Formal Notice of Pending Ethics Complaint and Demand for Corrective Action; City of Greensboro
Mayor Abuzuaiter, Mayor Pro Tempore Roth and Members Greensboro’s City Council,
I am writing to formally notify you of my intent to file a detailed ethics complaint pursuant to Section D of the City of Greensboro’s Code of Ethics (Resolution 2021-172) and relevant North Carolina state law. This complaint will allege a systemic pattern of violations involving conflicts of interest, unlawful participation in votes and a failure of legal and administrative oversight.
The complaint will be based on documented instances where sitting council members voted on budgetary appropriations and contracts that directly benefited organizations in which they hold leadership positions or financial interests without recusing themselves as required by law, the City’s Code of Ethics, the City’s Charter and Conflict of Interest Policy. Specific examples include, but are not limited to:
The unanimous vote on June 17, 2025, to adopt the FY 2025-26 budget, which allocated public funds to nonprofits where several council members serve as board members or executives.
The vote on November 18, 2025, to approve a $789,500 contract for the Tanger Center Founders Room renovation, involving council members who served on the Tanger Center board.
These actions appear to violate;
North Carolina General Statute § 14-234.3, which prohibits public officials from voting on or influencing contracts or appropriations to nonprofits where they serve in a leadership role.
Greensboro Code of Ordinances, Sec. 4.131, regarding financial conflicts of interest.
The City’s own Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy (B-22), which mandate that official actions be “above reproach” and require recusal from matters creating a real or apparent conflict.
Furthermore, the complaint will detail the failure of supervisory and legal oversight that allowed these votes to proceed, creating potential liability for the city and invalidation of the affected contracts.
I urge the Council to take immediate, transparent corrective action to address these issues. This should include, at a minimum; a public acknowledgment of the procedural failures, a formal review and the implementation of enforceable safeguards to prevent recurrence.
If the Council does not take demonstrable and satisfactory steps to rectify this situation within 14 days, I will file the formal ethics complaint with the City Clerk, initiating the investigative process outlined in the Code. A copy of this email will be included as exhibit evidence of the Council’s prior notification.
I request this correspondence be included in the public record for your next scheduled meeting.
g
To Greensboro’s City Clerk,
1. I am filing this formal complaint to request an investigation pursuant to Section D of Greensboro’s Code of Ethics (Resolution 2021-172) passed on August 2, 2021, which states “The Mayor and Council members should be guided by the spirit as well as the letter of the law in whatever they do”.
Nancy Vaughan, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Nancy Hoffmann and Tammi Thurm voted to approve the 2021 Code of Ethics amendment.
Greensboro’s Code of Ethics says “The Mayor and Council members should act with integrity and independence from improper influence as they exercise the duties of their offices.” And “The Mayor and Council members should avoid impropriety in the exercise of their official duties. Their official actions should be above reproach and they should not use their official position for personal gain.” The City’s code was adopted under North Carolina G.S. 160A-86, the city’s “Code of Ethics, Gift Policy, and Disclosure Requirements for the Mayor and City Council”, which requires Council members to “act with integrity and independence from improper influence”, “avoid impropriety in the exercise of their official duties” and ensure their actions are “above reproach.”
...5. On April 17, 2023, City of Greensboro Meeting Minutes show “following the adoption of the consent agenda, City Attorney Chuck Watts noted Councilmember Matheny needed to be recused based on Section 14-234.3 from agenda item G.16/2023-297.” “G.16 2023 - 297 Ordinance to Appropriate Fund Balance and Sales Tax Revenue for Special Tax Districts Fund (Fund 210)” and “The motion carried by affirmation 8-0 with Councilmember Matheny being recused.”
On June 17, 2025, the Greensboro City Council approved Resolution 2025-485, authorizing a $75,000 amendment to a lease agreement with Greensboro Downtown Parks, Inc. (GDPI). Mayor Vaughan and Councilmembers Thurm and Matheny recused themselves from the discussion and vote because they serve on the board of Greensboro Downtown Parks Inc.
Councilmember Hugh Holston recused himself from voting on a specific consent agenda budget adjustment during the September 16, 2025 city council meeting. The adjustment in question transferred $45,925 to increase funding for the Greensboro Housing Coalition’s (GHC) Housing Hotline, and Holston serves as the CEO of that organization and sits on the board.
On June 18, 2025, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, before voting on its budget, recused Chairman Skip Alston and Commissioner Frankie Jones from deliberating or voting on appropriations for nonprofits where they serve as board members. Citing North Carolina General Statute §14-234.3, which prohibits public officials from “participating in making or administering any contract” with a nonprofit where they hold a governing role, the Commission unanimously approved a formal recusal motion. Chairman Alston stated clearly that “when a governing board considers a contract with a nonprofit, including any award of money, commissioners involved with that nonprofit must recuse themselves from any deliberation and record their recusal with the Clerk.”
The same ethical process repeated on July 17, 2025, when the County Commissioners again recused Alston, Jones, and several other members from votes concerning nonprofits they were connected to. The result: a transparent, unanimous 8–0 vote affirming compliance with state law and ensuring public officials did not participate in funding decisions involving their own organizations.
6. On June 17, 2025, the Greensboro City Council voted 9–0 to adopt the Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget, which included public funding for several nonprofits where sitting council members hold leadership positions.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan, Councilmember Tammi Thurm, and Councilmember Zack Matheny each serve on the Greensboro Downtown Parks board, which received funding in the same budget they approved.
Councilmember Hugh Holston, the Executive Director of the Greensboro Housing Coalition, did not recuse himself despite his organization being a direct contract recipient.
Without recusal, Marikay Abuzuaiter voted to fund the Greensboro Sports Commission, on whose board she serves with County Commissioner Frankie Jones, without recusal.
Councilmember Zack Matheny, CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI), voted to fund his organization; a direct financial interest that would clearly trigger the recusal requirements outlined in N.C.G.S. §14-234.3 and the City’s own Conflict of Interest Policy (B-22).
On November 18, 2025, Mayor Vaughan and Councilmembers Matheny and Hoffmann voted to approve a $789,500 contract for the Tanger Center Founders Room renovation, despite their service on the Tanger Center board along with City Manager Trey Davis. No recusals were recorded for this item (I.8 / 2025-849).
An investigation and formal review will uncover more examples.
7. The City Manager oversaw multiples of administrative processes facilitating unlawful votes.
8. The rest of the City Council failed to supervise their employees. They didn’t ensure the City Attorney gave correct legal guidance, especially after Vaughan, Holston, Thurm and Matheny recused themselves for the same reasons earlier in the same year.
9. City Attorneys allowed conflicted members to vote without intervention, despite clear statutory language barring them, City Attorney Lora Cubbage did so after overseeing Holston’s recusal on September 16, 2025. The City Attorney has a legal duty to identify conflicts, prevent illegal votes, advise on statutory prohibitions and protect the validity of council actions. If they did not, it becomes a professional responsibility issue, a malpractice issue and potentially a misdemeanor under aiding and abetting if they knowingly allowed illegal votes.
Cubbage received Judicial campaign contributions from City Council members Nancy Vaughan, Hugh Holston, Tammi Thurm, Marikay Abuzuaiter and Nancy Hoffmann. She also received donations from then-City Attorney Chuck Watts, Andrea Harrell (city attorney and now Assistant City Manager) and Rosetta Davis (city attorney and now Deputy City Attorney).
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-275 states it is illegal for any person to “Willfully utter or publish, or cause to be uttered or published, any false statement in regard to any candidate or proposition in any primary or election... when such statement is intended to affect the chances of such candidate for nomination or election or to affect the result of the primary or election.”
10. The councilmembers with conflicts supervised both the City Manager and City Attorney.
11. Former councilmembers leaving office does not eliminate the City’s duty to correct the votes, the City Council’s duty to address supervisory failure, the public’s right to accountability, the potential implications of the conflict-of-interest violation and the need to ensure the failures do not repeat...
George Hartzman