News

I wanted to take a moment and give you a quick update on GreensboroPolitics.com as well as a quick update on my personal life.

First, thank you for visiting this site and sharing it with others. My goal from day one was to help individuals become more aware of what is taking place in the world of Greensboro politics by providing factual information without having opinion mixed in. Given the emails I have received and the verbal comments that have been made… I think the site has done just that and I have no plans to change the current reporting format.

I have been able to post occasional interviews with council members as well as city staff and I hope to amp up those types of features in 2008.

As some already know my employment situation changed a few weeks before Christmas and I am currently looking for a new job. I have done lots networking and talked to tons of great people about potential opportunities but nothing is set in stone at this point. That being said I need to take a few days and really dig into the job market and make sure I am doing everything that I possibly can to secure a new job. I might post a story here and there over the next several days but do not expect anything elaborate. Hopefully I will be able to return to a normal posting schedule by January 3, 2008.

I hope you don’t mind me sharing this information with you but I just wanted to let you know why the site might be a bit quiet during the next several days.

Thanks again for making GreensboroPolitics.com part of your daily Web routine and for your support during this phase of my life.

Ryan

Merry Christmas. 

Quick News Round-Up

-E.C. Huey points out that race is the main focus for some that sit on the Guilford County School Board.

-The Greensboro City Council voted last week, on a motion made by Zack Matheny, to secure the services of an outside 3rd party to review the Greensboro Police Department.  Some think it is imparative that the reviewer not be chosen by City Manager Mitchell Johnson or Police Chief Tim Bellamy. 

Cornwallis/Lawndale Walgreens a No Go- Perkins Speaks

The developer of a proposed Walgreens drugstore at Lawndale and Cornwallis drives has abandoned that plan after facing stiff resistance from neighbors.  Read comments from Robby Perkins here.

The City Council Transparency Scorecard

The city council will hold a special meeting (Thursday) to decide if they will require the GPD to release additional information about the officers that are currently under investigation for an alleged assault.  The quotes below were taken from a N&R story and will give you a good idea of how the council members (most) plan to vote.

“Yvonne Johnson – “I would ask him (City Manager Mitchell Johnson) to release everything that is legal,” the mayor said. “I don’t want us to violate any state personnel laws. I don’t want us to be sued. Everything we possibly can release, I want released. I can tell you that without a doubt.”

Council members Mike Barber, Sandra Anderson Groat and Mary Rakestraw want to release the information.

“Any elected official who genuinely cares about their oath wants the public informed,” Barber said.

He also said the council has passed the point of discussing whether releasing information is the right thing to do.

“We continue to struggle with the same issue over and over, but the bigger question is, how can we correct our inability to communicate properly?”

Groat said restoring the public’s faith in elected leaders should be a top priority, and the way to do that is through transparency.

Rakestraw said, “I want to release all the information that we legally can. I don’t want to release information that will screw up the court case, but people on the streets seem to know more about this than I do — and not because I’m not trying.”

Goldie Wells and Robbie Perkins are adamantly opposed to releasing more information. Perkins said Friday that there’s no compelling reason to override personnel law, since the police department’s investigation is happening in a timely fashion.

“It is not appropriate for us to govern by knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “I don’t see any need” to release the information.

Zack Matheny said he’s unsure how he would vote — mostly because he knows little about the details of the alleged assault. Councilwomen T. Dianne Bellamy-Small and Trudy Wade didn’t return telephone calls about the issue Friday.”

John Robinson on “Nifonging in Greensboro”

The News & Record’s John Robinson has blogged about the lack of information provided by the city in regards to the three officers that are currently being investigated for an alleged assault.  An exert is below:

“I appreciate the city’s desire to protect its employees. But the names of the officers have already been released. Because few other details have, the officers are under a cloud of uncertainty and suspicion. Releasing more information would help disperse some of that. If there are reasons that more information would further hurt the officers, the city hasn’t provided them.”  Read the full blog titled Nifonging in Greensboro here.

Should the city release additional information?

GPD Fiasco Continues to Cost Taxpayers

Guarino thinks the city should pay the legal fees for several officers who are involved with a suit in connection with the GPD fiasco.  Should your tax dollars pay for their legal fees?  Should there be a cap on the payout?

Any thoughts?

Yvonne Johnson Takes a Proactive Step

From the News & Record:

“Mayor Yvonne Johnson today asked City Manager Mitchell Johnson to update City Council members on the status of the investigation into three police officers accused of assault.

The mayor said she asked Mitchell Johnson to call each council member today to provide details about the incident.

The alleged incident is part of a criminal and administrative investigation, according to the police department. The officers are: Sgt. A.S. Wallace, 43; Officer J.O. LeGrand, 37; and Officer C.S. Stevens, 42. They have been suspended with pay while the investigation continues.

City officials have refused to discuss the date, time, location and nature of the alleged assault. It’s unclear whether the officers were on or off duty at the time the alleged incident was said to have occurred.

The allegation comes just days after the City Council voted unanimously to give the police department $500,000 to put more officers on the street.

Mayor Johnson said she is “disappointed and distraught” by the allegations and has pledged to share as much information with the public as possible once she receives an update from the city manager.

“I think the majority of men and women of the police department are excellent,” the mayor said. “But I think we have got to get some things cleared in this department.

“Frankly, I would at this point be prone to suggest an audit of every city department.”

Memo from Chief Bellamy

Chief Tim Bellamy of the Greensboro Police Department released the following statement in regards to the three officers that have been suspended due to an alleged assault:

“On Tuesday, a complaint was made to the Internal Affairs section of the Greensboro Police Department against 3 Greensboro Police Officers.

This complaint was referred to the Criminal Investigation Division for follow-up due to the nature of the accusation. Due to the North Carolina Personnel Privacy Act additional information cannot be released.

Contrary to a previous report, no one with the Greensboro Police Department disclosed the race and gender of the complainant.

A criminal investigation is now being conducted to determine the facts surrounding this allegation.

We are aware of the many requests for public records concerning the alleged crime, but no public records have been generated to date because the initial complaint was made to a criminal detective who is now in the process of investigating the matter.

A detective’s investigative notes are part of the criminal investigation and are not subject to disclosure under public records law.”

A Conversation with Greensboro’s Public Affairs Department

The cat and mouse game is officially on between the City of Greensboro and the media. I decided to give Greensboro’s Public Affairs Department a call and ask a few question. I spoke with Elaine Tricoli, interim communications manager for the City of Greensboro. Part of our conversation is below.

Ryan: What is your philosophy behind releasing information to the public?

Elaine: “Thats a good question and I want you to get the correct answer. Our Director of Public Affairs, Pat Broswell is on vacation until next Wednesday. Would you like to speak to the City Manager?”

Ryan: (Somewhat laughing) Elaine this is part of the problem. There isn’t a stock answer for this question. Releasing the facts or being truthful is the answer I was looking for. In regards to the three officers that are being investigated for assault… you know people automatically think a sexual assault or something of that nature right?

Elaine:   “A lot of times it happens that people assume someone is guilty until they are proven innocent, even though the law says that people are innocent until proven guilty,” She continued “It is very much like the public perception that centered around the recent case at Duke with the lacrosse students.”  Note: I have updated this quote to reflect Elaine’s comment that she left on this post.  Please also understand that she is talking about public perception not the allegations.

Ryan: Do you feel as though the issue with these three officers is actually being made bigger than it should be because the city chooses not to be open with the public/media?

Elaine: “That’s hard for me to answer because I don’t know the details. I certainly feel like sharing as much truthful information as we can is the best route. It’s not my call to make.”

Ryan: Does the legal department always trump the decisions of the public affairs department?

Elaine: “We do work together but I would say a vast majority of the time we do abide by the decisions made by the legal department.”

Ryan: Legal and public relations don’t mix do they?

Elaine: “Not in situations like this.”

Ryan: Do you all ever train in crisis communication?

Elaine: “I know that we have had some crisis communication meetings in the past where we have planned who would do what. To the best of my knowledge those plans have not been put in place.”

Ryan: Wow.

Ryan: Do you have a designated person that speaks to the media?

“No. It depends on what the topic is. If it’s something like the three officers that are being investigated it will be the city manager or the police chief that we use for media relations.”

Elaine was very polite and answered as many of my questions as she could.

When I got off the phone with Elaine I called Mitchell Johnsons office to get an answer to my first question… but he was not available.