downtown. If you are paying rent your business is not sustainable in Greensboro's economy.Never has been, never will be.


Downtown Greensboro was first built by shopkeepers who owned the buildings they did business in. For well over 100 years Downtown remained a success. Then as second and third generation family businesses lost interest in their family businesses and decided they would rather become landlords than actually work for a living, downtown Greensboro, like downtowns everywhere, began to fail.

This is the true story of dying downtowns-- the story those who control our cities like Greensboro don't want you to learn.

Having spent their lives sitting on their asses and with no real skills with which to earn a living or the desire to actually work these entitled adult children cried out, "Save our downtowns!" and as they were best able to pad the pockets of those who would run for political office they got passed bills and resolutions at the Federal, State and local levels to subsidize their rental businesses through something we like to call Downtown Renovation.

Say you've been here 10 to 15 years and you remember when downtown was a ghost town? So what?

I grew up here in Greensboro and am currently witnessing the 4th round of Downtown Greensboro Renovation since 1956. I've seen it become a ghost town 4 times now.  In other words, downtown renovation, as we know it, is not sustainable and does not work over the long term.

But downtown renovation could be made to work. City wide renovation could be made to work. All we need are a few simple changes in how we go about doing it and who gets our help. And it could return a profit to the City of Greensboro.

So how do I propose we do that? For the answer you must read If I Were Mayor Of Greensboro: Part 12.

And folks, even if you don't believe I'm the right man to be the next Mayor of Greensboro you know my ideas are dead on so why not share them with everyone you know so that all of Greensboro will know what they must expect from the next Mayor of Greensboro.

Who Got The South Elm Street Redevelopment Money: Part 5

When I first began writing  Who Got The South Elm Street Redevelopment Money I had no idea what I might find and while my opinion is subject to change, what I believe I'm finding is a bunch of payments to companies that for the most part didn't know the money was dirty. The City Staff was hiring these companies for jobs all over town then telling the City accounting apartment it was for the South Elm Street Redevelopment Project when in-fact it was used somewhere else. The private companies don't know which account they are being paid from and the City's accounting department doesn't know where the work is really taking place. But some Council members and City Staffers somewhere in-between know where the money was all spent.

Here's why I believe that to be true.

As you can see in this snipped from the July 16, 2003 City of Greensboro BEDI Grant Proposal the South Elm Street Redevelopment Project only included 15 properties on approximately 10 acres.

But in going through the  Transaction Report as provided to me by City of Greensboro Attorney Thomas Carruthers I counted no less that 60 payments to the following real estate appraisal firms for appraisals of 15 lots:

Taylor Pope & Herring Inc,
 Messick and Company,
McNairy & Associates,
Michael Watts MAI SRA,
William L Herbert


Interestingly, a check of the Guilford County GIS System confirms that no less than 13 of the 15 properties still belong to the Redevelopment Commission of Greensboro despite numerous media reports that the other properties are being developed by various developers who have released so-called letters of intent.

One property, the old mill, belongs to Eric Robert. The other property where Union Square is being built belongs to a company called UNION SQUARE CAMPUS INC which, according to the NC Secretary of State, is run by a man named J Patrick Danahy. The address listed at the Register of Deeds for Mr Danahy's company is 2901 East Lee Street, Greensboro, which also happens to be the address of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, aka Gateway South.

Wouldn't you know that some how, some way the Greensboro Partnership would somehow be involved. I mean, Folks, I don't go looking for these connections, they jump out from behind the meta-pixel bushes and grab me.

And I'm still holding back secrets as I try to piece these things together.

There was a July 11, 2007 payment of $1,500 to a company called Steel In The Air, Inc. They are in the business of leasing cell phone towers. Are there any cell phone towers in the 10 acre South Elm Redevelopment Project? As luck would have it, Ken Schmidt, President of Steel In The Air, Inc., is also on the faculty at the Institute of Religion here in Greensboro.

Don't worry, I got screen grabs just in case the links disappear.

And then there were lots of payments of several hundred dollars each to Barbara Harris who just so happens to be an employee of the City of Greensboro. Didn't some city employee get fired not long back for operating a business that contracted to the City of Greensboro? Anyone remember the Mel's Pressure Washing incident? The last payment to Ms Harris that I found was a May 11, 2011 payment for $1,178.96. Ms Harris was apparently hired as a city employee in 2005 but had worked closely with the City for several years before.

Maybe that's the answer to the question Tom Carruthers never bothered to reply to.

Of course, maybe these things aren't what they seem to be but when I asked for receipts the City of Greensboro delayed for months, gave me only this stinking Transaction Report to go by and said I'd have to come up with $4,000 cash to get the public information I first asked for.

Stay tuned for Who Got The South Elm Street Redevelopment Money: Part 6 as I recently got my hands on the second set of depositions and court documents from the Eric Robert vs the City of Greensboro trial. What the media told you and what really happened were very different things.

More Greensboro Tax Dollars To The Richest

I learned yesterday that the City funded Greensboro Partnership is moving into the Myers Building on Elm Street, owned by none other than John Lomax who also received city funding via the Downtown Greenway project, state taxpayer dollars via under the table deals in Charlotte involving Zack Matheny, attempted to buy a Greensboro incentive package and so many more.

The Greensboro Partnership, Action Greensboro and Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, all one legal entity, is currently residing in a building that has long been owned by the Chamber of Commerce, meaning there was no rent to pay. But to make way for the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts the Partnership will now be using taxpayer dollars to pay John Lomax the monthly rent.

And so it is we have yet another undisclosed cost of operating the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts levied against Greensboro and Guilford County taxpayers and paid to the richest of the rich Developer elite.

Here at EzGreensboro.com we give you details no one else gives you. We operate entirely without a budget, no government funding, do not accept donations, receive nothing for our efforts and remain non partisan as best we can. (Admittedly, we make mistakes) We hope you will take the time to spread the word of our existence so that more people will know of the graft and corruption that threatens the very existence of liberal, conservatives, moderates and even apolitical people all over Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad.

Greensboro Partnership and Rentier Capitalist Propaganda in the News and Record

"Public-private collaboration is key to building a competitive advantage, by Keith Debbage

Our community has been sold a bridge to nowhere, 

which has financially benefited many on City Council

and their "supporters" at DGI and the Partnership, 

via allocations of everyone else's money

to a small circle of "friends", 

the News and Record is on board

and we're paying for it.

...A recent survey of companies in the Greensboro-High Point area we conducted on behalf of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce found that more than 1,000 jobs proved difficult to fill largely because it was hard to find local workers with the appropriate skill sets.

Debbage got paid by the Greensboro Partnership

which includes the Chamber of Commerce,

making Debbage a stooge and lobbyist 

for the Greensboro Partnership.

...The Greensboro Partnership’s recent hire of a new leader with an impressive track record and former Greensboro City Council member’s Zack Matheny hiring as president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc. should help.

DGI hiring a crony who guaranteed DGI funding

is good news to Debbage, as his and Zack's paychecks

are dependent on the good will of Roy etc...

and the boards of the Partnership and DGI,

many of whom are the same people, 

or people who work for the same people

who overcharge poor renters and business owners.

...Any local, government-based consolidation of economic development services would have to require enhanced coordination and collaboration with the private sector.

Enhanced coordination means more public money

into the hands of the private interests

at the Partnership and DGI,

and the News and Record is on board with this theft by our 1%.

...while local government officials are negotiating among themselves, the more private sector-oriented Greensboro Partnership — the city’s lead economic development agency — has been moving forward with its own plans and strategic imperatives.

Zack Matheny pre applied for the CEO job as a sitting City Councilman, 

who voted to fund DGI's giveaways to DGI's members, 

many of whom have contributed to Zack Matheny's campaigns.

...top executives of some of the largest companies in the city and leaders of some of Greensboro’s most influential nonprofit foundations serve on the executive board of the partnership.

Rentier capitalism

Rentier capitalism is a Marxist term 

currently used to describe the belief in economic practices 

of monopolization of access 

to any (physical, financial, intellectual, etc.) kind of property, 

and gaining significant amounts of profit without contribution to society.

Rentier capitalism

...A significant chunk of the partnership’s funding comes from both the private and nonprofit sectors — the “invisible hand” that drives much of the local economy.

Greensboro's News and Record shares in responsibility

for the sorry state of our local political dysfunction

via lies of omission and propaganda.

The elevated tension between local government officials and the partnership is a cause for concern in an era when innovation invariably requires some level of public-private partnership."

Keith G. Debbage
UNCG Professor
Greensboro Partnership Lobbyist
Supporter of Zack Matheny's job at DGI
Advocate for public monies channeled to his paying patrons.

http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/columns/public-private-collaboration-is-key-to-building-a-competitive-advantage/article_6311189a-1b90-11e5-9ec9-6f7da9346da5.html
.
.
Matheny bristled at criticism of DGI earlier this spring
and had his feathers badly ruffled
when a group of downtown property owners
appeared before the City Council
and demanded that the city defund the booster group
because of its poor track record.

Zack Matheny violated his oath of office by applying for the job

as a sitting council member,

and the rest of City Council didn't have a problem with it.

Matheny sent a series of malevolent text messages
to one of the speakers, implying that he saw no reason
to ever support the citizen's projects again,
and that the two would henceforth be at odds
due to the property owner deciding to speak out against DGI.

And DGI hired Zack anyway.

In the text messages
Matheny directly stated that the criticism
jeopardized his potential employment with DGI.

Matheny says in his resignation announcement
that he wants to avoid a conflict of interest,
but that time is too far-gone.

Maybe City Council and DGI believe that if Mayor Nancy Vaughan

can make money from Greensboro's taxpayers 

funneled to her husband Don

via free methane for Wilbur Ross  

while Nancy served on the Sold Waste Committee,

it was okay for Zack to unfairly use his position as City Council member

to land the top DGI job.

Very few in Greensboro believe
that DGI has a rationale for existence.

...the cauldron of conflicts of interest
remains bubbling just below the surface.

Councilman Zack Matheny 

announced that he would apply for the CEO position

even before the search began.

Eric Ginsburg

The trend among Greensboro's elite
is to lead cheers for "all the good things going on in Greensboro."

Absent critical analysis of relationships,
motivations and outcomes by the city's press,
boosterism is about all the city's public discourse amounts to.

Zack Matheny violated his oath of office by applying for the job

as a sitting council member,

and Keith Debbage and the News and Record is on board with it.

Matheny is ...also known as the ultimate insider.

Does Downtown Greensboro need another puppet on a string
controlled by one or two uber-powerful real estate interests?...

Yes Weekly's Jeff Sykes
June 10, 2015
.
.
Blatant Roy Carroll / John Hammer Rhino Times Propaganda

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/12/blatant-roy-carroll-john-hammer-rhino.html

News and Record and Carroll Company's John Hammer on City Council shake up

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/news-and-record-and-carroll-companys.html

How to purchase City Councilman Jamal Fox, by Marty Kotis among others

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-purchase-city-councilman-jamal.html

Democracy and a free press no longer exists in Greensboro, North Carolina

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/03/democracy-and-free-press-no-longer.html

Ivan Saul Cutler's Nancy Hoffmann Propaganda

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/05/ivan-saul-cutlers-nancy-hoffmann.html

If developers pay for water and sewer extensions, why did we just pay for Roy Carroll and Marty Kotis'?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/06/if-developers-pay-for-water-and-sewer.html

What Is This, Allstate?

"Instead of a third floor walk up without furniture or occupancy, our crack creative economic development team decided it would be a better idea to entertain the 10th largest craft brewer in the country ( from California) in the clubhouse of a generic apartment complex. " I kid you not. 

These are the folks who run Greensboro-- morons.

And who wants to bet that not one location shown to Stone Brewing is in East Greensboro where unemployment is the highest overall and real estate the least expensive and closest to the railroad tracks the brewery will need to ship their beer by the most cost effective means.

You can thank Action Greensboro, Downtown Greensboro Inc, The Greensboro Partnership and Councilwoman Nancy Hoffman for putting efforts to sell Ms Hoffman's properties ahead of the needs of our city.

Stories Of Greensboro's Corruption Reach Wilmington

 I was recently contacted via Facebook by a gentleman in Wilmington named Kemp Burdette, who is with Cape Fear River Watch. Mr Burdette and I have been discussing the fact that the Garner Economics LLC  study,  titled, Local Specialization, Competitiveness & Growth, commissioned by the Greensboro Partnership, paid for with Greensboro tax dollars and the basis for the Greensboro Strategic Plan PDF which, among other things, calls for a sales tax increase to fund entertainment and development for the rich, is being copied and pasted and being presented as a different study to the economic development agencies in Wilmington, North Carolina.

This morning I got an e-mail from Kemp:

"Hi Billy,
Thanks for sending your email on Facebook. So, Garner Economics has produced a “study” for a city/county economic development steering committee (which I was asked to be on as a token environmentalist, and later resigned from due to the obvious sham that I would not allow my name to be associated with). The report was such nonsense that I actually Googled parts of it only to find they were direct quotes from the study GE did in Greensboro. Do you have a copy of the full Greensboro report (I just found parts of it I think)? Have you been able to find any other Garner Economic reports? I plan on sending my resignation letter to the press along with a long list of questions that need to be asked. Just trying to get the real story. Thanks for any help you can provide. 

 Kemp Burdette
Cape Fear RIVERKEEPER
Cape Fear River Watch
617 Surry Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
910-762-5606
www.capefearriverwatch.org "

My reply:

"Kemp,

I believe what you are referring to is this link: http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2012/02/oops-it-leaked-out.html That was sent to me by George Hartzman who I have included in this e-mail along with Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, Greensboro City Councilman Tony Wilkins, Councilwoman Marikay Abuizuater, Conncilman Jamal Fox, Councilman Mike Barber, Mr Hartzman and others including several in Greensboro media who will be interested in your findings. Our Garner Study was commissioned by the Greensboro Partnership, our city funded economic development agency as part of the research into developing the Greensboro Strategic Plan.

As I recall, Mr Hartzman found the Garner Study on the Greensboro Partnership website, copied, pasted and sent it to me. Then, when we went back to the Greensboro Partnership website the plan had been removed from the website and replaced with the Greensboro Strategic Plan. We asked the Partnership to again make the entire Garner Study public as it was financed in-part with public dollars but for over 2 years the Partnership has ignored the requests of Mr Hartzman and myself.

It has been obvious to myself and others here in Greensboro for quite some time that it is common place for our local "economic development groups" to find agencies who will produce the results they want to produce and as demonstrated by my blog post, will hide results that are contrary to their own views. The idea that Garner LLC, after getting burned by the Greensboro Partnership, might resort to reusing their work in Wilmington, is not surprising.

Is Ed Wolverton involved in this project in any way? I hear he's in Wilmington now after he was run out of Greensboro. Ed is a likeable guy but is spineless and will do anything it takes to keep his job even if its wrong.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of this. Perhaps with the knowledge of what is going on in Wilmington and the fact that I have blogged this e-mail exchange the Greensboro and Wilmington city council's (and perhaps State government) will see fit to look into these issues.

Please, everyone, in the interest of complete transparency, reply all when replying to this e-mail so that the public, or at least my 2000 or so daily readers, might stay informed of what is going on as this issue unfolds.

Thank you all 

-Billy Jones, your friendly freelance, neighborhood Tyrannicide, now apparently working state wide."

I believe this is what is known as Karma running over Dogma.

State Of The City: Part 3

On Friday, Part 1 of this series. the 2014 State Of The City Report was made known by George Hartzman.  Included in the Executive Summary of the report by Dr Keith G Debbage was the following statement, a thinly veiled prompt to Greensboro City Council members to approve certain projects that are now before them:

"THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ACCOMMODATION, AND FOOD & DRINK SECTOR NEEDS A SHOT-IN-THE-ARM
· Greensboro has experienced a four year decline in the share of all jobs attributable to this sector, declining from a five year high of 12.8% in 2009 to 10.7% of all jobs in 2012. The ongoing efforts to build the Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development may well remedy this problem. That said, this sector generated the lowest average wage rates of any major industry group included in this Report (i.e., $15,395). "

Seriously, Dr Debbage really published that?

Roch Smith Jr replied:

"Once again we see downtown bias inflicting stoopidity on our civic discussion. Despite acknowledging that the category has the lowest wages, the report says that the food and drink sector, being suppressed by higher wage job growth, needs a "shot in the arm," and pronounces, without question or qualification, that building the downtown performing arts center and hotels will "remedy" this situation. "

Roch seems to hit the nail squarely on the head.  Debbage reiterates on Page 12 of his report:

"An important part of any city economy is the arts and entertainment, accommodation and food industry particularly in downtown areas which tend to act as important focal points for the industry. However, Greensboro’s share in this industry decreased from 11.6% of all jobs in 2011 to 10.7% in 2012 – the second largest relative decline of any major industry in Greensboro for that time period and part of a four year decline in the share of jobs attributable to this sector of the economy. Although the Greensboro city center has recently experienced a rebirth of sorts – particularly the nightclubs and bars along South Elm Street – more could be done to attract young urban professionals to the city. It is likely that the ongoing efforts to the build the Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development may well remedy this problem."

And on Page 13 he writes:

"The arts and entertainment/accommodation and food industry generated the lowest average wages of all the major industry groupings in this report where the average wage rate was $14,942 in 2011 compared to just $15,395 in 2012. That said, performing artists and spectator sports paid an average wage of $33,929 in 2012 compared to just $19,413 in the hotel sector and $14,443 for restaurants and bars."

On Page 18 he again writes:

"Greensboro has experienced a four year decline in the share of all jobs attributable to this sector, declining from a five year high of 12.8% in 2009 to 10.7% of all jobs in 2012. The ongoing efforts to build the Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development may well remedy this problem. That said, this sector generated the lowest average wage rates of any major industry group included in this Report (i.e., $15,395)."

But nowhere in his 22 page report does Dr Keith G Debbage back up his claims that the  "Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development may well remedy this problem."  No where does he offer a single shred of evidence, not a single comment or even an opinion to support his opinion. One might think the professor a talking parrot constantly repeating the same words with no idea as to their meanings. Having never met Dr Debbage I don't know but I can't help but ask, does Keith Debbage have plumage?

Three times in the course of 22 pages, Debbage pitches  the Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development as a solution to the problem of arts and entertainment/accommodation and food industry generating the lowest average wages of all the major industry groupings. Well here's a little secret, Dr Debbage: the arts and entertainment/accommodation and food industry generated the lowest average wages of all the major industry groupings every freaking where and that includes every city in America that already has a downtown performing arts center.

And one needs not be an economist working on the taxpayers' dime to know those sorts of jobs pay low wages. Debbage was paid by the Greensboro Partnership to do the report. The Greensboro Partnership is funded by the City of Greensboro.

Nor does Dr Debbage take into account reports by the North Carolina Justice Center that indicate an increase in low wage jobs such as those in the arts and entertainment/accommodation and food industry actually increase unemployment overall and lead to a worsening of local economic conditions in the long term.

But then as W.E. Heasley wrote:

"...Debbage is a technocrat."

Apparently not a very good technocrat, I might add.

And of course Dr Debbage would never acknowledge that the real solution to problems in the arts and entertainment/accommodation and food industry is in reality, a regrowth and rebuilding of manufacturing and other key industries that put tangible real goods with lasting value in consumers hands. On no, he'd actually have to put the horse in front of the cart to do that.

 Please continue reading Greensboro State of the City 2014: Part 4

Greensboro Partnership: State Of The City Report By Dr Keith G Debbage

Excerpted:

STATE OF THE CITY REPORT __ _ _____ DR. KEITH G. DEBBAGE
________________________________________________________________________ i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
· Public policy makers and economic development practitioners have become increasingly concerned with maintaining and improving the quality of life of their political jurisdictions as a way to maintain their competitive advantage. Greensboro is no exception to this rule.

· The overall purpose of this report is to provide an annual update of the Greensboro performance metrics first identified in the 2003 State of the City Report. The 2014 Update focuses only on the Greensboro metrics. In 2016, a more comprehensive State of the City Report will be published that compares Greensboro to our peer cities.

· Part of the agenda is to stimulate discussion and to educate the general public about the overall performance of Greensboro. The long-term goal for the city of Greensboro is to see increased efficiency, progress and improvement over time for each of the selected metrics.

B. METHODOLOGY
· The benchmark indicators were chosen based on consultation with the Greensboro Partnership and are consistent with the metrics used in prior State of the City Reports with a few exceptions. The list of benchmark indicators includes measures that capture population and demographics, economic growth, education, and health and wellness.

· All the metrics are reported for 2012 unless otherwise indicated.

· It is important to note that data on average wage rates by industry, tax base, high school drop-out rates, and health and wellness are only available at the county level.

C. MAJOR FINDINGS
THE OVERALL ‘STATE OF THE CITY’ IS ONE OF ON-GOING RECOVERY
· Much like the rest of the nation, Greensboro continues to experience a fledgling recovery of sorts as the economy continues to turnaround although we continue to face some significant challenges.

STATE OF THE CITY REPORT __ _ _____ DR. KEITH G. DEBBAGE
________________________________________________________________________ ii

POPULATION GROWTH RATES CONTINUED TO BE POSITIVE BUT LAG BEHIND OTHER LARGE CITIES IN NORTH CAROLINA
· Greensboro experienced a modest population growth rate of 1.3% between 2011 and 2012 but lagged behind other major cities in the state including Charlotte (2.5%), Raleigh (2.3%), and Durham (2.3%).

GREENSBORO IS RAPIDLY BECOMING A MORE DIVERSE CITY
· Only 47.3% of Greensboro’s population was classified as white in 2012 – part of a three year decline in market share from a five year high of 52.6% in 2010. By contrast, the percent of the Greensboro population classified as African-American was 42.7% - the highest such share since beginning the State of the City series in 2003. The percentage of the population classified as Hispanic has also steadily increased of late from 6.6% in 2010 to a record high of 7.8% in 2012. Although multi-cultural cities are frequently more tolerant and innovative such a trend can also pose major human resource challenges for both public and private sector employers in the city.

MEDIAN EARNINGS AND PER CAPITA INCOME CONTINUE TO STAGNATE ESPECIALLY RELATIVE TO SOME NEARBY CITIES
· Median earnings in Greensboro declined slightly (i.e., -0.3%) from 2011 to 2012 even though Durham (13.7%) and Raleigh (5.5%) experienced robust growth. That said, the growth in median earnings was more modest in Charlotte (0.9%) and Winston-Salem experienced a slight decline (-0.2).

· Per capita income in Greensboro declined by -1.2% from 2011 to 2012 while Durham (10.7%), Raleigh (4.8%) and to a lesser extent Winston-Salem (1.7%) all experienced noticeable growth. By contrast, per capita income in Charlotte declined 0.1%. Unlike earnings, per capita income includes more than just wages and salaries since it also includes income derived from interest, dividend, rent and transfer payments. The substantive decline in dividend investment capital due to the financial crisis and national recession of the late 2000s may have negatively impacted per capita income in both Greensboro and Charlotte.

GREENSBORO CONTINUES TO EXPERIENCE A MANUFACTURING RENAISSANCE THAT INCLUDES HIGH-PAYING JOBS
· Greensboro experienced a substantive increase in the percentage of its workforce employed in manufacturing growing from 11.8% in 2011 to 13.1% in 2012. Furthermore, manufacturing wage rates ($56,663) were higher than for any other industry except financial services. A recent report prepared by Michael Walden at North Carolina State University identified advanced manufacturing as a significant employment opportunity statewide for the next several years.

STATE OF THE CITY REPORT __ _ _____ DR. KEITH G. DEBBAGE
________________________________________________________________________ iii

THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY APPEARS TO BE RECOVERING
· After some lean years, the financial services industry appears to be re-emerging from the prolonged slump triggered by the Great Recession. Other than manufacturing, the financial services experienced the largest relative increase in percent jobs growing from 6.7% of all jobs in 2011 to 8.0% in 2012. It also generated the highest average wage rate of any major industry in the local economy (i.e., $58,949) and the largest relative wage gains (i.e., 6.0%).

EDUCATION AND HEALTH SERVICES CONTINUE TO EXPAND AND ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN ONE-QUARTER OF ALL JOBS IN GREENSBORO BUT AVERAGE WAGES CONTINUE TO STAGNATE
· Education and health services continue to be major industries in the local economy accounting for over one-quarter of all jobs in Greensboro. The overall market share of education and health services has experienced a five year growth trajectory increasing from 21.2% of all jobs in 2008 to 26.1% in 2012. The downside of this growth is that average wage rates have been stagnant since 2008 with the lowest net gains of any industry from 2011 to 2012 (i.e., 0.7%).

THE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ACCOMMODATION, AND FOOD & DRINK SECTOR NEEDS A SHOT-IN-THE-ARM
· Greensboro has experienced a four year decline in the share of all jobs attributable to this sector, declining from a five year high of 12.8% in 2009 to 10.7% of all jobs in 2012. The ongoing efforts to build the Tanger Performing Arts Center and related hotel development may well remedy this problem. That said, this sector generated the lowest average wage rates of any major industry group included in this Report (i.e., $15,395).

TAX BASE GROWTH IS FLAT
· Partly as a result of the 2012 revaluation and subsequent appeals of value, the Guilford County tax base declined -0.2% from $37.1 billion in 2011/12 to $37.0 billion in 2012/13.

POVERTY RATES CREEP BACK UP
· The percentage of the city population in poverty increased from 19.6% in 2011 to 20.0% in 2012 meaning one in five Greensboro residents were in poverty. (Note: for a family of four with two children under the age of 18, the household is considered poor if total household income is below $23,283 in 2012).

STATE OF THE CITY REPORT __ _ _____ DR. KEITH G. DEBBAGE
________________________________________________________________________ iv

HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES REMAIN VERY LOW
· The Guilford County County school system high school dropout rate remained one of the lowest rates in all of North Carolina for major urban school systems declining from 2.71% in 2010/11 to 2.15% in 2011/12.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS GENERATED MIXED SIGNALS
· The infant mortality rate increased from 7.4 per 1,000 live births in 2011 to 7.9 in 2012 although the teenage pregnancy rate declined from 35.6 per 1,000 to 34.1 – part of an encouraging long-term downward trend.


View the full report via PDF file by clicking here: http://greensboropartnership.org/pdf/stateofcity14.pdf

And expect me to refer back to it a lot.

Hat Tip: George:


  Continue reading Part 2: W.E. Heasley On The Keith G Debbage, State Of The City Report

Nancy Hoffmann's Little Bird

A little bird flew in from downtown Greensboro today to tell me that The Greensboro Partnership is looking to lease Councilwoman Hoffmann's building on Lewis Street after Hoffmann voted to fund the Greensboro Partnership and voted for the city of Greensboro to buy the Greensboro Partnership's existing offices. Funny, after she got caught trying to rip-off DGI funding you'd think she would have learned.

Seems Pat Danahy of the Greensboro Partnership toured Nancy's Lewis Street building just today.

Will Beautiful Street Art Ever Come To Greensboro?

Over at Avant Greensboro, Charles Woods laments the lack of art in downtown Greensboro. Especially colorful and beautiful graffiti like is found in so many thriving cities around the world.

“When I was in Switzerland,” says Cranford, “there was beautiful graffiti everywhere with no effort to cover it up.” Such is not the case in Greensboro.

“Most of our work was taken down quickly,” adds Nicole, “the Bill Hicks piece we did was taken down in less than a day.”

‘Tis the DGI, Action Greensboro, Greensboro Partnership, Chamber of Commerce mindset. They see no difference between beautiful graffiti and gang tags: There’s no profit in it. But should Mr Hicks demand "extravagant" payment for his works of art you will no doubt see our Downtown boosters lobbying City Council for taxpayer funding to pay Mr Hicks a pittance while scraping their huge cuts off the top.

Want beautiful graffiti in Downtown Greensboro? You just have to know how to work the good ol’ boy system. It was put in place by Southerners, the Yankees learned to work it well… and if you can live with yourself you can do it too.

Are Greensboro Tax Dollars Promoting Private Business?

The short answer: Yes, indeed they are.

I will explain.

Here we have a web page from the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance. a taxpayer supported "non profit" arm of the taxpayer supported "non profit" Greensboro Partnership. Among the highlighted property listings are McConnell Center, one of Greensboro's many empty industrial parks. I'm told that Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins  was somehow involved in McConnell Center but have as yet been unable to verify.

So having established that tax dollars are being used to support privately owned businesses here in Greensboro I can only ask, why are we not using taxpayer dollars to support all of Greensboro's privately owned businesses?





And why so many different names for the same "non profit?" Why all the shadow companies?

Where Was The Greensboro Partnership On This One?

Today we read that "A1 Wholesale Tires announced plans Tuesday to open a distribution and wholesale operation in the area, taking over the former Spray Cotton Mills warehouse at 413 Church St." in Eden. That's right, Eden, not Greensboro.

You see, in Greensboro, developers came in and bought up all the available properties, jacked the prices up sky high and then enlisted the City of Greensboro and the various "non profits" to help them fill them. How's that working? Not too good!

In Greensboro, "non profits" like the Nussbaum Center take up space first in one old mill then abandon that mill to take up space in another old mill. Both at the expense of the Greensboro taxpayers. Then the Nussbaum Center comes back to the taxpayer well because they can't make the payments on their bigger mill even after they rented part of it to an established foreign furniture maker who will take the corporate welfare profits out of Greensboro and the United States. And folks like the Greensboro Partnership have the audacity to call what they do, "economic development."

Greensboro has far more empty commercial buildings than any other city in the Piedmont Triad. It's time our "leaders" concentrated on filling these old buildings rather than building new empty buildings in empty industrial parks and megasites far from where Greensboro's residents live.

Want Jobs For Greensboro?

My original plan was to make Aquaponics a central part of a Downtown Greensboro Aquarium but being the Greensboro City Council recently sold the best site in the entire Downtown to place an aquarium to developers who have yet to disclose what they plan to build, there won't be an aquarium and 3 million visitors a year to Downtown Greensboro. But that doesn't mean the rest of Greensboro has to suffer.

You see, Aquaponics doesn't require an aquarium. Aquaponics require tanks full of water and a place to grow crops. And some pumps, pipes and a few people to manage and harvest the fish and vegetables. Depending on what breed of fish you raise you may or may not need a building but any old abandoned big box retail building, warehouse building or commercial building, old school buildings, abandoned war memorial auditoriums, you name it...


With Aquaponics Greensboro could become an exporter of fish and vegetables and the jobs would be in the neighborhoods where the people live and not in industrial parks on the county lines or in megasites in counties other than our own.  And with world fish stocks in crisis it just makes economic and environmental sence to start raising our own.

Did I mention all the byproducts of Aquaponics are marketable commodities? Every last drop, flake, scale, leaf and speck of dirt has value.

Aquaculture, a form of Aquaponics that only involves plants and not animals, can also be used in water filtration to remove toxins from polluted waters. We might want to look into that as well. You know, to take care of some of Greensboro's runoff into Jordan Lake.

So if Greensboro's "movers and shakers" and "non profits" are serious about bringing jobs to Greensboro's communities and not just making Greensboro's developers richer than they already are then they need to be talking about Aquaponics.

You see, real economic development puts money in the pockets of the working class first.

We have the expertise on East Market Street and McConnell Road at NC A&T University to build the most successful  Aquaponics program in the world, all we need is the political will to make it happen and Greensboro could become a world leader in this green form of feeding the world and putting people to work at good jobs in the very neighborhoods where they live.

As If The NC School Of Government Were Reading My Mind

More evidence DGI, Action Greensboro and the Greensboro Partnership should be holding their meetings in public.

Are Non Profits The New Growth Industry?

We see it all over Greensboro. Currently Downtown Greensboro Incorporated is in the midst of a giant scandal because they've failed to maintain open records, given public monies to their own board members, grants to ineligible non profits and double billed the City of Greensboro. And now we learn that the actions of Goodwill Industries are being called into question.

It's not that all non profits are bad, they're really not, but recently when I looked into starting my own business, certain business advisers suggested I start it as a non profit even though my intention was to make a profit for myself. They were even happy to teach me how to do so for a fee, of course.

The problem is, that while non profits sometimes do good, sometimes they have no positive impact whatsoever. But all non profits take away from the tax pool-- the total amount of tax dollars available to governments to provide government services to all of us. Which means the rest of us are forced to pay more.

This was my major concern when the Bush Administration pushed to privatize government services through for profit and non profit businesses. Each and every new business that sprang up was a potential new hole to leak tax dollars through. And of course it has become so profitable and so porous the Obama administration has done nothing to change it.

And the same is true in local government. The City of Greensboro formed DGI, Action Greensboro, the Greensboro Partnership and a host of other non profits to take over for the City so that the City wouldn't be responsible for certain city services and in every instance money flows out like water into a city storm drain. What didn't the City outsource the actual maintenance of storm drains too? Because only water and not money flows through concrete pipes.

Yes, non profits have become the new growth industry... at the expense of all the rest.

Existing North Carolina Megasites

Update: There are no accredited Megasites in North Carolina that I have found and only 1 in Virginia but all of these sites claim to be megasites. Accreditation requires hiring certain agencies in the US to certify your accreditation. Those also happens to be the same compaies that lead the nation in the development of megasites. Begin original post:

The Heart of North Carolina Megasite in Moore County just south of Asheboro, a project affiliated with the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company sits just off of Interstate 73/74 (Hwy 220) with further connection to I-85 and I-40 and US 64.

"Incentives: The N.C. Department of Commerce categorizes each of the state’s 100 counties into one of 3 “tiers” based on economic well-being. Counties needing a competitive boost to attract new industry are assigned a Tier 1 designation and are eligible for more state incentives at larger dollar amounts. Montgomery County has a Tier 1 status and because 1/3 of the mega-site is located in Montgomery County, the Tier 1 designation applies to the entire site. Businesses locating in the MegaPark may qualify for a job creation tax credit of $12,500 per new job and an investment tax credit of 7% of the cost of tangible personal property."

Triangle North Warren is an 860-acre megasite located the northern part of the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina just 3 miles from Interstate 85.

Triangle North Granville is a life sciences and technology 527-acre park in Granville County located in the northern part of the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina.

Triangle North Vance is a 422-acre business and manufacturing park located near Interstate 85 at exit 209, across from Vance-Granville Community College in the northern part of the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina.

All the Triangle North parks offer $12,500 per job state tax credit for companies that locate in the park plus all the other perks that go with locating in the original Research Triangle Park (RTP) built in the 1950s.

GIPH Site, 1700 Acres, Hertford County

Tanglewood, 5,915 Acres, Pasquotank County

Verona Site, 3,943 Acres, Northampton County

The North Carolina Global TransPark (GTP) is a 2,500 acre, multi-modal industrial park offering unparalleled access to air, rail, highways, and North Carolina's two international ports.

 Hearts Delight near Aulander 1900 acres.

 Riverstone Business Park,  Forest City 1000 acres

 Pine Hills Ind.  Hamlet 1500 acres total, 400 acres still available

 Laurinburg-Maxton Airport Industrial Park 1,800 of 4,000 acres currently available, Former Army Air Core Base Training Facility, This one made sense.

 Great Meadows   Morganton 1200 acres

Newton Grove 1161 acres

 Mid-Atlantic Business Ct Rocky Mount  1,668 acres

 Kingsboro Rose, Rocky Mount 1300 acres

 Norwood Tract,  Saratoga 1315 acres

 Monroe site, Southern Pines 1130 acres

 Mid Atlantic Logistics Center in Brunswick County 1000 acres

Leland Industrial Park in Brunswick County 2200 acres* Disputed

International Logistics Park of North Carolina in Brunswick County 1000 acres

(I'll add more as I find them.)

What do all these North Carolina megasites have in common? Just like 180 megasites across the United States of America they are all for the most part, empty. All that money, tax dollars and environmental damage, farms, homes, trees, ponds, fields and memories... entire ways of life destroyed so that a few wealthy developers like Greensboro's Roy Carroll, a few realtors like Mayor Robbie Perkins and the fat cats from the "non profits" like The Greensboro Partnership and the Piedmont Triad Partnership can get fatter at our expense.

South Carolina has literally built dozens of megasites and almost all of them remain empty. Here's an example of just 1 South Carolina megasite 30 miles south of Downtown Charlotte with 39 connected smaller industrial parks all crying for tenants. Can you not see the absurdity of the while megasite scheme? If developers were forced to foot these costs on their own they would never build these sites. They only do so because they are spending our money.

Edgecombe County actually did a study in 2011 in which they determined it was a bad time to do speculative building. The economy hasn't improved that much since then. It's long past time for talk of Megasites in the Piedmont Triad to end before we fall into the same trap as 180 other communities across America.

The MegaSite Myth

There are over 180 Empty Megasites across the United States and Mayor Robbie Perkins and The Greensboro Partnership still continue their push to build several in the Piedmont Triad. From the comments in my post, Op-ed: Megasite plan for Randolph County carries a steep price for taxpayers

"We got Pearl Habored January 9, 2013 when we (citizens of Jefferson county TN Talbott-Kansas, Sager, and Spring Creek communities) found out via 11 PM TV News (Knoxville Tn Ch 10) that we were in megasite footprint!! We have hired a lawyer, Scott Hurley, and created a website www.saveourfarms-homes.com and gotten a heck of an education on how this megasite scam works!! You can go shop for your very own megasite (there are over 180 EMPTY ones across USA) www.siteselection.com/issues/2013/jan/super-sites.cfm

Understand that your taxes pay 100% of cost and site is then GIVEN to whatever corporation with 15 to 30 years of tax abatements!!! So, your county property taxes go sky high effectively depopulating your communities and making all megasite refugees!! McCollum and Sweeney are the ones selling this scam. You can go to www.jeffersoncountypost.com to read all about what has happened to us!!! Especially, read they editorials and what readers have written.

You are most welcome to call me, write, email,

Donna Raybon 865-850-3105 (my weekend minutes are free, so call then!!) email at drmraybon@att.net

snail mail 1101 Sager Road, Dandridge, TN 37725

Donna, alias the lady farmer in overalls and pigtails"

Just like our neighbors in Jefferson County, Tennessee have learned, these megasites are the biggest scam in the real estate and development industry today and those that would use public monies to promote them should be shot or hanged. Sadly, most will be reelected so they may Robme some more.

The End Of DGI, Action Greensboro And The Rest of Greensboro's "Non Profits"

For the last year I have researched the many "non profits" that are bleeding Greensboro taxpayers to death. Not every non profit in Greensboro is dirty but many are. In particular are the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, The Greensboro Partnership, Action Greensboro and Downtown Greensboro Inc. who have all refused to answer questions from the public concerning public money held and spent by these and other non profits under their control. From  Frayda Bluestein, Professor of Public Law and Government at the U.N.C. School of Government:

"Courts around the country have applied transparency requirements to private entities under several theories. Some jurisdictions focus on the fact that the private entity is carrying out a governmental function. Others base decisions on whether the government exercises such control over the private entity that it is should be treated as an agency of the government, rather than as an independent contractor…. The case law in North Carolina focuses on factors demonstrating extensive control, rather than on the exercise of a governmental function."

The leading case in North Carolina, she notes, is News & Observer Publishing Co. v. Wake County Hospital Systems, Inc., 55 N.C.App. 1 (1981),  which involved a hospital that was originally a public authority and was later transferred to a private nonprofit. The court found that the hospital system was subject to the public records act because the county exercised significant oversight and control, as evidenced by 9 relevant factors:

(1) that upon its dissolution, the corporation would transfer its assets to the county; and (2) that all vacancies on the board of directors would be subject to the county’s approval. The lease agreement provided (3) that the corporation would occupy premises owned by the county under a lease for $1.00 a year; (4) that the county commissioners would review and approve the corporation’s annual budget; (5) that the county would conduct a supervisory audit of the corporation’s books; and (6) that the corporation would report its charges and rates to the county. The operating agreements also provided (7) that the corporation would be financed by county bond orders; (8) that revenue collected pursuant to the bond orders would be revenue of the county; and (9) that the corporation would not change its corporate existence nor amend its articles of incorporation without the county’s written consent.

“The markers of control are so much a part of the analysis,” Bluestein says, “that in a case where factors indicating significant control originally existed, but were removed by the time the case came to trial, the court held that the public records and open meetings laws did not apply. See Chatfield v. Wilmington Housing Finance & Development, Inc.,  166 N.C. App. 703 (2004) (rejecting arguments based on the “governmental function” analysis).”
______

"Commenting on Bluestein’s article, Robert Wechsler makes some additional points in a post about Privatization and Transparency at CityEthics.org. While some states provide statutory requirements, as in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where public entities must include provisions in their contracts making it clear that records created pursuant to those contracts will be considered public documents, Wechsler notes that transparency rules remain rather opaque in many jurisdictions. In Oregon, for example, “public bodies avoid the reach of the public records law by contracting governmental functions out to private entities and not taking custody of records that relate to those functions. Oregon appellate court decisions address this problem to some extent, but only if the requester can show that the ostensibly private entity is the functional equivalent of a public body.”

Similarly, Wechsler says that Connecticut entities have been accused of using private contracts as a sort of “cloaking device” (à la Star Trek) to hide certain functions and expenditures from the public. Unlike North Carolina, the courts in Oregon and Connecticut use a “functional equivalence test” to determine when to apply governmental transparency requirements. Wechsler says that the four criteria for this test are:

    whether the entity performs a governmental function;
    the level of government funding;
    the extent of government involvement in or regulation over the entity; and
    whether the entity was created by the government.

As Wechsler notes, “all four criteria do not have to be present and, in some situations, an entity can be considered public for some of its functions and private for others.”
Source: When should quasi-public entities be subject to governmental transparency requirements? by Amy Lavine, staff attorney at the Government Law Center, Albany Law School.

Folks, we're not only talking state laws, we're talking Federal laws, case law, precedents and intentional misleading of the public by numerous government and non profit officials. Laws have been broken. You cannot take government money and then hide what you are doing with the money. It is against the law. It's time the public funding of these "non profits" ended once and for all and legal proceedings began.