🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. Digging Into the Rumor Mill

2. What We’re Reading

George Hartzman speaks at last week’s Greensboro City Council meeting.

A Conflict Over Conflicts

Last week, a rumor spread quickly on Greensboro social media: City Attorney Chuck Watts had been suspended, the city council was under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, and Council Member Zack Matheny’s role as president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc. had gone from potential conflict to full blown scandal with criminal implications.

Just one problem: None of that was true.

“The SBI is not investigating anything concerning the Greensboro city council and/or the city attorney,” Chad Flowers, public information officer with the SBI, told The Thread this week. “The SBI has no investigations running and we don’t know of any investigations that the SBI is doing into anything concerning the Greensboro City Council.”

How did the story get started, build, and spread? Like a lot of criticism of Matheny and Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI), a non-profit that promotes the city’s urban center, it involves George Hartzman.

Hartzman is a tax and financial consulting professional, one-time local newspaper columnist, former candidate for council and mayor, and long-time critic of local government. He has been raging against what he calls corruption, self-dealing, and misuse of city funds for more than a decade. It was central to his failed runs against Matheny for the District 3 seat in 2009 and for mayor in 2013. Recently, his ire has been focused primarily on DGI, which receives city funding.

Matheny left his seat on council in 2015, looking “to avoid any perceived conflicts of interest” as he pursued the job with DGI. By 2021, when members of the DGI board said they weren’t worried about conflicts, Matheny again ran for and won his old seat.

Since then, Matheny’s taken heat for everything from DGI’s purchase of bus tickets for homeless people to lunches, dinners, and concert and sporting event tickets he’s bought for developers, business leaders, council members, and city staff. Matheny says they are legitimate business expenses related to promoting downtown Greensboro. Hartzman and other critics say they’re illegal gifts, improper use of money for a non-profit that receives public funds, and political lobbying in disguise. They’ve been peppering council with often daily e-mails for months, sometimes copying dozens of people, including reporters.

“Zack Matheny sits on City Council and runs DGI—a clear conflict,” Hartzman wrote in a statement, echoing his comments at public meetings. “He’s voted to approve millions in taxpayer money for projects that benefit DGI’s donors, clients and allies, including some of his political contributors. The ledger also shows over $20,000 in spending on courtside Swarm tickets, Tanger Center concerts, Grasshoppers sponsorships, and Wyndham Championship access. Perks—not for the public, but for insiders.”

Hartzman also cites thousands spent on various meals with developers, council members and city staff he calls gifts and lobbying.

Fellow council members and the city attorney’s office have frequently sided with Matheny. They say he isn’t breaking any state law or local ethics rules, that not all purchases covered by DGI are made with public dollars, and that gift and lobbying rules aren’t the same at the state and local levels.

Hartzman has sought an independent investigation and made a criminal complaint to the Greensboro Police Department earlier this month. The department referred it to the SBI, avoiding the potential conflict of investigating another arm of the city government. Hartzman and other critics have also contacted the Local Government Commission and offices of N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson, N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, and State Auditor Dave Boliek.

So far, they’ve found no takers.

In an e-mail exchange last week, Hartzman said the city should move forward with a probe of violations of its own ethics policies. Chief Deputy City Attorney Tony Baker said the city would proceed when the SBI completed the investigation Hartzman called for. With the SBI saying no investigation exists, Hartzman said, the city must move forward with its own probe.

“I don’t expect they will actually do anything,” Hartzman told The Thread in an interview Tuesday. “I expect they’ll get away with it.”

Hartzman and other critics have also zeroed in on Watts, with whom they have publicly sparred on points of law in public meetings and whose own meals and meetings with Matheny they say are a conflict. They allege Watts’ office is improperly ignoring or dismissing their ethics complaints. They also say he has violated an exclusive contract with the city through work for a firm called Cyberlux with an office in the Research Triangle Park. Watts reports directly to the city council, whose members said they are aware of the outside work.

Council member Zack Matheny.
City Attorney Chuck Watts.

“There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with a city attorney doing other work,” said Vaughan. “That happens in other cities. It’s happened in Greensboro in the past.”

Hartzman wants the city to hire independent investigators to examine and vet the full spectrum of his accusations. Whether he believes any law firm hired by the city can be objective remains to be seen, he said.

“Depends on their work product,” he said. “Depends what they find.”

Whether his job is a conflict is ultimately for the voters to decide, Matheny told The Thread.

“I think if you look at the job I’ve done on city council and at DGI, I think downtown is better and Greensboro is better for the work I’ve done,” Matheny said. “The voters can decide whether they agree.”

April Parker, Matheny’s only declared opponent in this year’s city council race, hopes they see what she does.

“I’m not arguing that my opponent cannot do both jobs,” Parker said. “I am saying he has not done both jobs. District 3 is bigger than downtown.”

— Joe Killian

Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

What We’re Reading

It Certainly is a Book: BJ Barnes, former long-time sheriff of Guilford County, has self-published another thriller inspired by his experience in law enforcement and conservative political views. “Can the sheriff and his team stand up against the power of the president, the richest man in the world and the Chinese government?” asks the book’s summary. Have a look here.

It’s Back: The Triad has its first confirmed case of measles in 2025. The once-rare disease is making a comeback in the wake of increased opposition to vaccines. The case involves a child who visited Forsyth and Guilford counties, going to restaurants, a grocery store, and a swim center, per the News & Record.

Hot Enough For You?: As the heat index breaks 100 this week, social services organizations like Greensboro Urban Ministries are offering cooling sites for those in need. Fox 8 has the story.

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Joe Killian is The Assembly's Greensboro editor. He joined us from NC Newsline, where he was senior investigative reporter. He spent a decade at The News & Record covering cops and courts, higher education, and government.