Vaughan issues memorandum on privacy of personnel records

Residents and council members alike have complained that the city hides behind "personnel issues" as a way to circumvent transparency on employee records, but City Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan issued a memorandum yesterday calling for the city's protocols on personnel requests to be more open in accordance with state law. Citing from Public Records Law for North Carolina Local Governments, Second Edition, Vaughan says the city needs to release more information than what the current interim city attorney is allowing.

"I think it’s time for us to revise our 'City’s Protocol for Public Records Request' to accurately reflect state law," Vaughan wrote.

The issue came up at last week's council meeting when Ben Holder raised concerns that Captain Hinson owns halfway homes in the precinct under his command, saying it was a conflict of interest. Vaughan was one of the council members who pushed the interim City Manager Denise Roth and interim City Attorney Jamiah Waterman to respond to Holder's concerns rather than refusing to comment because it is a personnel issue.

In the memorandum, Vaughan listed a number of things that are a matter of public record and specifically referred to Hinson's case, calling for his Outside Employment Request Form(s) to be released.

Read the full memorandum here.

Hinson withdraws lawsuit

Lt. James Hinson, his wife Audrey (right) and his lawyers confer outside the Guilford County Courthouse on Friday after withdrawing a civil suit against the city of Greensboro. (credit: Jordan Green)

Greensboro police Lt. James Hinson has withdrawn his lawsuit against the city of Greensboro. A hearing had been scheduled in Guilford County court this morning to consider a motion by the city to have the suit dismissed.

UPDATE: Here's Hinson's statement:

"After much thought and careful consideration, I have decided to take a voluntary dismissal of my lawsuit against the city of Greensboro and two of its former top police officials. Under North Carolina law, I have the right to refile my lawsuit any time within the next year. My lawyers are fully prepared to refile this suit on my behalf and will do so if the issues cannot be resolved wihtout further litigation.

"But for now, I will treat today's action as a peace offering to the city, providing the opportunity to resolve the issues in this case without the cost, inconvenience and further polarization that come with continued litigation. My action in dismissing this case may also promote discussion and potential resolution of other cases involving similar or related issues. It is my hyope that the city will welcome this overture in the same spirit in which it is offered and engage with my lawyers in an effort to resolve the issues between us so that our city can begin a much needed healing process much larger than this case."

UPDATE 2: In an interview outside the courtroom, Hinson's lawyer, James E. Ferguson II, tells me that "all the issues are still active, including several claims for discrimination related to his being tracked, accused and suspected of all sorts of criminal activity that resulted in damage to his reputation and limited him in his promotions."

Ferguson said his client's reinstatement to active-duty on the force in January 2006 and the purging of some adverse personnel files did not resolve the outstanding issues.

I was unable to get a clear sense of what actions might be taken to resolve the issues for Hinson. When I asked Ferguson if anything other than a monetary settlement might resolve the issues, he responded, "We don't know exactly what all could be done."

UPDATE 3: As to how the city might respond to Hinson's overture, Deputy City Attorney Becky Jo Peterson-Buie says the city's policy is to not comment on pending litigation, and that "with a dismissal without prejudice, they can refile within a year, I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment at all."