News-Record.com

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.

During the meeting Wall also proposed expanding the board from three members to five.

"The cost to the board would be minimial," Wall said. And "five minds are better than three."

Board member James Tanner agreed, saying two members can't "hang out" because that makes a quorum, thus an official meeting.

High Point City Attorney Fred Baggett said they would have to get one of the local legislators to present a bill in the General Assembly. He said he didn't think it would be a problem.

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission released a damning report on the “slush fund” controversy at the High Point ABC Board, saying the local agency’s conduct during the last four years included “serious ABC Law violations.”

The report, unveiled Friday morning, aimed strong criticism at the agency’s former general manager, George Humble Jr., and three ex-board members who resigned under fire last month.

“Our review confirmed that serious ABC law violations occurred at the High Point ABC Board,” the state report said. “We identified a pattern of both unacceptable activities by the Board’s General Manager as well as lax administrative oversight by the board members in conducting public business ...”

The High Point system has been under investigation since late August, when state ABC officials got a tip that the board was illegally selling promotional minibottles and keeping the money in a secret fund for incidental expenses and employee perks.

Check out the report, a timeline on the investigation and the N&R's ABC investigation stories at www.news-record.com/nr/abc

Courtesy of Hoggard.

A Rhino Times column about Greensboro City Council member Goldie Wells has sparked a lot of blog discussion in recent days, most notably at Hogg's Blog. (The column in question isn't posted yet - I'll get a link up as soon as I see one.)

I tried unsuccessfully to reach Wells on Thursday and Friday for some other stories I was working on and to ask her about the column.

I got a hold of her for a brief conversation Monday afternoon. She denied calling John Hammer or his parents racist. Wells said she doesn't believe all white people are racist.

"I'm not a racist - I love all people," she said.

Wells did confirm she wrote a letter quoted in the article by Hammer that she wrote to the council last year after council members voted along racial lines to oppose the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Community Project. "I was very upset at that time," she said. (Update: Hoggard has a copy of the letter in question.)

If anyone has more questions of Wells on this topic, let me know and I'll do my best to get an answer.

Greensboro City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. today, where their agenda includes proposals to ban smoking inside Greensboro Coliseum and pledge up to $1.3 million over four years to support the PGA tournament at Forest Oaks Country Club.

My colleague Robert Bell had a story today on what happens if the city and county don't pledge support for the golf tournament. The bottom line: the tournament will be here in 2007 even without a pledge of taxpayer money.

The full agenda and streaming live video of the meeting are available at the city's Web site; it will also be aired live on cable channel 13 if you can't make it in person to the Melvin Municipal Office Building at 300 W. Washington St. for tonight's meeting.

A final round of public information meetings will be held next week on the city's South Elm Street Brownfield Redevelopment project.

The meetings will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. and 5:30-7 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Regency Room, 203 S. Elm St.

Project consultants Chan Krieger & Associates will describe the type of redevelopment planned for the area. The discussion will also cover the project's economic impacts plus environmental cleanup and street improvement plans.

The meetings cap a six-month planning process to revitalize a 10-acre site on South Elm Street bordered by the Ole Asheboro, Arlington Park, Southside and Warnersville neighborhoods. The redevelopment project is funded with a mix of federal and city money and is expected to be coimplete in 2010.

For more information, visit the project Web site.

There will be a brainstorming session Friday on strategies to reduce unsafe housing in Greensboro from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the West Market Street United Methodist Church (302 W. Market St.)

Call 691-9521 to RSVP.

Candidate filing for the 2006 elections begins at noon Monday. No high-profile races for governor or U.S. Senate this year, but there are plenty of local races to monitor.

We've listed several key races in today's paper, but now it's your turn. Which incumbents are in trouble? Who are the newcomers worth watching?

If you my Sunday story, you know that Guilford County commissioners face the prospect of big tax increases to handle more debt.

Should the county make deep cuts to avoid the big tax hikes?

Or are they necessary as the county pays for more schools and, maybe, a new jail?

As Greensboro leaders start putting together the city's 2006-07 budget, they want to hear from residents on their priorities and wishes.

There are three ways to share your thoughts:

* Come in person to a public hearing on the budget at City Council's Feb. 21 meeting;

* Via the Internet by clicking here;

* Or call the city's Contact Center at 373-2489.

For more information on the budget, visit the city's Web site or call the budget & evaluation department at 373-2291.

Monday's story of the day, alas, was not RF Micro asking Greensboro for incentives, but instead a hometown boy succeeding on the world stage of the Winter Olympics.

As you may have heard by now, Greensboro native Joey Cheek won gold in the 500-meter speedskating race (and NBC did mention during its broadcast that Cheek is from the Gate City).

Over on her blog, City Council member Sandy Carmany mentioned that council members have received an e-mail requesting the city plan a big celebration for Cheek.

What do you think of the idea? How should Greensboro celebrate Cheek's success?

Any celebration will have to wait a while. Cheek races again Saturday in the 1,000-meter race, which was supposed to be his strongest event.

Update: City spokeswoman Nancy Lindemeyer said Tuesday afternoon the city hasn't started working on any celebration plans to honor Cheek, though it's likely they'll do something.

Along with the 1,000-meter race, Cheek is also entered in the 1,500 meters, which is scheduled for Feb. 21. So it'll be a while before Cheek could make his way to his hometown.

For more on Cheek, you can also check out this link from NBC's Olympics Web site.

Filing for the 2006 elections began Monday. Our running update of candidates is here. Bookmark and check often.

Greensboro City Council member Dianne Bellamy-Small will host a lunch at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 23 to discuss ways the city can support schools in her district. Bellamy-Small represents District 1, which encompasses southeast Greensboro.

The lunch will be held at Stephanie's, 2347 Randleman Road. The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the lunch to allow school principals and other staff members to attend for free.

The city does not have any direct oversight or provide funding to the schools.

"Holding this public forum will allow me to better understand the needs of the community and offer support to such an important part of our city's future - our children, families and schools," Bellamy-Small said in a news release. "Although the council does not oversee the school system, students and families need to be aware of what the city offers by way of services."

In case you missed it, my colleague Nate DeGraff had a story in Saturday's paper about Gerald Hege - Jr. - filing to run for sheriff in Davidson County.

You can also check out a running list of election filings by clicking here.

Candidates can file to run in elections through noon Feb. 28.

At the tail end of last night's City Council meeting, council member Florence Gatten made a motion to reconsider a rezoning request the council rejected at its Feb. 7 meeting for about 2 acres along Fleming Road. The property includes the historic Bond-McAlister House.

Council voted 9-0 to reconsider the rezoning and have an all-new public hearing on the request at their March 7 meeting.

How does this work? Anyone on the winning side of a vote - in this case, Gatten - can make a motion to reconsider.

As Gatten wrote in a memo to fellow council members, this is usually done "when there are new conditions or circumstances."

Gatten, city staff and the property owner worked out some new conditions on the rezoning intended to insure the Bond-McAlister House is preserved. Conditions include a ban on most new structures on the property, making it in the owner's best financial interest to preserve the Bond-McAlister House.

While the vote to reconsider the rezoning was unanimous, that doesn't guarantee the rezoning will be approved. Mayor Keith Holliday, for instance, expressed reservations last night about the proposal.

So your lesson in parliamentary procedure for today is this: If you don't like a vote council has taken, the issue isn't over as long as you can convince a council member on the winning side of the vote to change his or her mind.

Organizers of Greensboro's PGA tournament will ask Guilford County commissioners for about $1.3 million over four years to help run the tournament if it can't find a sponsor.

You knew this was coming.

The commissioners will consider the request at their March 2 meeting, according to a draft agenda.

Principals and other school staffers from southeast Greensboro had a chance Thursday to learn about the city services they can take advantage of during a luncheon at Stephanie's on Randleman Road.

Dianne Bellamy-Small, City Council's District 1 representative, organized the meeting for schools in her district, while the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce paid for lunch.

City Council doesn't provide any funding or provide any oversight of the county school system, but Bellamy-Small said the city has plenty of services that schools can take advantage of.

"If you know some of the people that provide city services, it would help you do a better job of preparing our future," she said, referring to the thousands of children who enter schools each day.

Representatives of city departments ranging from the police and fire departments to the city's library system - along with community groups like the Guilford Education Alliance - let school administrators know how they could be of assistance.

Allen Purser, the chamber's interim president, said he'd like to see similar meetings take place in all five of the city's districts.

Over on her blog, Greensboro City Council member Sandy Carmany describes some requests she received from Downtown Greensboro, including five new police officers for downtown.

While seeing DGI's requests as reasonable, Carmany also added:

But oh, why do I see big dollar signs flashing before my eyes?

And this may not be the year for big-dollar requests. While several council members have expressed an interest in adding more police officers, city staff are already projecting a 4.25-cent tax increase due mainly to the opening of the waste-transfer station, debt service related to the voter-approved 2000 bonds and rising health-insurance costs.

(A whole separate discussion is the likely 2006 bond referendum, which if approved could lead to tax hikes in future years.)

Any tax increase in Greensboro would be compunded by the possibility of tax increases from Guilford County, as my colleague Nate DeGraff wrote earlier this month.

So I'll ask the same question Nate did: Do you want deep spending cuts to avoid tax increases, or would you be willing to accept a tax increase? If so, what would you want your additional tax dollars spent on?

Filing for the 2006 elections wraps up in about 18 hours, and unless more folks decide to run, the following candidates for Guilford County commissioner and school board are virtually assured a free ride back to, or into, office:

County commissioner
Bruce Davis
Steve Arnold

School board
Nancy Routh
Alan Duncan
Jeff Belton
Deena Hayes*

* Filed today

At this morning's Greensboro City Council briefing session, council members received a handout detailing the budget input offered by city residents.

It's a relatively small sample (33 responses out of a couple hundred thousand city residents), though a few themes emerged in the comments.

* No tax increase

* Support for certain city services - police, GTA bus service and public libraries

All the comments can be found here.