Alston warned mayor of consequences of revisiting hotel bond vote

Skip Alston warned Bill Knight and Nancy Vaughan that there could be consequences if an item approved by the Greensboro City Council in December related to hotel bond financing were to come back up on the agenda. Alston acknowledged that he told Knight and Vaughan that “the community would hold them responsible to do the right thing and not to cave into influence by one of the largest taxpayers in Guilford County.”

Knight and Vaughan said that Alston warned if the hotel bond financing item came back up, the mayor could be dis-invited from opening ceremony for the International Civil Rights Center and Museum on Feb. 1, that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be present, and it could be pointed out to the embarrassment of the city representatives that the proposed downtown luxury hotel was a black enterprise, and that Knight, a white man, had defeated the city’s first African-American mayor. Alston categorically denied the specific allegations.

Vaughan went one further, and said that Alston had warned that she, Knight and fellow at-large Councilman Danny Thompson could face recall initiatives if the hotel bond financing were reconsidered. Alston also denied that allegation.

During the conversation, Alston represented himself as a friend passing along information.

Read the full story here in our digital version.

UPDATE: Pickups by Cone and Guarino.


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