PIEDMONT TRIAD TEENS SELECTED TO PLAY WITH CHAMPIONS TOUR PRO GOLFERS IN NATURE VALLEY FIRST TEE OPEN AT PEBBLE BEACH

Matthew Guo, Mark Johnston, Chandler Wilkins

Travel to Pebble Beach in Two Weeks

         "The First Tee of the Triad is sending three of its participants to compete in the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, an official Champions Tour event that will be held September 26-28 and televised internationally on Golf Channel, the chapter announced today. 

Matthew Guo from Clemmons, N.C., Mark Johnston from Lewisville, N.C., and Chandler Wilkins from Danville, Va., will join 78 other participants from The First Tee chapters for the event, which is in its 11^th year.

         “Nature Valley is proud to be associated with this event and thrilled to see these juniors get the call of a lifetime,” said Joe Ens, vice president of marketing at General Mills. “The First Tee is doing incredible work helping young people learn important life lessons like the Nine Core Values. We look forward to welcoming Matthew, Mark, Chandler and the full junior field at this year’s tournament.”

           Guo, Johnston and Wilkins were selected by a national panel of judges who evaluated playing ability and comprehension of the life skills and character education learned through their involvement with The First Tee. More than 150 applications were submitted.  Champions Tour players committed to play include two-time Nature Valley First Tee Open winner and defending champion Kirk Triplett, Charles Schwab Cup contenders Jay Haas and Kenny Perry and a number of World Golf Hall of Fame members.

            Guo, 15, is sophomore at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, N.C. He began playing golf at age nine and has been a First Tee of the Triad participant for six years.  He has participated in The First Tee Challenge, The First Tee Life Skills and Leadership Academy, the Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program), the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center volunteer program and the Wyndham Championship Pro-Am.

“I have dreamed about participating in this event since I joined The First Tee of the Triad,” Guo said.  “I even made a “Goal Ladder” to help me qualify for this tournament.  To prepare for the Nature Valley First Tee Open, I am practicing every day, fine-tuning my game, so I will be ready to play with the professional golfers on challenging golf courses.  I am most looking forward to connecting with my peers and other participants, but I will enjoy playing with and learning from the Champions Tour players on the famous Pebble Beach golf course.”

            Johnston, 18, is a senior at West Forsyth High School.  He began playing golf at age four and has been a First Tee of the Triad participant for four years.  In addition to playing golf, he tutors students in his community and doubles as a First Tee of the Triad coach.  He played in the North Carolina Amateur and the Wyndham Championship Pro-Am; he hopes to play golf in college starting next year.

            Wilkins, 16, is a junior at Tunstall High School in Danville, Va.; he began playing golf when he was eight and has been a First Tee participant for eight years.  He was on a Virginia State Championship golf team for his high school and hopes to play golf in college, and later, on the PGA TOUR.  He has served as a mentor and assistant coach for the First Tee of Danville, worked with the Boys and Girls Club on a mission trip to Pittsburgh, Pa., and participated in community events to raise awareness of The First Tee of Danville.      

            “We are so proud of all three of these young men for reaching the Nature Valley Open in Pebble Beach,” The First Tee of the Triad CEO Mike Barber said.  “This tournament is such a wonderful event, and it provides the kids with something that could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.   Playing Pebble Beach is a very special opportunity, but to be paired with a Champions Tour professional makes it even more incredible.  We wish all of our participants the best of luck and look forward to hearing their stories when they return.”

Guo, Johnston, Wilkins and the other juniors will be paired with 81 Champions Tour players and 162 amateurs as they compete for the pro-junior title at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Poppy Hills Golf Course. Play will be conducted on these courses on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26 and 27, and the final round will be played on Pebble Beach Sunday, Sept. 28.

       The First Tee of The Triad is one of 177 chapters around the country and in select international locations. Serving the Piedmont Triad since 2007, more than 3500 young people have benefitted from chapter programs and after school classes.  Additionally, The First Tee National School Program currently in 41 Piedmont Triad elementary schools, has exposed thousands of students to Life Skills and Golf with an in-school physical education curriculum.  The programs are focused on building character through The First Tee Nine Core Values: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment.

       To learn more about The First Tee of The Triad, please visit www.thefirsteetriad.org.  For more information on the 2014 Nature Valley First Tee Open, visit www.thefirstteeopen.com. "

- A Press Release

PHOTOS: New Greensboro City Council sworn in

Outgoing mayor Robbie Perkins listing the council's accomplishments since 2011

Council and the audience gave him a standing ovation

Outgoing councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small and Perkins hugging

Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson talking with new Councilman Jamal Fox

Left: New Councilman Mike Barber. Background: Fox.

District 2 Councilman Jamal Fox poses for a picture

NC Rep. Marcus Brandon photo-bombs new Councilwoman Sharon Hightower before she is sworn in

Tony Wilkins takes a picture of Nancy Vaughan in the mayor's seat. Marikay Abuzuaiter did next.

Greensboro's new Mayor Nancy Vaughan being sworn in, surrounded by her family
(Read more about her and her family in this week's cover story, SLAP SHOT).

Greensboro City Council filings: Trouble!

Among the 11th-hour filings for the Greensboro City Council race, some surprises surface.

The marquee story is in the at-large race, where among the usual gang — incumbents Yvonne Johnson and Marikay Abuzuaiter; old hands like Mike Barber, Jean Brown and Chris Lawyer; and "Who Dat?" candidates like Marlando Pridgen and Joseph Landis — are a couple of familiar names. My old friend Ben Holder, AKA the Troublemaker, has thrown his hat into the ring. I hear he's getting an "S" tattooed on his chest to get properly fired up for the race. And young activist/journalist/scenester Katei Cranford has decided to get into the game, too. Just one of the fascinating things about her is that she's the niece of Billy "Crash" Craddock. 

There are no surprises in districts 1 and 2. In D-1, incumbents Dianne Bellamy-Small has jazz singer and activist Tigress McDaniel and city insider Sharon Hightower looking to take the throne. In D-2 no one has challenged Jamal Fox's move for Jim Kee's seat.In District 3, Zack Matheny will defend his seat against Corey Pisher and Wendell Roth. John Underwood has joined the fray between D-4 incumbent Nancy Hoffmann and former mayor Bill Knight.

And in District 5, Tony Wilkins, who was appointed to his seat after Sen. Trudy Wade took statewide office, faces shapeshifter Sal Leone and another  new name, my old friend Alex Seymour.

I worked with Alex at Bert's Seafood Grille years ago, and we remain friends. He's become active in city government on a grassroots level, and is a fixture (or, at least, he was) in the beard and bluegrass scenes.

Consider this a disclosure. Of course, I've known Wilkins (and most of the other people running) for years, as well.

Filing for Greensboro City Council election begins

Filing began today at noon for the upcoming Greensboro City Council election, and already several candidates have filed to run.

Sal Leone, a perennial candidate in past elections who has alternated his party affiliation, and former councilman Mike Barber filed to run at large (meaning citywide, for those of you who don't follow local politics).

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny filed to run for reelection, the first sitting council member to file this time around. Matheny represents part of downtown and northern Greensboro and is a strong proponent of the teen curfew.

District 2 challenger Jamal Fox and mayoral candidate George Hartzman filed today as well. Both attended the council's emergency meeting about the teen curfew on Wednesday morning and have been at numerous other council meetings, particularly Hartzman who has become a well-known and regular critic of council's decisions and what he says is a lack of transparency.

Other candidates, like Tony Wilkins who was appointed to serve as Trudy Wade's fill in for District 5, have announced their intention to run, but this is the complete list of those who have filed (as of 5 p.m. on Friday). We'll have in depth coverage of the election races coming soon. Until then, you can read more about Mike Barber here and Sal Leone here.

UPDATE (July 9, 5 p.m.): Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson, Chris Lawyer and Jean Brown also filed to run at large. Tigress McDaniel filed in District 1 and Wendell Roth is challenging Matheny in District 3. Nancy Hoffmann, incumbent, and former Mayor Bill Knight are both running for District 4. Nobody has signed up for District 5 yet.

Mike Barber to run for Greensboro council at large

A younger Barber (courtesy photo)

Former Greensboro City Councilman Mike Barber announced today that he will run for council at large in the election this fall. Barber, a Democrat, served as the District 4 councilman and decided not to seek re-election in 2009.

"Taking some time away has given me a fresh perspective and some new ideas," said Barber, whose family took a sabbatical in Spain after his tenure on council. "I care a lot about Greensboro and I feel like I have something to contribute. Looking forward, we need to renew our focus on branding and marketing the city of Greensboro."

He added that it will be important for the city to take "a holistic approach to the development" in the future. Barber, who also served as a Guilford County Commissioner, is the CEO of The First Tee of the Triad, a non-profit that teaches kids life skills through golf. He has been with the non-profit for almost two years and still practices law. 

During his tenure, Barber introduced the Greensboro Aquatic Center, he said. He also helped balance the city's budget by reducing the number of city employees through attrition and consolidation, which allowed the city to increase employee compensation as well, he said.   

Barber is partially known for bringing up the option of reopening the White Street landfill, which he said was a bargaining chip in the city's waste management contracting negotiations. Barber said he underestimated the sensitivity of the issue at the time and pointed out that he was not on council during the divisive debates on the landfill. He said it is a non-issue now that he does not plan to revisit.

Filing for the city council election race won't start until next month, but check back for more candidacy announcements and detailed election coverage.

Mike Barber: Landfill opponent

Chris Brook, staff attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice who is representing residents opposed to reopening the White Street Landfill, says he received an unsolicited phone call today from the Wyndham Championship.

The caller was Mike Barber, a former Greensboro City Council member who proposed researching possible cost savings from reopening the landfill back in 2008. The council is preparing to vote to select a private company to operate the landfill as we speak.

"He urged me to tell you that you do not support what you are doing tonight," Brook told the council.

Brook told me during recess that Barber told him he opposes the action to reopen a limited portion of the landfill partly because it's divisive, but also "because there's an opportunity to save money that doesn't involve reopening the landfill. He encourage council to look at the alternatives writ large, but he specifically noted that there was a proposal that would keep the landfill closed and save $3.5 million."

I've got a call into Barber and hope to speak with him soon.

An early warning about aquatic center cost

Hat tip to David Hoggard on this one:

The much maligned Mitchell Johnson appears to have been prophetic on the matter of the ballooning cost of the aquatic center, on which his adversary Mike Barber and other departing members of the Greensboro City Council will vote on Dec. 1 as a final parting gesture before the new council is sworn in.

Time was when a city manager was valued for being unafraid to give her honest professional opinion. It will be interesting to see whether the new council politicizes city government as much as the current one has and whether new manager Rashad Young is willing to stand up to his nine bosses when he feels they're making the wrong decision.

I'll let the documents speak for themselves.

Mitchell Johnson memorandum, June 27, 2008:

As city council considers the option of including a pool in the bonds there are a few important issues to consider. The first is that the CIP item at $10,250,000 is not a regional competition venue type facility and would not be appropriate for this type of use. This item is really an enclosed community swim facility similar to our Lindley Park pool but enclosed.

Since the council briefing on the 24th staff has determined that a competition venue appropriate for hosting regional swim events would be significantly more expensive to build; potentially in the range of $18 to $20 million based on the facility recently completed in Cary, NC. I am concerned that placing the proposed pool, as listed in the CIP, in the bond package would create expectations which we would fail to meet with that level of funding. As a result I would recommend not considering this option unless council is very clear that we would not be providing a competitive venue as required to host state or regional level events. I also do not believe that private support could handlee the $8,000,000 to $10,000,000 shortfall.

And now this:

Updated special meeting notice: Members of the Greensboro City Council have set a special council meeting at 4 p.m., Tuesday, December 1, 2009, in the council chambers of the Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 West Washington Street, Greensbooro, NC for the purpose of conducting a public hearing concerning the financing of certain improvements to the Greensboro War Memorial Coliseum Complex pursuant to an installment purchase agreement; to consider adoption of a resolution approving bid in the amount of $18,323,961; and authorizing Contract No. 2009-080 with Shellco, Inc. for the construction of the Greensboro Aquatic Center and ACC Hall of Champions entrance and to consider adoption of an ordinance amending in the amount of $6,875,000 parks and recreational facilities bond fund -- Aquatic Center (Seeries 2010) Capital Project Budget.

Barber: Latin Kings involved in internet prostitution and firearms violations

Comments of Councilman Mike Barber, Greensboro City Council meeting, June 16, 2009

Barber [reading from a piece of paper] : “I want to say this publicly. I had made one phone call. There is a home in Greensboro on Keeler Street behind Sedgefield Elementary school.”

Councilwoman Trudy Wade: “That’s my district.”

Barber: “Yes, it is. There is an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old that lives in this home, and they are members of the gang the Latin Kings. They have discharged a firearm in the neighborhood. They have been investigated by the sheriff’s department — Guilford County Sheriff’s Department — for internet prostitution, pornography and have committed other bad behavior in the community.

“These are the same organization, I’ll just mention, that Cardes Brown is defending currently. But I’m making a public comment because the folks in the community have called the police and they feel they are not getting a response. They had one police officer tell them, according to them: ‘We’re just having trouble dealing with it. We’re not sure what we’re going to do about it either.’

“This is a problem. And I’m saying it publicly so hopefully it will prompt the police officers to really sit on this house at the corner of Keeler and Frazier streets. Keeler and Frazier street. 2800 or 2900 block.”

Councilman Robbie Perkins: “Weren’t the police just being criticized earlier tonight for going after these gangs?”

Barber: “Oh, sure. I mean, we’ve got our three 18-carat gold ministers that are calling press conferences to defend these wonderful citizens of our community that are discharging weapons around children.”

Wade: “Mike, they were in touch with that neighborhood yesterday.”

Barber: “They’ve been in touch with them four or five times and have done nothing.”

I bet Jorge Cornell, leader of the Latin Kings, will have something to say about this at a press conference about "police harassment" that is scheduled at 12:45 p.m. tomorrow at Faith Community Church.

An "official media announcement" promises that Cornell "will describe incidents of intimidation, harrasment, economic hardship, and public criticism that he and members of his organization have experienced since calling for peace in June of 2008." 

Some background here.

UPDATE: 8:29 p.m.: I'll be following up, obviously. In the meantime, I did speak with Col. Randy Powers, chief deputy of the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, who had this to say: “Apparently, he must have been talking about some other sheriff’s office it wasn’t ours. I don’t think we’ve got anything going, and we’ve checked pretty deep.”

Greensboro to host amateur golf tournament

Dan Maxson, administrative services coordinator with the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department has announced that Bryan Park will host the 2010 Public Links Championship. “For those golf nuts out there, you’ll know that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play in these kind of events,” he told the city council on March 17. “These are the best amateur golfers in the country. So it’s really a big event for the city of Greensboro.” District 4 Councilman Mike Barber rejoined: “That public links championship covered by the Golf Channel, ten years ago, similar Golf Channel coverage of the Nike Greensboro Open was valued at over $2 million.

Abuzuaiter, Landau, Hayworth, Jobe in city council race

Joel Landau confirms that he plans to run in District 4. Mike Barber says he currently plans to run for reelection in District 4, but doesn't rule out a bid for mayor. Teresa Jobe confirms that she plans to run for council, but hasn't decided whether to run at large or for the District 4 seat. Cyndy Hayworth plans to challenge Zack Matheny in District 3. Marikay Abuzuaiter plans to run for an at-large seat. Julie Lapham is considering running at-large.

Full story here:

Sandra Anderson Groat, Greensboro’s mayor pro tem, observed that many of her colleagues seem to be running for reelection, even though filing doesn’t take place until July 3 and the municipal primary won’t happen for another nine months.

Preoccupied with settling affairs for her failed homebuilding business, Groat said jockeying for November was far from her highest priority.

“If I don’t feel like I can make a difference, I don’t need to be up there,” she said. “It’s the second year of the term. I’m supposed to be doing the job I was elected to do, not running for reelection.”

As Groat expresses circumspection, other council members are openly declaring their campaign plans and a host of insurgents convinced that something has gone significantly wrong with city council stand poised to enter the fray. Some of the loudest complaints are lobbed at the council’s fractious conduct and its perceived deference to real-estate and development interests.

“I know my phone rings off the hook because I was Yvonne’s campaign manager, with people saying, ‘What on earth is going on with city council? They’re like a bunch of kitty cats playing in the sandbox,’” said Julie Lapham, a health researcher who managed Yvonne Johnson’s successful 2007 bid for mayor.

She sat in a Jan. 21 city council meeting, shaking her head at a decision to table a rezoning request for a self-storage facility. Her disgust only rose when the council deliberated at length over a decision to restore the protest petition to Greensboro.

“Why on earth do we have to wait thirty years for this?” she asked. “This should be a no-brainer.”

Lapham said she is considering a run for one of the council’s three at-large seats. Lapham currently serves on the Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women.

One person with definite plans to vie for one of the three at-large seats is Marikay Abuzuaiter, who was edged out in the 2007 general election by Mary Rakestraw by 623 votes.

“What I would like to see on council is more professional demeanor,” she said.

The sitting mayor announced plans to seek reelection at a press conference on Jan. 13. Three days later, District 4 District 4 Councilman Mike Barber led his own press conference, feeding speculation that he would challenge Johnson for the seat.

Reached by phone on Jan. 23, Barber said he is currently running for reelection in District 4, but had not ruled out a run for mayor.

“Since I live in my wife’s dictatorship, she will decide sometime in March,” he said. “I’m honored and humbled that people have shown interest in my candidacy. Years down the line, I will be proud to tell my children that people considered me worthy of the office.”

One sitting council member has announced her retirement. District 2 Councilwoman Goldie Wells said she will not seek reelection in November. So far one person — Ray Trapp, interim executive director of the Triad Apartment Association — has announced plans to run for the seat. Trapp was in the audience on Jan. 21 when Wells led the charge on a vote that saw council request the restoration of the protest petition. Trapp did not speak on the issue. Instead, Triad Real Estate and Building Industries Coalition President Marlene Sanford spoke on the apartment association’s behalf, arguing in favor of maintaining the city’s exclusion from the protest petition.

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny, a one-term representative, has said he plans to run for reelection. Cyndy Hayworth, who ran in 2007, told YES! Weekly she plans to challenge Matheny for his seat this year.

Hayworth is the president of Junior Achievement of Central North Carolina, and serves on the Greensboro Zoning Commission. Matheny and Hayworth served together on the commission until Matheny was elected to city council. Hayworth has developed a reputation for taking a tougher line against developers than her rival.

Teresa Jobe, a self-described “stay-at-home mom” who serves on the Greensboro Commission on the Status of Women with Lapham, confirmed recently that she plans to run for council, but said she had not decided whether to run at large or in District 4.

Jobe applauded Barber’s press conference, but said, “I don’t think that because of where they are and how long they’ve been on council, they’re able to come up with fresh ideas, and we need more youth and more ordinary people on the council.

In a Dec. 8 post on her Teresa Talks blog, Jobe took a critical stand against the council’s decision in favor of rezoning land for Kotis Properties at the intersection of Spring Garden Street and Holden Road, allowing the developer to put in a Dunkin Donuts store. Although Barber cast the lone vote against the rezoning, Jobe faulted him for not effectively advocating for his constituents interests.

“Mike Barber did not address the council in opposition to the zone change,” she wrote. “He did not go to bat for the people in his district. Mr. Barber’s vote was merely a political move, designed as a half-hearted pitch to his constituents.”

The protest petition represents another arena in which Jobe suggested the sitting council is motivated more by political calculation than principle.

“The ones who are against it know that if they didn’t vote for the protest petition, they would get voted out of office next time,” she said. “I think that was purely political — especially Robbie Perkins.”

The District 4 contest is shaping up as a crowded field.

Joel Landau, co-chair of the Greensboro Sustainability Commission and a progressive standard-bearer in municipal politics, confirmed Sunday that he plans to seek the District 4 seat. Landau was eliminated in the primary in 2007, but redistricting the following year moved him from District 5 to District 4. He said he enjoys a strong base of support and good name recognition in the district, and would offer voters a meaningful alternative from Barber.

“I’m more working with people and working together to find solutions, where he throws stuff out there on his own and let’s everybody deal with it,” Landau said. “Also, I’m more attuned to neighborhood groups and their concerns. Mike’s more aligned with the developers.”

GPD: Scarfone warned of arrest for violating sidewalk cafe ordinance

Greensboro city administration responds to complaints by city councilmembers Zack Matheny (District 3) and Mike Barber (District 4) about police enforcement of the sidewalk cafe ordinance this afternoon with an 18-page set of memos and other documents.

At the top of the stack is a memo dated July 31 from Cpl. KB Johnson to Assistant Chief Harold Scott that, according to Matheny, innacurately describes him as being "inside the bar" on the night when Lee Meekins, general manager at Much/Carmine's, was arrested. Matheny did acknowledge that he dined at Carmine's and witnessed the arrest.

The Johnson memo, entitled "Encounters With Much Management Due to Sidewalk Cafe Violations," indicates that Much/Carmine's owner Rocco Scarfone has been disregarding police efforts to bring his restaurant into compliance since late April, and that Scarfone was repeatedly warned that his employees would face arrest if his business continued to violate the ordinance.

Here's an entry for Thursday, April 24:

"Officer TJ Tepedino and I approached Winifred [Lee] Meekins (manager) and Rocky Scarfone (owner) to request that they begin complying with the city ordinance. This was in response to crowd management issues we had experienced on the previous evening. Mr. Scarfone and Mr. Meekins were both present and Mr. Scarfone stated he wasn't aware that there was a timeframe attached to his sidewalk cafe. We showed him the ordinance and told him that we would give him two weeks to adjust to the change and also to give him an opportunity to request a change of the ordinance. I told Mr. Scarfone that evening that in two weeks we would enforce the ordinance by citing them if they continued to violate it."

Scarfone turned up in Greensboro city council chambers on July 15 with lawyer Derek Allen of the Brooks Pierce law firm. Allen requested an amendment to the sidewalk cafe ordinance to allow businesses like the one owned by Scarfone to keep tables and chairs out on the sidewalk until closing time at around 3 a.m. Councilman Barber was ready to move an amendment but his colleagues prevailed upon him to allow the matter to be tabled for further study. District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade joined Barber in arguing for relaxing regulations to help downtown business owners.

Cpl. Johnson's memo suggests that Scarfone both openly defied the ordinance and did not understand it, indicating that his business has had a string of run-ins this year with the Greensboro police. The memo itemizes

• A police citation for operating the cafe outside of prescribed hours on May 9;
• An enforcement action by state Alcohol Law Enforcement to shut down the cafe after midnight on May 10;
• A voided police citation for operating the cafe after midnight on May 24; and
• A police citation for operating the cafe after midnight on May 31.

Cpl. Johnson said he spoke personally with Scarfone on May 24 when a subordinate was writing a citation to Meekins for operating the cafe after midnight.

"Mr. Scarfone stated that he intended to pay the citations off and continue to keep his cafe open beyond hours," Johnson writes. "I advised Mr. Scarfone that the law he was breaking was not a civil violation but a criminal misdemeanor. I told him that evening that I would arrest him if he did not comply with the ordinance."

Cpl. Johnson says police met with Assistant City Manager Jim Westmoreland and Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Ed Wolverton on June 4.

"By that time Mr. Scarfone had retained an attorney and was alleging that we were bullying him because his establishments were patronized by African-Americans," Cpl. Johnson writes. "I outlined at that meeting everything that had transpired up until that point. The consensus at that meeting was that we had been more than accommodating to the management of the restaurant and any further violations would result in arrest. Afterwards Sgt. Hunter instructed Cpl. Hollis to go by and speak again with the management of Much. Cpl. Hollis spoke to them that evening and relayed that further violations would be dealt with by a physical arrest of whoever was in charge of the business at the time."

In July, various city council members got involved in the conflict, and police contend that Scarfone's business continued to defy the ordinance.

Cpl. Johnson writes that on July 16, the night after Scarfone appeared with his lawyer in city council chambers, Sgt. Steve Hunter escorted District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small downtown and "both observed that the Much Cafe was open beyond 11 p.m. and that there were people drinking wine in the cafe. No enforcement action was taken."

And on July 26, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat and at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins "were touring the downtown area.... I was escorting Councilwoman Groat. At 10 minutes after midnight I drove by the Much cafe and it was still open and operating. I took no enforcement action and the cafe was later closed." YES! Weekly Editor Brian Clarey, who also accompanied Groat, confirms that the cafe was operating beyond the cutoff time.

On July 30, Cpl Johnson writes that Sgt. Steve Hunter cited Meekins for operating the cafe beyond hours, and told him any further violations would result in his arrest.

Which brings the story up to last Thursday, as told by Sgt. Hunter in an e-mail to Assistant Chief Scott the following morning.

"I was traveling north on Elm Street from Washington Street," Hunter writes. "As I passed through the 100 block of South Elm Street I observed that the sidewalk cafe at Much Restaurant [was] still in operation. The area was still roped off and all chairs and tables were occupying a large portion of the sidewalk. I checked the time on my cellular telephone and the time displayed was 10:07 p.m. I parked in the right turn lane just north of the restaurant and activated the flashers on the police vehicle."

Hunter said he asked someone at the podium in front of the building for the person "in charge of the restaurant."

"Moments later Winifred [Lee] Meekins appeared and said something to the effect of what is the problem," Hunter writes. "Meekins was accompanied by two or three other acquaintances, I am not certain if they were employees or not. I then told Mr. Meekins that his cafe was still open after the mandated closing time. Meekins then began to argue that the cafe was not open and I responded by telling him that he was under arrest. Meekins turned his back to me and began started [SIC] to use his cell phone stating that he was going to call his lawyer. I told Meekins that I did not care who he called but he needed to place his hands on the wall so that I could begin arrest procedures. Meekins turned to face the north wall of the restaurant and told someone to go and get 'Rocky.' I then told Meekins to place his hands on the wall and performed a quick search of his person. On the [community resource team] channel I radioed Cpl. Hollis and advised him that I needed a car with a shield to transport a prisoner. I asked Meekins to place his left hand behind his back and he complied. After getting one cuff on Rocky Scarfone appeared and asked Meekins what was going on. Meekins then told Scarfone that he was being arrested for not closing the cafe. Mr. Scarfone then remarked that we have until 11 o'clock. Meekins then stated, 'No, it's 10 o'clock.'"

Matheny said on Monday that he requested a list of violations of the sidewalk cafe ordinance.

"I do agree that this establishment has been treated unfairly," he said. "I was there and I witnessed [Meekins' arrest]. There area a couple of other establishments that I frequent in the morning, and they're technically in violation, but they're treated differently." The ordinance stipulates that businesses may not operate before 11 a.m.

Matheny went on to characterize the arrest as "excessive."

Cpl. Johnson's memo lists a dozen businesses with sidewalk cafe permits, and notes only three incidents: once when Rim operated its sidewalk cafe beyond the cutoff time, and twice when the Green Bean neglected to put a rope around its sidewalk tables. In all three incidents, Cpl. Johnson said, the problems were corrected immediately after an officer spoke to a business manager.

Greensboro council in uproar over arrest at restaurant

Greensboro city council members raised concerns tonight that police enforcement of the city's sidewalk cafe ordinance downtown may be overzealous and arbitrary.

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny said he was sitting outside under a canopy at Carmine's, a restaurant on South Elm Street, on July 31 when he witnessed an employee get arrested during a sudden downpour because the restaurant failed to remove tables and chairs from the sidewalk. Matheny said the arrest took place at 10:04 p.m., four minutes after the time city's sidewalk cafe ordinance requires cafes to stop operating.

Matheny said he requested a record of recent citations against businesses for violations of the ordinance to see whether it is being enforced consistently, including against businesses that serve customers before 11 a.m., when the ordinance allows them to begin operating sidewalk cafes.

"I was there I was sitting outside under the canopy," Matheny said. "What I have asked was for a backup of the violations that occurred on Elm Street. I do agree that this establishment has been treated unfairly. I was there and I witnessed it. There’s a couple of other establishments that I frequent in the morning and they’re technically in violation but they’re treated differently." He added: "What I saw last night was excessive.

District 4 Councilman Mike Barber suggested placing a moratorium on enforcement of the ordinance, but the proposal failed to garner enough support to pass.

"This issue is a classic example of how many times we need to do something rapidly, and there are lots of committee meetings," he said. "This is a case where we have a clear reason.... We’ve had a manager arrested. We’ve got police officers with an unclear mandate. We’ve got frustrated people. We’ve got comments from council that could be used by the DA to have charges dismissed."