Protest Petition Party Thursday 7:15 at Natty Greene's Second Floor

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens of the Triad want to invite anyone who had any part in bringing back Protest Petitions to the Citizens of Greensboro to a informal gathering. Above you will see that we are going to get together at Natty Greene's in downtown Greensboro at 7:15 pm on second floor.

It will be great to see everyone who was a part of this process and also to send out a invitation to all in the local blogging community because I think having this blog on Protest Petitions for Greensboro really made a great difference in the process. Come to Natty Greene's and enjoy the night.

Good News Protest Petition is Now Online for the Citizens of Greensboro

Press Release from the City of Greensboro on Protest Petition for Greensboro below. Also if you want to see the form click on the title above or CLICKHERE

CITY OF GREENSBORO
Contact: Rawls Howard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: 373-2748



Right to Protest Petition Granted Back to Greensboro Citizens

GREENSBORO, NC -- (March 23, 2009) – The right to protest petition has been granted back to citizens of Greensboro. The North Carolina General Assembly ratified a bill on March 5 that removed Greensboro's exemption from the protest petition requirements found in North Carolina General Statute 160A-385.
Previously, the City of Greensboro had special legislation in place that exempted it from the State’s protest petition requirements. With the removal of this exemption, Greensboro City Council must now follow special voting procedures when addressing rezoning matters where a valid protest petition has been submitted. Specifically, if a valid petition has been submitted in accordance with the standards set forth under State law, any action taken by Council on a rezoning item can only pass by a super-majority vote. In the case of a full, nine-member voting Council, seven votes would be required to take action or pass an item.
State law sets out procedures that must be followed and standards that must be met in order for a protest petition to be considered valid. For more information about the requirements and procedures for submitting protest petitions, call the City's Planning Department at 373-2144. Also, learn more about the protest petition online at http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Planning/zoning/ProtestPetitions.htm.

Get Ready To Protest from the Inside Scoop of Greensboro News and Record

Amanda Lehmert from the Greensboro News and Record write today in the blog called Inside Scoop this caption "Get Ready to Protest" CLICKHERE of click on the title above.

Here is a quote from the post,"The protest forms will be available on the city Web site starting next week. Protests must be submitted to the city clerk by 5 p.m. on the Thursday before the city council meeting. "

It will be great to see the transparency on providing this information to the citizens of Greensboro on this issue.

Greensboro Planning Might Want To Make it More Difficult on the Protest Petition Process

There was a very interesting post on the UNC School of Government list serve from the Greensboro Planning Manager Rawls Howard.

More comments below the fold.

If you want to see the post click on the title above.

Here is what Rawls Howard had to say;

Does anyone require that the signatures for your protest petitions be notarized to be counted as official?

The State statutes are silent to this, but I wanted to check if this is something that is allowed or is done through local ordinances in your municipality or county.

Thanks.

In Public Service,

Rawls Howard, AICP, CZO
Planning Manager
City of Greensboro
300 West Washington St
PO Box 3136
Greensboro, NC 27402-3136
T) 336-373-2748
F) 336-412-6315
E) rawls.howard@greensboro-nc.gov

________________________________________________________

It seems that the Greensboro Planning Department is trying to make this process as difficult as possible. Just think ,Rawls Howard is trying to find out about having a notary be a part of the process, unbelievable. You do not need to have a notary to make a valid protest petition. If there is any municipality who does this I am not aware of it. Raleigh, High Point or Charlotte doesn't make you have a notary on the Protest Petition forms. All you need to do is provide a valid form where the citizens of Greensboro with name , address, and telephone . That is all you need .

If the City of Greensboro Planning Department wants to know what other cities are doing please click on this post CLICKHERE

Check Out The New Editorial Cartoon on Protest Petitions for Greensboro

It is time to update the Editorial Cartoon that was done by Anthony Piraino who also has his own blog called Plead The First CLICKHERE . Now it has been added to the blank Greensboro citizen that "SO DO WE" have the right to Protest Petitions for Greensboro.

Would like to thank Anthony Piraino for doing this editorial cartoon . It is amazing what one picture can do for an issue but having this picture for all to see really made the point.

Many Deserve Thanks for Protest Petition Fight Especially The Blogging Community

Greensboro News and Record Letter to the Editor for March 15, 2009
CLICKHERE
or click on the title above. Below is what was said in the letter to the editor.

Let me first say that the blogging community kept this issue on the forefront for over a year and would like to thank all who has posted , linked or opined on the issue it was a great help.
________________________________________________________


I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have been involved in restoring the right to protest petitions for the citizens of Greensboro and to praise our state legislators who moved this bill through the process smoothly.

To witness the special-interest group called TREBIC try to deny this state right for the citizens of Greensboro should be a wake-up call as to how far they will try to get their way.This exemption should have never happened in the first place. It came about because of back-door politics, with no citizen input. This exemption from state law made no sense.

It was time to reverse this exemption, and for anyone who wanted to call out my motives because I live in High Point and started a blog on this total injustice, think again. My motives were for the citizens of Greensboro to have the same rights I have as a resident of High Point, and the same rights as residents of every other city in this state.

Thanks to all who were involved and especially to all my friends in the local blogging community where “protest petitions for Greensboro” blogspot came to fruition and made a great difference.

Keith Brown
High Point

Greensboro Peer Pressure has a post Titled "Loop Holes in Protest Petition"

Local Blogger Diane Davis and her blog called "Greensboropeerpressure" CLICKHERE or click on the title above. Has a new post with a title called "Loop Holes in Protest Petition". She has some great questions like she did on the greenway. It will be great to see some of these neighborhoods all over Greensboro use Protest Petition in the zoning process and hopefully these loop holes can be rctified like for example it might be time to lobby the whole County of Guilford to add Protest Petitions to the county zoning process. Hey another issue our coalition can try to get passed. Nothing like a new challenge but first it might be time to get some politicians who aren't so close to the TREBIC CARTEL if you know what I mean come fall.

Northwest Observer on Protest Petitions in Oak Ridge & Summerfield & Stokesdale

Northwest Observer > News

The Northwest Observer which is a weekly newspaper concentrating in the northwest part of Guilford County has a article about the use of Protest Petitions in other cities like Oak Ridge, Summerfield and Stokesdale, click on the title above or CLICKHERE.

This article came about because there was so much talk about the restoration of Protest Petitions to the citizens of Greensboro.

If you have friends or relatives or vacation homes in this state and your conversation talks about some rezoning case coming up in their established neighborhood , remember that you can use protest petitions in every city or municipality in this whole state even if there is not a formal process from the local council it is STATE LAW.

This blog will still be there for anyone who wants to understand the process of Protest Petition and to be there when some of these neighborhoods all over Greensboro exercise their right to Protest Petitions in the zoning process.

One mention is that I wouldn't want to be the first one who uses Protest Petitions in Greensboro because I am sure they are going to want to make a statement that even though this is on the books we can still pass the zoning case 9-0 , we will see.

Protest Petition Passing of Bill Informal Gathering at Natty Greene's

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that we would like to have an informal gathering of friends and others who have been a part of passing a bill to restore Protest Petitions to the citizens of Greensboro.

This effort has been going on for well over a year and now that the bill is passed, we thought it might be a great idea to have a informal gathering of people to celebrate and thank everyone who was involved.

We plan on meeting on the second floor of Natty Greene's which is located in downtown Greensboro at 345 S. Elm Street on April 2, 2009 at 7:15 pm.

Thanks to everyone who was involved and would like to see you there .

Keith T. Brown

Coalition of Concerned Citizens of The Triad

Dick Hails and Greensboro City Council Need to Understand The Process of Protest Petition

Now that Protest Petitions for Greensboro is law. It is now time for the Greensboro City Council and Dick Hails in the Greensboro Planning Department to understand this process and to be transparent and forth coming with the procedure they are going to implement. If you click on the title above it will take you to the process that the Town of Chapel Hill uses in the zoning process for Protest Petition.

Here are a few other municipalities and how they let their citizens know about Protest Petitions

Raleigh CLICKHERE

Charlotte CLICKHERE then CLICKHERE then go to bottom of page for Protest Petitions

High Point CLICKHERE in the Planning and Development under documents.

These are just a few of the available forms that the City of Greensboro needs to have online for all the citizens to have in the zoning process. It will be interesting to see how much transparency the City of Greensboro is going to have on providing information to their citizens . The Planning Department and Dick Hails need to provide the information on Protest Petitions on their web site at the location called forms, fees & brochures CLICKHERE with a title online called Protest Petitions . Let's see how long it take the city to post the required forms online for the citizens.

Plenty of Blog Post on Protest Petitions for Greensboro Here are The Links

IT is great to see all the blog post on Protest Petitions for Greensboro and this week seeing a bill get passed at the North Carolina General Assembly. Here is a compilation of blog post from this past week. If we missed anyone please let me know but will try to post everyone who posted this past week here they are in no particular order but would like to start with Brenda Bowers who was very sincere with her post and last but not least is FEC he will bring up the rear.



As I Go: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
TITLE: Protest Petition YES! Well Done Keith Brown CLICKHERE



Tony Wilkins Busy Being Born
TITLE: Perkins Opinion on Johnson Removal & Protest Petition Return CLICKHERE


Erik Huey at Greensboro Metro
TITLE: Protest Petition Back.......Fully CLICKHERE


Ed Cone at Ed Cone
TITLE: Protest Petitions for Greensboro CLICKHERE


Joe Guarino at Guarino
TITLE: The Mitchell Johnson Firing, the Sanders Trial and Protest Petitions: All of a Sudden, We're Winning CLICKHERE

Mark Binker Capital Beat and Greensboro News and Record
TITLE: Protest Petition Passes quietly CLICKHERE

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST is

FEC at Vie de Malchance
TITLE: Binker Ignores Brown CLICKHERE

Thanks to everyone in the blogging community it was a long year and hopefully this will give people the understanding that blogs can and do make a difference in this area.

Citizens of Greensboro Protest Petitions Is Now Ready To Become Law

It is with great pleasure that we report today that House Bill #64 to restore Protest Petition to Greensboro will become law once it reaches the Secretary of State.

Mark Binker from the Greensboro News and Record and Capital Beat reports today about this bill, CLICKHERE or click on the title above.

There are a lot of people to thank for making this happen but to see the citizen activism in regards to this exemption of Greensboro from Protest Petitions and to take it to the level of changing this law was great to see.

Now let's see where the Greensboro City Council and Greensboro Planning Department especially Dick Hails has plans for Protest Petitions in the zoning process. Will it be online for all the citizens to see or will it be hidden from the citizens of Greensboro. It will be interesting to see in the future how this will play out.

PROTEST PETITIONS FOR GREENSBORO IS NOW LAW.

Protest Petition Bill Passes 116-0 in N.C. House , March on to Senate Side

Mark Binker from the Greensboro News and Record and Capital Beat CLICKHERE or click on the title above reports today that House Bill #64 has passed the House side with a vote of 116-0 . The bill will now move on to the Senate side of the North Carolina General Assembly.

If you would like to hear State Representative Pricey Harrison introduce the bill CLICKHERE .

Delayed A Day, Delayed A Day on House Bill #64

Mark Binker from the Greensboro News and Record and Capital Beat writes tonight that there was a delay in House Bill #64 CLICHERE or click on the title above.

It was the first time for me to hear the audio on the house legislature and hopefully in future we will see the chamber televised for all the citizens of North Carolina can see their tax money at work for them.

The delay happened because House Rep. Earl Jones couldn't make it to Raleigh and wanted to be there to sign on to this bill according to Mark Binker at the Capital Beat blog.

The next step is in the Senate side of chamber and hopefully it will get a fast pass on becoming a bill.