Thursday, June 16, 2011

John Hammer on Danish: Danny Thompson - "Allen Johnson is a complete liar." - Why didn't Robbie Perkins want the memo released?

"...City Councilmember Danny Thompson said he was livid after he read News & Record Editorial Page Editor Allen Johnson's blog stating that the reason some members of the City Council wanted to get a bill through the legislature to put the city attorney under the City Council is because, "They want to fire the current City Attorney, J. Rita Danish."

Thompson said, "Allen Johnson is a complete liar. There is no validity at all in that. It is a trumped up charge from [state Rep.] Alma Adams."

Thompson said, "Not a single person on the City Council has uttered the words, we need to fire Rita Danish." He added, "There is absolutely not a grain of truth in that."

...Danish inexplicably aligned herself with Councilmember Robbie Perkins and the liberal minority on the council and against the conservative majority.

Like Robbie Perkins' conflict of interest ruling on the White Street Landfill?

Not only did Danish do it, but she was caught by Councilmember Trudy Wade at the meeting and admitted that the regulation she had imposed didn't exist.

The issue was participation by telephone by councilmembers at a council meeting.

And the issue of Danish's Robbie Perkins' conflict of interest ruling
 on the White Street Landfill?

Danish, after consulting with Perkins before the meeting, ruled that once a person had called in and hung up, they could not call back and participate in the meeting again. Danish told the City Council at the meeting that this was the rule and that because of that, Councilmember Danny Thompson would not be allowed to call back and vote.

She did not tell the council or Thompson before he hung up that if he did he would not be able to call back.

Three councilmembers were absent from that meeting and trying to participate by telephone, Thompson, Dianne Bellamy-Small and Zack Matheny. A strict interpretation of the rules would not have allowed any of them to participate, but Danish ruled that Bellamy-Small could participate and that Matheny could until he was disconnected, but that Thompson could not.

Without Thompson, the conservative majority didn't have the votes necessary to pass the early voting plan that they supported, so that item was continued.

Thompson and Matheny were both upset that because of an improper ruling by the city attorney they were denied the right to represent their constituents, and Wade was not pleased with having the city attorney tell her that a regulation existed and then later in the same meeting admit that it did not.

...Danish also advised the council last week that it did not have to name the lawsuit it was going in closed session to discuss.

If the closed session involved the White Street Landfill,
why isn't John Hammer bringing up Robbie's conflict of interest issue?

The North Carolina open meetings law clearly states that if a government entity is going into closed session to discuss a pending lawsuit, that lawsuit has to be named.

...Although the terms of the "mutual separation agreement" had not been announced, councilmembers said that Danish would receive moving expenses of up to $5,000 and three months severance.

If the City Council fired Danish, according to her contract, she would have received six months severance.

It appears the deal that was reached was that Danish got to resign and the council got to cut the severance in half.

...Any way you look at it, one of the main reasons Danish was hired and was willing to move to Greensboro was her working relationship with Young.

Agreed.

Even the announcement about her departure was the subject of disagreement.

Perkins reportedly didn't want the memo announcing Danish's separation agreement released, so Young would not release it until he was certain that five councilmembers, a majority, did want it released."

John Hammer

If Perkins obstructed transparency,
why isn't John Hammer bringing up Robbie's conflict of interest issue
on the White Street Landfill?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I saw a TV interview w/ Robbie this morning. He seemed awfully agitated about something. Maybe he does not know how to act when he doesn't get his way. Give Robbie his do, he got that Pretty Boy Swag on. He is the new John Edwards.

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