I think it is important to me for the comments of the editor of News and Record be acknowledged. The only thing I ever asked the newspaper to do, was to say I was not their source. If this is as close as they will come, so be it. FINALLY ! TDBS  www.bellamysmallforcouncil.com

Council, leaks and polygraphs
Posted by John Robinson  of the Greensboro News and Record on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 8:17 am

 Wouldn't it be fun if City Council member T. Dianne Bellamy-Small called for all council members to take polygraph tests to determine who leaked the selection of the new city manager?

As you'll recall, a previous version of this council -- one in which most of the members remain -- agreed to take lie detector tests to find out which among them leaked the RMA report. Bellamy-Small declined -- all the others did and "passed" -- and, consequently, she was widely presumed to be the leaker, a charge she denied.

It was, in my opinion, one of the more embarrassing episodes of Greensboro's recent history. But given what she went through, who could blame her if, just to watch the other members squirm, she called for a polygraph. Or if a polygraph goes too far, perhaps an affidavit, as member Mike Barber championed.

It's only fair. And consistent.

 Reply To This Comment
lexalexanderAugust 29, 2009 - 4:46 pm EDT
Forensic analysis found that it definitely was Bellamy-Small's copy of the RMA report that was leaked --

http://www.news-record.com/content/2006/11/08/article/analyst_leaked_rep...

-- but I don't recall whether there was any conclusive evidence that she did or didn't do the leaking. Just out of curiosity, was there?

Reply To This Comment
John RobinsonAugust 29, 2009 - 5:24 pm EDT
Not that we ever reported, Lex, and not to my knowledge.

 Reply To This Comment
gsostudentAugust 30, 2009 - 12:04 pm EDT
Are you kidding me?? First of all, you're wrong- he was terminated prior to his courtdate, then he was found NOT GUILTY on both charges, and THEN he held the press conference. So you've got your order wrong which is essential in presenting the news.
Second of all, I'm NOT asking you to print that Mike Barber bribed him. I am saying it's your JOB to print that he has been accused of bribery. And not by an anonymous commenter on your site, but by a police officer who is very much in the public eye. How can you not report the allegations? If someone well known alleged that, for example, Bellamy-Small made a mis-step, you'd report it (as shown above). Why is it that allegations of bribery (as you stated, a serious charge) go completely unmentioned by the N&R? Don't you have a responsibility to report that, especially since the press conference was newsworthy enough to get coverage? Why were key elements of his statement (the police tape and Barber allegedly trying to bribe him) not printed?

What you are doing is taking sides and protecting his image based on your discretion that this is somehow not worth reporting. That's why I made the comment that your organization is in bed with him. It means that you are taking sides and are not nearly as unbiased as you'd like to pretend.

Reply To This Comment
Spag August 30, 2009 - 2:08 pm EDT
The N&R knows who the leaker was. I understand they have to protect their sources. That said, if Bellamy-Small was the leaker and the N&R knows she was the leaker, then they should have reported that as soon as she started denying it. In my book, that is an elected official deliberately lying to the public and that alone is newsworthy.

Reply To This Comment
John Robinson August 30, 2009 - 2:55 pm EDT
I agree, Spag. And we didn't report that Bellamy-Small was lying to the public. You can draw the conclusion from that, I think.