Redistricting In N.C. The GOP's Golden Goose by Washington Post

The Washington Post has a new article out from Chris Cillizza in a online post titled "North Carolina: The GOP's Golden Goose redistricting" CLICKHERE

In the post this is what was said:

_____________________________________________________________________

The Tarheel State stands out as the one state where Republicans will be expecting to gain multiple seats in the election following redistricting, and they could gain three or four if things pan out close to perfectly.



The reason for all that opportunity is two-fold.



One is that the current map was drawn by Democrats in 2001, which means many of the marginal districts were drawn to their liking. "Ten years ago, Democrats drew the most perfect map in the history of gerrymandering," remarked one Republican familiar with the state's lines.


Two is that Democrats stood tough in the state in 2010. While Democrats in swing and conservative-leaning districts across the country went down to defeat, North Carolina Democratic Reps. Heath Shuler, Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell all won -- though Republicans did unseat Rep. Bob Etheridge.


The result is a map on which Democrats maintain a majority -- seven to six -- of congressional seats in the state. Of the 17 states where Republicans control redistricting, North Carolina is the only state where that is the case.


Because of those two factors -- the Democratic-drawn map and the continued Democratic majority -- there is plenty of room for improvement for the GOP. And the most likely Democrats to bear the brunt are McIntyre, Kissell and Rep. Brad Miller.

As we see in what was quoted from one republican above in that the 2000 redistricting game brought by the  N.C. Democratic Party, the most perfect map in the history of gerrymandering . Hearing the political connections this weekend it seems like the Chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee Rep. Bob Rucho wants to have this all done by June 1, 2011 . There are a lot of different scenarios to make this a fair process for all to be a part of  we will see what happens after all the numbers from the census are looked at by all in charge but if you would like a link to plenty of information here is a link the the State of North Carolina on redistricting CLICKHERE.

Lincoln County Sheriff's Department Does End Around on State Open Records Law

HAT TIP: Charlotte Observer CLICKHERE

Thanks to a investigative report by the Charlotte Observer we find out that the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department in North Carolina is doing a complete run around with the new law that went into effect that made documents pertaining to suspensions, demotions, and dismissals public.

Here is a few excerpts from the report:

But new Lincoln Sheriff David Carpenter said he plans to continue the department's tradition of notifying fired employees verbally instead of issuing written letters.


Carpenter, who took office last week, promised to comply with the records law, but said "we're not going to generate" new documents to satisfy requests by the public.


The comments come in response to an open records request by The Charlotte Observer, which has asked Lincoln County for five years of disciplinary records for the sheriff's office.

Martha Lide, Lincoln County assistant manager, told the Observer the county has no record of dismissal letters or accompanying documents for sheriff's office employees fired since 2005.


Unlike city police departments and most other government agencies, sheriff offices are under no legal obligation to notify fired workers in writing, officials and criminal justice experts said. No one tracks how many sheriff's departments do not issue dismissal letters, but they said it is not unheard of.


The practice could blunt the impact of the state's personnel records law, which is supposed to increase accountability in government, said Vivian Lord, a criminology professor at UNC Charlotte.


The new law "makes it less likely that they are going to put something down on paper," Lord said.


Beth Grace, executive director of the North Carolina Press Association, questioned whether Lincoln County officials were trying to shield public information from citizens.

It would be interesting to see if our own local sheriff BJ Barnes would comply with a public records request or does he agree with the Lincoln County Sheriff in verbal dismissal, hint hint to the Greensboro News and Record and Joe Killian. If this is par for the course when it comes to complying with this open records request and seeing that some might just have a verbal firing and no documentation to back up the records it might be time for a new law to make everyone have written documentation on these records of suspensions,demotions and dismissals including sheriff's departments all over this great state.

Local Greensboro Developer Roy Carroll and His Plane Cannot Keep Out of the Spotlight with His Trip for Governor Bev Perdue

HAT TIP RHINO TIMES and Carolina Journal CLICKHERE

Local Greensboro developer Roy Carroll and his airplane cannot keep itself out of trouble. The Carolina Journal in it's front page article titled "Dozens involved in Perdue, Easley flight provider program" has Roy Carroll listed as a person who has provided a plane ride to our Governor. Here is what was said:

"Roy Carroll, a Greensboro developer and owner of Granite Air LLC, provided a flight on November 6, 2008 - two days after Perdue was elected governor. The flight was valued at $887, and the Perdue Committee didn't pay for it until Dec. 16. No other information about this flight is available."

Let's take a look back at some reporting on TRIADWATCH in regards to developer Roy Carroll and his famous plane.

First Post:

Developer Roy Carroll's Plane Will Sit on Tarmac While The Mayor and Chairman Ponder Ethical Standards CLICKHERE

Second Post:

Greensboro City Attorney Advised That Trip to D.C. Raises Ethical Concerns for Mayor of Greensboro and County Chairman CLICKHERE


Now we have local developer Roy Carroll flying the governor to where she needs to go a few days after she was sworn into office, nice. It would be interesting to find out who all was on this plane ride. Crony Capitalism and Roy Carroll are like 2 peas in a pod working hand in hand and all you need to know about this situation is to learn about Roy Carroll and the American Express Crony Capitalism deal  CLICKHERE 

We also know from the Carolina Journal article that Roy Carroll is part owner in a company called Granite Air LLC here is a link to the Secretary of State of N.C. site with who is the owner of Granite Air LLC CLICKHERE . But according to the Secretary of State site it looks like Granite Air LLC is owned by Richard Vaughn Jr. from Mount Airy. Who is Richard Vaughn ? Who wants to play a game of connect the dots?

Here is a game of connect the crony capitalist dots starting with kingpin Roy Carroll. We know that it looks like Roy Carroll and Richard Vaughn own this plane together with a company called Granite Air LLC. We also know that there is a company called Granite/ Church LLC. and local blogger FEC at Vie De Malchance CLICKHERE   has a great post on who owns this company. This is where the connect the dots really blows up.  This development got tax incentive money from Guilford County and this is where we found out that county commissioner Billy Yow recused himself from the voting of this incentive but did all the water drilling for i am sure a good amnount of money and will in future if this development gets bigger.

The dots will also get even bigger in knowing that Granite/Church LLC is part owned by Greensboro City Council member Robbie Perkins, Stan Hope Johnson, John Stratton who is Greensboro City Council member Zack Matheny's golf buddy CLICKHERE  and Granite Investments which is what Richard Vaughn Jr. owns. Then we also have Chester Brown who also is one of the biggest developers in town go to bat for this company in front of the Guilford County Commissioners CLICKHERE . Then we can go and talk about the relationship between local developer Roy Carroll and Greensboro City Council member Robbie Perkins where Triadwatch had a post about this ethically challenged relationship CLICKHERE .

So now i hope you have followed along and find out about this plane that Roy Carroll owns along with other investors and it looks like he sure did want to show some influence on the state level in flying the Governor where she needed to go . It would be interesting to know who all have flown on this plane especially when we know that there was a lot of secret meetings going on in regards to this American Express deal for eastern guilford county and who knows who was on those trips to meet with their executives at American Express.

Airplane rides and who is on these planes has been a hot topic this past year and a blog called pro publica which is journalism for the public interest has had some great post on this issue .

Below is some of the articles that are must reads for for transparency on all levels of government.

Off the radar private planes hidden from public view CLICKHERE

Court upholds release of corporate jets list sought by propublica CLICKHERE

New York Times article  that corporate jet sometimes makes sense CLICKHERE

FOI Advocate propublica gets blocked plane list CLICKHERE

As i have said before it is time for a new state law for local and state politicians in that if you cannot afford to own your own plane then you need to get another form of transportation to get there. No more flying on other peoples plane for your own convenience.

Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis In Some Hot Water With Federal Tax Liens Over The Years

Guilford County Commissioner and North Carolina Senate candidate Bruce Davis might need to explain himself, considering the 3 documents below.

guilford county commisssioner bruce davis federal tax lien


PART 2

guilford county commissioner bruce davis federal tax lien part 2


PART 3

guilford county commissioner federal tax lien part 3


As you can see above, Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis has had a few tax liens from the feds against him and his company. In 2007, there was a $14,814.61 tax lien assessed. Then on August 15, 2008, another case was filed with a total tax lien for $10,760.12. Also in October of 2008, it looks like the numbers came down to be $6,224.19.

You can also see from the state web site for corporations, CLICKHERE Bruce Davis is also the treasurer. If there is anyone who needs to speak up for these tax liens, then he may be the only one to blame.

It will be interesting to see if Bruce Davis will come clean on these tax liens against him and his company, because he is in a 3 way race for the North Carolina Senate seat #28 vacated by Katie Dorsett.

Third Time's Not The Charm on Guilford County Voters on The 1/4 Cent Tax

regional brief from john locke foundation on guilford county 1/4 cent tax referendum


With permission from the John Locke Foundation CLICKHERE and John Hood this report above is a must read for all Guilford County voters because everyone will be asked to increase their taxes this November and as we have seen in past that it has been rejected 2 times before and with the title hopefully it will not happen and third time's not the charm. Please read the scribd version embedded above in this post.

Here is a quote from the report that sums it all up
"Running up excessive debt during good times and taxing in bad times is not a fiscally responsible way to operate a county. Voters are angry at government at all levels — federal, state, and local — because elected offcials promise to be good stewards of hard-earned taxpayer money and then break their promises with excessive spending. Voters in Guilford County have a chance to send the county commissioners a message on November 2. "

That message is to vote NO for a tax increase on November 2, 2010. Please feel free to forward this post to all voters in Guilford County and share with them our frustration at plenty of our Guilford County Commissioners who decided to do this at the last minute and put this on the ballot.

If you would like a little more enlightenment on the past history please enjoy a post over at guarino's blog CLICKHERE with a title "The Guilford County Sales Tax Increase Proposal".

Then in the past few weeks we learn that the usual suspects over at our special interest lobbyist group from the development industry TREBIC is now involved with making this tax increase happen by forming a referendum committee called Quarter Cent Makes Sense with the first donation of $500 coming from the Greensboro Partnership, how nice.Here is some discussion over at guarino's blog on this angle of the committee CLICKHERE

It is time to send a message to our local politicians that enough is enough and on November 2, 2010 VOTE NO to the 1/4 cent tax increase.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #7 ISP Sports Now a Part of IMG

Display Advertising and Sponsorship Agreement With ISP Sports and Greensboro Coliseum



The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE
Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE
Part #4 Barter Agreement with Our State Magazine CLICKHERE
Part #5 Barter Agreement with Yes Weekly! CLICKHERE
Part #6 Barter Agreement with Dick Broadcasting CLICKHERE

Part #7 ISP Sports now a part of IMG , here is a link to that report of the merger CLICKHERE

This agreement is a display advertising/sponsorship sales agreement from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2013 . Where the City of Greensboro taxpayers pay a $35,000 management services fee to ISP sports. ISP now IMG will get 6 Schiffman's Club seats at no cost which translates to about $18,000 free of charge to IMG. IMG also gets to use a luxury suite at no cost as well on a as needed basis and when available. They also get to have office space along with a internet connection with local and long distance provided as well. There is a lot in this contract which can be seen above .

One aspect to see in the contract was to read  about how IMG will want to add if built and now it is going to happen in regards to the new aquatic center and also the amphitheatre. To see this in the contract under the purpose section of contract really shows just how far along this whole deal to add the aquatic center and also the amphitheatre were to Matt Brown's plan for future because they already had it a part of contract in 2009.

IMG sports also did not want to be a part of the ACC hall of champions also in this contract they run off a Matt Brown coliseum director wish list as to what he wants to have on the greensboro coliseum property but IMG didn't want to be a part of,  here is a few of the list:
relocation of the visitors and convention bureau offices
the city's official visitor center
sports commission offices
football/soccer stadium
nightclubs or other live entertainment venues
restaurants or hotels


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club now called the Sciffman's Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called this because at council's last meeting in September of 2010 Mattt Brown has a new agreement with this local jeweler.


The Schiffman's Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.


Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections
• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat
• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events
• VIP parking and private Club entrance
• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.
• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

News 2 Report on RUCO and Embedded Video That Proves Why It Is Needed in Greensboro,

News 2 had a report last night which talks about the RUCO inspection process that the City of Greensboro has in place and the local special interest lobbyist group TREBIC and their president Marlene Sanford want to eliminate this whole process . After seeing the embedded video above how can you not be for inspections on these rental propertiess all over Greensboro when you have landlords with rental properties like the one in the video. Here is a link to the online report titled "Landlords Oppose Required Inspection", CLICKHERE

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #6 Dick Broadcasting

Dick Broadcasting Bartering With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE

Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE

Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE

Part #4 Barter Agreement with Our State Magazine CLICKHERE

Part #5 Barter Agreement with Yes Weekly! CLICKHERE

Part #6 Dick Broadcasting

Dick Broadcasting which is our local radio station consisting of 107.5 WKZL and ROCK 92.3 with the best morning show around in 2 Guys Named Chris. This barter agreement is for 6 club seats at $3,000 a seat to equal a total of $18,000 a year with the contract going from October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010.

You can see the whole agreement above in a scribd version. One of the most interesting aspects is to see in the contract that Dick Broadcasting will not give air time during the months of  Ferbuary, May and November because this must be the time of their rating periods or something to that matter.

If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering with the Greensboro Coliseum Just Got More Interesting.Open Letter To City Attorney Terry Wood

Open letter to the Greensboro City Attorney Terry Wood,

I read a online article in the Greensboro News and Record on August 27, 2010 with a title"technically it's money" CLICKHERE. In the article it states that you the city attorney thinks that the bartering with companies is ok at the Greensboro Coliseum.Triadwatch has a ongoing post on bartering at the Greensboro Coliseum now up to PART #5 CLICKHERE .

 But let's look at North Carolina State Law.§ 143‑129 thanks to Vie De Malchance CLICKHERE.

Procedure for letting of public contracts.



(a) Bidding Required. – No construction or repair work requiring the estimated expenditure of public money in an amount equal to or more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or purchase of apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment requiring an estimated expenditure of public money in an amount equal to or more than ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) may be performed, nor may any contract be awarded therefor, by any board or governing body of the State, or of any institution of the State government, or of any political subdivision of the State, unless the provisions of this section are complied with; provided that The University of North Carolina and its constituent institutions may award contracts for construction or repair work that requires an estimated expenditure of less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) without complying with the provisions of this section.


For purchases of apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment, the governing body of any political subdivision of the State may, subject to any restriction as to dollar amount, or other conditions that the governing body elects to impose, delegate to the manager, school superintendent, chief purchasing official, or other employee the authority to award contracts, reject bids, or readvertise to receive bids on behalf of the unit. Any person to whom authority is delegated under this subsection shall comply with the requirements of this Article that would otherwise apply to the governing body.


(b) Advertisement and Letting of Contracts. – Where the contract is to be let by a board or governing body of the State government or of a State institution, proposals shall be invited by advertisement in a newspaper having general circulation in the State of North Carolina. Where the contract is to be let by a political subdivision of the State, proposals shall be invited by advertisement in a newspaper having general circulation in the political subdivision or by electronic means, or both. A decision to advertise solely by electronic means, whether for particular contracts or generally for all contracts that are subject to this Article, shall be approved by the governing board of the political subdivision of the State at a regular meeting of the board.


The advertisements for bidders required by this section shall appear at a time where at least seven full days shall lapse between the date on which the notice appears and the date of the opening of bids. The advertisement shall: (i) state the time and place where plans and specifications of proposed work or a complete description of the apparatus, supplies, materials, or equipment may be had; (ii) state the time and place for opening of the proposals; and (iii) reserve to the board or governing body the right to reject any or all proposals.

DID THIS BARTER AGREEMENT GET ADVERTISED LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE UNDER STATE LAW? PLEASE SHOW ME THE PROPER PROCEDURES THE CITY OF GREENSBORO FOLLOWS IN REGARDS TO BARTER AGREEMENTS WITH COMPANIES FOR SERVICES OR EQUIPMENT?

In the News and Record online article here is what the Greensboro City Attorney had to say :

"Earlier this month City Attorney Terry Wood give the practice a thumbs up on what seems to be a technicality. State law allows cities to barter for things like goods and services.

The law, however, requires that construction projects over a certain amount of money be publicly bid and awarded to the lowest bidder.


By that policy, it would seem as though the Coliseum violated the law by hand-picking companies to give tickets or other goodies in exchange for, as in the case of a to-be-built VIP lounge, construction of a new heating and air conditioning system.


Not so, Wood said. The law discusses an “expenditure of public money” and case law shows that must refer to actual cash.


Although the case law does not specifically talk about trade and barter agreements, Wood feels confident it applies.


“What it says is, if you are going to spend city money, you must bid it,” Wood said. “We aren’t spending city money.”

Also in the article the UNC School of Government talks about how this situation with the $270,000 price tag on a barter agreement with Brady Trane on a state of the art HVAC machine should have been bidded out.

Is there any processes for how to handle barter agreements with the City of Greensboro or did Coliseum Director Matt Brown have the autonomy to do as he pleases in regards to bartering at the coliseum?

It will be interesting to see if any Greensboro City Council member will want to talk about this issue or even bring it up but it looks like to some that Greensboro City Attorney is splitting hairs with state law and there needs to be more about this whole issue brought out on the table or see just how much each local municipality can barter and do we need to look at more procedures on when and how you can barter for services on a local and state level.
Will try to get more answers to these questions in future post along with more barter agreements with other local companies.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #5 Yes Weekly!

Yes Weekly Bartering Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE
Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE
Part #4  Barter Agreement with Our State Magazine CLICKHERE

Part #5 Barter Agreement with Yes Weekly!

This barter agreement between the Greensboro Coliseum and the weekly triad newspaper in Yes Weekly! is for a 2 year agreement which started on August 1, 2009 and runs through July 31, 2011 .
If you would like to see the agreement click on the scribd version above and here is what is in the agreement.

Yes Weekly! gets:

6 VIP Carlyle Club memberships
2 back lit signage panels located in the arena concourse (40" by 60")
4 Broadway Gold Circle season tickets valued at $1,160 and $1,840 worth of various other tickets for events at War Memorial Auditorium(based on venue availability from event contracts)

Greensboro Coliseum gets:

52 full page ads in Yes Weekly! to run as one ad per week for 52 weeks with a total of $56,420 with it being a value based on the 2007 rate card.

We also found out that Yes Weekly! is also in talks with the Greensboro Coliseum on naming rights at the new amphitheatre that is being built along with the new VIP room, CLICKHERE with a editorial title "Nature of the Business". You will also see this in the editorial

" Currently at issue is an ACC VIP lounge, approved by council last week, to be funded by a grant from Ovations as part of a deal for securing concession rights in the arena. Some seem to feel that the money should have been used against the $1.8 million or so subsidy afforded the venue by the city."
This grant money as the editors at Yes Weekly! state should go back and pay down the $1.8 million subsidy the Greensboro taxpayers pay each year. It would be interesting to see if the Greensboro City Council signed off on this million dollar contract with Ovations or does Matt Brown have complete control over everything and every contract because as we have seen with the Brady Trane barter agreement it might just be illegal to have a barter agreement like that one on a construction job for a state of the art HVAC system which might need to be bidded out and not bartered out.


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:
• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections
• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat
• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events
• VIP parking and private Club entrance
• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.
• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #4 Our State Magazine

Our State Mag Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum



The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE
Part #3 Barter Agreement with The Rhinoceros Times CLICKHERE

Part #4 Our State Magazine

Our State/ North Carolina Magazine in this barter agreement with the Greensboro Coliseum agrees to trade $5,000 worth of print advertising in their publication to be utilized from January 8, 2010 to January 7, 2011 in exchange for two (2) Carlyle Club seats in Section 210, Row A, Seats 15 & 16.

Our State Magazine is a great publication and highly recommend a subscription to this magazine here is a link to their web site CLICKHERE . This looks like a simple barter agreement and if you are a local publication or a state and regional magazine publication maybe you could get in touch with Matt Brown the coliseum director and say you would like to give $5,000 worth of advertising and get 2 tickets for a year to the "The Club".  Surely it isn't that easy but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Is there a formal process to barter with the Greensboro Coliseum?


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only



Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #3The Rhinoceros Times

Rhino Times Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Part #1 Barter Agreement with WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE
Part #2 Barter Agreement with Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE

Part #3 The Rhinoceros Times

This barter agreement is one of the simple ones but with our request for information they dug this one out of the cob webs because this agreement is from 2003 which as you can see from the above scribd pdf file it also talks about the Greensboro Generals and the Greensboro Prowlers being a part of the agreement.

We tried to get in touch with John Hammer from the Rhino Times but didn't get a call back before this post but looking at the paper on a weekly basis in 2010 they still run a full page ad for the Greensboro Coliseum.

This agreement from 2003 consists of

4 Carlyle Club seats at $3,500 per = $14,000 trade value

In the agreement which you can see above there was some hand writing on the agreement talking about a full page ad for $840 times 52 weeks =$43,860. It also hand written  with the coliseum to pay $21,840 with the club seats are $14,000.Hopefully they have a new agreement with the Rhino Times for 2010 but if they don't then this is the one for them from back in 2003.


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #2 Greensboro News and Record

Greensboro News and Record Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on another post at TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.


Part #1 WFMY News 2 CLICKHERE

Part #2 Greensboro News and Record

As you can see from the above barter and trade agreement the Greensboro News and Record has around a $125,000 agreement with the Greensboro Coliseum that had a addendum for this past year . One of the contracts is from July of 2009 to June of 2010 which totaled $90,000 in trade/sponsorship/branding agreement . This agreement seems like a weekly advertisement in the Thursday edition of paper called  GOTRIAD worth $77,939 along with having online trade for $12,061 for a total of $90,000.

The Greensboro News and Record will get in return
4 Carlyle Club memberships($3,000 per) = $12,000
12 Broadway Series Tickets ($300 per)=$3,600
Advance Box Office Signage ($25,000)
Concourse Signage ($8,000)
LED Storyboard ($10,000)
two portable Kiosks ($1,400)

NIE donation ($5,000 to be used for Dec 30, 2009: the remainder by April 30, 2010)= $10,000
Greensboro News and Record has open access in parking and lobby areas to sell newspapers.

GRAND TOTAL= $90,000


If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE ,  it is now called "The Club" because Carlyle & Co is  no longer in existence as a local high end jeweler in the area.


The Club

We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:

• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections

• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat

• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events

• VIP parking and private Club entrance

• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.

• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

Bartering With The Greensboro Coliseum Part #1 WFMY News 2

News 2 Barter Agreement With Greensboro Coliseum


The Greensboro Coliseum has barter agreements with some local companies and with the last Greensboro City Council meeting on 7-20-2010 they were funding a new facility called the VIP Room. It was pointed out on  another post at  TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE  about questions for Coliseum Director Matt Brown in regards to bartering services and construction jobs at the coliseum . This post and other post in the coming days will show you what we received in a open records request under North Carolina state law inquiry into the barter agreements at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The first local company is WFMY News 2 which had one of the simple barter agreements as you can see above in a scribd version of the agreement. It looks like they pay for 2 Carlyle Club tickets for $5,000 cash then they trade for the other 2 tickets for a total aggreement of $10,000 with a 3 year deal that ended on 7-31-10. The letter from News 2  business manager Laura Smith states "The trade being provided by WFMY in exchange for 2 Carlyle Club memberships is for advertising with WFMY".

If you would like to see what the Carlyle Club looks like CLICKHERE , here is a brief description of what the Carlyle Club offers but it might just be called 'The Club" without Carlyle for the future.

The Club



We invite individuals and corporations to become members of Greensboro's exclusive sports and entertainment club and experience all the Coliseum has to offer from reserved premium Club level seats.

Your membership to The Club includes these exclusive privileges:



• A luxuriously upholstered arena seat in the carpeted prime mid-court or end-court upper level Club sections


• Professional wait staff service at your premium Club seat


• Complimentary tickets* to major Coliseum events


• VIP parking and private Club entrance


• Full access to Club facilities, including bar/lounge/dining area and private restrooms.


• Buffet service for Club Members only

Look for more post in the coming days on other local companies who barter and have advertising agreements with the Greensboro Coliseum.

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.

Hotel Repost Fun: Proposed Hotel in Greensboro Analysis and a Letter to Andy Scott

HVS- 1_18_10



__________________________________________________________________



January 18, 2010


Mr. Andrew Scott
City of Greensboro
300W. Washington Street
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
336-373-2002
Andrew.scott@greensboro-nc.gov

Re: Proposed Luxury Hotel Greensboro

Greensboro, North Carolina

HVS Reference: 2010180001

Dear Mr. Scott:

Pursuant to your request, we herewith submit our analysis pertaining to a
proposal to develop a 206-room luxury hotel in downtown Greensboro,
North Carolina. The purpose of our analysis is to assist the City of
Greensboro in reviewing a Notification of Intent to Request Recovery Zone
Economic Development and Facility Bonds submitted by Urban Hotel
Group, LLC and Elm Street Center, LLC for a proposed luxury hotel to be
developed at 200 S. Davie Street in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Our opinions can be summarized as follows:

 The developer’s positioned average daily rate for the first five years of
operation is reasonable for a luxury or upper upscale hotel as proposed
for downtown Greensboro, but not at the occupancy rate projected.

 The developer’s projection of occupancy at the proposed hotel over the
first five years is highly unlikely to be achieved given the recent
occupancy levels achieved by the four hotels that will be primary
competitors of the proposed hotel.

 The revenue per available room (RevPAR) projected by HVS for the
proposed hotels is well below the level necessary to cover debt service
and a return on and return of the equity investment.

 The Food & Beverage revenue projected by the developer on a per
occupied room (POR) basis is reasonable for a luxury or upper upscale
full-service hotel, but is highly dependent on the type and quality of the
restaurant(s) and bar(s) located in the hotel, as well as the quality of the
banquet and catering department

 The 2009 HVS Hotel Valuation Index report issued in October 2009 lists

Greensboro (ranked 63) near the bottom of 65 cities in the U.S. for
projected changes in per-room value from 2006 to (Projected) 2013. Hotel
values in Greensboro are projected by HVS to fall -47.7% between 2006
and 2013.

We hereby certify that we have no undisclosed interest in the property, and
our employment and compensation are not contingent upon our findings
and opinions. This consulting services letter is subject to the comments
made throughout this report and to all assumptions and limiting conditions
set forth herein.
Sincerely,

W&R Hospitality Services, Inc.

Richard D. Williams, MAI, Managing Director

dwilliams@hvs.com, +1 303 771-4104

________________________________________________________________

above is the letter and documents on the downtown greensboro hotel proposed.It is a full 52 page analysis . One good question on this is, how much did it cost to do this ? and was it needed to begin with.If you want to see the scribd version CLICKHERE

White House Coffee Breaks with Lobbyist, Where Is The Transparency? Video Embedded

Americans for Limited Government CLICKHERE made this embedded video above after White House visitor logs exposed Andy Stern of the SEIU as the number 1 visitor of the White House in 2009, White House staff has decided to meet off site at a Caribou Coffee for their lobbyist meetups. Meeting off site keeps meetings with lobbyists off the books. After all, the Obama administration promised to be the most transparent in history.

NOTE: the youtube video might go blank for a second. Don't know why but it does. If you want to click on the video embedded it starts to work again or you can click in corner to see it on youtube.

Climate Summit Junket? Government Waste from D.C. to Copenhagen Part 2

Watch CBS News Videos Online

CBS News has a follow up to the reporting of our congressmen and women who went to Copenhagen for the climate summit. Here is a link to the first post CLICKHERE . Now CBS News reports on their expense report where they were charged well over $2,000 a night. Don't you just love your tax dollars at work. It is great to see someone besides John Stossel CLICKHERE doing reports like this . Part 2 is embedded above.

N.C. Liquor laws - How a $5.79 case of vodka ends up costing $61.92 | StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC

N.C. Liquor laws - How a $5.79 case of vodka ends up costing $61.92 StarNewsOnline.com Star News Wilmington, NC

Great investigative reporting by the Wilmington Star News on our state Alcoholic Beverage Control and how their distribution works in the state with a graph and a video about the local father and son team who run the New Hanover County ABC system and Billy Williams is making $232,000 a year as a administrator of New Hanover County ABC.

To see the whole report and video click on the title above or the embedded link above as well.

There is a lot of talk about revamping the whole system all over this state. We can recall locally where the High Point ABC Commission were in a little scandal back in 2006 here is a Inside Scoop from the Greensboro News and Record CLICKHERE

The new High Point ABC Board spent its second meeting Wednesday looking over the system's books. The financial tutorial was needed - newly appointed Chairman David Wall thought the system made $8 million in revenue last year. It actually made $10 million.

New General Manager Rosalind Stewart and Finacial Director Cindy Wooten said they spent a lot of time interpreting the books before the meeting.


Stewart said she's not sure what at least one of the system's accounts - entitled miscellanous accounts payable - was used for. She said it hasn't been activite in a while and she wasn't sure why it was created.


Board member Beth Koonce asked if they were going to get rid of the "employee welfare fund". State investigators believe the fund was generated through the illegal sale of both promotional mini-bottles and extra cases of liquor accidentally sent by the state warehouse.


Wooten said they were keeping the fund for incidentals. She said the fund was first created when they needed to send an employee flowers after her mother had died.


No one said where the money for the fund was coming from - I bet they'll find a legitimate source this time.


Let's hope we will see plenty of changes to the Alcoholic Beverage Control in the near future and thanks to the Wilmington Star News for that investigative report on it as well.

HAT TIP Carolina Politics CLICKHERE for the link to this article

Greensboro City Council Member Robbie Perkins Text Messages to Developer Roy Carroll During Council Meeting, Any Ethical Questions?

Perkins Texts



Above you will see the text messages from Greensboro City Council member Robbie Perkins to local developer Roy Carroll. During this last council meeting on December 15, 2009 it was discovered that Robbie Perkins was texting back and forth to Roy Carroll about a situation involving a court case which is totally a separate issue and a condemnation of Kotis properties to put in water and sewer to Roy Carroll's property off of horse pen creek road.

The first issue that needs to be addressed is should council members be text messaging during council meetings? The answer should be NO because the council members need to be concentrating on who is speaking to them and the case in front of them and not text messaging their friends or in Robbie Perkins case your TREBIC which stands for the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition buddy.

The second issue is to see if Greensboro City Council member Robbie Perkins is also Roy Carroll's leasing agent for this property off of horse pen creek road? If Yes ,then the councilman needs to recuse himself from yet another case that comes in front of the City of Greensboro. Here is a post from the past where both Robbie Perkins and Roy Carroll are tied together CLICKHERE on the center city pointe in downtown Greensboro.

To understand the above text messages in the first text message it talks about a person by the name of winfree, that happens to be Kotis Properties lawyer in Chick Winfree. The third text says that is has been tabled till January 5, 2010.In the fourth text it states that "Al" has been giving me the play by play. Al is probably, Al Leonard who is Vice President Carroll Commercial Construction Company and Carrolland Company.And the last text seems like Robbie Perkins saying to Roy Carroll to go toe to toe with Kotis Properties. The "Terry" in the last text is Greensboro City Attorney Terry Wood.

A lot of this came out in front because we had a airplane incident over the summer where local developer Roy Carroll wanted to fly the Mayor of Greensboro and chairman of Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston to Washington D.C. , well some of us including this blog wanted to say that this was completely unethical for this to happen CLICKHERE for that post on July 10,2009 titled "Greensboro City Attorney Advised That Trip To D.C. Raises Ethical Concerns for Mayor of Greensboro and County Chairman. Then
on July 16, 2009 we have this post CLICKHERE titled "Roy Carroll's Company + City of Greensboro are Defendents in a Court Case As We Speak, Any Ethical Questions Now?. Now we fast forward to the end of year where the city now wants to condemn Kotis Properties for water and sewer to Roy Carroll's companies and we have a sitting Greensboro Council member text messaging the president of the company while the council meeting is going on. Amazing.

Hopefully the Mayor of Greensboro Bill Knight will make sure that all council members turn off their cell phones and not look down at their blackberry's of I phones during council meetings.

We also need to let the court case run it's course on this issue because it seems that the city attorney Terry Wood has sided with Roy Carroll on this issue and the reserve strip is acceptable but to Kotis Properties it is not but we see that Greensboro City Council Member Robbie Perkins has advised Roy Carroll that "Terry was forthright, you and marty should go toe to toe on Jan 5".

If you want to see the court case of Kotis VS. City of Greensboro & Horse Pen Creek Village CLICKHERE plenty of tidbits in that court case.

UPDATE: more post on this issue
Joe Guarino has more CLICKHERE part #2 and CLICKHERE part #1
Roch101 CLICKHERE
Questions for Greensboro CLICKHERE

Amanda Lehmert from the Greensboro News & Record has a update with a quote from Greensboro City Council member Robbie Perkins CLICKHERE