Stacking The Deck on Boards and Commissions in Greensboro N.C.+Friendly Ave. Rezoning + History

A lot of talk has been going around about the rezoning case in Greensboro off of Friendly Avenue and Hobbs Road with 3 opinion pieces in the Greensboro News and Record 2 for the developers and one for the neighborhood.

on Thursday we had this one

Zoning case: NIMBY attitude surfaces yet again by ex planning board members Cyndy Hayworth and Tony Collins

then on Sunday we had this

Counterpoint: Land’s best use is commercial by zoning commission members Mary Skenes and Rick Pinto

also on Sunday was this

Point: Parcel should stay residential by Scott Kinsey Friendly Coalition

NOTE:TREBIC CARTEL is the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition


It is time we take a stroll down memory lane in regards to what has been happening for a very longtime in Greensboro North Carolina for how the developers in town stack the deck in regards to boards and commissions  ,we need to look at what happened when citizens from Greensboro and a interloper from High Point  banded together to bring back Protest Petitons to the citizens of Greensboro . Below is what UNC-G Professor had to say at his blog :

David Wharton from A Little Urbanity blog had this to say back when the TREBIC CARTEL was fighting bringing back Protest Petitions which still resonates today

I made some comments at the meeting, too,  in which I focused on the fact that the building and real estate industries hold majorities on key boards and commissions, specifically the Zoning Commission, the RUCO board, the Board of Adjustment, and the Land Development Ordinance Citizens Advisory Team (of which I was a member).

Marlene Sanford of TREBIC took issue with my figures, disputing in particular the LDO CAT numbers, which I said was weighted 11-4 in favor of real estate interests. Since this is a public board, I don't think I'll be violating anyone's privacy by posting their names and occupations here. So here they are:

 

Trip BrownBrown Investment Properties (TREBIC member)

James CoxUrban-Atlantic Builders

Mike Fox

Attorney

Tuggle Duggins and Meshan PA (TREBIC member company)

Dick Franks

Koury Corporation (TREBIC member)

Gary Hill

McAlpine Company 

Jessica Marlies

Environmental law attorney

Bob Powell

North Carolina A&T University

Keith Price

Samet Corporation (TREBIC member)

Todd Rangel

Commercial real estate manager

SunTrust Bank

Gary Rogers

Starmount Company (TREBIC member)

Todd Rotruck

Independent Contractor

Mary Skenes

Yost and Little (TREBIC member)

Gary Wolf

Sparrow Wolf & Dennis, PA (TREBIC member)

David Wharton

UNC Greensboro

Some might quibble with the way I counted. Mike Fox and Gary Wolf are both attorneys, but I counted them as being in the real estate industry because both of their firms are TREBIC members. And though Todd Rotruck was appointed as a representative of the GNC, he's also a contractor in the building industry.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

A few more post at TRIADWATCH

 

  Marlene Sanford, Greensboro Partnership, TREBIC= Stacking the Deck on Boards and Commissions

 

in this article was this

"When will see a change in the mind set on who needs to be appointed to these boards and commissions because it has become a broken record. How has it become a broken record because here is what was reported back in 2008 from the protest petition for Greensboro N.C. blog

"In the Triad Business Journal January18-24 2008 in the Triad Talk section this is what was said. " Developers always have the upper hand in Guilford County" says Reid Phillips, an attorney with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro. They have boards packed with their people. They have experience. They are masters of divide and conquer. They can also wear people out with continuances.

It is hard for grass roots efforts to compete with this modus operandi."

 

MORE

 

Stacking the Deck with Developers

 

TREBIC + RUCO = Fox Guarding Hen House

 

Here is What Stack The Deck With TREBIC Developers Looks Like in Greensboro N.C.on CAT TEAM

 

Even today on the boards and commissions we have plenty who are in real estate and development industry stacking the deck

 

Mary Skenes  Yost and Little TREBIC CARTEL MEMBER

 

Paul Gilmer plenty was discussed on this appointment HERE

 

Russ Parmele Brown Investment TREBIC CARTEL MEMBER

 

Peter Placentino Brown Investment TREBIC CARTEL MEMBER

 

John Martin

 

Marc Isaacson who is King Zoning Stud Henry Isaacson's Son and law firm is major player in TREBIC CARTEL

 

Frankie T Jones was at smith moore leatherwood law firm TREBIC member but now at Lincoln financial

 

Rick Mossman  CBRE is TREBIC CARTEL member

 

Just remember about these appointments and for neighborhoods across Greensboro the deck is not stacked in your favor and it is not a even playing field with the local media having 2 against one in regards to the friendly rezoning articles out in the past few days and don't want to even talk about the PRO Trader Joe's piece written by News and Record a few weeks ago.

 

 

Stay strong friendly coalition,am sure the TREBIC CARTEL's lawyers from hypocrite lawyer Tom Terrell to King Zoning Stud Henry Isaacson have tried and failed at this property . They might need to get High Point's King Zoning Stud  James Morgan  on the case. Just remind James how protest petitions in a High Point zoning case helped a few years later bring it back to Greensboro after 30 + years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local Real Estate Group Wants To Deny The Citizens of Greensboro The Right To Protest Petition

On Monday 3-28-2011 there was a joint session of the Regulatory Reform Committee meeting at the campus of Guilford Tech . Community College. While looking at my twitter account i came across this tweet by Greensboro News and Record state and federal government reporter Mark Binker which he had this to say,

"TREBIC out in force at #ncga Reg Reform committee asking for repeal of protest petition rules. #GSO just got it back a couple years ago."

Here is a link to Mark Binker's twitter account CLICKHERE

The TREBIC in the post belongs to the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition our local developer lobbyist organization. It is amazing to think that it hasn't even been 2 years and they are already whining and complaining to the state about this law. To also understand that the citizens of Greensboro have been getting screwed for the past 30 years of not having this state law and we are only going on 2 years of finally having it be a part of the zoning laws to see them complain to the regulatory commission is ridiculous.

 We also have a blog post from Jordan Green at Yes Weekly on this meeting here is what Jordan had to say.

" Lolita Malave, president-elect of the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association, asked the General Assembly to repeal the protest petition, which allows neighboring property owners to trigger a requirement of a 75 percent majority vote for approval of a rezoning request if they file a valid protest petition.



“It is easier to change the US Constitution that it is to rezone your property under the protest petition,” Malave said. “The US Constitution can be changed with a simple-majority vote of the people or a two-thirds majority vote of Congress. By contrast, the owner of 5 percent of the land within 100 feet of a proposed land rezoning project can trigger a requirement for more than a super-majority vote. That equates to more than 75 percent of voters. It is absurd and unfair that such a small number of citizens can and do decide the fate of many.”


One speaker echoed Malave’s appeal, while another spoke in defense of the protest petition.

here is a link to the whole article CLICKHERE

 We also have  our local Greensboro City Council Member Zack Matheny talk about Protest Petition in a council meeting last year here is the clip;







Now we have a local city council member talk about how they are frustrated with Protest Petition being a part of the zoning process and this was over a year ago that the councilman talked about this, then we see this year they go in front of a regulatory commission meeting to let them know how they feel and want it repealed. With this being said it shows to all the citizens of Greensboro that this law is working for it's purpose and needs to stay a part of the process. 

It is time to let our local state representatives know how you feel about Protest Petition and to say to them keep this a state law and it should stay that way.


Here is a link to all of our local representatives if you would like to say to them "KEEP PROTEST PETITION AS STATE LAW".

STATE SENATE SIDE

Don Vaughan CLICKHERE
Gladys Robinson CLICKHERE
Phil Berger CLICKHERE
Stan Bingham CLICKHERE

STATE HOUSE SIDE

John Blust CLICKHERE
Maggie Jeffus CLICKHERE
Pricey Harrison CLICKHERE
Marcus Brandon CLICKHERE
John Faircloth CLICKHERE
Alme Adams CLICKHERE

You can also let the Regulatory Reform Commission know how you feel as well by filling out this form on the state web site  CLICKHERE

Regulating Our Local Real Estate Lobbyist Group TREBIC Not a Bad Idea.

Headline in Providence, Rhode Island article " Providence could become first RI City to Regulate Lobbyist".

CLICKHERE

Nice to see local politicians who actually are looking out for transparency in government here is a few quotes from article. 

At the state level, lobbyists are required to register with the Secretary of State. But no other city or town has similar requirements, according to the Providence City Clerk’s office.

The current draft of the Providence ordinance would require anyone who is lobbying council members, the mayor, and other city officials—and being paid for that lobbying—to register with the City Clerk. The lobbyists would have to pay a registration fee, likely hundreds of dollars, and file annual reports on their lobbying activities. They could also face hefty fines for not complying with the rules.

Supporters of a proposed ordinance on lobbyists—including Council President Michael Solomon and Finance Chairman John Igliozzi—say the reform would boost accountability and transparency in city government

.


Novel idea and later in article we see that major cities all over this United States already have this in place and it is time for major cities all over North Carolina to do the same.

We have one local lobbyist group by the name of Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) who are not regulated by anything. They have these annual pigs poultry and politics dinner where local elected officials get in free but should pay their way to a nice dinner with a meet and greet. TREBIC also has meetings or luncheons that they invite local elected politicians to hear what they have to say. To make matters even worse there is a local board in greensboro called the RUCO board which is regulated by the City of Greensboro with a post on July of 2010 titled TREBIC + RUCO = Fox Guarding Hen House CLICKHERE   ,  it was amazing to see the local lobbyist group have the meeting at their place , no such hint of influence there.

This idea for regulating local lobbyist groups might be a long way off but planting the seeds could make this come to reality because as we have seen in the past,  TREBIC wanted to deny the citizens of Greensboro the right to protest petitions CLICKHERE in the zoning process and fought long and hard to no avail. The state legislators were all in agreement that this was a good state law and made Greensboro be like every other municipality in this state and comply with protest petitions. Having the transparency of our local lobbyist groups be regulated on a quarterly basis will make for better government.

 

Local Real Estate Lobbyist Group Wants To Get Chummy With Greensboro Planning For Western Part of City

REALTORS,



The following is a message from Judy Stalder of TREBIC (jstalder@TREBIC.org), requesting volunteers for a project that is likely to affect all REALTORS. Please contact Stalder at the e-mail address listed above if you have any questions.


Best,





Communications Specialist
GRRA, Inc.
23 Oak Branch Drive
Greensboro, NC 27407
(336) 854-5868


Greensboro Planning, Water Resources and Transportation Departments are beginning the process of preparing a Western Area Plan. The planning staff has requested TREBIC members to join the team working on this plan. This request shows just how important your opinion as a coalition is to the City!


Please let me know if you are interested in participating in the creation of this plan. The Plan will require coordination with Kernersville, High Point and the Piedmont Triad International Airport and take into account the Heart of the Triad Study as well as the PTI Vision Plan, so members that work in the Kernersville and High Point areas may be particularly interested in this project.


PURPOSE/AREA:


The purpose of the Western Area Plan is to identify the best and highest use of properties west of NC 68 and the Piedmont Triad International Airport. The study will also determine how to prepare the study area for future development by identifying infrastructure needs, market trends, regulatory needs and any changes to the City of Greensboro Connections 2025 Comprehensive Plan and/or the Generalized Future Land Use Map (GFLUM).


TIME COMMITMENT:


A citizen information meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 3. The group will meet once a month for 12 to 18 months.


This e-mail was sent from Greensboro Regional Realtors Association (info@grra.org)

________________________________________________________________________________

As you see from the above email from the local lobbyist outfit called the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC), this was stated:

The planning staff has requested TREBIC members to join the team working on this plan. This request shows just how important your opinion as a coalition is to the City!

This request shows how important the lobbyist are to the city over the citizens of Greensboro that has been pointed out plenty in the past for example:

Stacking The Deck With Developers on Boards and Commissions Greensboro City Council Style, Video Embedded  CLICKHERE


or

Marlene Sanford, Greensboro Partnership, TREBIC= Stacking the Deck on Boards and Commissions CLICKHERE


or

Here is what stack the deck with trebic developers looks like on cat team CLICKHERE

or

TREBIC + RUCO = Fox Guarding Hen House  CLICKHERE


Don't take me for my word on this because we can go back to January 6, 2005 to hear what David Wharton had to say in a post called Blogging TREBIC CLICKHERE

In this post David had this to say;

But this is what TREBIC does, and it's quite up-front about the fact. In a recent half-page ad placed in local builders’ trade publications, titled “What Has TREBIC Done For You Lately?”, the group boasted that it had weakened the RUCO ordinance, the sidewalk ordinance, and local environmental legislation. It claimed it was working hard to place TREBIC supporters in important positions on appointed boards. It also boasted that it had feted members of the City Council and other elected officials at a pig-pickin’ shindig in order to curry their favor.



Gosh, thanks TREBIC

To end this post we also have to remember that sitting  Greensboro Councilman Robbie Perkins and also sitting Greensboro Councilman Zack Matheny a few years back played the land speculation game in regards to this western area of Greensboro with a post on TRIADWATCH titled Highway 68 North + Anonymous Investors + Zack and Robbie = Ethical Problems CLICKHERE  .

Let's see who the players are going to be on this western area plan committee and how much this deck is going to get stacked from our local lobbyist group TREBIC.

County Salaries in North Carolina 2011 from UNC School of Government

Each year the UNC School of Government has a total listing of county salaries in the State of North Carolina for 2011. Here is the scribd version below. If you want to see the internet version it is available CLICKHERE .



County Salaries 2011

Stacking The Deck With Developers on Boards and Commissions Greensboro City Council Style, Video Embedded

UPDATE: ROCH101 has a new post titled "Too Cozy: Board Appointee's Company Lobbying City for Trash Business" CLICKHERE  on top of what is written in this post.



During the Greensboro City Council meeting on November 16, 2010 councilman Jim Kee at the end of the meeting when each council person gets to speak on matters important to them decided to reappoint local realtor Paul Gilmer to the zoning commission. Why is this appointment so significant ? Who knows but in the embedded video above we have fellow councilman Zack Matheny really taking to task this appointment from Jim Kee.

There has been a little history with Paul Gilmer on the Greensboro Zoning Commission with this post at TRIADWATCH back on September 20, 2008 with a title "Greensboro Zoning Commission is in a mess and needs fixing, memo from city attorney:, CLICKHERE .

Also we need to remember that Paul Gilmer is a part of the group called CICO where we have Jordan Green from Yes Weekly have this to say in a article on opening up the white street landfill,

"The politically connected enterprise has retained lawyer Cameron Cooke, also a former councilman, and Paul Gilmer, a realtor and area resident who formerly served on the zoning commission. Cico touts its private waste disposal project as a boon to economic development in the area and its plan as “the most important element for the revival of the area.”

 You can see from the embedded video at around the 1 minute and 40 seconds it seems like Zack Matheny said something that really ticked off fellow councilwomen TDB Small who was pointing her finger at Zack Matheny, then we see the mayor bang his gavel and sternly say that Zack Matheny has the floor and enough with the rest. Just another day in the life of a Greensboro City Council meeting.

Something that needs to get explained from the embedded video above and am sure is what is at the heart of this problem comes at the 2 minute mark of this embedded video. Zack Matheny had this to say

" When you tell me your gonna "

Then Zack Matheny catches himself mid sentence after this quote above then he mumbles

 "i just this is a tough one for me out of the blue"

It would be great to know what more Zack Matheny wanted to say about the appointment of Paul Gilmer back on the zoning commission where in the past week he had talked with Zack and was interested in the planning board not the zoning commission. There must have been something worked out between Zack and Jim on something and him appointing Paul Gilmer to the zoning commission was a total blindside to Zack.

There has been a lot of controversy over how the Greensboro City Council appoints it's members to certain boards and commissions. Back in around July of 2009 we had the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress address the Greensboro City Council on the need for a change in how the council appoints people to boards and commissions. Here is what was stated in the scuttlebutt section of the weekly paper called Yes Weekly!

"Call for more diversity on Greensboro boards made The Greensboro Neighborhood Congress presented a proposal to the Greensboro City Council on July 21 to reform the process of appointing citizens to city boards and commissions. The congress’ recommendations include making boards and commissions more representative by gender, district, ethnicity and profession, conducting an annual analysis of the demographic composition of the citizen boards and requiring that applicants provide relevant personal information. One oft-made criticism of city boards and commissions is that they’re stacked with real estate professionals. District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade suggested that the city consider moving meeting times later in the day that would accommodate more citizens’ schedules, and speculated that “people in real estate and development may have more flexible schedules that allow them to serve on boards.” — JG "

As we have seen with this appointment of Paul Gilmer a local realtor to return back to the zoning commission, this is just par for the course where we have plenty of instances in the past to show you how the local lobbyist group called TREBIC which stands for the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition likes to stack the deck on these boards and commissions. Here is a few post on TRIADWATCH from the past on this subject.

Marlene Sanford, Greensboro Partnership, TREBIC = Stacking The Deck on Boards and Commissions


CLICKHERE


Here Is What Stack The Deck with TREBIC Developers Looks Like in Greensboro N.C. on CAT Team
CLICKHERE

TREBIC + RUCO = Fox Guarding The Hen House
CLICKHERE

It is amazing how someone like realtor Paul Gilmer gets to jump all the people who are waiting in the databank line to serve on a board or commission and he has already served his time a few years ago but gets to be reappointed to the zoning commission. This appointment is just one instance of how certain council members want to stack the deck in the favor of TREBIC and we haven't even talked about mary skenes, betty smith, gary wolf, russ parmele, rick pinto, de sean alston, chuck truby might be on 2 boards, and  plenty of commissions who were completely tilted to the real estate lobbyist group called TREBIC. It is time for everyone to be aware of what is going on and there needs to be a complete analysis of just how many people are waiting in the databank to serve Greensboro city council on a board or commission but to see someone like Paul Gilmer jump everyone in line is not fair to the other people and the process. Time for a complete overhaul and a fair process for all the citizens not just the select few with connections.

Marlene Sanford, Greensboro Partnership, TREBIC= Stacking the Deck on Boards and Commissions

From: Jason Cannon [mailto:JCannon@greensboro.org]

Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 12:16 PM
To: msanford@trebic.org
Subject: Greensboro Partnership Governmental Affairs Position Opening
Importance: High

Marlene,

Per our conversation, attached is a job description for the position of Manager of Governmental Affairs for the Greensboro Partnership. Please review and forward to anyone who you feel may be qualified and interested in this opportunity. Posting this description to any appropriate listservs you control or participate in is also appreciated. Deadline for submission is February 5, 2010.

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,
Jason

Jason A. Cannon
Vice President, Governmental Affairs
The Greensboro Partnership
jcannon@greensboro.org
(336) 387-8330
(336) 275-9287 (fax)
_________________________________________________________________

As you can see from above, this email from Friday January 8, 2010 will show you the relationship between Marlene Sanford from the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) and Jason Cannon from the Greensboro Partnership . Why does this email above even matter well let's take a look at a recent article in the Greensboro News & Record with a title "Commissioners skeptical about merging depts.with Greensboro" CLICKHERE this past week. Here is a little part of the article.

"Marlene Sanford is chairwoman of the Intergovernmental Planning Task Force, which has been studying a merger since April. She’s also president of the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition. She said her task force’s study found that the county can’t count on a merger saving money or making the departments more efficient, but it would make development easier once the economy turns around.



Sanford’s task force recommended a merger by the end of the year, saying the path for developers is too obstructed now."

Now we have the president of TREBIC who has an agenda and is the chairman of this Intergovernmental Planning Task Force, what a joke. Now we need to take a closer look at who are the members of this Intergovernmental Planning Task Force. Here is a closer look at who is on this committee. Here is what is on the greensboro n.c. web site CLICKHERE


This task force includes people with a variety of interests to provide a well-balanced perspective on issues facing Guilford County and the cities located within the county. The primary charge of the task force is to study the pros and cons of merging the cities' planning and inspection functions with the county's planning and inspection functions. The task force will review key issues and provide recommendations to the County Commissioners and City Councils.



Task Force Appointees
Jeff Deal Guilford Planning Board
Henry Isaacson TREBIC MEMBER, Ex-Mayor Johnson's Steering Committee
Craig Fleming TREBIC MEMBER
Marlene Sanford TREBIC President
Sandy Carmany Pleasant Garden Town Manager
Michael Brandt Summerfield Town Manager
Bruce Oakley Oak Ridge Town Manager
Dan Pritchett Engineering firm
Mike Westcott Engineering firm
Gary Hill TREBIC MEMBER
Keith Price TREBIC MEMBER for Samet
Greg Garrett TREBIC MEMBER for Shugart
Gary Wolf TREBIC MEMBER
Susan Spangler Greensboro Zoning
Ray Trapp Greensboro Zoning
Marsh Prause TREBIC MEMBER for Smith Moore Leatherwood Law Firm Neighborhood Congress
Chuck Truby TREBIC MEMBER CPT engineering
Mary Skenes TREBIC representative for Yost and Little and Greensboro Zoning

Take a look above at all the TREBIC members of this intergovernmental agency 10 out of 18. This is what is wrong with soo many boards and commissions in Greensboro and Guilford County the deck is stacked in their favor. As the saying goes look at the FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE. To hear them say on the web site that this is a well balanced perspective is laughable.

When will see a change in the mind set on who needs to be appointed to these boards and commissions because it has become a broken record. How has it become a broken record because here is what was reported back in 2008 from the protest petition for Greensboro N.C. blog

"In the Triad Business Journal January18-24 2008 in the Triad Talk section this is what was said. " Developers always have the upper hand in Guilford County" says Reid Phillips, an attorney with Brooks Pierce in Greensboro. They have boards packed with their people. They have experience. They are masters of divide and conquer. They can also wear people out with continuances.



It is hard for grass roots efforts to compete with this modus operandi."

Also in the same post let's also take a look at what was reported back in May 22, 2008 and look at some of the members of this land development ordinance committee if you would like to see the whole article on the propoganda TREBIC letter sent to the state legislators to deny the citizens of Greensboro the right to Protest Petition CLICKHERE . Below is another part of this post.

Where can we start with this one 2 points first on how your hear them say "most developers voluntarily meet with neighbors". The key word is "most" it is amazing that there is not a requirement for the developers to meet with neighbors in Greensboro.David Wharton who is a member of the Greensboro Land Development Ordinance Committee had this to say"This might interest you: I and others tried hard to get a "meet and confer" requirement written into the new ordinance, which would require a developer seeking a rezoning to meet with the neighbors beforehand and to report to the zoning commission the outcome of the meeting.



The best we could get was a requirement that developers must report to the zoning commission on their efforts to confer with neighbors, which means that if they didn't try to meet, they have to say that."


As you can see David Wharton says the best we could get, because people like Gary Rogers with Starmount Company,Trip Brown with Brown Investment,Keith Price with Samet Companies,James Cox with Mid-City Urban,Jessica Marlies with Brooks Pierce Law Firm,Mike Fox with Tuggles Duggins Law Firm,Dick Franks with Koury Corp.,Gary Hill with McAlphine Company,Gary Wolf with SparrowWolf Law Firm, and Mary Skenes with Yost and Little. So 10 out of 14 are TREBIC members or close allies with TREBIC for the Land Development Ordinance Citizen Advisory Team. As said before by Lawyer Reid Phillips ,boards get packed with TREBIC all the time especially in Greensboro where as Mike Barber said at a Greensboro City Council meeting on April 1st "TREBIC has been contacted and TREBIC has some interest".


The other point has to do with TREBIC saying that " Protest Petition is antiquated and should be repealed statewide". It should be noted that Protest Petitions are not antiquated but the exemption of Greensboro from this North Carolina General Statute is antiquated. Let's have the State Legislators pass a bill to make Greensboro comply with this statute and then TREBIC can lobby to deny the citizens of the whole state of North Carolina their right to protest unwanted development in their neighborhood.Good luck with that endeavor.


It is also noted that they left out the condescending quote from Gary Rogers TREBIC chairman saying that Greensboro had the foresight to exempt themselves from Protest Petitions.No, Mr. Rogers, it was not foresight. It was an effort to take away a right of the citizens to use the power of petitions against unwanted development in established neighborhoods

Look at some of the same names on the ldo committee and this intergovernmental agency . Gary Wolf, Gary Hill, Mary Skenes , Keith Price and TREBIC in general. QUIT,QUIT, QUIT doing this. We saw the true colors of TREBIC when they tried to deny every citizen of Greensboro the right to Protest Petition in the zoning process. As we have seen lately it has proven to be a major part of the process in cases on elm and cornwallis plus also the spring garden zoning case with the newman buildings which will come up soon in a future case.

We still haven't even talked about the deck stacking of TREBIC on the RUCO commission .

It is time for a complete overhaul of all of these boards and commissions in Guilford County and not let these lobbying groups like TREBIC stack the deck in their favor.

Changes to ABC Board in Mecklenburg County , Will Greensboro Do Anything or Play The Delay Game?

HAT TIP PUNDIT HOUSE: CLICKHERE


According to a new post at blog called Pundit House titled "Big Bucks for Booze Board," Mecklenburg County N.C made a complete overhaul of their local Alcoholic Beverage Control board. At the end of the post this is what was stated:

"Along with the salary adjustments, commissioners also approved other tweaks to ABC oversight and operation: the local board must submit a monthly copy of law enforcement activity report to the board of commissioners; submit an annual balanced budget to the board of commissioners and hold a public hearing before adopting a budget; conduct an annual financial audit and present it to commissioners for review; receive commission approval for any salary increase for the CEO; and obtain advance approval from the county finance director for any ABC Board travel expense that exceeds $1,000."

When will we see our local Greensboro ABC control board take on the issues raised with this report from July 14, 2010 from Mark Binker at News and Record? Here is a link to original report CLICKHERE . Below are some of the allegations,

The report by Alcohol Law Enforcement Officers details several things of value they say Alley inappropriately took from liquor industry representatives. Alley says some of reports findings are wrong and others fell within generally accepted business practices.


Among the reports findings, Alley is alleged to have:


-accepted more than 70 meals from liquor company representatives.
-accepted and/or free lodging from liquor company representatives for travel in New York and California.
-prevailed on liquor industry contacts to obtain free or discounted liquor for personal use.
-collected mini-bottles meant for sale as premiums with regular liquor bottles, giving them to favored employees or taking them for herself.
-reported some bottles of high-end liquor as damaged but keeping them for herself rather than disposing of the liquor in question.
-taken home parts of in-store displays that should have been returned to liquor companies, including bar stools and an electric fireplace.
-ordered employees to forge to the signature of the Greensboro ABC Board chairman on a financial disclosure document


Close to 2 months have passed and not one peep has been heard out of the Greensboro City Council on the allegations against local ABC board general manager Katie Alley.

I want to give out my George Hartzman question for the day to end this post, and it is a question to General Manager Katie Alley.

As you can see from the report, you had accepted well over 70 meals from liquor company representatives, and during this whole process of going out to eat with the representatives, did you ever pick up the tab for one meal during this whole time?

If the answer is yes, please release the receipts.

Katie Alley expected the liquer distributors to pick up the tab. Hopefully, more information will come out on this issue . The local Greensboro ABC board is circling their wagons around Ms. Alley to protect their monopolistic empire of extorted favors, instead of cleaning house, which is what Charlotte and Mecklenburg County did.

Maybe it's time for our local elected leadership to step up to the plate and call for some reforms, even though they recieve the same treatment from campaign contributors with business before our legislature.

Maybe that's why they haven't.

Embedded Video on NC ABC Boards Take Conference Out of State to Myrtle Beach S.C.

HAT TIP: Mark Binker at Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE

Local Channel WCNC in Charlotte has a investigative report on the out of state conference for the North Carolina Association of ABC Boards held in Myrtle Beach South Carolina . This issue was posted on TRIADWATCH last week CLICKHERE  and it looks like other news organizations were thinking the same thing, enjoy the embedded video below and it looks like WCNC is also wanting to see just how much it cost the local taxpayers to attend this conference out of state.

N.C. Assoc. of ABC Boards Annual Meeting is Held ? Are You Kidding Me!

It was interesting to read the Greensboro News and Record today, 7-15-2010 to read the investigative reporting from Mark Binker regarding the local chairman of the Greensboro ABC commission. Now the Governor has chimed in CLICKHERE and wants serious action taken against Katie Alley.

One interesting thing to read in the paper edition that is not online is that Mike Fox, the lawyer for the Greensboro ABC commission, wants to meet asap on this issue, but some are out of town and starting next week some will be attending the Association's annual meeting.

Which gets me to what you are going to see in the scribd version below

2010 Summer Conference Bulletin for N.C. Assoc. of ABC Commissions


As you can see from the registration above but if you can't see the scribd version you can go to this web location CLICKHERE and what Mark Binker wrote this morning, the North Carolina Asssociation of ABC Boards, which is a part of the State of North Carolina, is spending our tax dollars in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Not anywhere in North Carolina.
The room rates look to be around $200 a night and the conference registration is $145 for the meeting.
We can also probably say that the chairman's and other attendees will probably come back to North Carolina and expense this trip as a business trip in another state.
Does anyone see the irony in this?
Our state ABC association is housing their annual meeting in another state.
Are you kidding me?
Let's see if anyone will talk about this on top of all the ethical lapses in judgement of boards from Charlotte to Wilmington to Greensboro, now that they are meeting in another state.
Amazing.
You would think in this recession that a North Carolina association would want to spend their dollars in North Carolina.................think not.

Here is a great link to send to the people at the North Carolina Association of ABC Boards CLICKHERE
if you didn't clickhere it is a link to VISITNC the state tourism web site.

Deep background on the Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy program (RUCO), by Jordan Green

"...Hints at relaxing rental inspection procedure

The Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy program, or RUCO, was a signature accomplishment of the late Claudette Burroughs-White, who died after retiring as council representative for District 2 in 2005. The program makes inspection of all rental properties mandatory...

...Both city officials and tenants advocates at the Greensboro Housing Coalition have lauded the RUCO program as an effective tool for forcing landlords to bring substandard housing up to code. Coalition Executive Director Beth McKee-Huger told YES! Weekly that code violations in Greensboro were down to 768 in May compared with a high of about 1,400 in 2005...

...“The real-estate community would like to see targeted inspections,” said Peter Placentino, vice president of property management for Brown Investment Properties. “Go after those that don’t take care of their property; don’t punish those that do.” Prior to RUCO, rental housing in Greensboro was regulated through a complaint-driven system in which city inspectors waited to hear from tenants, many of whom put up with code violations to avoid running afoul of unscrupulous landlords.

...I serve on the RUCO Board as a representative of District 3,” Placentino said. “I’m also on the board of the Triad Apartment Association. The apartment association is a member of TREBIC.

That association, as well as TREBIC and the Greensboro Landlords Association has been meeting informally to discuss the effect of any RUCO changes.

...“There’s got to be a way that if you keep up your property you shouldn’t be subjected to the same scrutiny as those that don’t,” he said.

...A system reliant on tenants to bring substandard rental properties to the city’s attention would not adequately protect renters from dangerous and substandard conditions, in the view of Lori Loosemore, the city’s supervisor of neighborhood support.
.

Could some renters who file complaints

be more likely to get larger rent increases when their leases come up?

“In the past, people didn’t know we were here,” she said. “They were scared to call because they were afraid their rent was going to go up if they complained. They were afraid their landlord was going to evict them. We have people from different countries, and some people don’t trust the government. If we go back to the complaint-driven system, it will go back to the way it was, and people will be afraid to call.”

.

Are renters who file complaints more likely to get evicted?

...A handful of tenants who requested anonymity told YES! Weekly they tolerate violations in their homes for a variety of reasons, including concern that landlords would retaliate by pursuing eviction or that the costs of repairs would be passed along to them in the form of rent hikes...

.

Could some renters who file complaints

not get good references if looking to move to a different rental?

...In the face of heavy pressure from real estate interests to scrap the certification program altogether, representatives of a tenant advocacy group and neighborhood associations proposed a new system requiring property owners to vouch for the good standing of their rental property...

...the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition, or TREBIC, the Triad Apartment Association and the Greensboro Landlords Association on one side; and neighborhood and tenant advocacy groups such as the Greensboro Neighborhood Association and the Greensboro Housing Coalition on the other.

...Placentino, who serves on the Rental Unit Certificate Advisory Board, indicated...that his company holds no vested interest in the outcome of the tussle. Brown Investment Properties is a Greensboro real estate company with 2,392 apartment units under its control...

.

Where are our elected and community leaders

who say they look out for the people they supposedly repesent?

...Robbie Perkins, a Republican member of the non-partisan city council and a real-estate developer who often votes with the more liberal and African-American members of the council, indicated he holds full confidence in [Engineering and Inpsections Director Butch] Simmons’ handling of changes to the city’s rental inspection program. ...Are the changes reasonable? Yes. Are the recommendations being made by someone who knows what they’re doing? Yes. Why should I dispute that?” Asked whether amendments to the rental housing ordinance brought to council for approval by Simmons were likely to garner the required to five-vote majority to pass, Perkins gave a simple answer.

“I would hope so.”

.

How could Greensboro's City Council justify a vote to borrow and spend

for a swimming pool

and look the other way as their contributors disembowel regulations

meant to help the bottom of the community's income strata?

...Property owners and landlords, led by TREBIC President Marlene Sanford, had openly called for revocation of the inspection ordinance altogether."...

Jordan Green
Yes Weekly, Yes Weekly, Yes Weekly

TREBIC + RUCO = FOX GUARDING HEN HOUSE

The YES! Weekly Blog: Hairston apartments: a test case for RUCO

Jordan Green from Yes Weekly had a post yesterday which can be seen above. In the post you will see this was written,

"Meanwhile the RUCO task force will be meeting at 8 a.m. on Friday to evaluate whether the program should continue. Where is the location? Wait for it: The Greensboro offices of Triad Real Estate & Building Industries Coalition, or TREBIC, its better known acronym. "



Does anyone want to say who is running the City of Greensboro when you have a city appointed board meeting at the special interest lobbyist offices. There isn't a city municipal building to use for this meeting or maybe a public library to hold this meeting at . Then we have Jordan Green also say in the comments section after a comment from this blog this,

"If holding a task force meeting at the headquarters of the industry association for the industry subject to regulation doesn't exactly prove that the regulatory process is captive to said interests, then I guess it doesn't do anything to dispel that perception either."

Today we also have ed cone chiming in as well with this to say about the above comment from Jordan Green

"Why no, it doesn't."  CLICKHERE

There is a lot of history in regards to RUCO and the City of Greensboro but let's stick to the local special interest lobbyist group in TREBIC and their leader Marlene Sanford. When will this ever quit, how many more examples do we need to point out for all to see. The saying "Fox Guarding The Hen House " is a complete understatement in regards to TREBIC and their total influence on everything in Greensboro and Guilford County.

David Wharton had this to say back in January of 2009 from his blog A Little Urbanity,
"I made some comments at the meeting, too, in which I focused on the fact that the building and real estate industries hold majorities on key boards and commissions, specifically the Zoning Commission, the RUCO board, the Board of Adjustment, and the Land Development Ordinance Citizens Advisory Team (of which I was a member)."

The above comments were also related to when a group of well organized citizens from all over greensboro and a interloper from High Point waged a year long battle against TREBIC and bringing back Protest Petitions to Greensboro. If you want to read all about this then go to the birthplace of TRIADWATCH in Protest Petitions for Greensboro CLICKHERE .

This is not new news on the influence of TREBIC,  but it needs to stop and a complete overhaul of all boards and commissions needs to happen because a little trouble is also brewing on the local Greensboro ABC Commission as we speak .

Isn't it funny to hear that a Greensboro commissioned board RUCO is meeting at the local special interest group's office of TREBIC,     FOX MEET HEN HOUSE

Response To This Morning's Greensboro News & Record Article on RUCO Guest Column by Donna Newton

First let me say that I think Amanda Lehmert is one of the most objective and usually accurate N&R reporters. However, we all make mistakes - as I think Amanda did in her front page article this morning about RUCO CLICKHERE. According to a report delivered by City staff at the RUCO Board meeting last Thursday, the cost of RUCO for this year will be $547,454 - NOT $980,000, so I'm trying to find out where Amanda got her number. I think staff gave a detailed budget to the Board that I didn't come away with in my packet. I'll be checking this out on Monday.


I will also say that RUCO has been wrought with administrative error since the beginning, primarily because of a very poor records keeping system. It's old and and it's cumbersome and it just doesn't work in some instances. However, despite all those hurdles, RUCO is accomplishing its purpose.

Second, the Inspections Dept. has reduced numbers of staff over the years since RUCO was put in place. They used to spend their time on the hoard of complaints - more than 2000 complaints in 2003 - down to 459 last year. Also, the number of properties they are now able to take to the minimum housing commission and actually get remedied has increased from 17 in 2003 to 105 this year. They used to spend their time chasing their tales trying to get the houses before the commission.

Third, much of the rental housing stock has been RUCO certified and we revised the ordinance some time ago so that a RUCO is for the life of the property unless there is a complaint. New rentals and those not yet inspected do, of course, have to be inspected. Plus, there is a sampling requirement of 2% of the rental stock as a sentinel effect program. Only 10% of those sampling inspections have violations. That's because they get plenty of notice that they are going to be inspected. The long notice is a good thing because after all, what we want to happen is that they fix their units. We are not out to have people fined. I think the "only 10%" is a good thing.

Finally, sub-standard units have decreased from 1,679 in 2003 to 705 last year.

This program is working in so many ways. We should not let it be undermined and we should fix the administrative problems.

I was appointed to the committee that is going to bring a recommendation to the RUCO board to take to Council. I will say that one thing I will push for is a change in the makeup of the RUCO board. It is currently almost all landlords with only one housing representative. Landlords need to be on that board, but so do more of us who know the rental housing stock in Greensboro, but do not profit from it.


Donna Newton
Greensboro Neighborhood Congress

PART 2 : It Is Time For The Greensboro City Council To Take The TREBIC Blinders Off and Require Neighborhood Meetings

Here we go again, not even a month later, another rezoning case where the applicant didn't meet with the neighborhood in Greensboro.

Last month TRIADWATCH posted this CLICKHERE .

The Greensboro Zoning Commission on 4-12-2010 had this a an agenda item;

Z-10-04-002 - 3500, 3502 and 3504 Church Street (Northeast corner of the intersection of Church Street and Denny Road) – An ordinance rezoning from RS-9 (Residential-Single Family) to CD-LB (Conditional District-Limited Business) *[CD-C-L (Conditional District-Commercial-Low)] with the following conditions:
1. Uses: All uses allowed in the LB zoning district except convenience stores (with fuel pumps) and any use with a drive-thru.


2. Hours of operation shall be limited to 6:00 AM thru 10:00 PM.
3. Where the property abuts a designated transit stop, the developer shall provide an easement and concrete pad(s) built to GTA standards for a bus stop if one is requested by any transit authority.
– for property located at 3500, 3502 and 3504 Church Street, generally described as the northeast corner of the intersection of Church Street and Denny Road (0.85 Acres)
– Alejandro Rocha Perez for Avreliano Rocha.(Sheet(s) 127)

As you can see from the video above Greensboro Zoning Commission, member Cyndy Hayworth was not impressed with how they didn't meet with the neighborhood especially with this case going from residential to commercial. The irony of this rezoning is that the person speaking for the applicant was Emily Arzate from Keller Williams Real Estate Agency. She should have known better even being in the real estate business to meet with the neighborhood on a commerical rezoning.

We need to ask the Greensboro Planning Department if they are letting these applicants know what is in their best interest to meet with the neighborhood on rezoning cases.

Triadwatch has been talking in the past about how neighborhoods all over Greensboro have been getting the short end of the stick in the zoning process.

As you can see from the video above from 4-12-2010 and from this video on 3-8-2010 as well CLICKHERE

We had a applicant who was changing a property from residential to commercial and didn't even bother talking with the neighborhood about the rezoning. It is time for the Greensboro City Council to take their Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition(TREBIC) Blinders Off and make a requirement for the applicant to have a REQUIRED MEETING 21 days before the zoning commission meeting.

The City of Greensboro is in the process of maybe approving this new Land Development Ordinance and the part of the zoning process has a watered version called "meet and confer," which should be mandatory.

There has been plenty of talk about this issue, but I wanted to bring you a video to show what went on at the zoning commission this past week and to reiterate to citizens in Greensboro to write or call or e-mail your city council members to let them know that a requirement to meet with the neighborhood needs to be a part of the process.

Below is a few more posts on this subject

Greensboro Neighborhood Congress Has Issues With The New Land Development Ordinance Rewrite For Greensboro CLICKHERE

Greensboro Neighborhoods Will Not Get A Fair Shake In The Zoning Process Thanks To TREBIC
CLICKHERE

Elected Officials in Charlotte Have Their Own Version of Free Tickets, Time for a State Law Banning Free Tickets

HAT TIP: PUNDIT HOUSE CLICKHERE

As we have seen in the past few weeks with a post on Triadwatch where Greensboro City Council members were given free circus tickets CLICKHERE for that post.

Now we have a situation in Mecklenburg County where a commissioner is raising a red flag on the ethical aspects of giving away free CIAA Basketball Tournament tickets . The post is titled "Rotten Apples and CIAA Tickets". Here is  part of the post.

James took issue last month with commissioners receiving upwards of $9,000 worth of “free” tickets and skybox seats to the CIAA tourney. The select tickets are annually provided to the county, which along with the City of Charlotte “donates” $200,000 a year to the CIAA. The council also receives an allotment of CIAA tickets for its largess with the taxpayers’ money.


James questioned the ethics of elected officials in effect receiving gifts in a de facto kickback from an entity that does business with the county. Along with his fellow GOP board members, James wanted to donate the tickets to a local charity, which could then sell them and make some coin for a good cause. Last we heard the county manager nixed that idea. Not sure which commissioners and councilmembers ended up luxuriating in the skyboxes, but we’re working to track it down.

This situation sounds like a broken record in this state where so many people think it is their right and priviledge to get these freebies as a local elected official.As we have seen this has happened in Greensboro and now Charlotte in just the past few weeks. How many other cities allow this to happen? Is it time to ban the freebies all together? Is this ethical?Does it show a conflict of interest?

 This comes to light on a state level because the Governor of New York is now in hot water today over World Series Tickets here is what was said on Fox News,CLICKHERE

New York Gov. David Paterson, trying to hold onto office in the face of one scandal, was accused Wednesday of violating state ethics laws when he sought and obtained free Yankees tickets for the 2009 World Series and then may have lied about his intention to pay for them, according to a state report.



He faces penalties of nearly $100,000, and the case was referred to the Albany County prosecutor's office and the state attorney general for possible criminal investigation into whether Paterson -- "or anyone else" -- gave false answers to commission questions or backdated a check to pay for the tickets.



It looks like the Governor violated ethics laws of the State of New York. Maybe we can get some ethics laws in this state as well that will cover all local and state elected and appointed officials from banning gift giving of free tickets.

Sound Familiar?

Barry benefited from city contract obtained for ex-girlfriend

D.C. Council Member Marion Barry personally benefited from the contract he obtained for his former girlfriend and directed earmarks that "provided substantial financial benefits to some of his close friends and supports," according to a report by attorney Robert S. Bennett.

In the report, Bennett stated Barry violated "D.C. law, council rules and policies and procedures" and recommends his findings be referred to the U.S. Attorney for possible criminal charges.

Barry responded that he did nothing wrong because the council had no written procedures outlining whom a council member could give a contract to.

…"We conclude Mr. Barry breached the highest ethical standards expected of him," Bennett told the council. "We find his conduct not only appeared to be improper, but was improper. We find Mr. Barry breached the public trust and violated the conflict of interest laws of the District of Columbia."

...When council members got to question Bennett, Barry stated, "if there are no written procedures for personal service contracts, no written procedures for scope of work...no written procedures for how you evaluate a product, then one who engages in that cannot, cannot be held accountable for violating something that did not exist in the first place," Barry said…

Tim Craig
Washington Post