An investigation into TREBIC's "Staff Appreciation Nights" and why they need to End
Taxpayer-Funded Inspector, Industry-Funded Dinner, Drinks and Entertainment
You’re a Piedmont Triad homeowner, waiting for a building inspector. That inspector is at a party, funded by the developers whose projects they approve.
Sound impartial?
It isn’t.
Greensboro City Manager Trey Davis;
Davis not only normalizes these inappropriate relationships but also signals to the entire municipal bureaucracy that cozying up to regulated interests is acceptable, thereby undermining public confidence in the impartiality of every permit, inspection and zoning decision made by his administration.
The Triad Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC), a lobby for developers, builders, and contractors, hosts “Staff Appreciation Nights” for municipal employees in Greensboro, Guilford County, High Point, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. The guests? Inspectors, plan reviewers, and permit approvers whose decisions directly affect TREBIC members’ profits. This isn’t gratitude. It’s engineered familiarity.
Follow the Money
TREBIC isn’t a civic organization or taxpayer-funded group. It’s an industry coalition funded by developers, builders and contractors who have a direct financial stake in how city staff interpret codes, process permits and enforce regulations. These aren’t abstract relationships; we’re talking about the people who;
Review site plans for new developments
Conduct building inspections
Approve or deny permit applications
Enforce zoning regulations
Oversee construction compliance
When the industry being regulated pays to “appreciate” the regulators, that’s not hospitality; it’s influence-building.
The Legal Gray Zone
North Carolina General Statute 133-32 prohibits contractors from giving gifts to public employees involved in contracting, inspecting, or awarding work. The reason is clear; gifts create conflicts. TREBIC hides behind an exception for donations to professional organizations. But these are not professional meetings. They are targeted appreciation events thrown by the industry for its regulators. This isn’t education, it’s entertainment with an agenda.
This isn’t a professional development seminar. It’s not a neutral trade conference. These are parties thrown by developers for the people who approve their projects.
Why This Matters
Some will argue these are harmless social events, that city staff are professionals who won’t be influenced by a free meal, drinks and entertainment. But that fundamentally misunderstands how influence works.
Influence isn’t always about quid pro quo corruption. It’s about relationships, familiarity and the subtle psychological pull of reciprocity. When you regularly socialize with people who have a financial interest in your decisions, it becomes harder to maintain the critical distance necessary for impartial enforcement. That’s precisely why they invest in these relationships.
The Appearance Problem
Even if every city employee attending these events remains completely objective (and that’s a big “if”), there’s another critical issue; public trust.
When residents see city staff being treated to industry-funded events, it corrodes confidence in government impartiality. Why should a homeowner trust that their building inspector will hold a major developer to the same standards they demand from ordinary citizens when that inspector just attended a party thrown by the developer’s trade association?
What Should Happen
The solution is straightforward;
City employees who regulate, inspect, or make decisions affecting real estate development should not attend events funded by TREBIC or similar industry groups. If the industry wants to support professional development, they can donate to genuinely independent professional organizations, ones that don’t consist primarily of the people being regulated.
Greensboro should adopt clearer ethics policies that close the loopholes currently being exploited. If private sector contractors can’t buy lunch for city inspectors (and they can’t, under current law), why should industry coalitions be allowed to throw parties for them?
Transparency matters. If these events continue despite objections, the city should be required to publicly disclose which employees attend and what benefits they receive.
The Bigger Picture
Greensboro residents deserve a government that operates above reproach, where inspectors answer to the public interest rather than industry goodwill, where permits are judged on merit rather than relationships, and where the rules apply equally whether you’re a homeowner or a major developer.
Staff Appreciation Nights funded by TREBIC undermine that vision.
It’s time to end them.
