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.

TREBIC 2009 City Council Candidate Questions: Should Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy (RUCO) taskforce meet at TREBIC’s headquarters?

4) Are you in favor of merging the following:

a. GSO planning department with Guilford County?
b. GSO inspections department with Guilford County?
c. Other departments? (name them)
d. Boards and Commissions

If TREBIC has a higher likelyhood of controling

a percentage of segmented, separated departments

instead of perhaps not being able to manipulate fewer, larger entities

does TREBIC prefer merged or non-merged municipal departments?

14) In general, are you willing to support rezonings which provide for higher densities and mixed-use projects even though neighbors oppose it in:

a. infill sites?
b. urban fringe areas?

In other words, as a candidate,

are you going to prioritize TREBIC's best interests or the electorate

which we may provide campaign funding likely to convince them otherwise?

16) “John and Jane” just bought a brand new house in Guilford County. Should they pay a special tax (over and above what you pay) to have their child in public school?

Do you favor retarding the profitability of TREBIC members

at taxpayer expense?

25) Do you think that Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances that require “voluntary” fees are a good idea?

My answer: How can a voluntary fee be required?

29) Which of the following options would you support as a way to finance parklands and open space:

a. acquisition with public funds
b. voluntary donations
c. required dedication during development
d. condemnation
e. incentives in the development process

In other words, do you promise to transfer taxpayer dollars

to TREBIC members or not?

32) Should the city enact stormwater regulations and stream buffer requirements that are more stringent than what the EPA and NCDENR require?

In other words, do you promise not to do anything more than required minimums?

34) Which of the following options would you support as a way to offset anticipated revenue shortfalls?

a. additional sales taxes
b. increased user fees
c. increased car registration fees
d. impact fees
e. increased gas tax
f. real estate transfer taxes
g. increased property tax
h. use of special taxing districts
i. Bonds
j. Certificates of Participation
k. Increased permit, inspection and plan review fees
l. Project Development (Tax Increment) Financing
m. 2/3 Bonds
n. Delay of bond issues
o. No additional revenues needed
p. Increased government efficiencies. Suggestions?:
q. Cuts in government staff and/or services. If so, which ones?
r. Other:

Are you going to continue to provide public funding for TREBIC members

if tax revenues fall short?

35) Do you support economic development incentives?

Are you going to vote to transfer taxpayer dollars to TREBIC members?

36) Will you agree to discuss proposals that impact this industry with industry representatives in the early conceptual stages of the idea?

Will you tell us before anyone else

about anything that might lead us to not funnell more campaign cash your way

so we can control the political process outside of the public spotlight?

37) What is the best time and way for staff to work with affected parties, including the real estate industry, when drafting policies, ordinances and fees?

a. at the very beginning, while still considering concepts
b. after drafting the proposal, but before beginning the public hearing process.
c. public participation should be at the public hearings only
d. not at all
e. input should be to elected officials only

Can TREBIC have permission to run the government?

38) When new or revised ordinances are being proposed, frequently there are a few points on which staff and industry cannot agree, which must be decided by Council. Do you favor passing the ordinance…:

a. as proposed and drafted by staff
b. as proposed and drafted by staff with a fixed time period for review and evaluation of the ordinance
c. after full discussion of each disputed point at a council hearing or briefing session
d. after assigning one or more Council members to meet with staff and industry to resolve the remaining issues before coming to public hearing?

Can TREBIC members get what they want behind closed doors?

39) RUCO?

Should an organization whose purpose

may be to disenfranchise and remove power from the many

for the benefit of a few

conduct City of Greensboro business at TREBIC's headquarters?

41) Do you support the Heart of the Triad project?

Should a lobbying organization whose members have a substantial level of control

over Greensboro and Guilford County's electoral process

that questions, interviews and lobbys candidates

and makes recomendations for endorsements

hold public meetings at their headquarters?

.

George Hartzman

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

Local Developer Roy Carroll Transports Mayor of Greensboro and County Commissioner to D.C., Any Ethical ?

Ed Cone writes today that local elected officials are flying to Washington D.C. to meet with our elected federal officials on securing federal money for a redevelopment project which the News & Record talked about CLICKHERE.

Here is the part of the post that needs to get a closer look and scrutiny, Ed Cone writes this,"The group will be flown to DC at no tax-payer expense by developer Roy Carroll, says Johnson." Here is the post CLICKHERE

We have a local developer in Roy Carroll who also has a local Political Action Committee call "North Carolinians for Leadership in Government " giving free airplane rides to local elected politicians in Mayor Johnson and Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston.

Is it ethical and or legal for a local developer who already got tax incentives from both the greensboro city council and guilford county commissioners flying local elected officials to Washington D.C. ?

How will Roy Carroll report this on his political action committee?

These are some of the questions that need to be answered or talked about.

UPDATE Greensboro News & Record has an article tonight CLICKHERE

UPDATE UPDATE Guarino has a post as well CLICKHERE

Triadwatch Has Some New Friends in the Fight for Campaign Contribution Transparency in Guilford County

Triadwatch has learned tonight that there is help in trying to clean up these campaign contribution returns turned in to the Guilford County Board of Elections from reading the Yes Weekly Blog CLICKHERE or click on the title above with a title "Did Mary Rakestraw violate campaign finance law?"



The new political action committee called Stand Up Greensboro CLICKHERE has filed a letter of inquiry in to the campaign contributions of Mary Rakestraw from 2007 in her successful campaign for a seat on the Greensboro City Council.



Andrew Murphy from the Stand Up Greensboro PAC had this to say in post


"Murphy notes that the Committee for Mary Rakestraw did not report the names, addresses, occupations and employers of 13 contributors who wrote $100 checks to the candidate. The Rakestraw committee’s 2007 year-end semi-annual report lists the $100 checks on a form reserved for aggregate individual contributions that explicitly states “optional form used to report NC contributions from individuals of $50 or less.”



Now it seems like more people are becoming aware of plenty of local politicians who are not reporting their campaign contributions correctly. In last year's elections there was plenty of talk about Guilford County Commissioner Paul Gibson who left nearly 50% of his forms empty CLICKHERE. Also candidate Larry Proctor was very lax in his reporting as well CLICKHERE

Where is George Gilbert the Director of the Guilford County Board of Elections on these issues?

The time has come for all of these local politicians in Guilford County to start to be held accountable for their actions and if it takes citizens to write letters of inquiry to the State Board of Elections please do . If you want to see a lot of the local politicians and their campaign contributions CLICKHERE and if you see any discrepencies in their campaign return forms please let Triadwatch know and will see if there is any violation of campaign law.

Heart of The Triad Meeting Everyone Welcome

Below the fold is a planned meeting for the Heart of the Triad "HOT". There are plenty of issues with this whole concept of HOT from annexation to air quality to traffic issues. It is time more people become aware of the massive undertaking of this Board and the total conflicts of interest that are shown when people like Robbie "Pave It " Perkins Greensboro City Council member and local developer sits on the Strategic Planning Committee.

Also one of the main aspects of growth is who has the water and sewer. The city of High Point extended their water and sewer to Kernersville to facilitate the new Fed Ex ground hub. Their will be a sharing agreement between these 2 cities on the water and sewer. This action will stimulate growth to this area minus the input of Greensboro and a new friend at the table in Oak Ridge.

Why should High Point and Kernersville give up control of this area? It makes no sense whatsoever.

There will be a lot of talk in future if this committee gets any funding from the State of North Carolina or in other words your tax dollars. It is time for triad residents to read up on this issue which can be found by going to the PART web site CLICKHERE or the section on Heart of theTriad CLICKHERE .

Below is the meeting and a contact at Piedmont Area Regional Transportation and facilitator for HOT.

________________________________________________________

Strategic Planning Committee Meeting
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
8:30am
PART Office Building
7800 Airport Center Drive Yahoo Maps CLICKHERE
Greensboro, NC
Suite 101


Lisa Chislett
Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation
7800 Airport Center Dr. Suite 102
Greensboro, NC 27409
336-662-0002 - phone
336-662-9253 - fax
lisac@partnc.org
http://www.partnc.org/

2009 Should Bring New Focus on Greensboro Politicians-Guest Column

Many of you here on Triad Watch know me from covering public education in Guilford County for the last two years as part of Guilford School Watch (and my unsuccessful 2008 Guilford School Board at-large campaign). But honestly, we can't talk about reforming public education until we deal with the issues in our community that provide barriers to a solid public education.

For a brief period of time this past year, I did a small blog called Triad Job Watch, at the beginning of this summer's economic spiral. But alas, we can't even talk about bringing jobs to our area until we deal with the issues in our community that provide barriers to solid economic development.

And rather than me wax poetic on Guilford School Watch, I wanted to join my friend Keith Brown, who has quickly become an ally in the ongoing struggle against local corruption in our city and county halls, in dropping some thoughts on our fair city, Greensboro, in 2009.

You see, maybe it's me, but we have a lot of problems in our town and none of them are being addressed properly by our so-called elected leadership.
Jobs (or the lack of jobs) are just one aspect of what's killing Greensboro. For the last several days, in rapid succession, we have seen announcements in the News & Record on company shutdowns and layoffs. And our elected leadership is incredibly silent. Our soon-to-be-major employer, FedEx, just announced a delay in their mammoth hub at PTI Airport. You would think that there would have been a statement from someone down at City Hall...you think? Of course not.

And our jobs problem has permeated this city long before the economic downturn of 2008. Greensboro (and the larger Triad, for that matter) has been suffering a major economic downturn for the past 10 years. And our local officials continue to wonder why this area continues playing third fiddle to Charlotte and the Triangle. They continue to wonder why the brain-drain in this area is unbelievably high.

The silence from our so-called elected officials is deafening.
We have a brain-drain because we don't seem to have any real economic development activities going on in our city right now. Recruitment of companies to our area is an absolute joke, and just as many people in this area are underemployed as they are unemployed. You cannot sustain an economy on $9/hour service jobs while continuing to make this area relevant.
A recent Business Week article touting "Grey Skies over Greensboro" CLICKHERE was a damning spectacle on all things wrong with our city. Did anyone from City Hall come out in defense? Did anyone say anything at all?

The silence from our so-called elected officials is deafening.

The record unemployment/underemployment problem we're having is stretching into our schools (record numbers of free/reduced lunch applications at Guilford County Schools), our healthcare facilities (record numbers of ER visits from citizens lacking health insurance), and it may be spilling over into a crime problem that is now out of control.

There seem to be no less than five robberies in Greensboro reported...DAILY, in the News & Record. Burglaries are on the rise all over town. The shootings and killings...even in broad daylight, are astronomical.
And yet...any reaction from downtown?

The silence from our so-called elected officials is deafening.

The irresponsible development with no regard of citizens and neighbors with respect to sensitive zoning cases is crazy. Taxes are high. Infrastructure needs are growing and are not being properly addressed.

Where's our mayor, Yvonne Johnson? She seems to be absent from what's going on in our city. Our City Council...ditto. My councilman, Trudy Wade, rolled into City Council a couple of years ago fresh from a stinging loss of her long-time seat on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. Since then, she hasn't shown me much at all.

I expect my City Councilmen to be visible in the community, to set up community meetings and town halls, to circulate among school events...where is Wade? Where is Mayor Johnson? Where is Police Chief Bellamy on our crime emergency?

Where is the elected leadership of our city?

Oh...I'm sorry...they're busy giving city manager Mitch Johnson another chance to do a job that he's failed miserably in.

The silence from our so-called elected officials is deafening.

Greensboro...take notice. City Council...take notice. Mayor Johnson, take notice. 2009 is at hand and the municipal elections of 2010 are at hand. We'll be watching you just a tad bit closer this year. Because frankly, Greensboro is headed down the wrong track. And this train will derail unless urgent changes are made...and fast.

Who's with me?

-- Erik "E.C." HueyEditor, "Guilford School Watch"

e-mail: guilfordschoolwatch@gmail.com

http://guilfordschoolwatch.blogspot.com/

Member of the Coalition of the Concerned Citizens of the Triad

Guilford County Voters Nice Job on Soil and Water

Yes Weekly is reporting tonight that the candidate for soil and water who won in November is now out of the county CLICKHERE

This is a great case that if you don't know who to vote for don't vote at all. Or in the case of the Simkins Political Action Committee it is ok to tell them I don't need your piece of paper to vote , I have a brain.

Here is what was reported back in October in TRIADWATCH with the title being"Found a Soil and Water Candidate to Vote for in Guilford County" CLICKHERE


Andrew Courts needs to be the new Soil and Water District Supervisor. It is only fair to the 33, 847 who voted for him and if it is true as Yes Weekly is reporting in that Kirk Perkins is not in this county at all.

We will see what the Greensboro News and Record reports tomorrow on this.

UPDATE HERE IS THE ARTICLE IN GREENSBORO NEWS AND RECORD
CLICKHERE

Mangum v. Raleigh Bd. of Adjust., (613PA07) 12/12/2008, Neighbors vs Strip Club

Mangum v. Raleigh Bd. of Adjust., (613PA07) 12/12/2008

HAT TIP UNDER THE DOME CLICKHERE

The neighbors in a North Carolina Supreme Court case involving a topless strip club and businesses who are directly effected by this special use permit given by the Raleigh Board of Adjustment have won this round of the argument Here is what was said.

BRADY, Justice.
In this case we determine the circumstances under which an adjacent property owner or property owner in close proximity has standing to challenge a Board of Adjustment's grant of a Special Use Permit. We hold that petitioners have standing to challenge the Raleigh Board of Adjustment's issuance of a Special Use Permit to PRS Partners, LLC and RPS Holdings, LLC. Thus, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals holding otherwise and remand this case to that court for determination of issues not reached by that court.

Here is what was said in conclusion

Because petitioners' allegations and testimony demonstrated the existence of special damages if the Special Use Permit were granted, petitioners have standing to challenge the issuance of the permit, and the Court of Appeals erred in holding otherwise. Accordingly, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to that court for determination of the remaining issues raised by respondents but not addressed by the Court of Appeals.

If you want to see the whole case click the title of this blog post above or go here UNDERTHEDOME

One interesting aspect of reading this case was the use of what happened back in 1969 with Jackson v. Guilford County Board of Adjustment.

Jackson v. Guilford Cty. Bd. of Adjust., 275 N.C. 155, 161, 166 S.E.2d 78, 82 (1969) (citations omitted). Additionally, [i]f . . . that which purports to be an amendment permitting a use of property forbidden by the original ordinance is, itself, invalid, the prohibition upon the use remains in effect. In that event, the owner of other land, who will be specially damaged by such proposed use, has standing to maintain a proceeding in the courts to prevent it.