Triad Stage Giving Out Freebies to Greensboro City Council Members , Should This Be Allowed?

Should a Public Official accept free tickets from an agency vendor to a sporting event, concert, play, or fundraising event?

Answer: Generally, no. It is generally not proper for Public Officials to accept gifts or services from someone whom the official regulates, contracts with, or otherwise does business with as part of his service as a Public Official. At a minimum, this can cause the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Does it make any difference if the tickets to a sporting event are season tickets or tickets the vendor received as part of its sponsorship of the event so that there was no purchase made specifically for the Public Official?

Answer: No. It does not matter how the vendor got the tickets NC BOARD OF ETHICS

Public records request from the City of Greensboro in regards to Triad Stage and freebies to the Greensboro City Council.

Your request regarding if the “current City of Greensboro Council Members accepted any free anything from Triad Stage?,” yielded the following response after polling the Council Members:

“Perkins – Yes
Johnson – Yes
Abuzuaiter – No
Wade – No
Hoffmann – No
Vaughan – Yes, but she has also purchased numerous tickets for children’s plays.
Kee – No
Matheny – No
DBS – Yes, but has given them to constituents to use.”

This should complete this information request.

Regards,

Public Information Desk
City of Greensboro

300 W. Washington Street

Greensboro, NC 27401

Unanswered Guilford County Information Request on Real Estate Revaluation Assessments: Sent March 12, 2012

ACC Hall of Champions in the News and is Costing Greensboro Taxpayers Money

In today's Greensboro News and Record 3-18-2012 behind the pay wall is a article from the front page titled "ACC Showpiece isn't Bringing Fans" .

In this article this is what was written:

"The attraction sold about 7,000 mostly discounted tickets during its first year.

That’s well under the 26,000 visitors that coliseum Director Matt Brown had hoped for when the hall opened last year.

And it’s a fraction of what organizers had projected when they envisioned the hall as a much larger structure. Plans unveiled in 2005 called for a $23 million facility that would bring 170,000 people through the doors annually. Ticket sales at the hall accounted for $18,935, with another $6,000 earned in commissions from special event catering. Private donations brought in $25,000, according to organizers.

The hall was built using $2 million allocated by the state legislature, $300,000 in interest and $186,000 from private investors. No city tax dollars were used in the project. "

The writer Nancy Mclaughlin says that "no Greensboro City tax dollars were used in the project".

Well let's see what is in the current agenda with attachments for the March 20, 2012 Greensboro City Council meeting and under the reports with disbursements is a really nice nugget for the taxpayers of Greensboro.

2-16-2012
FUND NAME: Coliseum Projects Improvement Fund
Check Number:276595
Vendor Name: S&S Building and Development
Description: Hall of Champions Interior Renovation Project
Disbursement Amnount: $11,560

Not even one year into the ACC Hall of Champions and there is already a renovation project going on at the Hall of Champions, this ACC Hall of Champions will go down in history as our local triad edition of Citizens Against Government Waste Porker Award.

Five straight weeks of John Hammer and the Rhino Times not mentioning Greensboro's Downtown Noise Ordinance Issue

Lying by omission

One lies by omission by omitting an important fact,

deliberately leaving another person with a misconception.

Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

…Propaganda is an example of lying by omission.

Wikipedia

"Prior restraint or prior censorship is censorship
in which certain material may not be published or communicated...

Prior restraint prevents the censored material from being heard or distributed at all...

Prior restraint often takes the form of a government order
prohibiting the publication of a specific document or subject.

Sometimes, a government or other party
becomes aware of a forthcoming publication on a particular subject
and seeks to prevent it: to halt ongoing publication and prevent its resumption.

...“Freedom of the Press” is defined as the right to be free from prior restraints.

Thus it is often considered to be the most extreme form of censorship.

A prior restraint, by contrast and by definition,
has an immediate and irreversible sanction."

Wikipedia

Repost on Government Waste for Posting Tax Delinquency in Local Paid Monopoly Called Greensboro News and Record, High Point Enterprise and Carolina Peacemaker

NOTE: THIS IS A REPOST FROM LAST YEAR AND TRIADWATCH IS IN PROCESS OF GETTING A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST IN REGARDS TO THIS YEARS NUMBERS FOR THE GOVERNMENT WASTE OF POSTING THE TAX DELINQUENCY of GUILFORD COUNTY IN THE PAID MONOPOLY LOCAL PAID PAPERS IN GREENSBORO NEWS AND RECORD, HIGH POINT ENTERPRISE AND CAROLINA PEACEMAKER. GREENSBORO NEWS AND RECORD HAD THE 2012 TAX DELINQUENCY in TODAY'S PAPER for 3-14-2012  

Triadwatch did a public records request with the Guilford County Legal Department in regards to public notices in local pay newspapers. One of the questions asked to the Guilford County legal department was this;

On March 23, 2011 in section C of the Greensboro News and Record there was a tax delinquent part of the paper that consisted of over 20 pages of tax liens from the Guilford County Tax Department . I would like to know specifically how much this 20 page part of the paper cost the taxpayers of Guilford County

Robin Keller Paralegal with Guilford County got in touch with the finance department  and this is what she e-mailed me back with;

"Regarding your question concerning the cost to run the delinquent tax listing on March 23, 2011, in the Greensboro News and Record, the amount was $86,740.29. I was also informed by our finance department that some or all of this cost is reimbursed when paid through an advertising fee that is added to the delinquent bills."

The finance department says that some or all of this cost is reimbursed but to me this is a wasteful use of taxpayers money. Does anyone really care about the tax delinquency in Guilford County? Should the county have a up to date database online for all to see on a daily basis for tax delinquency? I also found out that not only was this $86,000 invoice in the Greensboro News and Record but it was also in the High Point Enterprise as well and will update as to that amount as well and if the 2 papers are similar in costs  than this bill could be doubled to $172,000.

Public notices in local papers consists of a variety of issues from  foreclosure notice, general legal notice, notice of creditors, notice of hearing, notice of meeting, notice of sale, and request for bids. The public notices request was also sent to the City of Greensboro which has provided me with a lot of information in regards to the Carolina Peacemaker and the Greensboro News and Record. In future post this week i will show you just how much  money it is costing the taxpayers of this county and the city of Greensboro to advertise in the local papers of choice which is Carolina Peacemaker and Greensboro News and Record.

One of the main reasons to bring up this issue of public notices and the wasteful spending of taxpayers money  on a weekly basis is because there are some bills in the North Carolina Legislature who want to keep up with the technology age and do away with this expense. One of the bills wants  public notices shown electronically online this bill is called CITY/COUNTY ELECTRONIC NOTICE #472 CLICKHERE and there is also the same bill on the Senate side of the North Carolina Legislature Senate Bill #773 CLICKHERE

We have seen all over this state the local newspapers write editorials to keep this taxpayer funded money pit flowing to the local newspapers. We also had the Greensboro News and Record with help from the N.C. Press Association display a full and half page ad titled "Would you let a fox guard your hen house" CLICKHERE and it is the middle ads opposing house bill #472.

We also see a few more bills that are being considered at the state level for example

House Bill #307 Local Electronic Notice ,
 An act to allow the county of Wake and the towns of Cary, Clayton, Wendell, and Zebulon to use electronic means to provide public notice in lieu of publication.

House Bill #361 Currituck Electronic Notice,
An act to allow Currituck County to provide electronic notice of public hearings

The reason for this post was because as we see from the Greensboro News and Record Editorial titled "Help Public See Notices" CLICKHERE . They never once said how much this information is costing the taxpayers of Guilford County . After that editorial it was apparent that a public records request was in order and in the coming week we will post the pdf files on the invoices for the past year and a half in regards to the Carolina Peacemaker and the Greensboro News and Record .

As we see with the tax delinquency bill of $86,720.49 this is just one of many public notices that are costing us plenty over a years time and this could be handled in a manner on city and county web sites all over this state with parameters in place that will make the hen house more transparent and not costing us money to put in local newspapers .

Below is Part #1 of 6 documents that will be discussed this week in triadwatch in regards to this issue because it is time the local newspapers get off the government trough .

Public Notices 1 Carolina Peacemaker

Vaclav Havel

"You do not become a ‘dissident’
just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career.

You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility,
combined with a complex set of external circumstances.

You are cast out of the existing structures
and placed in a position of conflict with them.

It begins as an attempt to do your work well,
and ends with being branded an enemy of society.

…He does not attempt to charm the public.

He offers nothing and promises nothing.

He can offer, if anything, only his own skin
—and he offers it solely because he has no other way
of affirming the truth he stands for.

His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen,
regardless of the cost."

Vaclav Havel via Fec

Yes Weekly's Eric Ginsburg Rhetorically Kicks the Rhino's John Hammer in the Nut Bag, which John may keep on his belt to feed the squirrels

http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-13791-rhino-times-distorts-facts-in-drug-story.html

Guilford County Information Request on Real Estate Revaluation Assessments

Please provide data for all Guilford County revaluation assessements
including before and after values of all properties in a comma delimited format
with before and after values seperated, which can be measured in different ways.

Please include a "neighborhood-by-neighborhood" data set.

Please also include a separate data set
of properties not included in the revaluation
that were not "between a willing and financially able buyer and a willing seller,
neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell"
due to distressed sales, short sales, foreclosure or other reason.

George Hartzman

Legal Notice Legislative Update: VA. Waters Down Bill While Hawaii Florida and Cal. Make Progress Moving Notices Online

HAT TIP LEGAL NOTICE ONLINE


-------- LEGAL NOTICE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: VA. WATERS DOWN BILLS. HAWAII,
FLORIDA AND CAL. MAKE PROGRESS MOVING NOTICES ON LINE.
--------------

*Legal Notice Legislative Update: Va. Waters Down Bills. Hawaii, Florida and
Cal. Make Progress Moving Notices On Line.*

This has been a busy two weeks in on line legal notice activity. Hawaii has a
bill which has passed the Senate unanimously. California has a new very
clever bill proposed. Viriginia's Press Association succeeded in convincing
legislators to water down the bills attempting to save the state money.

*Virginia*'s Legislature, which had the most promise for passing 8 state wide
bills to move notices on line, caved to the pressure of the Virginia Press
Association. As of our last report
http://legal-notice.org/blog/virginia-2-line-legal-notice-bills-pass-va-house-delegates-large-margins,
only two bills remained alive which could potentially save the taxpayers
money without continuing to subsidize the printed newspaper industry.

* House Bill 234 http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+sum+HB234
would have reduced the amount of information required to be published in
the newspaper about a time-share being sold under foreclosure. It passed
the House by a huge 98-2 margin on February 14. Prior to the bill going to
the Senate and bowing to lobbying by the Va. Press Association, the
wording that would have reduced the amount of information required to be
published in print, was changed and the requirement to publish an absurd
amount of information in print was reinstated. The bill, whose purpose was
to "reduce the amount of information required to be published" was
neutered and ultimately will save the state nothing while preserving the
subsidy to newspapers. The bill will most likely be signed.
* House Bill 1193

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=121&typ=bil&val=HB1193 would
have required local public bodies to post required procurement notices on
the Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website
and makes newspaper publication optional. It passed the House of Delegates
78-21 but was set aside by the Senate's Committee on General Laws and
Technology by a 10-4 margin.

In *Hawaii*, we reported last
http://legal-notice.org/blog/hawaii-senate-committees-vote-bill-which-allows-moving-public-notices-line that
Senate Bill 2233
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2233
had made it out of multiple Senate Committees. Since then the Senate Ways and
Means Committee slightly watered down the bill (State-wide notices can be
moved out of the statewide paper and into a local paper and county-wide
notices can be published on line) and recommended passage. *The Senate
unanimously passed the bill 25-0* and it is now in the House where the House
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on March 15. Hawaii is unique in that
there is a very well written on line newspaper, Honolulu Civil Beat, that has
a deep-pocketed owner who could be influential.

*Florida* took the first step in moving notices on line. Both the House and
the Senate passed the bill and it was sent to Governor Rick Scott for
signing. HB937
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=48170
appears benign. It saves the state and local governments no money. It just
mandates that notices published in print are also published on line. The
newspapers see this as a victory but it sets them up for the next round of
legislation which should say that notices will no longer need to be in print
(see below).

We've saved the best for last. *California*, the largest state and the most
technologically progressive (as well as the most troubled financially) has
proposed the most thoughtful bill yet from any state since we've been
covering this issue. Instead of enforcing that the government publish
notices, AB 1902 http://totalcapitol.com/?bill_id=201120120AB1902 in detail
expands the definition of newspaper of general interest to on line
newspapers. Ironically, the need for this bill came from the situation that
exists in many rural areas where the print newspapers have now deserted them
while on line publications have come in to fill the void of news provider. We
will examine this in our next post as this bill successfully refutes the
independence issue which the newspapers have successfully used to protect
their franchise. This measure could be heard in committee by March 24.



To read how other states are addressing this issue

Click *HERE* http://legal-notice.org/blog

Greensboro Councilwomen T Dianne Bellamy Small Has a Novel Idea in Regards to Public Notices

During the February 21, 2012 Greensboro City Council meeting  Councilwomen T Dianne Bellamy Small(TDBS) had a great idea as you see from the above video. This was in response to item #12 on the agenda

12. Resolution directing the City Tax Collector to advertise liens on real estate for delinquent substandard structure charges, water rents, property assessments, and nuisance abatement charges for the year 2011

.
We have a monopoly going on in this state in regards to public notices having to be advertised in a local paid newspaper which in this county is the Greensboro News and Record. It is time for the taxpayers and our local elected state officials to start really saving the taxpayers millions of dollars and having these public notices be available in places like the local public access channel 13 and each local city and county web site and make copies availlable at local libraries if need be.

It is great to see a local politician thinking outside the box as TDBS does and letting the public channel advertise this on the tv for all the subscribers to see. Hopefully what the councilwomen suggested will come to fruition and once we can change state law we will see no more public notices in the paid monopoly paper. Public notice laws were written for back in the day when the only means of information was the local paper. Those days are long gone and time to change the state law NOW. 

George Hartzman Linkfest of Real Estate Revaluation info to be covered Tuesday, March 13, from at 6pm to 8pm, at the Old Guilford County Courthouse, at 301 West Market Street, in the Blue Room

George Hartzman on Guilford County
and Greensboro Property Revaluation and Real Estate Assessments

A few notable Guilford County property revaluation assessments

We recieved our 2012 Revaluation Assessed Value Today

City of Greensboro and Guilford County Information Request
on Real Estate Revaluation Assessments

Search Directions to Compare Greensboro and Guilford County
Real Estate Revaluation Assessment Outcomes

A few notable Guilford County property revaluation assessments: George Hartzman will be covering this Tuesday night at 6pm at the Old Guilford County Courthouse

Mike Winstead

Old - $168,500
New - $134,800

About 20% less

Delinquent: $2,467.54

Yvonne Johnson

Old - $127,300

New - $119,700

About 6% less

Updated with Search Directions: A Comparison of Four Greensboro and Guilford County Real Estate Revaluation Assessment Outcomes: Guess Who?

People can foresee the future

only when it coincides with their own wishes,

and the most grossly obvious facts

can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

George Orwell

Old Value: $198,400

New Value: $192,000 - About 3% less?

Liberty cannot be preserved

without a general knowledge among the people.

John Adams

Old Value: $269,300

New Value: $226,400 - 15% less?

People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves

than by those found by others.

Blaise Pascal

Old Value: $6,258,500

New Value: $4,090,500 - About 35% off?

About Six $190,000 houses?

All animals are equal,

but some animals are more equal than others.

George Orwell

Old Value: $6,637,600

New Value: $5,704,800 - Down about 14%?

The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance

as though they were realities,

and are often more influenced by the things that seem than those that are.

Niccolo Machiavelli

If most commercial real estate

depreciated more than most residential real estate,

who will make up the difference?

If some higher valued residential real estate

lost more than some lower priced real estate,

who gets to make up the difference?

Guilford County GIS Data Viewer

Click on Parcel Search in the upper right hand side of the page linked above.

Enter number and street, without "drive" or "court" after
and then click search.

Click on Tax Appraisal Information on the right hand side
and a new window will come up.

The new tax value is in the bottom right corner.

Click on Tax bill in the upper right area,
which should open a new window.

Clicking on the top link with lots of numbers under the headings on the left
should bring up another window with the old value in the middle on the left.

Divide.

Subtract.

Compare.

We recieved our 2012 Revaluation Assessed Value Today.

http://www.uncg.edu/bae/cber/tbi/dec11/


December 2011 Real Estate Foreclosures:  234

Unemployment Rate (%): 10.1

Why would the Greensboro Performing Arts Center Task Force hire the same guy to do both a feasibility study and a business plan?