Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber on Charlottesville riot, the KKK and when Jim Melvin was Mayor

"Ask Mike Barber about the Klan-Nazi shootout"

I certainly don’t think those people deserved to die 

But if you go and poke a bunch of rednecks who have guns 

and you print ‘Death to the Klan’ fliers, 

that puts you in the stupid category if you ask me.

The bigger issue for me is that in a city of almost 300,000 people, 

we continue to have just a handful of people 

who live their lives looking in the rearview mirror.

That’s what holds Greensboro back 

— a small group of people who make an industry of racism and unhappiness,

marketing all that’s unpleasant and negative 

no matter how long ago these things occurred

Greensboro Councilman Mike Barber 

"Posters advertising the Nov. 3 rally in Greensboro described it as “organize to physically smash the racist KKK wherever it rears its ugly head,” and challenged the Klan to appear, promising “we will show you no mercy.”

During Jim Melvin's rein

He's got the City government building named after him

Nov. 3, 1979 — Members of the Klan, Communist Workers Party and neo-Nazis clash at the former Morningside Homes at a “Death to the Klan” march. Five people are killed and 10 injured.

"Violent clashes between the CWP and the rival Revolutionary Community Party were well documented."

"...on Nov. 3, 1979, law enforcement — from the Greensboro Police Department and FBI, which had informants among the North Carolina Klan and neo-Nazi contingents, to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which had an active undercover agent among the neo-Nazi group — failed to prevent a tragedy."

Along with Jim Melvin's police department

"According to later investigations and testimony, officers failed to effectively communicate with each other.  Some were completely unavailable by radio.  Tactical units were not in place when they were supposed to be."

Kind of just like Charlottesville

"Greensboro police officers observed as a nine-car caravan of Klan and neo-Nazi members drove from I-85 to Morningside Homes. Once there, the caravan met protesters who taunted them and attacked their cars with sticks and clubs. The Klan/Nazi contingent fired shots, unloaded their cache of guns and opened fire on anti-Klan protesters.

Police took action only after shots were fired.

Where were the police in Charlottesville?

CWP members fought with the Klan and neo-Nazis.  Some produced guns — despite a demonstration permit forbidding them — and a gunfight ensued.

...“But what hasn’t been talked about by the city, the government or the media is the shameful role played by the police on that day,” Foxworth said. “They want to talk about that as little as possible.”

Has the 'media' talked about where the police were hiding in Charlottesville, 

just like Greensboro when Jim Melvin was mayor?

Aug. 4, 1980 — Criminal trial of 14 Klan and Nazi members begins in Guilford County Superior Court.  Six face first-degree murder charges.

Nov. 17, 1980 — Trial ends with not guilty verdicts on all counts.

Jan. 9, 1984 — Criminal trial in federal court in Winston-Salem begins for nine people involved in the shootings.

April 15, 1984 — Federal trial ends with not guilty verdicts.

Nov. 6, 1985 — The city of Greensboro settles for $351,000 to the estate of Michael Nathan, one of the men killed.*

How heavy the irony must be 

as the marginalizer imagines the chains of marginalization

"The two criminal trials against the Klansmen and the Nazi Party members led to all defendants being acquitted by all-white juries.

A 1985 civil rights suit ...resulted in one of the few decisions in a Southern court to date against law enforcement officials accused of collusion with Klan violence.

"Bernard Butkovich, an undercover agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), later testified that he was aware that Klansmen and members of the American Nazi Party unit he had infiltrated would confront the demonstrators. In an earlier testimony, the neo-Nazis claimed Butkovich encouraged them to carry firearms to the demonstration."

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/john-locke-foundations-sam-hieb-and-n.html
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WaPo Op-Ed Openly Calls For Political Violence;

"The white nationalist riot in Charlottesville, a city that boasts “diversity makes us stronger,” made a lot of things clear. One of them is that generic solutions to the racial problem — bland affirmations of inclusiveness, tolerance and “free speech” — will no longer work. Indeed, they have never worked, at least not on their own. …

[I]n April 1968, amid a flurry of other “rocks,” riots shook American cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It took that rolling unrest, not the promise of further economic growth, to spur President Lyndon Johnson and Congress to action. Within a week they had passed the Fair Housing Act.

Over the past century, liberalism, vexed by an ever-sharp, ever-cutting white supremacy, has needed these rocks. …

Segregationists have again assumed their pedestals in the Justice Department, the White House and many other American temples. Paper alone won’t drive them out. Start throwing rocks."

http://www.dailywire.com/news/19823/rubicon-wapo-op-ed-openly-calls-political-violence-john-nolte#exit-modal




Justin King; "We are now in the fourth stage of the cycle of insurgency"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/justin-king-we-are-now-in-fourth-stage.html

"The Rise of the Unprotected"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-rise-of-unprotected.html

"Economic Underpinnings of the U.S. Revolutionary War"

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/07/economic-underpinnings-of-us.html
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KKK, Nazi Communist Shootout; "City Response"

"...Gary Cepnick, news editor for the local WFMY station, recalled immediately after the shooting that he felt pressure from the City not to show the footage of the shootings. He recalled a visit from top City officials:

"The mayor and the police chief and the public safety officer and a deputy were all in the lobby and were wanting to come back to the newsroom and wanted to talk to us.

…the thrust of the conversation was, “Do we really think it is necessary to put this on the air… isn't it going to do more harm than good?”

…It was a very intimidating group. I was incredulous. I looked at them and I said, “I think you need to look at this from the perspective that this has been on the radio and it has been reported.  People are aware … that it is going on and we are going to report it.  We are going to put it on television.  We were there.  We witnessed it, we have footage that shows what happened.  And we’re going to air it.  And I’m sorry if you don’t agree with that, but you are not going to dictate editorial policy to us.  I respect what you are telling me here, but we’re not going to…”

“But you are going to incite a riot.”

They didn’t. I don’t recall having the mayor on the air that night, but they expressed concern, but basically we went with the story itself without City reaction, without police reaction."

City officials contributed to this fear by broadcasting public service radio and television announcements urging people to stay away from the march.

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/kkk-nazi-communist-shootout-city.html
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KKK, NAZI, COMMUNIST SHOOTOUT; GREENSBORO TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/kkk-nazi-communist-shootout-greensboro.html

Proposed wording of the KKK, Nazi, Communist shootout "Massacre" Historical Marker and some Facebook comments

It was a shootout (not a shooting) as both sides fired shots."

"from a News & Record (then Daily News) reporter who was an eyewitness. Key part: "After the first Klansmen emerged and fired into the air, three or four white members of the Communist Workers Party drew small pistols and fired into the air".

"in broad daylight.....in front of a television crew..... with no police in the area....."

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/proposed-wording-of-kkk-nazi-communist.html

A video put up on YouTube by Ben Holder today on the 1979 KKK and historical marker about the “Greensboro Massacre.”

"I have always wanted to ask Nelson Johnson why he seemed so surprised that people were killed after taunting the historically violent KKK. They went to disrupt the KKK's movie night and were armed with guns. They burned the rebel flag and then made Death to the Klan posters and promoted the event. What exactly did he think would come of it? It's like I always tell my kids. Do stupid stuff, end up in stupid places. I should take this clip to the council meeting tonight to show the entire picture of the events that happened."

Ben Holder

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-video-put-up-on-youtube-by-ben-holder.html

Orange Marmalade On White Toast

Councilman Mike Barber's latest exploits turn into orange marmalade on white toast.

Mike Barber Proposes Sex Offenders In Mill Village

Well it's almost as if Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber has decided he no longer wants to keep his at large seat on the Greensboro City Council and continue to receive City support for his "non profit" First Tee of the Triad who uses City owned golf courses at no charge to run his business.

And without a doubt voters in District 2 and nearby Irving Park will no doubt be concerned that as reported by today's News & Record, Mike Barber wants to locate sex offenders in their neighborhood:

"At-large Councilman Mike Barber, who also is running, said Friday that Kennedy's organization "needs to be relocated away from the children's museum and the library" because of the presence of sex offenders.

The ideal new spot, he said, would be on Maple Street, near the Guilford County Social Services building and one of the Greensboro Police Department's substations."

Seriously, just blocks from Revolution Mill, within easy walking distance of Irving Park? Has the Councilman taken up drinking or drugs?

And to think, you people voted this idiot into office.

Greensboro City Council succumbs to extortion by UnitedHealthcare #NCGA #NCPOL #NCDEM #GSO #GSOPOL #SOGSO

"Last Tuesday, ...Mayor Nancy Vaughan and a majority of City Council members rejected the recommendations of the city manager, city staff and a paid consultant, as well as the clear evidence placed in front of them.

City Manager Jim Westmoreland, city staff and a consultant recommended that the city switch from  to Cigna, based on bids showing that Cigna could save the city and its employees more money on health care coverage.

That savings would amount to about $650,000 per year, according to Marsh and McLennan, a consulting firm hired by the council to examine bids from both companies.

Councilman Mike Barber went so far as to discredit the numbers, saying one bid was based on reality and the other on estimates.

Mike Barber is a campaign cash whore and a complete sell out,

who sold out taxpayers to make money on their dime with Jim Melvin, 

a story which has never been investigated by any local for profit press organization, 

which represents repeated acts of journalistic cowardice 

on the part of those who control our community's information dissemination

In fact, the consultant explained, the analysis used actual claims from 2015 and applied the plans being offered by each company to see which coverage plan cost less.

Cigna was the most cost-effective plan by a significant margin, just as it was in 2016, when it would have saved the city and its employees $1.2 million in health care costs.

So what did our bought and paid for legislators do?

...Council members Jamal Fox and Sharon Hightower balked at the manager’s recommendation and objected to the process...

...After failed motions to choose each company in 2016, the council approved a one-year extension of UnitedHealthcare’s contract, asking staff to prepare a new request for proposals — including local preference if possible — and hire a new consultant. City staff did so, only to arrive at the same results a year later.

The law still bans the use of local preference, Cigna still had the more attractive bid, and a majority of the City Council still refused to accept the results of the bidding process.

...the council voted, 6-3, on July 18 to reject the proposals, extend UnitedHealthcare’s contract for another year and have staff revise the request for proposals to include more criteria.

Again.

Who voted for it?

Nancy Vaughan, Mike Barber, Tony Wilkins, Marikay Abuzuaiter, 

Justin Outling, and Nancy Hoffmann

These people stole from everyone who pays taxes to the City of Greensboro

and anyone who works for the City

It appears that no request for proposals will be acceptable until it favors UnitedHealthcare.

Who met with whom when?

Follow the money

“You tell city staff to do something, they do it, and it’s not good enough because you don’t agree with their decision,” Hightower said.

What was the Quid Pro Quo?

“If you want UHC, give it to UHC, but don’t put the staff through this process again.”

Nancy Vaughan, Mike Barber, Tony Wilkins, Marikay Abuzuaiter, 

Justin Outling, and Nancy Hoffmann betrayed Greensboro's employees and taxpayers

Perhaps some of the other council members were counting up the votes of those in the gallery wearing blue UnitedHealthcare T-shirts or the potential campaign donations they might lose from the company and its executives.

They should be thinking about what’s best for city employees.

And Greensboro's taxpayers Susan

They might also consider how much this sham of a process already has cost Greensboro’s taxpayers in consultant fees ($97,000 in 2016 and $40,000 in 2017) and staff time.

Our community is paying for incompetence

Fox, who was marking his last night on the council, summed up the situation perfectly: “This is bad governance,” he said.

The people of Greensboro are watching, and many of them don’t like what they see.

...Barber frequently is condescending, accusatory or dismissive to the citizens he serves. Councilman Tony Wilkins is overly sharp with city staff members and combative with fellow council members. Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter has become more conservative on issues of police oversight. Outling is so bound to what is legal and proper that he sometimes forgets what is right and logical.

I don't agree with Susan Ladd on lots of issues, 

but I agree we have a bunch of crooked politicians running Greensboro, 

who need to be booted from office

As the council has come under fire, Vaughan has become more defensive and less receptive to the public.

Nancy Vaughan is Robbie Perkins, only different

Same donors etc..., like most of the rest of Council

...council members also have made significant missteps, both individually and collectively.

Most of which remain unreported by the News and Record

They may pay the price for it in November."

I hope so

Susan Ladd: Record number of filings should be a wake-up call for Greensboro City Council

http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/around_town/susan-ladd-record-number-of-filings-should-be-a-wake/article_03ba736b-7881-5859-9cd0-db6b02026a69.html

Who Owns Greensboro Mayor Nancy Wilkins?

No the title wasn't a typo. Read on.

Have you ever wondered who really calls the shots here in Greensboro, who really pulls the strings of the puppets we elect to the Greensboro City Council? Well thanks to some very observant readers of EzGreensboro.com who passed this information along to me we now know that Mayor Nancy Barakat Vaughan is owned by none other then Greensboro City Councilman Tony Wilkins.

Or does Mayor Vaughan own Tony Wilkins?

How do we know this?

Take a look at the website ElectNancyVaughan.com

Now look at who controls Nancy's website. According to Whois Lookup Results the administrator is none other than Tony Wilkins.

Either way, Tony Wilkins and Nancy Vaughan are tied together. You can't bullshit your way out of this one Tony.

Now this begs the questions:

1. How did Tony Wilkins, who is rumored to be running against Mayor Vaughan, manage to become the administrator of Mayor Vaughan's campaign website which has been in existence since 2009?

2. Has Tony Wilkins been working with Mayor Vaughan since 2009? The website was first created in 2009?

3. Does this explain how Councilman Wilkins manages to make a living despite apparently being unemployed? Hey, we all know he can't be selling enough furniture out of a mini storage warehouse to pay the bills.

4. If we were to ask the Mayor and Council members to make public their tax returns, would they do so?

5. How many other members of City Council have apparent conflicts of interest involving their business arrangements with Councilman Wilkins?

6. Who actually owns ElectNancyVaughan.com? Is it Tony Wilkins? Marty Kotis? Roy Carroll? Donald Vaughan? Mike Barber? Nancy Hoffman? Who? And why would he or she keep the actual ownership of an election website private unless there is in-fact a conflict of interest?

7. Have laws been broken?

8. Will there be an investigation?

9. Will the State Board of Elections step in to investigate?

10. Will Donald Vaughan magically manage to make it all go away.

Share with your friends, I'm sure they will be curious just as our other readers were. And rest assured, as we learn more we'll tell you.

Adding To Roch's Pile: Part 15

 Are Recent Changes To Greensboro's Public Information Policy Another Attempt To Deceive?

On Tuesday, October 18, 2016, I posted Forcing Change To Greensboro, in which I wrote of changes to the City of Greensboro's public information policy approved by City Attorney Tom Carruthers and City Manager Jim Westmoreland. You can find the text of the letter here as posted by Abner Doon.

I didn't tout the changes as they looked suspect to me. I've since learned there have been a series of meetings going on between the city, local journalist and local bloggers, to discuss public records to which I was never invited to attend.

But wait, it gets better. Councilman Mike Barber stepped in to address the concerns of some of the bloggers and journalists who were invited to attend the meetings I was left out of:

And then there's this reply from Roch Smith Jr who was at those meetings which rips it all apart:

To which City Manager Jim Westmoreland waves a white flag:

Seems our local journalist are concerned about an attempt to hide e-mails between staff and City Council members from public view while making public only those e-mails sent to City Council via the e-mail city council form on the City website.



In other words, according to them, and contrary to North Carolina state statutes, only e-mails sent by the public are subject to public records laws.

If at first we practice to deceive...

So the policy that became policy earlier this week is policy no more. The official launch date of the City's open data portal is set for today, October 20, 2016 and policy is not yet set proving what I suspected, 

"After years of being lied to and put off it is hard to suddenly trust they are doing the right thing just because they're being sued."

Mayor Vaughan and City Staff can keep playing me for stupid. But remember, I'm not fighting this fight alone. This time, even Councilman Barber has taken my side.

And because of having to rework all those dozens, if not hundreds of public information requests, the City is no longer in compliance with their 30 day extension to reply to my lawsuit which ended 2 days ago, no matter what their reply might be.

And Councilman Barber, Got a funny story for you. It got back to Carruthers that I was questioning the City's use of N.C.G.S. § 160A-168, Now, without anyone asking, the City is reopening dozens of PIRTs and filling those same PIRTs a second time. And the deadline for the City to reply to the suit was 2 days ago plus mail time.

Now it needs to get back to Carruthers that I'm questioning the City's use of N.C.G.S. § 132-6(d) as well as N.C.G.S. § 143-318.10. That will put their panties in a wad.
And Roch's Pile grows ever larger. with  Adding To Roch's Pile: Part 16

Updated; Greensboro Police Officers Association on Greensboro's City Council, Charlotte Jackson and Travis Cole

"...The police department continued to investigate Jackson’s role in the Yourse incident, when she resigned from the department, two days after the video was released.

...The association said it supports the due process of Cole but did not support the “violation of Jackson’s legal right.”

...The association claims the context of the video was twisted by the council.

...the association said Yourse provides conflicting information to Cole, including the correct pronunciation of his name, whether or not he has ID on him and if he is a legal resident of his mother’s house. The statement (attached below) reads Cole tried to question Yourse about any outstanding warrants he might have access to which Yourse responded, “not that I know of.”

“Mr. Yourse also stated he is not afraid to go back to prison, which further heightens Officer Cole’s suspicions,” the statements reads.

...Cole said he perceived the phone call to a friend, in which Yourse claimed the police were harassing him, as a safety threat.

During the struggle, both officers reported they felt Yourse grab for items on their duty belts and reported sustaining injuries. Jackson reported Yourse put pressure on her wrist during the struggle...

After Yourse was in custody, Cole and Jackson discovered two active warrants for his arrest. It was also discovered Yourse was charged with breaking and entering into his mother’s house, 2 Mistywood Court, twice in the past.

...Mayor Nancy Vaughan expressed her disdain for the video after it was shown, calling it “brutal” and apologizing to Yourse.

...As for the association’s claims that the council broke the law in releasing Jackson’s video, Hightower responded “Seven of us voted for it.”

City council members also voted unanimously (8-0) to ask the state to revoke Cole’s law enforcement certificate."

http://wncn.com/2016/10/01/greensboro-city-council-accused-of-breaking-the-law-by-releasing-body-cam-footage/

https://www.facebook.com/tony.wilkins.94/posts/10207690366478172?pnref=story

The comments at the link are quite illustrative

https://www.facebook.com/tony.wilkins.94/posts/10207690366478172?pnref=story

Why Doesn’t Mike Barber Want Greensboro to be Great?

In his post Cultural Illiteracy, Fec writes:

"Greensboro is a dying city because the few who own everything wage war for what remains.  The neoliberal corporates not only have no sense of community, but actively seek to destroy every vestige of local authenticity in the name of profitable replication.  We are surrounded by neoliberal diploma mills graduating kids who know nothing.  And then we fail them by not leveraging the experience with a cohesive business community promoting the arts.  Instead, we have fascist promotion of competing art projects, none of which is marketed properly.

Families with the resources to make a difference and an expressed desire to act exhibit a complete lack of creativity and commercial acumen.

It is one thing to consider the moribund sadness which is Greensboro in isolation, but I’ve been to Greenville, SC and Wilmington.  I know things can be better because I’ve seen it.  What the wealthy and powerful have wrought is a public disease abetted by corrupt politics.

Why doesn’t Mike Barber want Greensboro to be great?  Is it the same reasons he mocks poor kids with the morality and ethics of golf at Gillespie?  How long will the country clubs carry on with business as usual and total disregard of the collapsing community around them?  How long will these monsters continue to rely upon the thin blue line to carry out their fascist ambitions?"

Upon reading that I paused and thought to myself, Mike Barber is more interested in his own personal success that the success of the city in which he lives and holds an at-large seat on the Greensboro City Council.

How do I know that to be true?

Well, if Mike Barber were really interested in the success of Greensboro he would have jumped at the chance to run the rest of the Greensboro City Council and their corrupt cronies into the ground when I proved beyond any doubt that the Wyndham Hotel Feasibility Study was fraudulent.

But instead, Councilman Mike Barber signed-off on a letter from City Council that read:
 

 So what were my questions?

The downtown Wyndham was never built. Construction never started. Now you know why. The question is: Why didn't Mike Barber go public on what was obviously a fraudulent attempt to secure $1.975 Million Dollars in Greensboro tax dollars?

Could it be it was in Councilman Mike Barber's own best interest to keep his mouth shut?

The next time someone says to you, what has Billy Jones done for Greensboro you can tell them I single handedly saved Greensboro taxpayers $1.975 Million Dollars and did it expecting nothing in return. Then remind them I'm a candidate for Mayor of Greensboro in 2017.

Mayor Vaughan And Councilman Barber Support Slumlords

The photo you are looking at above was shot at 2603 Textile Drive in Greensboro just this morning. This is my neighborhood. After I wrote Remember Sonny Vestal on July 26, 2016 it was delayed but we knew it would come. To my knowledge the woman who rented the home never got back the $800 Vestal cheated her out of.

Thankfully, a nice lady took her and her little girl in just about a mile away. The young woman's problem is that she just doesn't know how to be poor. She grew up in an affluent neighborhood on the west side of town but circumstances changed for her family. What happened to her could happen to a lot of you.

This is the same address where Reginald Demarcus Wrenn was murdered in cold blood on November 3, 2012. Over a month later the liquor house that myself and neighbors had been complaining about for months was still operating there. The saddest part: Demarcus was the only sober person there. He had gone there only to pick up his brother and bring him home. When his brother got into a fight, Demarcus broke up the fight only to become a victim.

The piles will remain there for weeks, perhaps months, as they scatter to the winds and fill storm drains washing into nearby streams. Yes, Greensboro's storm drains empty into streams, not sewers.

And no one, not the men running the liquor house serving to underage drinkers, not Sonny Vestal who doesn't give a damn who rents his houses as long as the checks are on time, not the Greensboro Police Department who knew for months the liquor house was there, not the Greensboro City Council, or anyone else who had the power to do anything, believe they were in any way responsible for what went on there.

I promise you, when I am elected Mayor of Greensboro I will bear responsibility for everything that goes wrong in Greensboro-- even if it's not my fault. Why? Because that is the job of a leader.

Amazingly, the new bond package being pushed by Mayor Vaughan and Councilman Mike Barber, and apparently supported by the rest of the current City Council, consists of $9 Million Dollars to be given to slumlords like Sonny Vestal who cover our streets with trash both literally and figuratively, then expect you, Dear taxpayers, to pay the cost of hauling it all away.

Allow me to repeat:

Amazingly, the new bond package being pushed by Mayor Vaughan and Councilman Mike Barber, and apparently supported by the rest of the current City Council, consists of $9 Million Dollars to be given to slumlords like Sonny Vestal who cover our streets with trash both literally and figuratively, then expect you, Dear taxpayers, to pay the cost of hauling it all away.

But there is $1 Million to help people buy their own homes... provided the recipients earn over $50,000 a year.

I'll repeat that as well, this time with emphasis:

But there is $1 Million to help people buy their own homes... provided the recipients earn over $50,000 a year.

So what happened to helping the poor? Barber and Vaughan aren't helping the poor with their so-called "affordable housing" bond. They're giving all the money to people who already manage to fare for themselves already. This is exactly what happened with all the failed "affordable housing" programs of the 1950s, '60s and 1970s.

Why are we repeating what we know doesn't work?

Could it be because Nancy and Mike are in league with scum like Sonny Vestal?

I'm not saying yes or no to affordable housing. Not yet. I want to hear from you. What I am saying is this: If Greensboro taxpayers are going to pay for housing for poor people then why not give those homes to poor people rather than paying rich people to build homes to rent to poor people?

After all, we all know home ownership is the #1 means by which most families escape poverty and neighborhoods with higher percentages of owner-occupied homes suffer less crime and have higher property values, which in turn, generates more tax revenue for the City of Greensboro.

By the way, if you haven't heard already (I'm sure the News & Fishwrap will never tell you) I filed suit in Guilford County Superior Court yesterday against Mayor Vaughan, City Manager Jim Westmoreland and the City of Greensboro. I posted the suit here along with links to the suit as filed showing all the necessary stamps and signatures.

Update: For additional reading I recommend Evictions: A vicious cycle for people in poverty posted just this morning by the University of  North Carolina.

In other words: Billy Jones is right again.

"Wyndham Worldwide donated $100,000 to [Mike Barber's] First Tee [of the Triad, whose Board Member is Mark Brazil]"

Aug. 31, 2011

"The votes are in, and the winner of the inaugural Charity of Choice program at the recent Wyndham Championship is [Mike Barber's] The First Tee of the Triad. The program was created by tournament title sponsor Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world's largest hospitality companies.

Throughout the tournament, spectators voted at computer kiosks in the "Key to Wyn" tent for their "charity of choice" from almost 50 local and national not-for-profit children's organizations. The donation came through Wishes by Wyndham, the philanthropic foundation of Wyndham Worldwide and official charity of the Wyndham Championship.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR, Mark Brazil,

who serves on First Tee of the Triad's Board.

After Wyndham winner Webb Simpson [Sam Simpson's brother] received the Sam Snead Cup for winning the 72nd annual Wyndham Championship, he presented a $100,000 check to The First Tee of the Triad on behalf of Wishes by Wyndham.

Mark Brazil gives $100,000 of Wyndham's money

to Mike Barber's First Tee of the Triad

while serving on Barber's Board.

What are the odds?

"We were so grateful to the Wyndham for giving us this opportunity and thankful to all the fans who believed in us enough to vote for us," The First Tee of the Triad president Jeff Howard said.

Jeff Howard is Mike Barber's boss

and a personal buddy of First Tee board member Mark Brazil.

"We're in our fourth year, and we've touched over 16,000 kids already...

Thanks again to Wishes by Wyndham for this generous donation."

Following the Charity of Choice donation, The First Tee of the Triad donated $5,000 to each of the other top-five finishers in the Charity of Choice listed alphabetically: Autism Society of North Carolina, Greensboro Children's Museum, United Way and Victory Junction.

http://www.jamestownnews.com/sports/article_78830917-b66b-5563-b6ff-57e5608377fc.html

Did the other charities get paid off

after they objected to Brazil, Barber and Howard's

blatant nepotism via a rigged vote? 

Were the extra donations included in the original prize list?

First Tee of the Triad Board Members;

Brazil, Mark Board Member
Bruce, Carole W. Board Member
Clark, Jeff Board Member
Clopton, George Board Member
Cummings, Candace S. Board Member
Dailey, Dianne Board Member
Faidley, John Board Member
Goodson, Leesa Board Member
Hough, Michael R. Board Member
Howard, Jeffrey C. Board Member
Kluttz, James Board Member
McCaskill, T. Gray Board Member
McQuery, Dr. Charles E. "Chuck" Board Member
McSwain, Judge Lawrence Board Member
Pearce, John "Buck" Board Member
Twilley, Michael Board Member
Watkins, Thomas C. Board Member
White, III, Dunlop Board Member
Zifchak, Pete Board Member

http://www.thefirstteetriad.org/club/scripts/clubpers/view_clubpers_list.asp?GRP=20829&NS=GAU&APP=61&FLAGCODE=BOARD

Mike Barber is very close with Mark Brazil.

The board was made up 

of many of Mike and Mark's friends and business associates.  

Mark Brazil is BFFs with Joe Louis Barrow Jr.,

CEO of The First Tee.

http://www.thefirsttee.org/club/scripts/clubpers/view_clubpers.asp?SRC=L&PID=36616&GRP=17356&NS=CU

Joe Louis Barrow Jr. is close with Carole W. Bruce, whose name along with fellow First Tee of the Triad's George Clopton were knee deep with the Civil Rights Museum. 

Robert E. Long, Jr., Owner of Greensboro's Granville Capital, Inc., is on the national First Tee Board of Directors and, along with Mark Brazil, is angling to get $22.5 million from the City of Greensboro for water and sewer down 421, which Mike Barber already voted for an RFP for;

http://www.thefirsttee.org/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?NS=PUBLIC&DN=LEADERSHIP
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Who would be stupid enough to spend $22.5 million to get water and sewer to a Megasite, about 10 miles away from another that already has it?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/who-would-be-stupid-enough-to-spend-225.html

WTF Jim Melvin, Jon Bell, Mark Brazil, Kevin Carter, Pat Danahey, Don Flow, Kelly King, Nido Qubein, Tim Rice, Kelly Stanhope and Robert Long?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/wtf-jim-melvin.html

Barber doesn't have any morality problems get in his way;

Goodbye Mike Barber and Zack Matheny; "Greensboro group pressured to hire new CEO"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/04/goodbye-mike-barber-and-zack-matheny.html

"Melvin said [Megasite] funding, for now, is coming by way of the Bryan Foundation and private monies."

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/03/melvin-said-megasite-funding-for-now-is.html

Zack Matheny and Mike Barber need to recuse themselves from the Megasite Water and Sewer vote

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/03/zack-matheny-and-mike-barber-need-to.html

All the finest people.

I just received a phone call from City of Greensboro Councilman Mike Barber on First Tee of the Triad

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/05/i-just-received-phone-call-from-city-of.html

Charitable Compensation and Mike Barber's First Tee of the Triad

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/charitable-compensation-and-mike.html

Carole Bruce serves on Mike Barber's and Bryan's Foundations, and was an owner of the Civil Rights Museum

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/carole-bruce-serves-on-mike-barbers-and.html

Mike Barber's First Tee of the Triad/Golf Fore Fun Math, Info and FAQ

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/mike-barbers-first-tee-of-triadgolf.html

Wyndham Championship 2013 Federal Form 990: Part 1

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/05/wyndham-championship-2013-federal-form.html

Wyndham Championship 2013 Federal Form 990: Part 2

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/05/wyndham-championship-2013-federal-form_16.html

From Mike Barber's City Council Economic Interest Disclosure signed on February 24, 2014

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/from-mike-barbers-city-council-economic.html

Greensboro City Council members argue about nonprofit info

http://www.news-record.com/multimedia/youtube_dff66ee6-ba89-11e3-9825-0017a43b2370.html

Beginning at 0.46, Barber said he received emails that day; Emails from a public records request show none.

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/05/beginning-at-046-barber-said-he.html

Mike Barber Tees Off

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/05/mike-barber-tees-off.html

Mike Barber Could Have Said

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/05/mike-barber-could-have-said.html

Why Did The City Not Send Me Mike Barber's E-mails?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-did-city-not-send-send-me-mike.html

Jeff Sykes on Mike Barber; "RECORDS SHOW COUNCILMAN’S NON-PROFIT SALARY"

"Expenses for camps and clinics, the rationale for the organization, amount to $23,193, or six percent of total revenue."

http://yescurrent.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/records-show-councilmans-non-profit-salary/

Councilman Mike Barber Takes City Funding, Refuses Transparency

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/04/councilman-mike-barber-takes-city.html

Mike Barber Lied On First Tee Federal Form 990s

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/04/mike-barber-lied-on-first-tee-federal.html

Mike Barber Shows City Subsidies First Tee

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2014/04/mike-barber-shows-city-subsidies-first.html

Grimsley alum’s foundation donates to First Tee of Triad

http://www.news-record.com/sports/recreation/article_75ebe950-19ff-5ffe-ab3c-ec2f7fffffb4.html?mode=story

Wyndham Championship offers scholarships to First Tee

http://www.jamestownnews.com/sports/article_070abfb2-a94d-11e3-9589-0019bb2963f4.html

Yes Weekly's Jeff Sykes on Mike Barber's taxpayer and Jim Melvin paid for First Tee of the Triad golf racket

Mike Barber is owned by Jim Melvin funding First Tee, 

and is obviously Roy's boy per John Hammer's early endorsements.

"Greensboro City Council member Mike Barber, himself the head of a non-profit that receives money from the City of Greensboro and the Bryan Foundation...

Most of City Council, including Barber who skimms taxpayer money via First Tee

is relatively broke, 

which is why most are so inexpensive to purchase with nice dinners 

and campaign cash.

...Barber himself has taken in some $286,250 in salary from his non-profit between 2012-2014, according to available federal tax records.

Barber is also Jim Melvin's boy (See First Tee of the Triad),

who is stuck with relying on Melvin and the City for his income

by skimming about 25 cents on the dollar from every penny "given" to First Tee.

Barber also continues to vote on matters before council that benefit the Bryan Foundation and its subordinate initiatives such as the megasite project in Randolph County. Records show that the Bryan Foundation gave some $250,000 to the City of Greensboro to benefit Gillespie Park, where Barber’s non-profit First Tee of the Triad operates its youth golf initiative."

http://yesweekly.com/article-21703-news-analysis-civil-rights-museum-finances-deserve-honest-assessment.html
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Mike Barber admitting he misled Greensboro's taxpayers and electorate on the Aquatic Center

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/01/mike-barber-admitting-he-misled.html

Barber is the perfect stooge, as he is reliant of Melvin and friends

of whom Mike has voted taxpayer monies for the Megasite

without any news outlet until now reporting

This looks like why Mike Barber freaked out about naming salaries of non profits doing business with Greensboro.

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/05/this-looks-like-why-mike-barber-freaked.html

Arthur Winstead Jr., Treasurer for Mike Barber's City Council Campaign, appears to have given $250 and didn't get paid, but charged First Tee a relatively higher $15,000

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2014/04/arthur-winstead-jr-treasurer-for-mike.html

As Mike Barber is a direct beneficiary of Bryan Foundation money

via First Tee of the Triad,

through which he pads his income along with Greensboro taxpayer support 

it appears Mike Barber has a conflict of interest

and should not vote on any item associated with the Bryan Foundation

or the Randolph County Megasite project

Who would be stupid enough to spend $22.5 million to get water and sewer to a Megasite, about 10 miles away from another that already has it?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/who-would-be-stupid-enough-to-spend-225.html
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Nancy Hoffmann 2013 Contributions; Ed Kitchen, Bryan Foundation Alice and Jill Isaacson

Zack Matheny 2013 Contributions; Cyndy Hayworth Brett Schulman, former Sam Simpson partner. Sam Simpson Chester Brown, Richard Beard, former Sam Simpson partner Art Winstead Chester Brown Tony Collins Steve Bell Don Brady, husband of Bryan Foundation board member Louis Brady Alice Isaacson David Howard, who Zack got some city money for. Henry Isaacson John Lomax, who Zack tried to get money for, along with Sam Simpson Jim Melvin Allen and Mindy Oakley, who Zack got taxpayer money for. Triad Good Government PAC

Mike Barber 2013 Contributions; Henry Isaacson Marc Isaacson Chester Brown Jim Melvin Robert Long Cyndy Hayworth Triad Good Government PAC John Lomax Don Vaughan Art Winstead Desmond Sheridan, Partner of Isaccson's David Craft

Some of the very people who will now likely run for some of these districts 

sat around a conference room table in downtown Greensboro

and helped draw the districts.

Mike Barber

lying without any news outlet calling him on it

Nancy Vaughan 2013 Contributions; Jim Melvin Cyndy Hayworth Triad Good Government PAC - Roy Carroll Art Winstead - Mike Barber's First Tee and campaign accountant Shirley Frye, Bryan Foundation Board member David Brantley Craft, champion of white extremist Charles Brantley Aycock Joseph M. Bryan
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Who on Greensboro's City Council is going to have to recuse themselves on the Megasite?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/who-on-greensboros-city-council-is.html

Compare Sam Simpson and Zack Matheny's current exploits to; 12/31/13; "Robbie Perkin's 9,000 acres, Project Haystack, "Incentives" and the Rhino Times"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/compare-sam-simpson-and-zack-mathenys.html

Heasley on Hartzman on the Water, Sewer deal to enrich an unknown group of what looks like Greensboro's crony elite, led by Jim Melvin, Zack Matheny and Sam Simpson

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/redux-who-would-be-stupid-enough-to.html

Greensboro "Found" $2.2 Million To Give To Rich Developers

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/greensboro-found-22-million-to-give-to.html

How many times does it take for Greensboro's taxpayers and voters...

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-many-times-does-it-take-for.html

How Nancy Vaughan and Zack Matheny give money to their Irving Park friends and contributors, while stiffing East Greensboro

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-nancy-vaughan-and-zack-matheny-give.html

180 Existing Mega Sites and Now 181: "And then what? What's next?"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/180-existing-mega-sites-and-now-181-and.html

Two different stories, two different demographics, two different outcomes, two different worlds, two sets of rules

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/02/two-different-stories-two-different.html

How many times does it take to get scammed by some of our elected leadership
who are lining the pockets of their friends and campaign contributors?

Remember when Robbie Perkins personally profited 
from getting taxpayer funded water and sewer to the old Pilot Life building?

Remember when Robbie, Zack and Nancy Vaughan voted to give Roy Carroll 
a sewer line under the highway for Roy's AMEX property, 
which guranteed water and sewer to Roy's other property next to it?

Remember when then Greensboro mayor Robbie Perkins
negotiated a $19 million deal with the county 
to bring water and sewer lines to eastern Guilford County
and open up 9,000 acres to development?

Remember when Mike Solomon with The Timmons Group 
said the Project Haystack team had been in conversations with Burlington and Greensboro 
regarding an estimated $15 million water supply line extension from Burlington 
and a $20.1 million sewer line extension from Greensboro? 

Remember the economic feasibility study that said if Project Haystack was fully built out, 
it could generate $39.1 million in state and local tax revenue?

Remember when Solomon said the Project Haystack team started conversations with landowners, 
and worked to form a nonprofit entity and an interlocal agreement,

just like the Randolph deal?
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Jeff Sykes; "Why are so many of us willing to accept mediocrity in our political leaders?"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/jeff-sykes-why-are-so-many-of-us.html

Hartzman on Mike Barber and Jim Melvin

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/06/george-hartzman-on-mike-barber-and-jim.html

Gillespie Golf Course/1st tee Short Course Grand Opening Talking Points 4/6/2015

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/07/gillespie-golf-course1st-tee-short.html

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan doesn't know she's incompetent

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/05/greensboro-mayor-nancy-vaughan-doesnt.html

As Mike Barber's First Tee of the Triad receives money and benefits from both the City of Greensboro and Jim Melvin's Bryan Foundation, Mr. Barber needs to recuse himself from the DGI mess

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/05/as-mike-barbers-first-tee-of-triad.html

Fun Fourth, Zack and Mike Barber; “It’s a perfect mix in building up to what they will have in August,” Matheny said. He declined to reveal the [Wyndham Championship] sponsorship amount.

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/fun-fourth-zack-and-mike-barber-its.html

Tuesday, April 28, 2015; "Wyndham Worldwide donates $100,000 to [Mike Barber's] First Tee [of the Triad, whose Board Member is Mark Brazil]"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/04/wyndham-worldwide-donates-100000-to.html

The News and Record's Richard Barron on $2.3 million Greensboro taxpayer dollars for Jim Melvin, Sam Simpson, David Powell, Roy Carroll and friends

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-news-and-records-richard-barron-on.html

Randolph County Megasite Con Update

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/05/randolph-county-megasite-con-update.html

DGI, Jim Westmoreland, Nancy Vaughan, Zack Matheny, Tuggle Duggans, Roy Carroll and the Triad Good Government PAC

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/05/city-of-greensboro-information-request.html

Mike Barber needs to recuse himself on Greensboro City Council's vote to replace Zack Matheny; Justin Outling Edition

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/06/mike-barber-needs-to-recuse-himself-on.html

Mike Barber Doesn't Care About Your Children

Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber, who spends his days on the golf course teaching "life skills" to children as the director of First Tee of the Triad, really only cares about getting a big fat paycheck. How do I know this?  This article from the News & Fishwrap:

And this one:

Never mind that an Economics Professor pointed out:

"As Keith Debbage pointed out in a recent opinion column in the News & Record, affordable housing is as critical to a city’s infrastructure as roads and bridges. A professor of geography at UNC-Greensboro, Debbage wrote a report on this subject for the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro."

Mike Barber, the typical pompous-ass lawyer, knows everything about everything. Councilman Barber thinks we should do it the "good, old fashioned, conservative way" and let the Federal Government solve our problems:

“My first thought is public sector versus private sector,” Barber said. “I believe a lot of housing challenges and issues can be addressed by the private sector. But if you look to the public sector, that’s more of a federal and state responsibility.”

But there was a time when cities and towns didn't wait on State and Federal Governments to solve their problems. There was a time when the conservative way meant taking care of the very least among you. Take for instance the town of Tarboro, North Carolina, which, in 1918, when faced with outbreaks of typhoid fever, dysentery, and colitis causing lots of children to die, decided it was high time their children had pasteurized milk and established the Tarboro Municipal Milk Plant  at taxpayers expense.

You see, Councilman Barber, it wasn't that pasteurization didn't already exist. French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered pasteurization in 1864 but Barber's beloved private sector didn't step up to the plate until the first state laws were adopted in 1947 and Federal laws in 1973. What if Tarboro had waited for the state or Federal government to help them? Would there be a Tarboro today?

But as Susan Ladd noted in her article, Councilman Barber had no trouble finding lots of money to give to private sector developers to spend in Downtown Greensboro.

The conservative way is to take care of your own. The time has come when Greensboro's conservatives can no longer deny that Greensboro's poor and minorities are Greensboro's own and whatever happens to them happens to your families as well. Don't allow men like Mike Barber to divide us as a means to his own wealth and personal gain. Make Greensboro the beacon the world will want to follow and tell Mike Barber to get off the golf course and get a job.

Civil Rights Center: Details Never Told

Jeffrey Sykes of Yes Weekly recently got his hands on loads of the same documents the City of Greensboro, Councilman Mike Barber and News & Fishwrap have long held but never shared concerning the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. In his newest post News Analysis: Civil Rights Museum finances deserve honest assessment, Mr Sykes adds what is no doubt an interesting and thus far untold twist to the stories being told by local media and the Greensboro City Council.

I found this to be very interesting:

"But it’s a time rising hope for those who have spent years, some decades, working to make the ICRCM a financially sustainable operation. A complex web of corporate entities erected to fulfill federal tax code requirements will fall away this month. The museum has been required to pay in about $240,000 a year into the tax-credit matrix, but those payments will vanish when the New Market Tax Credit period unwinds beginning Aug. 17."

What's that? Could it be the ICRCM finances are not as bad as we have been told? Deena Hayes-Greene invited me to see their books over a year ago but no one believed me. Deena told me they refuse to talk with reporters from the News & Fishwrap because their reporters never report the truth. Jeffrey has the documents, Folks. For example: while the News & Fishwrap makes reference to a Conservation Easement, Jeffrey puts it online. That was his link.

Yes, the museum is behind on its property taxes but check this out:

"Once the NMTC period is complete, the ICRCM will revert to non-profit status. This will remove the $30,000 estimated property tax liability the museum has endured for the last seven years, freeing up additional revenues with which to stabilize the museum’s finances. "

How come Councilman Mike Barber never mentioned that? Could it be he's been trying to play the race card against downtown Greensboro's #1 tourist attraction, bar none. Remember when Mike Barber peddled fake numbers concerning crime at Heritage House as an excuse to throw poor people and minorities out of their homes? Barber claimed there were 2,800 calls to 911 in a 2 year period when in-fact records indicate less than half that number?

Does Mike Barber hate black people or does he just enjoy stealing from black people?

I told everyone back in 2014 that Mike Barber's non profit was funded by the City of Greensboro. I even provided tax records. Barber denied it to be true but now Jeffery writes:

"Greensboro City Council member Mike Barber, himself the head of a non-profit that receives money from the City of Greensboro and the Bryan Foundation, continues to aggressively call into question the motives of museum board members and staff."

Barber is racist scum:

"Barber also continues to vote on matters before council that benefit the Bryan Foundation and its subordinate initiatives such as the megasite project in Randolph County. Records show that the Bryan Foundation gave some $250,000 to the City of Greensboro to benefit Gillespie Park, where Barber’s non-profit First Tee of the Triad operates its youth golf initiative."

Do you really want your children being taught life skills by this over privileged, racist white man who has never worked a day in his life?

"Barber’s war of speculation about the possible sale of the museum has no basis in discoverable fact, yet in an email to City Attorney Tom Carruthers this week he continues to cast aspersions upon the motives of those most committed to the museum’s success."

You're a lawyer, Councilman Barber, show us something that will stand up in court!

"Barber’s speculation goes so far as to question the legitimacy of a bank document the museum provided as part of the loan-offset process. Carolina Bank forgave the museum a $100,000 debt by writing it off as a donation to the museum in Sept. 2014. This April, as part of the offset reconciliation process, Carolina Banks’ David Griswold, whose title is special assets manager, signed a letter confirming the donation. City Attorney Carruthers provided the letter to council as part of an update of the loan offset process.

Barber attacked the legitimacy of the document."

Got proof Mikey? You're pretty good at running your mouth from your office over there in Clemmons but let's see you stand on the streets here in East Greensboro and talk that shit, tough guy?

“Regarding the other document, this letter was dated and produced following its exclusion from the original forgiveness total, and the signature is a stamped signature it appears,” Barber wrote, questioning the document’s veracity. “Please contact Carolina Bank to determine and confirm the staff level of this document, and if the note was paid by a 3rd party, or merely forgiven.”

Jeffery writes:

"A call to Carolina Bank late Friday morning has not been returned as of this writing"

My guess is Mike has already called Mayor Vaughan to tell her to have her husband make sure that call never gets returned as Donald Vaughan owns bunches and bunches of stock in Carolina Bank.

But I could be wrong.

What Greensboro's City Council and Staff didn't/don't/won't watch out for, for their own employees' retirement plan

"...Paying too much: You have to care about expenses. They are the most predictable characteristic of explaining future returns of funds, experts say. And expenses are a more reliable signal than past performance.

They don't care about their own employees

Choosing the right mutual fund is different from choosing stocks, because you're effectively choosing a money manager rather than a management team. Controlling costs is key to successful fund investing.

They had the chance to do the right thing, 

and they didn't do it

It can’t be said enough: with funds, costs matter. Annual expenses eat into total return, year after year. With high-cost funds, you pay more and pocket less. Moreover, studies show that low-expense funds are more likely to outperform their costlier counterparts over time..."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-buy-mutual-funds-2016-07-24

If you are a City of Greensboro employee,

Nancy Vaughan, Nancy Hofmann, Tony Wilkins, Justin Outling, Jamal Fox, 

Mike Barber, Yvonne Johnson, Sharon Hightower, Marikay Abuzuaiter, 

Connie Hammond, Rick Lusk, Jim Westmoreland 

Mary Vigue and Donnie Turlington are directly responsible for your not making more

in your ICMA-RC 457 retirement plan

They chose Wall Street over those they have a responsibility to represent

Sharon Hightower abuse of power

"There is no official report on this but plenty of unofficial, off-the-record reports from reliable sources that City Councilmember Sharon Hightower stepped over the line on Sunday.

According to various sources, Hightower arrived at the Parks & Rec Fest at Gillespie Park on Sunday after the parking lot was full and they were using a shuttle to transport people from off-site parking to the event.

Hightower insisted that she be allowed to park in the area reserved for handicapped parking.  She was told by a female police officer that she could not park in a handicapped space.  Hightower insisted that she was a city councilmember and had to be allowed to park in the handicapped space.  The police officer reportedly stood her ground and didn't allow Hightower, who is not handicapped and has no handicapped sticker, to park in the handicapped space.

The sources also say that Hightower filed an official complaint against the officer..."

http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/rhino-times/august-4-2016/2016080302/#4
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And elsewhere btw;

"At the very beginning of the meeting Hightower and Barber got in a back and forth, talking over each other, after a speaker from the floor, Sandra White, complained about the way city prime contractors treat subcontrators.

A legitamate topic which City Council has failed to address

by not providing transparency concerning subcontractors

which a tech fellow expert on the subject told me a few years ago was totally doable

right before City Council didn't do it, as the action would mess with campaign cash

from prime contractors

Barber said that he had been chairman of the state contracting licensing board and what she was complaining about was covered by state statute.  He suggested that she contact him and he would direct her on how to file a complaint.

Hightower interrupted saying to White, "Are you one of my MWBEs?"  Hightower said that they should not be pushing her off to the state but should handle the issue "right here."

Barber said that the laws concerning MWBEs were state statutes and the city was prohibited from interfering with state laws.

Mike Barber makes money off of poor black kids with City taxpayer monies

at Gillespie golf course, owned by the City, which is sponsored by Jim Melvin

who Mike was nice enough to vote for his and Roy Carroll's Megasite soon to be fiasco

Hightower responded, "Mr. Barber has never helped an MWBE person.  You have never helped anybody."

Always and never...

tbs, Mike is not one of the good guys

with a documented history of lying and using City resources for his personal benefit

without consequence, as the rest of Council is just as compromised by our oligarchy

Vaughan stepped in and said that the council needed to behave the way they expected the audience to act."

After Nancy and Don made about $10,000 per month for years

from the City giving free White Street Landfill money to Wilbur Ross' Cone Mills [ITG],

while Nancy paid one of Don's law firm employees under the table

in violation of applicable laws

Yes Weekly's Jeff Sykes on Skip Alston, Earl Jones and the Civil Rights Mueseum

"...Grant’s Over land Campaign and the Battle of Hampton Roads seem ripe comparisons for the standoff between the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, the City of Greensboro, and those white male critics who cry about “Skip and Earl this” and “Skip and Earl that” every time the ICRCM is mentioned in the press.

Sweeping generalization

That all the critics are racist is absurd on it's face,

and not true in fact

The museum has a long and divisive history in Greensboro. Skip Alston and Earl Jones are no strangers to making enemies, and it seems that this legacy is what an overwhelming majority of vocal white male observers cling to when the ICRCM comes to mind. Even veteran local politician Mike Barber, currently an at-large member of the city council and a rumored potential mayoral candidate in 2017, clings to the notion that “Skip and Earl” might be able to make some money by selling the museum at some point in the future.

Can they Jeff?

Who owns the building?

Who could profit from a sale or rental as something other than a museum?

Then there’s the mantra trotted out by white male haters of the ICRCM that “Skip and Earl” are somehow making money or will make money off of once and future rent payments at the museum.

I don't hate Skip and Earl

I have been told by insiders at the museum that they could profit

I have been told by the City of Greensboro that they could profit

It’s an unfortunate blight on the community as a whole in Greensboro that the divisive reputation of two of the museum’s tireless champions seems to subsume the potential for good inherent in the museum’s existence beneath a thick layer of racial animosity.

There is racial animosity among some, but not all critics

Leaders, and I mean real leaders and not the fake developer-backed politicians that pass for leaders in Greensboro, need to step up to the plate and solve this one once and for all.

Does the Museum’s Landlord stand to earn income from the property under any scenario?

"Possibly, if their museum tour/ticket sales increase."

Thank you,

Public Information Desk

...I’m sorry. Zack is a great guy. I get it. Roy is awesome and so is Union Square and LeBauer Park. And who doesn’t like baseball? But until the festering open racial sore that is the public conversation about the future of the ICRCM is healed, the frilly greatness that is the vision of Action Greensboro and their private foundation financiers will be a Pyrrhic victory that achieves little of substance.

I don't consider it a racial issue

It's an issue of transparency

Why not find the answers before blaming all wh

...The hype around the Tanger Performing Arts Center will be deafening. All this chummy goodness just oozing with selfcongratulatory hype will be as thick as the humidity during the past month.

In the coming months?

But sitting there, right in the middle of the Center City, is the ICRCM. It’s been scrutinized and audited and hung in public by the city council and on the pages of the Greensboro News and Record over and over ad nauseam. It continues to amaze me that white Greensboro can go on and on about the $35 million for this and the $7 million for that and the $25 million for Zack Matheny to redo downtown in his own image but goes absolutely apoplectic at the thought of the ICRCM being assisted by taxpayer dollars.

Agreed

The City of Greensboro agreed to float a $1.5 million forgivable loan to the museum in early 2014 in order that the museum would not default on the complicated federal tax credits that helped finance the construction. This was a wise and prudent move by the council.

During and after an election in which Roy Carroll sponsored a golf tournament

meant to win votes for Robbie Perkins from East Greensboro

Revisionism

...At present, city bean counters calculate that the museum raised about $700,000 against the total loan debt, leaving $800,000 to be repaid. Museum officials counter that more was actually raised, leaving a debt of about $250,000.

You may want to interview Len Lucas

but it won't be allowed

The federal tax credit structure falls away this month as those credits are repaid in full. The museum should be in a much clearer cash flow picture after that.

The cash flow picture should be clear in real time

...I’ve studied the tax credits for two years and barely understand them now.

Which shouldn't be the case 

along with understanding attendance, cash flow, expenses etc...

before accusing all the critics of racism

When they go away, that will be good for everyone involved.

Agreed

Lingering, however, is the city having written off $1.2 million for the Nussbaum Center after the small business incubator was unable to pay back a similar loan.

Moral relativity

My understanding is everything was transparent on the Nussbaum deal,

which I also opposed

Disclaimer; I worked with Nussbaum's CEO at Merrill Lynch

Former Yes Weekly's Eric Ginsburg, Brian Cleary and Jordan Green

operate out of Nussbaum

In my view, the city should forgive the loan to the ICRCM.

As long as Skip and Earl etc... have no potential financial stake

Residents could then move forward into this new, splendid future our private foundation shadow government has planned for us without there to bloody the pristine white concrete at LeBauer Park."

Not going to get the money back anyway

http://yesweekly.com/article-21663-greensboro%25E2%2580%2599s-civil-war.html

Am I a racist Jeff,

or just a radical bean counter and believer in principle over politics?