Technically, I believe that she can act as a Trinsic rep after being recused
(but you should check with Ann), but it's a really bad look.
Michael
917 770 9234 (mobile)
919 240 5406 (landline)
-----Original Message-----
From: Karen Stegman <kstegman@townofchapelhill.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 7:44 PM
To: Michael Parker <miparker1@aol.com>
Subject: Fw: Dancy ethics violation
Thoughts?
Karen J. Stegman
Council Member
Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-5705
Phone: (919) 824-5197
________________________________
From: Jon Mitchell <capt.jdm@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 3:50 PM
To: bberndt500@aol.com <bberndt500@aol.com>
Cc: Karen Stegman <kstegman@townofchapelhill.org>
Subject: Dancy ethics violation
External email: Don't click links or attachments from unknown senders. To
check or report forward to reportspam@townofchapelhill.org Hi Christine,
Thank you for your leadership as acting chair of the CDC last night during
the Aura discussion and for your substantive comments on the application,
which were well taken. I was among the public observers and participants in
the meeting. I'm writing to bring to your attention Ms. Dancy's violation of
the Ethics Guidelines for Town Advisory Boards and
Commissions<
https://www.townofchapelhill.org/home/showdocument?id=37178> and
to respectfully ask that you do what you can to prevent the violation from
recurring at the CDC's next meeting (which I understand will occur within
the next ten days), or behind the scenes in the interim.
The ethics guidelines begin:
"Members of advisory boards and commissions shall not discuss, advocate, or
vote on any matter in which they have a conflict of interest or an interest
which reasonably might appear to be in conflict with the concept of fairness
in dealing with public business. A conflict of interest or a potential
conflict occurs if a member has a separate, private, or monetary interest,
either direct or indirect, in any issue or transaction under consideration.
Any member who violates this provision may be subject to removal from the
board or commission." (Emphasis mine.)
As you know, last night Ms. Dancy was formally recused from the CDC's
discussion of Aura. Ms. Dancy nevertheless, without personal solicitation
from the panel, fielded multiple questions from the panel as a paid advocate
for Trinsic. I objected contemporaneously (via the Q&A function) and was
dismissed by Town staff, who suggested erroneously that Ms. Dancy was
recused from participating as a member of the commission but could
participate as a member of the development team. In the language quoted
above, "advocate" unquestionably includes representing the applicant. (To
draw this out slightly, I note that the guidelines do not say "discuss,
advocate, and vote." And "advocate" can't be narrowly construed to mean
"advocate as a panelist" because that would be redundant with "discuss."
There's a potential argument that "advocate" does not include responding
factually to factual questions, but it's foreclosed by Ms. Dancy's comments
on behalf of Trinsic, which strayed beyond factual clarifications. For
example, you may recall her arguing at some length that a greenway along
Aura's northern boundary is unnecessary.)
Thank you for your dedicated service to the Town, and for continuing to
provide thoughtful and independent feedback on matters before the CDC. We
appreciate it.
I'm copying Karen Stegman for her awareness as Council liaison to the CDC.
Respectfully,
Jon Mitchell
