News-Record.com

At the very least council members should set clear cut guidelines for what they consider to be a firing offense.

Ryan

Mitchell johnson and Linda Miles should have been fired months ago. There is no integrity and they do so many things covertly. After one lie, I never believe a person again. they have lied too many times in my opinion.many

I certainly hope the citizens of Greensboro will pay close attention to what has happened and what is happening. I have stated before and I will state again; Mitch Johnson must be replaced and Linda Miles ought to be disbarred from practicing law. Mitch should be investigated formally for ethics violations at a minimum.

I think Councilman Barber�s comments are valid, except for locking the directors in a room and laying the law down to them. I suspect that staff knew of this memo, as well as, probably others that exist; meeting notes, minutes, and other pertinent documents among the city manager�s office and the attorney�s office. The investigations at this point have been cursory, and pinpointed by city manager�s staff. Detailed, thorough investigations have not occurred. I seriously doubt city staff in other departments can be blamed. The majority of staff people that work in public administration are quite competent, but they cannot decide what information that eventually becomes public. That is the city manager�s staff and the political body that determines that.

It is quite easy to see how this occurred. All that is needed is a review of Mitch Johnson�s background. He was a fine technical manager (staff person) for the city. However, Mitch does not have the educational background in public administration to lead a city like Greensboro. He was over his head and unqualified to be city manager in the first place. Reasons for his choice selection could be many, but surely having a weak city manager makes council stronger and they appear to be the better leader. Many communities have strong managers with less strong political leaders. Let�s face it, politicians do not or are not expected to have the detailed knowledge for operation of a community. The city manager is the lead person; the CEO of the organization. They must exhibit strong leadership skills when they become manager. A weak city manager allows for too much indecision and back and forth direction. Hence, the city of Greensboro has been wayward for several years now.

The other major player is Linda Miles who should be disbarred by the NC Bar Association. She should also be investigated on ethics charges. Just look at the agreement she signed to stay on staff after retiring. She knows better and is acting in an unethical manner by taking the work. I�m not a democrat, but President Kennedy once stated, �There can be no dissent from the principle that all officials must act with unwavering integrity, absolute impartiality, and complete devotion to the public interest. This principle must be followed not only in reality but in appearance.�

These heads of government serve at the will of the council and can be replaced as needed. It is definitely needed; the public trust is broken, maybe laws broken, but certainly they have committed ethical wrongs in their positions of authority. They need to step down and save themselves the further ridicule and embarrassment. The fine city of Greensboro and the fine staff of professionals that do a good job daily deserve this.

I never trusted Linda Miles afer the Homestead debacle and Mitch really hurt others with his shenanigans. Tom Phillips, Keith Holliday and particularly Sandy Carmany looked like baboons for still backing him after it became obvious he was lying. The comments that they knew something and could not tell us because of legal reasons made this worse. They tried to discredit Jerry Bledsoe and that pissed me off .
He and the Rhino were the only ones doing ANYTHING to get at the TRUTH, I'm also pissed at the N@R and the TV Stations for being so inept. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

What would be the motivation for hiding the memo? It confirms the existence of the "black book" photo line ups.

You gotta love it -
The Greensboro City Council continues to provide unsurpassed entertainment -
Now, if only Diane Bellamy-Small or the Truth and Reconciliation Commission would weigh in . . .

These people are not telling the truth when they said that they were not aware of the existence of the memo. All one has to do is read the RMA Report that Mitch Johnson used to force Wray out of office. It clearly mentions the "black book" and a memo that Sanders composed explaining the reason and use of the black book. City official s and the city council al had copies of the RMA report, so how could they not be aware of the existence of the memo?

Did you notice the weekly Rhino's role in this -

Compared to the weakly N&R, the Rhino seems to have some lead in their pencil and some bite in their bark -

Dave: I think that is the point. The memo details why and how the book was used. It details the specific reasons the photo line-up was created, in response to a specific allegation, and comprised of specific officers (those who matched the description and were on duty at the time.)

As a routine investigative tool shown only to a victim, it is much less sinister than the alleged "black book" used to intimidate and discriminate against an entire class of employees.

That the city had a justification for the books existence, and a detailed memo explaining how it was utilized, yet still embraced and fueled the racial hype, does significant damage to the anti-Wray forces and seriously undermines the credibility of anyone who uses the "black book" as justification for the drama that unfolded in 2005 and continues to blacken the image of the Gate City.

Yes, I think he should be fired. Linda Miles, too. And no, I don't think his explanation makes sense. To say that the N&R and others' request wasn't specific enough is either being evasive or shows an extreme lack of awareness, and either reason is adequate for termination.

To the idea that our request wasn't specific enough, I respond that neither Ben Holder nor John Hammer had any trouble identifying the document we asked for.

Ok, Greensboro, it's high time Mitch got a little of his own medicine. Lock him out of his office and start solving this embarrassing problem of corruption that is rampant in the PD.

Greensboro needs commercial sponsors to pay for the soap opera. Johnson, just get out.

I think Mitch Johnson is the epicenter of controversy in Greensboro and in my opinion, he is responsible for the division - all stemming from his handling of the David Wray saga. As stated in the article; "The citizens of our city are tired of misstep after blunder after crisis," Councilman Mike Barber said.

For the good of the city, Johnson should resign his post - if he won't, he should be relieved. The legal department should be swepped clean as well.

I have NO trust or confidence in my local government. We've got somewhat of a fresh council - and now it's time for a serious look at the manager's office, the legal department and the higher up's in the Police department.

I agree JR. We requested the same documents without tying them specifically to Sanders, Fox or Brady. They knew what we were asking for. They responded to you (with a lie), but not to us on this specific request. That pisses me off. Someone over there is wearing a big sign that says "sue me", so I am going to oblige.

We have been told that the RMA was a "personnel record" (which I dispute) but when we requested the name(s) of employees for whom it was a record, we got no response. My answer? Lawsuit.

We have been told that the "black book" was a "record of a criminal investigation" that was protected from disclosure. This MAY be true, but when we asked for them to identify which investigation it pertained to, we got no response. My answer? Lawsuit.

We asked for a number of communications between Miles and others that are not protected by public records laws and received a lot of documents- but no communications from Miles have been included in the document dump. My answer? Lawsuit.

We have asked for the polygraph results taken after the RMA leak. No response. My answer? Lawsuit.

In short, we have received nothing about the Wray matter since our request in November. Time is up.

Johnson and the whole lot of them need to go. He doesn't have the integrity to get up and say he made a lot of mistakes in the David Wray matter and acted prematurely. Instead, he is putting his own interests in his high paying job first and the City is dying the death of a thousand cuts. The legal department needs to be replaced as well. That Johnson has any confidence in the advice they are giving him considering what it has resulted in amazes me- but for his own incompetence, because he is apparently not smart enough to see what is going on.

Let us know when you file, Samuel, if you would. Sometimes copies of same-day filings are hard to get at the courthouse.

Let's not forget Adhern's part in NOT getting all the facts before she wrote the story for the N&Fishwrap. She too is responsible for the racial uproar that caused Greensboro to lose probably the BEST Police Chief this city has ever seen.

Should Mitch Johnson resign?
NO. He should be FIRED.

Thank you Jerry Bledsoe and Rhino, for having enough integrity to expose the REAL TRUTH. Even when intimidated and threatened.

My prediction is that yet another special meeting of council will be called, before the next scheduled meeting on Feb. 19th, to discuss this matter. We have an intelligent, diverse and ethical council that will make every effort to ensure our house is in order. None of them will want to spend the next 22 months distracted by this issue. Their goal will be to move Greensboro past this and to solve any divisive problems at hand.

Didn't Mitchell Johnson agree to keep the public informed by way of some sort of weekly update? Has that ever happened?

Mitch Johnson, Diane Bellamy Small, and Linda Miles should all be locked out of their offices (well, Bellamy-Small's cubicle with a window she whined about until she got) and fired/dismissed/impeached/whatever it takes to get them out of the MMOB.

Investigations should be started to see what else they are hiding. Since the surfacing of the memo by Sanders, it makes me wonder what else is going on - don't you wonder, too?

Locking Chief David Wray out of office (while he was speaking to the person responsible for it - Johnson) was a coward's way out. Johnson has no backbone or ethics. Diane Bellamy-Small needs to be run out of town. Has anyone ever publicly released why she was a police officer for less than 2 years? The answer really isn't that shocking if you look at her actions and ridiculous clothing. She's an American. Quit trying to shove racial stuff down our throats - you're as bad as Skip Alston. By the way, has she ever even been to her "homeland???" Why not? If she actually has, why didn't she stay, if she's so proud of it?

What's happened is simple - POLITICAL ASSASSINATION of the first true police chief in quite a few years. David Wray is a hometown man that worked his way up in the department - he EARNED his stripes and bars based on his knowledge, background/history while at GPD, his ethics, and his morals. He didn't promote folks based on their race, or 'need' to fill some imaginary quota of what the public perceives as a diverse command staff.

For those of you that believe the "black books" were used improperly, may you one day have the need to look at a photo line-up.

It is a must have in most investigations. To form a line-up of black males that were wearing a GPD uniform, badge, and gun, you have to find photos of people that match that description for a victim to view to see if they can identify the suspect. Would you rather have the PD pay folks to come in and play dress up for photos?

It's NOT a racist thing - it's most likely been done the exact same way when a white male officer was accused - what's the problem?

It's time to clean house in Greensboro and bring back Chief Wray, a man with a backbone that the city of Greensboro is trying very hard to break.

Congratulations to you, Margaret, for the straight-up reporting on black book memo. I guess after being stonewalled by city staff and double scooped, the N&R suffered the obvious symptoms of having kept such strange bedfellows. At this point, the horse is out of the barn and N&R, having long ago run out of wardrobe, has finally walked into the mirror, opened its eyes, and seen the new suit loaned to them by the Emperor.
I guess all endeavors are noble if infused with pursuit of perfection and filtered with integrity, but sadly, the voice of Greensboro for so many years has fallen far short in the GPD debacle. We need to remember that the N&R's "reporting" (Ahearn), i.e., taking quotes out of context to elicit emotional (knee jerk) responses (an old trick we've all seen too often) has played a role at least equal to city staff and legal. How ironic that Ahearn is now writing about the erosion of the police department she worked so hard to derail.
The question is, at what cost? What about the reputation and careers of qualified professionals who were trying to keep the GPD clean? What about the diminished credibility of the N&R and the public's distrust of city government and GPD? How about the journalists at the N&R who were trying to adhere to high standards of reporting, and hard-working, honest officers on the street whose reputations were smeared by city corruption? What about the cost in increased crime and the actual cost to taxpayers of all this chicanery? The last question is answerable in dollars and cents. I have yet to see a tally sheet. Maybe that's something you can work on next, Margaret.
As for Johnson: At this point, "reprimand" isn't an option. Restitution is what's needed. The money is the least expensive part of the equation. Public trust should be the number one goal. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is by cleaning house.

To JR:

Wasn't this past municipal election about
transparency? I guess, Mitch, thinking that he
was not a candidate didn't think it meant him,
too?

As much as I have campaigned, and supported some of the past council members, including the mayor. It just pisses me off, that these people have misled all of us. Telling me that the
Mitch was being attacked maliciously by the newsprint people. And that, I should hold judgement until they (council) take action. Which they never did much to explain all of this to the people, anyway.

I do believe that Chief Wray knew about this memo, and Mitch's personal conflict of having an affair with someone that he and Chief Wray
was in cahoots with, used that to undermine
the GPD.

And just think, that a madperson shot up people at a city council in Illinois. I pray that it doesn't
happen here. It happened thirty somewhat years in San Francisco, too.

Now, my confidence in the city manager, and the city legal office, has been disminished. I hope and pray, that the city council will make things right. Like, I said, I hope and pray.

I guess, we'll see what happens. The cat's outta the bag! Now, who's going to skin'um!

It's time to chant it in the streets and on the steps of the MMOB; Mitch and the Back Mofia must go!

Once again (no surprise to me) lies, lies, lies,
just so they can justify all the corruption in the
city which goes all the way to the top. The city
council thinks the public just fell off the turnip
wagon. The manager should have been fired for scaring the public by making this a racial issue. I attended several of the meetings and everytime his answers were cannot comment because of lawsuits pending. The citizens of Greensboro should be filing lawsuits against the city for all the lies and corruption. We need the justice department to investigate not the police policing themselves.

It's interesting to me that Mr. Johnson can be all-knowing when he wants to take action against someone, but clueless about documents and information which he needed to make his decisions. Something smells like 3-day-old fish.

It sorta reminds me of the time when Ronald Reagan was under investigation for Iran-Contra. Did he lie, or was he a clueless figurehead who was mislead by his own staff?

Which is worse?

I think there are several witch hunts involved in this melee, most recently, the election of city council members hell bent on firing Mitchell Johnson. But on the other hand, I wish David Wray had not resigned.

I'd like to see another investigation into the entire chain of events. But let's avoid any further knee jerks (that goes for everybody.)

When the dust settles and the lawsuits are over
and our taxes are thru the roof, I hope to GOD the powers that be will realize that all of this damn mess started with and was caused by POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

Gee, I'm on the internet, then all of a sudden, I get a N&R Update...

Nothing about Mitch Johnson, stepping down.
Nothing about former council members and former mayor, making comments about this story.

Time to get out the 'ole 'DITCH THE MITCH!'
button!

What an expert at using whatever bits and pieces benefit him. I personally don't think we'll ever truly get to the bottom of this. Too many things have been covered up and who knows what has been destroyed. It's an embarassment to have Mitch as the manager and shame on anyone who continues to back him after this debacle.

And JR, I know you don't see how this connects to Political Correctness, Stevie Wonder can't watch TV either. What a colossal blunder on Mitchs part. This started out like a perfect storm. He had ALL of his bases covered, the Mayor, the Council, the N@R, Yes Weekly, WFMY, WGHP, several bloggers, and it would have worked, except for Jerry Bledsoe. " What an Evil Web We Weave, When We Practice To Decieve"

I do thank the N@R for FINALLY doing your job. Please stay on this and maybe the TV Stations will begin to pull their heads out of the sand.

Clean house from the top down, Bring Wray back and maybe my son's unsolved murder will finally be solved.

Seems like it's time to "Nifong" Mitch " Clinton" Johnson.

Mitch Johnson's response to todays article by Margaret Banks is nothing more than old Mitchy boy trying to cover his butt. Sorry, Mitch too little, too late. You are the next Nifong. You're going down, BIG TIME. Oh, if I were you I would hire a better lawyer than Miles, she has already given you enough bad advice.

Also in todays N&R, I thought the title of Lorraine Ahearn's article "Give a solution, not just mud pies" was very fitting. Here's a solution: Fire Mitch Johnson, Linda Miles, and Lorraine Ahearn, for throwing so many "mud pies" at David Wray. (By the way, I didn't read Ahearn's article, she has no credibility, so I no longer read anything she has to say).

The City Council needs to immediately pass or advise city employees of an existing whistle blower law and hire an attorney for 90 days to handle inquiries. With the current style of management by fear, evasion, reservation, gag orders and the rest nothing else but the same will be forthcoming. Change any one thing in this situation and only then will the results change.

City council-members Mike Barber, Yvonne Johnson, and Anderson-Groat have been too busy lining their own pockets to monitor the city's responsibilities. They've been working with Johnson years and years. Take them all out!

Whether it be council members, the city manager, a firefighter or police officer, upon employment within the government they take a position of "limited power". This is surely supported by the responses of the City of Greensboro government thus far.

Should the City Council not act in the interests of it's constituents then I would expect the citizens to move to dissolve the council at the earliest convienience and elect a new one. I would expect such an action within sixty days. Further the citizens can form and fund a committee called Greensboro Citizens for Open Government (GCOG) and solicit information from City of Gso rank and file employees concerning this mess. The City of Gso rank and file employee "citizen" does have the power and responsibilty to come forward. It must be "guaranteed" that their right to come forward supercedes any right of the government.

Doesn't the memo support Mitch Johnson's position? Why are Barber and Rakestraw making such inflammatory comments? It does not make sense.

Let's get down to the guts of the matter - What does Jim Melvin think?

Mitch Johnson said that Margaret's request for a two-page memo explaining the rationale for the black book did not match any with which they were aware of that existed.

Johnson used the RMA report to fire David Wray. Page 26, paragraph 2, of the report mentions the memo, and that he had prepared several photographic displays for the use of line-ups, including what was known as the "black book". Paragraph 1 described the line-up book known as the "black book".

So, are we to believe that Johnson had read the report, used it as justification to fire Wray, but he did did not know that a memo existed that explained the rationale of the black book? City Council members had copies of this book as well, so they had effective knowledge of the memo in question, if they had actually read the report.

Given this, Johnson is either a bald-faced lier trying to cover-up, or he is incompetent. In ether case, he should be locked out of his office and fired today! How long is the city council going to allow these games to be played? Their credibility is on the line right now. Mitch Johnson has no credibility. He fired David Wray for not being truthful to his superior, nothing less than what he has been doing for the past few years himself.

Greensboro Resident,

Pleeeze. What color of Kool-aid are you drinking? Or do you work for Mitch Johonson? Do you possibly believe anything that this man says now? Tell me how he can know about the memo (RMA Report) and credibly say that he didn't know of its existence? He's either incredibly stupid or incompetent or both.

To the "Greensboro Resident" who asked
"Doesn't the memo support Mitch Johnson's position? Why are Barber and Rakestraw making such inflammatory comments? It does not make sense."
What part of Margaret Bank's request that said
"The two page memo... wrote summarizing the rationale behind the "black book"" does Mitch not understand. Seems pretty clear to me. And I'm sure it was clear to Mitch as well. But HE WAS TRYING TO COVER HIS BUTT. Funny how Mitch can have selective ignorance, when he is trying to cover up something.

"Doesn't the memo support Mitch Johnson's position? Why are Barber and Rakestraw making such inflammatory comments? It does not make sense."

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment from the above post. This has been all so confusing but wasnt this the crux of what the City Manager said. He asked Wray about Black book and he denied it. Then to make matters worse, this same book was hidden in the trunk of the Deputy Chief Brady's police vehicle. If this could all so innocently be explained by Wray, Sanders etc. as shown in the new memo, why didnt they explain it the time. Why did he lie about it. That just doesnt add up for me and never has. I think this another knee jerk reaction by Council without looking at all the facts. We expect true leadership from this Council and not action driven by tabloid journalism at its best.

Hell YES!!!!

Well said Nickgso.

Stormy, I hit on those same points you mentioned on my blog because they are good ones.

Mitch Johnson expected David Wray to take responsibility for the actions of the police department, but Johnson won't take responsibility for the actions of the City. Instead, he tries to tell an unconvincing story as if the people here are fools.

It's funny how he applies a different standard to himself.

To Alan Hedrick, Nickgso & Greensboro Resident
You keep talking about what the memo (the memo explaining the reason for the black book)said and how it supports what Mitch has said.
So basically you are saying that it doesn't matter what the "black book" was used for, it is the fact that David Wray hide it from Mitch.
Well it doesn't matter what the memo said, its the fact that Mitch tried to hide it, to cover his butt. He knew exactly what memo Margaret Banks asked for and he did not want the memo to get out, because it PROVED the "black book" was not used in anyway to target and discriminate against black police officers.
So let's not be a hypocrite.

Fire him and investigate NOW!
Remember the black book everybody was asking Wray to produce was described quite differently than the lineup book that we now know about.

Dan the man,
Everything you said in your last post is speculation (from what I can tell.) It may be true, but proving that Mitchell Johnson knew about the memo is a difficult task.

Which brings me to Sam's statement about Mitchell Johnson taking responsibility for the actions of the city. I feel he is responsible for ensuring that ALL the information is out there, and I feel very much in the dark about all of this. That's where his credibility suffers.

In the private sector, I can ask my employees to provide me with all documentation, but whether I get it is the end responsibility of the employee. Do I get fired because of my employee's incompetence/dishonesty? It depends on how often I let it continue.

Dan the Man,

You mention a very important point. It's been reported that this black book was shown all over the county for various reasons to get information on those officers. This was a very important key in the RMA Report. But, no one has shown any evidence that this book was used for any reason other than Officer Sanders has said it was used for in his memo. If Johnson has proof of it, then let's see it. The RMA report hung its that on this to make its case against Wray. It's not the black book per se that is important, it's how it was used. If it was used lawfully as per Officer Sanders, then the book has no meaning other than a normal law enforcement tool.

Perhaps, Alan Hedrick, Nickgso & Greensboro Resident can help us out on this one since they are strong supporters of Mitch.

I wish people would quit calling this the black book. It was and has always been a lineup book. There was a group that named it Black Book so they could have an excuse to sue and cause racial tension in this city. Mitch, Linda
and some Council members have caused more
racial tension and trouble that maybe beyond
repair. Mitch just go away quitely and take some of the council members with you. Hope I never need a policeman or get stopped
by them. I'm more afraid of them than I am the criminals. Criminals don't have power and badges. What has happened to "For the people and by the people". It has been replaced with
corruption, dishonesty, and arroganace and these are your good points!!!!!!!

It seems to me that whether Johnson know about the memo or not isn't the real issue. I'm sure he wasn't personally made aware of the request by Banks. Again, not at issue here.

What IS at issue is his credibility (or lack thereof). His trustworthiness is what personally troubles me. He's not on the hot seat for no reason, and he didn't land there just today.

I vividly recall that one of the main reasons he did what he did to Wray was because he felt he couldn't trust him - well, I feel the very same way about him right now. He should be locked out of his office (to protect critical documents that may be there) and he should resign - if he chooses not to resign, he should be fired by the council (the ones who work for US).

A GOOD leader takes responsibility for EVERYONE below him - Johnson won't do that. Even if he would acknowledge the umpteen mistakes he's made - it would go a long way in appeasing the public - but it seems he's far too arrogant for that.

As a former resident of Greensboro and Guilford County I am appalled at the way the city government has evolved.

Let's clear the air. The so called "black book; is a solid investigative tool and the ridiculous racial profiling accusation was a deflection technique used to redirect attention, and it was successful. It ranks with a technique known as "loud talking."

The sexual assault suspect was alleged to be a "black police officer." Who else would make up a photographic lineup? A white female? A white male? This concept is as unproductive as a Transportation Security Agent searching a 70 year old white lady, while at the same, time allowing Middle Eastern males to pass without searching them. Does anyone remember 9/11?

Anyone that refers to the book in question as "racial profiling" is a moron. Sensitive? Yes! Profiling? No!!!!

As a former Chief of Military Police Investigations for the United States Army our use of lineup techniques similar to the infamous ‘black book” were common place.

Mitch Johnson is a gutless wonder. Had he been a leader or could spell leadership, Wray and Brady would still be on the Greensboro Police Department and the "dishonest" officer(s) would be in jail or pending trial by now. Johnson should go!!!! Mitchell, take Linda Miles with you...

Mitch is a good, decent, family man who currently has a target on his back. I feel for the fellow and feel he has been shamed by his own employees.
Wray should have been fired, and Johnson did it the right way.

Uncovering the memo, by the Rhino, does make the N&R reporters look ridiculous. That, in no way, validates the rest of the garbage that the Rhino has printed about the David Wray fiasco.

No Elvis, it makes Johnson look ridiculous. The N&R nor any citizen should not have to rely on other media outlets to obtain information that the City should provide under the law, nor should they tolerate being lied to.

Mitch may be a good, decent family man but that is irrelevant. Mike Nifong probably was, too.

"Uncovering the memo by the Rhino..."

Does "uncovering" mean being fed by Sanders or one of Wray's other cronies who have been sitting on this memo (wonder why) until they thought it could do some damage.

Also, several commenters state that the memo "proves" the lineups were on the up-and-up. Really? It proves that? What was the impetus for this memo? Why did Brady hide the book? Why didn't Wray, when asked, say, oh, hey, this lineup is totally clean, and here's a memo about it.

And p/s/, isn't the Sanders the good old boy who discussed with Brady how to get Wray's neighbor thrown out of the apartment, the same "detective" who told neighbors he was kinda like the CIA?
Didn't know those guys where in the habit of writing memos. Unless, of course, they were covering their tracks.

If you've this far down the blog, perhaps you've been too involved in your reading and have missed the statement by Mitchell Johnson.

Here it is:

http://mm.news-record.com/legacy/indepth/08/citymanage020808r.pdf

What a mess I knew it was going to be this way when I heard Mr. Kitchen announce he had picked Mitch for the job of City Manager. I almost threw up hearing this. Over the years since Mitch started out as an order entry person for the Greensboro Coliseum I had heard horror stories about him. One of the stories about Mitch is with the Coliseum computer it was down and Mitch said he could fix it, he blew the whole system and cost the city thousands of dollars to repair. His next foul up was becoming the laison between the city and the contractor building the new Coliseum. in this issue he probably cost the city millions in overruns. I had emailed all city council members about Mitch more than once and asked them to check his background and suggested he was not qualified to become even an assistant city manager. Sometimes I think he is much smarter than anyone on the city council which is not saying much. He was very smart in getting all of the Black P. A. C. members on his side and any Black member on the city council and also appointing a Black police cheif. As racisim goes in the city of Greensboro these are the people he needs to do his dirty deeds. Retire or resign Mitch it will look better on your next resume than being fired.

The Rhino didn't "uncover" any memo. They get zero credit. The memo was handed to them on a silver platter by biased individuals who want to bring down Mitchell Johnson. It also makes them giddy to know that they have a (non)story that the N&R didn't get (because the N&R was purposefully excluded). The Rhino isn't even good enough to wrap my fish.

I believe Mitchell Johnson has acted appropriately and professionally despite the venom directed at him.

Yes, I think it's time for Mitch to go. Personally, I've never liked him--I think he manuevers in harmony with political forces in the city that I generally oppose--but I think another, more substantial threshold has been reached: he's no longer believable. The "what memo? oh THAT memo!" line is just too much. I really can't see how his defenders can truly believe him on that one.

Also, is there an answer to the point made above--namely, that the memo doesn't support the Mitch talking points (that is, his insistence that "I was right! See, they lied about there being a black book!")--precisely because it provides a clear, non-nefarious origin and explanation for the black book? Doesn't it seem likely that Wray and his subordinates didn't (as Bledsoe suggests) realize that THAT innocent black book was the EVIL Black Book (the one shown to everyone to dig up dirt indiscriminately on black officers) they were being asked about? Or am I missing something?

Several comments lately have gotten out of hand, and I have deleted them. Please keep personal attacks to yourself. Thank you.

Mitch gave me bad vibes from the very beginning. Any City manager that would be pissed off by the fact a police officer didn't recognize who he was is an egotistical maniac. PLEASE for the the City employees. Get him out of here!!!

In an attempt to be politically correct the Greensboro City Council has reached the heighth of "Politically Inept". This not only affects the citizens of Greensboro but of the surrounding communities who are put in that catagory of "just a few miles from Greensboro." We have had to endure the Guilford County Commisioners and now it's Mitch Johnson, Dianne Bellamy-Small, et.al. I hope Mayor Johnson, who seems to be an able and capable administrator will take control of this situation and get back to the business of growing a city and not feeding egos.