On the Ethics Complaints Filed Against Greensboro Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter; City Attorney Cubbage "sending to the Attorney General for review"
This post contains information meant to be sent to North Carolina's Attorney General Jeff Jackson in reply to what Lora Cubbage submits to the AG for "review"
On July 17, 2025, George Hartzman filed filed a notarized and City Clerk’s office date stamped complaint against Zack Matheny;
The complaint led to an ongoing investigation by the SBI;
Two complaints filed on May 11th and the 18th of 2026 allege that Mayor Abuzuaiter repeatedly participated in deliberations and voted for taxpayer monies funneled to the Greensboro Sports Foundation (GSF) while serving on the GSF board of directors. GSF’s President is former 2025 City Council Candidate Richard Beard.
The complaints concern;
City of Greensboro nonprofit board appropriations,
Circular use of public funds,
taxpayer funded hospitality and VIP events,
City of Greensboro publicly funded (our property and occupancy taxes) contractor entertainment to lobby officials in charge of appropriations and contract oversight,
transparency failures,
inconsistent ethics enforcement,
overlapping nonprofit and governmental relationships,
and legal violations.
Individuals connected include Greensboro’s current Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter, GSF President Richard Beard, City Manager Trey Davis, Assistant City Managers Larry Davis, Nasha McCRay and Andrea Harrell.
The complaints specifically challenge Greensboro’s handling of conflict of interest standards under;
N.C.G.S. §14-234.3,
Greensboro Charter §4.131,
the revised City ethics code,
appearance of impropriety standards,
N.C.G.S. §133-32 involving gifts and favors from government contractors
Article V, Section 2(1) of the North Carolina Constitution
and other violations of applicable laws an independent investigation would uncover.
After Beard took over the Sports Foundation, board meeting minutes show him outlining “some of the objectives and priorities for the Sports Foundation” which included;
Serving as the Local Organizing Committee working with the GACVB, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Hill Carrow and other outside organizations.
Become an advocate for enhanced and new sports facilities. It is important to identify facilities in Greensboro that with investment and upgrades can become crown jewels to attract more events.
Consultants/lobbyists retained by the GSF conducted a facility assessment designed to promote tourism/sports capital spending. An email from Richard Beard;
During the site visit, GSF/Hunden hosted a dinner with the same public officials who oversee appropriations, financing, contracts and policy decisions tied to their proposed taxpayer funded recommendations;
Trey Davis requested Assistant City Manager Larry Davis attend the dinner hosted by Greensboro Sports Foundation leadership;
This scenario places the event in direct conflict with NC General Statute § 133-32, “Gifts from public contractors prohibited.” The law is unambiguous. It states that no public official or employee who is “involved in developing, approving, or administering contracts on behalf of the unit of government” shall solicit or accept “anything of value” from a contractor that currently works for that government unit.
Davis directly oversees GSF’s funding streams and contractual compliance, administers the financial systems that process payments to GSF and supervises the Internal Audit department, the office regulating compliance with city contracts, which didn’t happen with the entirety of GSF’s $304,800 22-2023 taxpayer allocations, which Abuzuaiter voted for. Greensboro’s Internal Audit department’s Len Lucas only signed off on $40,000 of GSF spending in it’s review, even though the foundation received by far more taxpayer monies, which Lucas and Larry Davis must or should have been aware of;
Greensboro’s Internal Audit Director Len Lucas appears to have been replaced.
From GSF’s FY2024-25 IRS 990 filing;
Through different funding channels, GSF received $474,800 of taxpayer monies in 24-25. Abuzuaiter voted for the allocations.
GSF board members Chidi Akwari and Marc Isaacson gave to Abuzuaiter’s 2025 mayoral campaign.
Campaign contributors who gave to both Abuzuaiter and Beard include Hotelier Roy Carroll ($13,600 with spouse for Marikay and $6,400 for Richard), David Couch ($6,800 for Marikay and $2,500 for Richard) and David Craft among others.
Roy Carroll, David Couch, Chidi Akawri, Marc Isaacson and Will Yearns all contributed to Beard, Abuzuaiter and then Councilman and Downtown Greensboro Inc.’s (DGI) CEO Zack Matheny in 2025
Richard Beard’s 2025 City Council campaign contributors included multiple GSF board members including Marc Bush ($2,000), hotelier Koury Corporation’s Kelley Harrill, and Richard Vanore ($5,000), Matt Brown ($1,500), Brett Shulman, Chidi Akwari, Marc Isaacson and Coliseum Manager Scott Johnson.
https://greensborosf.com/board-and-staff/
Koury’s Kelly Harrill also serves on the Greensboro Guilford County Tourism Development Authority/Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau which provides funds to the GSF along with the City of Greensboro and the Coliseum Complex.
Under the contract with the City of Greensboro, the GSF is responsible for contracting with designated “Host Hotels,” coordinating hotel blocks for tournaments and aquatic events, and collecting “Hotel Room Rebate Commissions.”
Typically, in sports-tourism arrangements, hotels (like Koury or Carroll’s) pay a rebate or commission back to the organizing entity (GSF), based on room nights booked through an event block. If Harrill and Vanore sit on the GSF board while GSF helps determine or coordinate host hotel participation, critics may argue some of the same people benefit from and help govern the arrangements.
And because Greensboro’s occupancy tax is fundamentally driven by hotel activity, the overlap creates a highly interconnected funding and governance structure in which the same actors may both shape and profit from tourism development decisions.
Norway selected Greensboro for their FIFA World Cup Soccer base camp, training at GSF board member Frank Gilliam’s UNCG. The team will stay at GSF board members’ Koury related Grandover Resort. Koury’s Kelly Harrill and Richard Vanore are the only GSF board members associated with hotels.
The GSF hosted a taxpayer funded invitation only catered cocktail party, inviting City officials, tourism officials, Coliseum leadership and City management personnel.
GSF and Abuzuaiter declined comment and multiple requests for GSF expense ledgers.
GSF Board Members Who Accepted the Invitation; Chidi Akwari, George Hoyle, Marc Isaacson, Richard Beard, Steve Bowden, Marc Bush, Koury's Kelly Harrill and Richard Vanore, Greensboro Swarm's Steve Swetoha, UNCG's Frank Gilliam, Greensboro Chamber's Brent Christensen and Guilford County Commissioner Frankie Jones Jr.
Greensboro employees who registered were Assistant City Manager Andrea Harrell and Parks and Recreation Director Phil Fleishman.
Publicly funded City of Greensboro contractors hosted a private social event for the very officials responsible for overseeing their funding in violation of state law and basic governance standards. The events were not public meetings, training or programmatic activities. The non replies from the GSF event;
Assistant City Manager Ednasha ‘Nasha’ McCray was invited and registered to attend DGI’s holiday party with a plus one. McCray oversees Parks and Recreation and therefore GSF’s contract.
Abuzuaiter RSVP’d to the GSF invitation;
Richard and other board members who attended, meaning they accepted taxpayer-funded perks from a government contract they oversee, may have violated state ethics laws, breached fiduciary duties, triggered federal tax penalties under IRC § 4958 for excess benefit transactions, and compromised the legal and financial integrity of both GSF and the City.
The rest of Greensboro’s taxpayers were excluded, even though we paid for it.
Neither Beard or Abuzuaiter have disclosed what GSF spent $11,284 on “Sponsorship/Tickets” in 24-25 and $13,954 in 23-24 after spending $3,250 in 22-23, $1,133 in 21-22 and nothing noted for 20-21 when Richard wasn’t President yet. Abuzuaiter and Beard chose to not comment. Marikay was a board member all the way through.
Previous investigative reports have highlighted DGI’s likely use of hundreds of thousands of funds for dinners, gifts and entertainment in violation of it’s contract with the City and the law.
The use of public funds presents a substantial risk to GSF’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under the IRS Private Benefit Doctrine involving a nonprofit serving private interests rather than its exempt purpose. Under Article V, Section 2(1) of the North Carolina Constitution, taxpayer funds must be used exclusively for public purposes. A private, invitation only event for select insiders and government officials is a violation.
One invitation follow up sent by Greensboro Sports Foundation Vice President Jill Jones invited recipients illegally “bring a guest”;
As an invitee, City Manager Trey Davis didn’t stop illegal expenditures paid for with property tax checks we write each year, but he did after Public Integrity Watch (PIW) pointed out the issue in August, 2025 with the North Carolina Folk Festival;
Former DGI CEO and City Councilmember Zack Matheny organized and financed an exclusive luxury suite event including the City Manager and other DGI board members at the Greensboro Grasshoppers’ Opening Night on April 4, 2025.
Compounding the concern, Trey Davis not only accepted the invitation but also requested two tickets, further raising questions about the potential for improper personal gain.
During January 2026 Coliseum financing proceedings, PIW recusal objections were submitted to Greensboro City Council in writing concerning $21 million in Coliseum-related financing funded through the same hotel/motel occupancy taxes funneled to the GSF.
Larry Davis, who appears to have attended the Hunden Partners lobbying event and GSF’s catered party presented the items to City Council, after which Hartzman objected;
On January 8, 2026, Triad Business Journal Reported;
Greensboro leaders say coliseum complex needs $100M renovation
Richard Beard, president and CEO of the Greensboro Sports Foundation, said Greensboro is providing the $22 million for the renovations through a bond, all of which will be paid back through hospitality and hotel taxes.
Beard said the repairs will include renovations of restrooms and other areas on the lower concourse, which he described as “an embarrassment” at some big events because they are outdated.
The lobby of the special events center will be updated and a new premium club will be built, he said. ...Beard said the rest of the venues in the coliseum complex need enhancement, including the Greensboro Aquatic Center and the Novant Health Fieldhouse where the Greensboro Swarm play.
“We’re talking about an excess of $100 million of improvements needed at the Coliseum Complex, but we don’t have that kind of money, so we’re chipping away in other ways,” Beard said.
Richard Beard’s admission that facilities are outdated raises the question; why were these maintenance needs not addressed through standard capital budgeting, rather than a rushed, conflicted bond process?
The article confirms it’s a bond repaid by hotel taxes, which also funds the GSF via Abuzuaiter votes. This type of “revenue bond” or “limited obligation bond” extracts a higher interest rate, and didn’t require a public vote, which is why conflicted officials may have favored it over a General Obligation Bond.
Richard Beard contributor and former DGI board member John Lomax was chosen for some of the Coliseum construction work.
The extent of Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter undisclosed benefits from the Coliseum advocacy network remains a central, unanswered question. Amongst others.
On Monday, May 11, 2026, George Hartzman filed a notarized and City Clerk’s office date stamped complaint;
One week later on the 18th, Reverend CJ Brinson filed a complaint on relatively the same subject matters;
Mayor Abuzuaiter participated in and voted on the Greensboro/Guilford County Tourism Development Authority budget ordinance during the April 21, 2026 Greensboro City Council meeting. The ordinance appropriated approximately $1,500,000 for “Convention/Tourism Promotion (Operations),” funded entirely through “Occupancy Tax – City.”
Guilford County Commissioner Frankie Jones, who also serves on the GSF board, recused himself from the same GSF related Tourism Development Authority funding on May 7th after conflict concerns were raised by PIW under N.C.G.S. §14-234.3. County Attorney Carolyn Thompson confirmed the recusal in writing.
On the same day before Brinson filed, George Hartzman met with Greensboro City Councilmembers Crystal Black, April Parker and City Attorney Lora Cubbage.
During the meeting, Cubbage produced a legal analysis memorandum written by outside attorneys Alan Duncan and Steve Russell on November 25, 2025, in response to the earlier Zack Matheny ethics controversy, specifically concerning nonprofit board recusals, conflict-of-interest standards and Greensboro City Council voting restrictions;
The memo states;
Hartzman’s request to Guilford County specifically argued Frankie Jones should recuse as he serves on the GSF board while the Tourism Development Authority funnels funding from the City and County to support GSF activities.
The request stated;
“Mr. Jones currently serves on the board of the Greensboro Sports Foundation (GSF). The TDA budget includes funding streams that flow through the Convention & Visitors Bureau and other public channels that, in turn, support GSF activities.”
The filing further argued;
“board membership alone is sufficient to trigger the restriction.”
Guilford County’s Attorney confirmed;
“Commissioner Jones will recuse himself.”
“I have the authority to do an initial review.”
In a series of emails, a dispute between Hartzman and Cubbage shifted from the underlying merits toward the integrity of Greensboro’s ethics review process. Lora repeatedly asserted that she personally has authority to determine whether the complaints state valid ethics claims.
She wrote;
I have the authority to do an initial review.
and further stated;
I have informally informed you that even if your allegations are true, the Mayor in my legal opinion has not violated the law.
The complaints themselves, however, specifically challenge advice and determinations allegedly made by the City Attorney’s Office.
In response, Hartzman wrote;
You are effectively deciding whether allegations involving you and your office warrant independent review, while simultaneously maintaining that neither you nor your office are materially involved?
“Shall refer”
Hartzman wrote;
Under Section D(2)(b), if a complaint is not frivolous, and may state a claim if the allegations are true, the City Attorney ‘shall refer the complaint to a qualified outside investigator.
He further argued Cubbage stating;
“I disagree with that viewpoint from a legal lens.” isn’t a valid response per the Ethics Code.
and:
“You are effectively attempting to convert a compromised prior legal opinion into a complete factual and ethics disposition of the current complaints.”
Questions About Outside Counsel
Cubbage retained outside attorneys Alan Duncan and Steve Russell to prepare the November 25, 2025 ethics memorandum;
Alan Duncan is law partners with Cooper Harrell.
Cooper Harrell is married to Assistant City Manager Andrea Harrell.
Andrea Harrell is named in complaints for attending the GSF party and being invited to the DGI party.
The broader argument is the memo wasn’t a fully independent review.
Hartzman publicly criticized Alan Duncan, Say Yes Guilford, shift_ed and related Greensboro institutional networks years before the current ethics controversy.
Was Duncan an appropriate choice to provide supposedly independent ethics/conflict guidance in matters involving a complainant who had already publicly criticized Duncan’s participation in misleading Guilford County’s parents and their kids?
Alan Duncan and Amos Quick; “Through Say Yes to Education in Syracuse, Contreras has worked with her community...”
https://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/alan-duncan-and-amosquick-through-say.html
Say Yes to Education, Inc. (Say Yes), and Say Yes Guilford appears to be a legal Ponzi scheme and/or a Racket
https://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/11/say-yes-to-education-incsay-yes-and.html
One Hartzman email argues;
Alan Duncan’s close professional and institutional relationships should have disqualified him from providing independent conflict-of-interest or recusal guidance involving Greensboro governmental and nonprofit matters.
The emails question the independence of attorney Alan Duncan, who co-authored the earlier nonprofit-recusal memorandum relied upon by the City.
Attorney General Review
On May 21, Cubbage replied;
“I am also sending to the Attorney General for review.”
This post will be forwarded to Attorney General Jeff Jackson for review as well.