Inside Scoop: Unscheduled snooze leads to suspension for city staffer : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

Planning Director Dick Hails dozed off during the City Council briefing Jan. 19 — a fact City Manager Rashad Young was alerted to by a council member.

Hails, who has been with the city for five years, was later suspended without pay for three days, according to sources.

He’s already back at work.

“I view the matter as very minor and not affecting my work,” Hails said.

“I don’t think I want to comment beyond that.”

Rethinking that lobbyist

Councilman Danny Thompson is having second thoughts about City Manager Rashad Young’s request to hire a lobbyist to represent Greensboro in Washington.

Thompson — plus five of his colleagues — said it sounded like the right idea to them.

But after further examination of the manager’s rationale, Thompson said he got to thinking that the city is doing a good job getting federal funds without the additional $60,000 to $80,000 lobbyist costs.

Young’s request came on the same day he reported an $11.2 million city budget deficit that could lead to all kinds of unpleasant things such as layoffs or program cuts.

If Young had shown council members that Greensboro was being outpaced by other cities in the federal funding arena, he might think differently, Thompson said Thursday.

“I kind of had a change of heart since (Tuesday),” Thompson said.

Hagan poll numbers

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is probably glad she doesn’t have to run for office until 2014.

Public Policy Polling says the Greensboro Democrat’s approval rating is somewhere around 29 percent.

Keep in mind, Hagan won an election less than two years ago, beating Elizabeth Dole who was herself viewed as a popular and hard-to-beat incumbent. And PPP tends to be a firm pretty friendly to Democrats.

Inside the PPP numbers, it looks like health care is really what’s damaging Hagan’s numbers. If you don’t like health care reform, you don’t like the Senate Democratic leadership and anyone who has been enabling them to push the health care bill forward.

James who?

When James O’Keefe, a conservative activist and videographer, posed as a pimp and got ACORN staffers in California to engage in some shady-looking behavior, he became a cause célèbre among Republicans.

Greensboro Republican Rep. Howard Coble, who has taken to the House floor to denounce the community organizing group, was one of 31 congressmen to co-sponsor Rep. Pete Olson’s resolution “Honoring the fact-finding reporting done by Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III” back in October.

O’Keefe was busted last week and charged with attempting to bug U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans.

“When I signed on initially, I was very comfortable doing that because these two people exposed an outfit that was doing illegal things and using taxpayer money,” Coble said.

But he said that nobody should take his backing of the resolution, filed months ago, as an endorsement of O’Keefe’s attempted phone tapping.

“I’m not comfortable with what they did in Louisiana,” Coble said.

So will he drop off the resolution?

“Let me chew on that,” Coble said.

There may be little point in doing so, he said, because the resolution is likely to go nowhere in a Congress controlled by Democrats.

Staff writers Mark Binker and Amanda Lehmert contributed.

BigByrd

February 1, 2010 - 5:27 am EST

3 days suspension??
With all the problems and projects being executed by the City of Greensboro...does our new City Manager have the time and energy to be so heavyhanded as to suspended an employee for 3 days over a few seconds or at most few minutes of physical weakness?? I found this amazing. The man dozed off while sitting in on what is normally a rather boring event. Give the man a sharpe elbow in the ribs and gone on. Are City employees paid extra or given comp time for attending these meetings? Or perhaps our City Manager was just trying to make an impression on the City Council. Pity

Bobby B. Byrd
Greensboro,NC

AirDoc

February 1, 2010 - 8:49 am EST

I don't have personal knowledge, nor does this article say, of how long Hails slept when he "dozed off". I differ a little from BigByrd in that if it was important enough for Hails to be at the meeting, it certainly seems like he should have been awake. There are bad places and not so bad places to catch a nap when one does so in public. Representing the city in a city council briefing seems to be one of those places, bored or not, that you would make an extra effort not to fall asleep. If the off days were punishment, or a message to other city employees, or a little of both, I feel it was appropriate. I'm sorry it cost Hails 3 days pay but that would seem to be a cheap lesson learned.

Retracto T.C. Alpaca

February 1, 2010 - 9:28 am EST

> O’Keefe was busted last week and charged with attempting to bug U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans.

Um, NO.

There are no allegations of any attempt to “bug” or wiretap Sen. Landrieu in the FBI affidavit, and a law enforcement official has conceded that the four men were not attempting to wiretap or intercept calls.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/27/2187074.aspx

Furthermore, legal representation for the accused has gone on record stating there were no intentions to wiretap.

The original reporting by the AP and others was in error, and there has been more than ample time for your reporters to have actually learned of this change, had they been seriously performing their jobs. Thus one may conclude that the filer, presumably either Mark Binker or Amanda Lehmert, is not a particularly good reporter. Clearly they cannot be bothered to actually seek any additional information which has become subsequently available by performing a simple internet check before filing a report. Note to Mark and/or Amanda: After several days, such checks are what separate good reporters from hacks.

We kindly ask the Greensboro News-Record to issue a correction/retraction to this story.

wscbd

February 1, 2010 - 10:49 am EST

Riiight...
Yeah, N&R, retract the statement... as soon as O'Keefe and BigGovernment post the full, undoctored version of the video that brought him his 15 minutes of fame.

zuker

February 1, 2010 - 12:08 pm EST

C'mon now. Obviously, accuracy was not the N & R's goal here, embarrassing Coble and trying to tar him as having questionable associates was. With that goal in mind, I think that the N & R made exactly the point that they wanted, even though it was clearly bogus.

Brutarius

February 1, 2010 - 10:37 am EST

James O'Keefe was not charged with attempting to "bug" Senator Landrieu's phone, nor does the FBI affidavit mention any such attempt.

Please correct this story to reflect the truth of the situation.

Mark Binker

February 1, 2010 - 11:24 am EST

From the New Orleans Times Picayune on Jan. 29:

"O'Keefe, 25, along with Joseph Basel, 24, Stan Dai, 24, and Robert Flanagan, 24, was arrested Monday by the U.S. Marshal's Service and charged with entering Landrieu's New Orleans office "under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony." According to the U.S. attorney's office, Basel and Flanagan posed as telephone repairmen and "manipulated the telephone system" in the office, while O'Keefe, who was already in the office, recorded with a cell phone and Dai waited outside in a car. The four men are facing a maximum term of 10 years in prison."

Sources here: http://snipr.com/u8rmt
here: http://snipr.com/u8rma

I think the shorthand used in Scoop fairly represents what first-hand reports indicate.

forusa

February 1, 2010 - 11:54 am EST

Not surprised at Kay Hagan's low rating. I sent several e-mails expressing concern about the proposed health care legislation and other issues. The only reply I received was a stock response that was probably sent out by some low level staffer. She is out of touch with her constituents and doesn't seem to care what we think. Too bad we have to wait until 2012 to do something about it.

Denis Keohane

February 1, 2010 - 12:57 pm EST

Mark - doubling down on the untenable is not a sign of professional maturity in a reporter. "Bug" would be shorthand for maybe "wiretap", and neither word appears in either of the articles you use as sources. Other news outlets, as shown by the alpaca, have already retracted the "bugging" claims and O'Keefe is not charged with attempted or actual wiretap, period. That's just the facts, those pesky things reporters claim to adhere to. Denis Keohane

February 1, 2010 - 2:47 pm EST

Mark,

A thorough if belated retraction from CBS:

http://patterico.com/2010/01/29/cbs-issues-okeefe-correction-theres-just...

It can be done, Mark! Only hurts for a sec and then you feel like - you've done honest reporting!

February 1, 2010 - 4:32 pm EST

Yes - Let's get the facts straight: The dim-witted O'Keefe, funded by his anti-American puppet-masters, was apprehended while attempting to commit any of a number of felonies involving tampering with the telephones of an elected official. Under advisement by his puppet-masters, the dim-wit has thus far struggled to offer any explanation that makes more sense than the initial assumptions that he was bugging the phones.
There's your accurate reporting. Will you be happy if the N&R corrects the editorial thus?
I'm awaiting your own outrage at the fact that this pawn and his superiors continue to reject all calls to produce the undoctored video footage from the ACORN fiasco. That's journalism for you.

ogman

February 1, 2010 - 9:26 pm EST

O’Keefe was NOT charged with attempting to bug U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone or involved in phone tapping as incorrectly reported in this article. This paper should correct the error and issue an apology the same as others have who jumped the gun and wrongly reported the facts.

The goal was to check to see if the phone system in the office was working. O'Keefe, was trying show why Sen. Landrieu’s constituents had been unable to register their objections about Obamacare on her phone line. They had been told that perhaps the phones were out of order or disconnected so that voters could more easily be ignored.

O'Keefe should be praised for his courageous undercover work that most journalists can’t or won’t undertake.

February 2, 2010 - 8:11 am EST

Journalism? Is that what you call this? Even in this age of new media we have a responsibility to hold journalists to a higher standard. To call this sloppy hack a "journalist" is no different than applying that same label to the likes of Michael Moore or Glenn Beck, except that Moore at least does some research (albeit, typically from biased sources) and Beck is clearly off his rocker. Illegally breaking into an elected official's office and committing a felony by tampering with her phones is not journalism. And then concocting the most bogus explanation in the history of idiocy in order to cover one's tracks and protect one's employers from legal action is even more pathetic.

February 2, 2010 - 7:21 pm EST

In your spittle-flecked rage, how many facts can you misstate?

O'Keefe did not "break into" Landrieu's office. If he had, he would have been charged with breaking and entering.

He did not commit a felony, or he would have been charged with a felony.

As far as the "idiot" explanation, I suggest you calm down, stop watching Glenn Beck (so you won't work yourself into a fit), and just wait and see what comes out at trial. It's all on tape and we'll know the truth then. That's the mantra that libtards like you always start chanting when one of your own is caught with their hands in the till, so perhaps you should try practicing what you preach.

February 2, 2010 - 9:49 pm EST

That's quite a remarkable reinterpretation of facts. First, I'm no liberal, and only someone on the far, wacko right end of the spectrum would assume that I am. Second, tampering with phone lines, which O'Keefe has admitted to even in his version of events, is a felony. Third, he also has admitted to using false pretense to enter the office (AKA "breaking in").

February 3, 2010 - 7:09 pm EST

I assumed you were a liberal because you are constantly resorting to liberal canards. Please point out where I misrepresented the facts. Hey, I did it for you, right?

You repeating that something is a felony doesn't make it so, and the entering a building under false pretenses charge is clearly a misdemeanor.

The point of this entire thread is blindingly simple, yet you miss it because you want to:

1.) The News and Record article in question said O'Keefe was charged with bugging Landrieu's phone.
2.) O'Keefe was NOT charged with taping or bugging, and readers asked that the newspaper simply clarify the sentence to reflect that FACT.
3.) You went ballistic and started invoking the spirits of Glenn Beck and Michael Moore for no reason at all -- although I'm fairly confident the reason you mentioned Moore at all was to give you some "conservative" cover.

Stick with the facts.

February 3, 2010 - 9:49 pm EST

Yes, you just keep that crazy train rolling. Keep pretending that I didn't already make my point clearly, listing nothing but facts. Use terms like "ballistic" to describe my comments, despite the fact that it's an utterly misplaced adjective (another hallmark of the far-right wingnut... next you'll be calling me a "brownshirt"). Perhaps you should follow your own advice, and stick with the facts. Facts like:
1) O'Keefe is a pawn of BigGovernment.org.
2) O'Keefe's biggest claim to fame up to this point was taking part in a ruse which resulted in a heavily doctored video that attempted to discredit an organization, and yet he and his masters REFUSE to make available the actual original video.
3) O'Keefe was charged with "entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony".
4) O'Keefe claimed not to have possessed at the time ANY electronic equipment, and yet he also claims to have recorded the entire event.
5) O'Keefe admitted to tampering with the phones, then later used the "It's an ongoing investigation" excuse not to clarify the facts. Tampering with phones is a felony.
6) Thanks to the internet, all of this information is available with just a few keystrokes. And just to make it simple for you, since all other websites are no doubt blocked from your computer, I got all of this information directly from Fox News.
I'm no liberal. But because I'm no ignorant buffoon, I apparently don't fit your definition of "conservative" either. Doesn't matter to me. Your opinions are even more inconsequential than your "facts".

February 4, 2010 - 12:47 pm EST

I think it has become painfully obvious that wscbd is off his/her meds! Wscbd wrote:

“Even in this age of new media we have a responsibility to hold journalists to a higher standard.”

Uhuh! And in all of the rant wscbd has spumed he/she fails to accept the simple fact that the N&R’s Inside Scoop and its writers claimed that O’Keefe was, and I quote, “charged with attempting to bug U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone”, which is patently false! O’Keefe was not so charged, period! Uh, higher standard, wscbd?

Let us all not get lost here: staff writer Mark Binker has doubled down on a false report, and no one at the Inside Scoop is making a correction to a provably false claim, even when shown other news organizations have done so!

The New Orleans Times-Picayune retracted the wiretapping (bugging) claim:
http://patterico.com/2010/01/31/times-picayune-originally-reported-that-...

CBS has retracted the bugging claim:
http://patterico.com/2010/01/29/cbs-issues-okeefe-correction-theres-just...

MSNBCs David Shuster, apparently having channeled wscbd on Twitter, retracted a claimed that O’Keefe was trying to “tap” the Senator’s phones:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/01/28/msnbc-brass-shust...

February 4, 2010 - 1:16 pm EST

Perhaps it is because they are waiting for the FACTS. That's what a journalist does. It's understandable that you wouldn't be capable of comprehending this if you consider O'Keefe to be a journalist. I have already presented facts, all of which taken directly from the Fox News website, no less. If you have some inside information regarding the case, then perhaps you should tell the investigators. I have already asked whether it would satisfy you if the N&R corrected the piece with facts known so far, which I presented. Apparently you want them instead to report what you perceive to be facts, which are, in fact, lies. Do you understand the difference between FACTS and LIES? Between TRUTH and FICTION?
I've already stated that he was not charged with a felony. He did, however, admit to a felony, whether he wants to admit to actually tapping the phones or not.

February 4, 2010 - 3:52 pm EST

WSBCD,

Why do you continue to obfuscate and dodge the issue??? It's very simple: the readers asked the News and Record correct the story to reflect the fact that O'Keefe was not charged with bugging or taping conversations. Instead, you continue to rant and rave with red herrings and straw man arguments. The issue isn't whether O'Keefe is a "pawn" of BigGovernment.org, or whether he possibly committed a felony. THE ONLY ISSUE HERE IS THAT THE NEWS AND RECORD MISREPORTED THE FACTS RELATING TO WHAT O'KEEFE WAS CHARGED WITH. All of your woulda-coulda-shoulda nonsense is irrelevant to that issue.

And since you say O'Keefe "admitted" to a felony, and since you're such a hard-digging researcher, perhaps you could use one of those modern URL thingies to SHOW US PROOF OF THIS CLAIM.

February 4, 2010 - 4:38 pm EST

This is getting ridiculous. I want to know who on Fox News loves to use the term "straw man" so much, because the far-right has only recently begun using it and they use it in EVERY argument. Too bad they have NO idea what it means, as you have illustrated. I have already provided, multiple times, all of the information that a 5 year old would need to confirm my statements. If you cannot, then strap on your helmet and abandon the debate, becase you are hopelessly retarded. "The readers" did not call for a retraction. A couple of nut-jobs with GEDs started whining because one of their new heroes had been caught red-handed and the N&R reported on the facts that had been reported so far. If you want them to update the article to the facts NOW known regarding the incident, then your idol appears even more inept and insidious. Your choice.

February 4, 2010 - 4:56 pm EST

From that hotbed of right wing lunacy, FOX NEWS, uh, I mean The Washington Post:

“CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE
Earlier versions of this story incorrectly reported that James O'Keefe faced charges in an alleged plot to bug the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu. The charges were related to an alleged plot to tamper with a phone system. The headline incorrectly referred to a plot to bug the phone and a caption incorrectly referred to an alleged wiretap scheme.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/26/AR201001...

While as WSCBD says, intrepid journalist Mark Binker and company at the N&R are “waiting for the FACTS”!

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