Who Are The Usual Suspects on The Aerotropolis Board?

Keith Debbage: A Triad aerotropolis awaits : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis



It looks like the Piedmont Triad Partnership wants to take the reins of this aerotropolis concept from what the Heart of the Triad could not do.. Reading the article in the ideas section of the News & Record from our local urban geographer Keith Debbage click on the title above or CLICKHERE

In the article Keith Debbage had this to say

"The Piedmont Triad Partnership last week announced the establishment of an impressive 25-member aerotropolis leadership board charged with developing a competitive strategy for our region and advocating for it."

Who are the most impressive 25 member leadership board? Well let's take a look.

We start out with mayors of 5 triad cities in Winston Salem, Kernersville, Burlington, High Point, and Greensboro with also a county commissioner from Montgomery County, he must be on the board for all the transportation needed to haul off the trash to montgomery county because the City of Greensboro won't reopen the white street landfill.

Then we can start looking at the usual suspects from the triad area in the 2 zoning stud lawyers in Jim Morgan from High Point and Henry Isaacson from Greensboro. Like these 2 people need to be on any more boards and commission.

There is also a unusual circumstance in that there are 3 people from the same company in Old Dominion Freight nice to share the wealth on this board with 3 people from the same company. There isn't room for one person from Fed Ex who has spearheaded this aerotropolis concept.

You can also know that Jim Melvin former mayor of Greensboro can't be left out in the cold so we see his second in command Ed Kitchen the former greensboro city manager now at the Bryan Foundation on this board.

Last but not least is Marlene Sanford from the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition(TREBIC).It should be that if TREBIC gets to put a person on any board then there needs to be a regular citizen as well to be appointed to this board because government should be by the people for the people not special interest .

If you can see by the makeup of this leadership board you will notice one thing missing any local citizen who might just bring a little perspective in the process. This is what got Heart of the Triad in trouble with screwing the citizens who actually live in the area that is being impacted from this aerotropolis concept. It looks like they have not learned their lesson again on this board as well. The same usual suspects.

Below is a list of all the members.

Mr. Douglas Atkinson
VP of Business Development
WFU Baptist Medical Center
Medical Center Blvd.
Winston-Salem NC 22157
336-716-7846
dcikinso@wfubnrc.edu

Mr. Greg Chabon
Attorney
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice
300 N. Greene St., Suite,1900
Greensboro NC 27401
336-574-8068
gchubon@wcsr.com




Mr. Graham Bennett
President
Quality Oil Company
P.O. Box 2736
Winston-Solem NC 27102-2736
336-721-9505
gbennett@qocnc.com




Mr. F. Hudnall Christopher Jr.
Ex VP (retired)
Reynolds American Inc.
110 Oakwood Dr., Suite 320
Winston-Salem NC 27103
336-724-2759
fhcjr@aol.com



Dr. Joyendu "Joy" Bhadury
Associate Dean- Research and Graduate
UNC Bryan School of Business
P.O.Box 26165
Greensboro NC 27402
336-334-5338
joy_bhadury@uncg.edu



Mr. L.B. Clayton
VP of Mid SOuth Region
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
500 Old Dominion Way
Thomasville NC 27360
336-822-5377
lb.clayton@odfl.com



Dr. Donald Cameron
President of Guilford Technical Community College
P.O.Box 309
Jamestown NC 27282
336-334-4822
dwcameron@gtcc.edu



Mr. David Congdon
CEO & President Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
500 Old Dominion Way
Thomasville NC 27360
david.congdon@odfl.com



Mr. Dale Carroll
Deputy Secretary NC Dept. of Commerce
4301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh N.C. 27699
919-733-1374
dcarroll@nccommerce.com



Mr. Michael L. Herman
President, Best Services Group
829 Graves Street
Kernersville NC 27284
1-800-229-4787 ext 1406
mike@bestservicesgroup.com



Mr Brent McKinney
Executive Director Piedmont Area Regional Transportation
7800 Airport Center Dr. Suite 102
Greensboro NC 27409
336-662-0002
brentm@partnc.org



Mr. Brian Quinn
Plant Manager Steelcase Inc.
260 Swathmore Ave.
High Point NC 27263
336-434-8201
bquinn@steelcase.com



Mr. Jim Morgan
Managing Partner, Morgan Herring Morgan Green & Rosenblutt
P.O. Box 2756
High Point NC 27261
336-883-6177
jimmorgan@morganherring.com



Ms. Marlene Sanford
President of Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition
115 South Westgate Dr.
Greensboro N.C. 27407
336-855-1453
msanford@trebic.org



Mr. Graham Pervier
President Rockingham County Partnership
P.O. Box 205
Wentworth N.C. 27375
336-342-8138
gpervier@ncnorthstar.com



Mr. Greg Plemmons
Vice President Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
500 Old Dominion Way
Thomasville N.C.27360
greg.plemmons@odfl.com



Mr. Maurice S.S. Hull
President Capstone Property Group Inc.
1208 Eastchester Drive, suite 205
High Point N.C. 27265
336-883-6500
mh@mpmanage.com



Mr. Kelly King
CEO BB&T Corporation
P.O. Box 1250
Winston Salem N.C> 27102
336-733-2311
ksking@bbandt.com



Mr. Henry H.Isaacson
Partner Isaacson Isaacson Sheridan & Fountain
Piedmont Triad Airport Authority Board Member
101 west friendly avenue suite 400
Greensboro N.C. 27401
336-2757626
hisaacson@iislaw.com



Mr. Donald A. Kirkman
President & CEO
Piedmont Triad Partnership
7025 Albert Pick Road Suite 303
Greensboro N.C. 27409
336-668-4556
dkirkman@piedmonttriadnc.com



Mr J. Edward Kitchen
Vice President Joseph M. Bryan Foundation
P.O. Box 14829
Greensboro N.C. 27415
336-691-9803
edkitchenjmb@aol.com



Dr. John Kasarda
Director Institute of Private Enterprise
UNC Kenan Flagler Business School
Campus Box 3440
Chapel Hill N.C. 27599
919-962-8201
john.kasarda@unc.edu



Mr. Thomas McKim
Chairman Airport Commission
R.J. Reynolds
401 N. Main Street
Winston Salem N.C. 27102
336-741-3348
mckimt@rjrt.com



Mr. Ralph Womble
Partner Triad Street Partners
635 N. Trade St.
Winston Salem N.C> 27101
336-777-3876
rhw@triadbiz.rr.com

Ethics and the Aerotropolis of the Triad

Many Triad residents are outraged by the current lack of ethics, accountability and responsibility in our land-use and transportation planning processes in our region and state. An article from the Greensboro News & Record CLICKHERE indicating the intent of developers and "Aerotropolis" planners to meet with the NC General Assembly on Wednesday to request future state funding of this effort.

Please consider the failing state of our bridges and infrastructure and failing air quality. Please consider that North Carolina leads the nation in the number of acres of lost farmland, even though agri-business is our largest and most stable economic comtributor.

Is there any reason that an "AUTHORITY" such as PART or PTIA, (chartered by the NC General Assembly) should not be covered by the State Government Ethics Act? Since N.C.G.S.14-23.1 specifically states it is to cover elected and appointed officials who serve or represent a public agency, would you say that one who has been elected to the Greensboro City Council, has been appointed to lead the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Transportation Advisory Committee that plans roads for northern Guilford County, serves on the Board of Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation and who owns NAI Piedmont Triad real estate brokerage who is trying to develop property throughout the Heart of the Triad area, upon whose Steering Committee he sits would be exempt from the provisions of this statute? Is there any reason that members of the Piedmont Triad Partnership economic development group, (that also receives state funding) should function without ethical restraint? Perhaps Brent McKinney, Executive Director of the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation and the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority leadership might reference the Code of Ethics for Triangle Transit Authority [NC] Board of Trustees found on page #61 of Ethics in Public Life by A. Fleming Bell, II. It can be obtained through the Institute of Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The article I reference follows. Thank you for your consideration of this request to oppose state funding of the "Aerotropolis" planning scheme.

Respectfully,
Cathy M. Poole

Full Disclosure of the Greensboro Urban Loop Compliments of Vie De Malchance

HAT TIP (FEC)

This is a full disclosure memo to the citizens of northern Greensboro North Carolina. FEC over at Vie De Malchance CLICKHERE has a great post titled "Battle Forest". In the post you will see the location of the loop in detail pictures starting at around cotswold terrace and ending up at Highway 29. If you live in this area of Greensboro and wanted to see a close up of where the loop is going to be in regards to your house please check out this post.

Also FEC has started a wiki on the URBAN LOOP and it is a great place to see everything you need to see about the urban loop and all the developers in the loop area as well in the northern part of the loop. Here is the link to the WIKI

CLICKHERE and here is the front page of the wiki

"This wiki (What I Know Is) is for Greensboro citizens to track imprudent use of her resources for personal gain. I intend to initially concentrate on property developers who built homes in the proposed northern path of the Urban Loop. "

NCDOT + Greensboro City Council + Project Homestead=Government Waste

Triad Citizens Against Government Waste with the honor going to NCDOT with help from the Greensboro City Council and a posthumous recognition to Project Homestead with help from Michael King who had the Greensboro CIty Council wrapped around his finger .

Great article on the front page of the Greensboro News & Record by Taft Wireback CLICKHERE or click on the title above.

This is also a warning to all residents of Northern Greensboro if you can see the map it shows the interchanges that will take out a lot of land and houses for the loop to meet with Bryan Boulevard. There will be major interchanges at yanceyville street,elm street, lawndale dr. and battleground avenue.

This map also has it saying," North Carolina Department of Transportation finalized the location for all sections of the loop in 1996. Detailed plans and schedules are available at the NCDOT Division 7 office and GDOT Administrative office." As you can see from the picture above

If you take the above statement and the map above with the interchanges then why in the hell did quail oaks subdivision ever get built. The reason I say this is because in article it states that Project Homestead bought the land in 2000 but as the map states the loop interchanges were finalized in 1996 which is 4 years earlier.


There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and hope Taft Wireback will also follow up on this issue.

Resolution on Ethical Principles in Land Use and Transportation Planning in N.C.

RESOLUTION ON ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN LAND-USE AND TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IN NORTH CAROLINA


WHEREAS, the intent of the State Government Ethics Act is to “further the public, not private or personal interest and to maintain the public trust of the citizens of North Carolina, and it is essential that government function honestly and fairly, free from all forms of impropriety and undue influence; and acceptance of authority granted by the people to elected and appointed officials imposes a commitment of fidelity to the public interest and such power cannot be used to advance narrow interest for oneself, other persons or groups; and self interest, partiality, and prejudice have no place in decision making for the public”. And “officials must be prepared to remove themselves immediately from decisions, votes or processes where even the appearance of a conflict of interest exists”; and

WHEREAS, the State Government Ethics Act does not cover local elected and appointed officials, yet these officials may have personal development interests, hold positions on multiple decision-making boards, and exercise great authority over private and public development, including the use of eminent domain to seize private property; and

WHEREAS, most county and municipal governments do not have ethics or conflicts of interest policies for elected and appointed officials; and

WHEREAS, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs), planning and zoning boards and committees, Transportation Advisory Committees (TACs) and Technical Coordinating Committees (TCCs) and other entities involved in transportation and land-use planning are not subject to ethical principles and do not function with transparency and accountability to the people or abide by a set of ethical guidelines (e.g. Ethical Principles of the American Planning Association); and

WHEREAS, as an example of the need for local codes of ethical conduct is the formation of a Regional Transportation Authority in the Triad. In 1997, the NC General Assembly passed Article 27, GS160A authorizing formation of a Regional Transportation Authority. The Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) and the Piedmont International Airport Authority (PTIA) that began as an oversight group for the airport, have both evolved into facilitators for land-use and economic development. PTIA is promoting the “Aerotropolis” concept, described as “a powerful engine of economic development” and PART has come under scrutiny for coordinating the “Heart of the Triad” effort as a result of corporate appeal. Significantly, both Authorities have used eminent domain, yet they are not subject to an ethical code; and

WHEREAS, in another example, Session Law 2008-164 H-2318 authorizes the NC Department of Transportation to enter into private partnership agreements for construction of transportation infrastructure but it does not define an ethical standard for the development and implementation of these agreements; and

WHEREAS, the undue influence of property developers, corporate interests and a lack of transparency and accountability in land-use and transportation planning is not representative of the population at large and diminishes the public trust and threatens private property rights, agricultural vitality and environmental stability of North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, financial systems and democratic government are ultimately based on trust of the administrators, and clearly can and will collapse when administered by avaricious, unethical individuals.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the North Carolina Alliance for Transportation Reform (NCATR) meeting on January 19, 2009 urges the Executive and Legislative branches of state government to modify the State Government Ethics Act to cover all local elected and appointed officials, as well as all boards, committees and entities with authority over land-use and transportation planning decisions. Alternatively, we urge the Executive and Legislative branches to enact a statute to require all such local officials and organizations to create local codes of ethical conduct that address conflict of interest issues and include rigorous enforcement provisions.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this ethical policy includes planners for roads or transportation projects constructed through any public/private partnership arrangement (such as under provisions of H-2318), or through any arrangement where public funds are used.


SIGNATURE______ON_FILE___________________________________________________

PRINTED NAME___Cathy_M._Poole____________________________________________________

TITLE_Chairperson_Ethics_Committee_NC_Alliance_for_Transportation_Reform

DATE_February_11, 2009____________________________________________________

Sent To:
Governor Beverly Perdue
Secretary, North Carolina Department of Transportation
NC General Assembly

Letter to Governor Perdue for Ethical Reforms on the local level especially Guilford County

Cathy M. Poole, Chairperson
NC Alliance for Transportation Reform - Ethics Committee
1607A Squire Davis Road
Kernersville, N.C. 27284
Telephone: 336-869-0256
Email: CathyPoole@northstate.net


February 11, 2009



The Honorable Beverly E. Perdue
Office of the Governor
State of North Carolina
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-0301

Dear Governor Perdue:

It is evident from your first days as our Governor, that your Oath of Office is synonymous with the truths you hold dear. NC citizens across the state thank you and welcome your wise leadership promoting open and fair government processes.
Executive Order Number 2 “Reforming Department of Transportation” is excellent; however, unless ethical reform in transportation planning reaches local levels of elected and appointed officials as well, it will be undermined and inefficient. We cannot allow undue influence by property developers and corporate interests who have no accountability to the people and are subject to no ethical policies to control any level of the planning process.
Sam Hunt, former Secretary of North Carolina Department of Transportation said that the “Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) is the policy body guiding the transportation planning process”. When I recently questioned the ability of the TAC to over-rule the unanimous vote of the Guilford County Commissioners, my elected representatives, I was told that the “TAC is self-governed”.
Integration of transportation and land-use planning, supported by the Federal Highway Administration calls for Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Rural Planning Organizations, and transit agencies to maximize the effectiveness of public investments by collaboration, and (provisions of H-2318) provides for public/private partnerships, but these agencies and persons do not function with transparency and accountability or abide by enforceable ethical standards.
We believe the attached Resolution on Ethical Principles in Transportation Planning and Land-use in North Carolina, proposed by NC Alliance for Transportation Reform (NCATR), would greatly strengthen Executive Order Number 2 in accordance with Article XIV, Section 3 of our North Carolina Constitution. “General laws uniformly applicable throughout the State shall be made applicable without classification or exception in every unit of local government of like kind, such as every county, or every city and town”…
Very simply, our request is for modification of the State Government Ethics Act to specifically cover all elected officials, appointees, planning boards and individuals involved in transportation and land-use planning uniformly and throughout North Carolina.
Once again, I commend your efforts to reform the processes, efficiencies and priorities of the North Carolina Department of Transportation.


Respectfully,



Cathy M. Poole, Chairperson
NCATR - Ethics Committee






NC Alliance for Transportation Reform (NCATR) is a statewide grassroots organization involved in transportation reform issues across the state since 1992.

Robbie Perkins Time To Get Some Ethics and Get Off Heart Of The Triad

Collapse of Financial Systems and Democratic Government

Financial systems and democratic government are ultimately based on trust of the administrators and clearly can and will collapse when administered by avaricious, unethical individuals.

The Heart of the Triad project should be terminated immediately to spare citizens from the unconstitutional degradation we face each time meet for another dishonest and discredited attempt at planning for our rural community.

Heart of the Triad was the vision of Greensboro City Councilman, Robbie Perkins, co-owner of NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial Properties (listed by the Business Journal as the 3rd largest). Mr. Perkins also serves on the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) and until recently co-chaired the HOT Steering Committee. He continues to serve on the Strategic Planning Committee. When I suggested that HOT planning groups follow the “Ethical Principles of the American Planning Association”, he was the first to object. When I questioned his conflicts of interests and the NAI signs scattered throughout the HOT area, he replied to me, “I make no apologies for my actions”.

This unscrupulous conduct is a disgrace to the elected officials who continue to promote this concept. Does anyone have the political courage to end this fiasco?

Following the widespread public unease about the Kelo eminent domain ruling, BB&T issued a national statement that they would not participate in economic development projects involving eminent domain. This announcement was obviously a cheap PR stunt as BB&T was a $50,000 contributor to Heart of the Triad and they continue to hold a seat on the “Stakeholders’ Committee”.

The “Heart of the Triad Parkway” aka North-South Connector will be used to condemn property to pave the way for developers. High Point’s public hearing for their Major Thoroughfare Plan is to be held on November 25th at 10:00am at the High Point Chamber of Commerce. Please express your opinion!

Many local elected and appointed officials currently have personal development interests; hold positions on multiple decision-making boards or committees without ethical or legal restraint and function without transparency and accountability to the people. Guilford and Forsyth County Board of Commissioners have not adopted an ethics policy.

The undue influence of property developers and corporate interests in land-use and transportation planning is not representative of the population at large and diminishes the public trust and threatens private property rights, agricultural vitality and the environmental stability of North Carolina.

The NC General Assembly should modify the State Government Ethics Act to include all local elected and appointed officials, land-use and transportation planning boards, committees and authorities, MPOs and RPOs to include any private partnership agreements with NCDOT and to provide equity to citizens facing possible misuse of eminent domain authority without the normal recourse of representative government. These persons/organizations should be subject to all provisions of the State Government Ethics Act.

Cathy M. Poole
Coalition of Concerned Citizens of The Triad

NCDOT UNEQUITY DISTRIBUTION FORMULA ON A CHART WOW

HAT TIP UNDERCOVER URBANIST ON EDCONE.COM CLICKHERE

Over at Ed Cone's Blog there was a person by the name of undercover urbanist who had this to say. "Ed, another fun one is to talk to them about the "equity formula" in NCDOT spending. This is where the economically productive areas of the state (read: cities and suburbs) have their taxes taken from them to build roads in areas that are less economically productive. (read: rural areas)
A terrific chart demonstrating this hideous display of socialism(PDF) .

Another post earlier in the year at the News and Observer CLICKHERE titled N.C. Road Building Still Mired in Politics.

To see the chart on the North Carolina Transportation Tax Return Rates by County really says it all. You can see the chart by clicking on the title of this post above. When you see a chart like this and also look at the return ratio by counties in the state of North Carolina, it really hits home as to where our NCDOT is really missing the boat . How many of us in the TRIAD travel down to Charlotte for meetings, seeing friends or going to the Panthers game and are still amazed to this day that there isn't a 8 lane highway between the TRIAD and metropolitan Charlotte the whole way down. The bottlenecks on I-85 and I-77 down to Charlotte are a nightmare. How many of us in the TRIAD are nervous crossing the Yadkin River I-85 bridge, it seems like Rep. Fred Steen R-Rowan County feels that NCDOT needs to dismantle CLICKHERE .

Time for a change at NCDOT, and we will see what the next governor can do about it.

Let's Save The City of Greensboro $19,000

While looking at the disbursements made by the City of Greensboro Treasurer for 9-15-08 , you can see the whole disbursements from the Greensboro City Council agenda by clicking on the title of this post or CLICKHERE , then proceed to current agenda with attachments.

On page#126 vouchers issued against approved contracts for equipment, supplies & items purchased by council approval. One item that could help save the citizens of Greensboro and City Manager Mitch Johnson in their process of finding access pork in a budget is for $19,000 to pay for membership dues in the American Public Transit Association CLICKHERE .

According to the web site the Piedmont Area Regional Transportation otherwise known as PART is already a member of this association. If the city wants to save $19,000 this endeavor could go away but someone in the City of Greensboro staff will make a pitch that it is necessary to be a member of this Association where only 3 other N.C. cities are members Charlotte, Wilmington and Winston Salem according to the web site on members. Let's also add Winston Salem to the mix of doing away with this association because PART is the umbrella organization of regional transportation. Pool everyone's resources together to pay for this and save the City of Greensboro $19,000.

To TRIADWATCH this is pork that needs to be chopped up and thrown away .

North Carolina Conflicts of Interest at It's Best Compliments from NCDOT, Appraisal Board, and State Sen. Hoyle

"Back on September 7, 2008 the Charlotte Observer reports this CLICKHERE. David Hoyle North Carolina State Senator Democrat from Gaston County, stands to profit off parkway.The Gaston Democrat invested in land near a proposed exit, then voted for the expressway. The lawmaker says he was unaware the exit was so close when he invested."



"Now let's move to September 21, 2008 the Raleigh News and Observer reports this CLICKHERE . Road work enhanced official's property.Board of Transportation member Louis W. Sewell Jr. says all projects he backed were in the public interest.A state Board of Transportation member from Jacksonville steered roughly $375,000 in public money to road improvements adjacent to properties that he or a son co-owned at the time."



Now let's move to September 22, 2008 the Greensboro News and Record reports this CLICKHERE or click title of story above. Senate leader Democrat Marc Basnight has appointed a real estate lawyer to the North Carolina Appraisal Board, an apparent violation of a state law that requires the seat be filled by someone not involved in the real estate profession.



_______________________________________________________



This type of corruption is sad to see but if you look further in to some of these stories you can see a pattern for all to witness right here in Guilford County Politics.

Here is what was said in the third report above.



In North Carolina, the investigation showed the board has allowed appraisers who have been disciplined over and over to stay in business. Many repeat offenders had their suspensions reduced if they agreed to take appraiser education classes.
Ipock and others attributed those problem in part to the North Carolina's "good old boy system - where all the appraisers and board members know each other."
They said the board has been reluctant to discipline repeat offenders.
"That's why we need people outside the industry on the board," Ipock said



As you can see there is a good old boy system set up on these boards and commissions on the state level, just like locally where the good old boy network is plain to see on the Greensboro Board of Adjustment, Zoning Board, Land Development Ordinance Committee and Planning Board where the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) behind the scenes make the moves.

Let's also take a look at 2 local Greensboro City Council Members by the name of Robbie Perkins and Zack Matheny who went on a land grab out off of Highway 68 with anonymous investors knowing that a future interstate connector road will be going in that area in future. As reported on TRIADWATCH CLICKHERE . I hope they don't try to get NCDOT Chairman Doug Galyon to curry any favors for their property off of Highway 68 because it will be obvious what they are trying to do in future, and the good old boys will get exposed.

If you can see by what has been reported that conflicts of interest, good old boy network and ethical problems are rampant in this state and need to come to a halt. We need to hold our politicians to a standard that is free of conflicts , and have ethical standards for a change.Sometimes politicians are like diapers they need changing. It might be time to change the diapers in plenty of local and state races.

Highway 68 North + Anonymous Investors + Zack and Robbie = Ethical Problems

Jordan Green from Yes Weekly CLICK TITLE ABOVE writes an article out this week September 17, 2008 in regards to the area of Highway 68 North of the Airport which just passed the Guilford County planning department to allow for a Mixed Use Development on land off of Leabourne Road.

Mary Fabrizio a resident of the area had this to say in the article "This feels a lot like land speculation,It stinks because two of the investors are sitting on the Greensboro City Council.”

Jordan Green in the article writes this,"At-large Councilman Robbie Perkins and District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny have abstained from a city council vote on the project because of conflicts of interest.Derek Allen, the lawyer with Brooks Pierce law firm who argued the case before the planning board, said that the two councilmen “had interest in groups that had interest in that property.” The limited liability company interested in developing the property, which is currently owned by WA Kennedy Jr., was organized in June by Jennifer C. Noble, a lawyer with Brooks Pierce. The company’s registered agent is Stanhope Johnson, a partner with NAI Piedmont Triad, a commercial real estate company headed by Perkins. "

As you can see that 2 well connected Greensboro City Council Members Zack Matheny and Robbie Perkins are now working together to land speculate on property right across the street from the new GTCC building.On top of this you see that the lawyer for this rezoning happens to be a lawyer by the name of Derek Allen who works for Brooks Pierce Law Firm as you can see from above Jennifer Noble with the same law firm is heading up these anonymous investors on this piece of property. Let's also add that Stan Hope Johnson is the registered agent who is a partner with Greensboro City Council Member Robbie Perkins.Can you connect the dots on this one?

If this is a trend and Derek Allen Lawyer from Brooks Pierce represents both Zack MAtheny and Robbie Perkins in zoning cases like this one then I hope that if there is any zoning case in the future that comes in front of the Greensboro City Council then both of them will have to recuse themselves from each zoning case.It is a matter of time before the State Legislators are going to have to do an INTERVENTION in Guilford County to come up with a plan to stop this conflicts of interest and have some meaningful local government ethics legislation to stop this crap.

One amazing fact that came out from the planning department is to hear that Leabourne Road now has around 2,000 cars each day as their traffic count. Once this development gets going it will jump to 21,000 cars a day. Traveling up and down Highway 68 is really bad especially in the morning where traffic on the 2 lane hwy. 68 sometimes backs up to a crawl all the way to Oak Ridge. Now they want to add 21,000 cars a day to this area seems like a mess in the making. NCDOT will need to get their head out of their ass on this one and widen the road all the way to Oak Ridge to 4 lanes NOW NOT LATER.To add a 40 acre shopping center and a 400 unit apartment complex to this rural area of Guilford County seems a little too much on the over developed side of the issue. But hey who is to argue with the local powerbrokers or as I like to call them the TREBIC CARTEL.

UPDATE

the anonymous investors are under the name of leabourne 68 llc

NC Department of Transportation Get Out of the 50's Mentality

North Carolina Department of Transportation and local planners continue to employ the discredited 1950s mentality of building new roads without exploring alternatives. This makes no sense in the 21st Century.

North Carolina’s daunting financial challenges, rising fuel costs, and the devastating environmental consequences are compelling reasons to oppose new road projects when it seems there isn’t enough money in the state to fix potholes. Our infrastructure is imploding, and the Triad region is failing EPA’s air quality standards.

The General Assembly’s spending of our tax dollars to preserve forests and cropland is futile unless NC DOT accepts the “No Build Alternative” in Environmental Impact Statements and adopts a “Fix-It-First Policy”. When funds are available, rail service would promote regional connectivity and would indicate the 21st Century Transportation Committee is serious about reform.

Recent reports indicate the committee will recommend that the General Assembly seek voter approval of a one billion dollar bond package to address our transportation needs. Providing more funding for NCDOT is not the answer if the same officials continue to operate in the same inefficient and political ways.

Decadent use of taxpayer dollars and maniacal consumption and destruction of our natural resources must end.


Cathy M. Poole
Coalition of Concerned Citizens of the Triad
Kernersville North Carolina

Stop the Wedding Planner on New Garden Road in Greensboro

There is a new group formed to stop the Wedding Planner from going up on New Garden Road. They are called STOP THE REZONING! Friends of New Garden Road, CLICKHERE . You can click on the title above to see the rezoning map in question. This area is between jefferson & brassfield road on new garden road.

Stop the Rezoning of New Garden Road

SAVE THE DATE

Tuesday, September 16
5:30 (get there early for a seat)

Please join us at the City Council Chambers, Melvin Municipal Building , to protest the rezoning of 1807 and 1809 New Garden Road from residential to commercial zoning.
The owner wants to build an events center in our residential neighborhood, bringing great noise, more traffic and a huge building and parking lot in a residential neighborhood.
For more information or to sign the letter of protest:
http://www.friendsofnewgarden.org/

This rezoning case was postponed on August 4th because Derek "conflict of interest"Allen from Brooks Pierce Law Firm came up at the last minute to get a continuance on this rezoning case. The neighbors were none too happy to see this lawyer in question come up at last minute to have the continuance.It made for a few brief discussions and also a directive from the Greensboro City Council to come up with better communications with surrounding owners on rezoning continuance request.

In regards to trying to get better procedures in place for the continuance of rezoning cases the Greensboro City Council next week September 2, 2008 will hear a presentation CLICKHERE then proceed to agenda and it is item #21 from Planning Director. This should be called the Derek "conflict of interest" Allen Rule. Thanks for that .

It is time that the madness on New Garden Road stops. Could someone from the city transportation please make New Garden Road four lanes the whole way, please.If you are against this rezoning please check out their web-site CLICKHERE and support the neighbors who don't want to hear the WEDDING PLANNER all year long.

Nightmare on Old Battleground Road in Greensboro

The newest addition of the Leisure magazine which is a guide to the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department for the Fall-Winter 2008 has a interesting article on page 39 but it has been removed from the internet but here is a link to a pdf from the city of greensboro CLICKHERE

The project in question is called "Greensboro Landmark Project" , this is trying to make the Guilford National Military Courthouse, Tannnenbaum Historic Park, and Jaycee Park all inclusive with no drive through traffic.

Upon looking at the map it shows how this project would like to see Old Battleground Road closed to through traffic past British Lake Drive before the entrance to the National Military Park. This road in question gets about 11,000 cars a day that cut through the National Military Park to get to their homes and some like to use the park as a running and biking facility. The nightmare is looking at where all these 11,000 cars would go if this road is closed. This would mean more traffic down regular Battleground Road and if you have ever been down that road towards Horse Pen Creek Road it is over capacity at this time and to add more to the mix would be a NIGHTMARE.

Triadwatch contacted both Adam Fischer from the Greensboro Transportation and also Superintendent Cranfield from the Guilford National Military Courthouse to ask them about this project and to see if they were aware of this closing of Old Battleground Road.

Mr. Cranfield from the Military Courthouse stated that this was a proposed project. It was a long term idea to try to get back the integrity of the battlefield. As you can see from the map in that they want to get grants and funding to make all of this area enclosed and to also have a combined visitor center where it would be more towards Tannenbaum Park along New Garden Road. Some of the ideas that Mr. Cranfield talked about was to try to maybe have a major crossing on Old Battleground where they could have railroad crossings come down at a certain location so that people could cross Old Battleground Road without worrying about safety but in long term future close it all in. There are a lot of puzzle pieces missing to this project and in regards to the urban loop that will be near the Lake Brandt Road intersection with Old Battleground Road.

Mr. Fischer from the Greensboro Department of Transportation was somewhat aware of this but didn't know that it was being published in the Leisure guide of Greensboro for Fall 2008. He wanted to say that there are a lot of things that need to happen before the city can close a certain street and to close a street like this with 11,000 cars a day would mean a lot of public input before this happens and probably a lot of upgrading to the existing roads for this to happen, especially getting the urban loop done also.

It is great to see long term goals for places like the Guilford National Military Courthouse , but when you travel down Old Battleground Road and have lived at Lincoln Green Apartments and know just how many people rely on this road to get to and from places of destination, it is hard to imagine it being closed to through traffic.

It will be interesting to see the future of this project but the needs of the citizens and the integrity of the courthouse need to get together to make a great place to live , work and play.

The video below is the Battle of Guilford Courthouse a Animated Video, if you would like to see a great video , or CLICKHERE check out this 8 minute video.