Paid-for content by a group that didn’t disclose Greensboro developer Marty Kotis as a likely backer has drawn criticism from Mayor Nancy Vaughan as a one-sided and inaccurate description of North Carolina’s third-largest city.
“From Second to (Possibly) Fourth: How Greensboro’s Population is Falling Behind’’ reads the headline of sponsored content published earlier this month in online publication The Assembly and its Greensboro Thread newsletter. Described by the publication as “an independent expenditure political committee,” North Carolina Taxpayers for Jobs paid for the content saying the 2030 population census may push Durham ahead of Greensboro, already trailing Charlotte and Raleigh.
Overarching the commentary is the assertion that the city’s process for approving development projects is sending investment, jobs and people elsewhere, such as to the towns of Summerfield and Stokesdale in fast-growing northwestern Guilford County.
“Virtually all municipalities surrounding Greensboro are growing at a faster rate, in part because of the lack of collaboration between Greensboro city officials and developers,” the content said.
“Developers describe Greensboro as one of the most restrictive and slowest-moving cities in the state,” it said. “Projects that would move quickly in other cities can spend months, sometimes years, in Greensboro’s planning pipeline.”
“The truth is quite the opposite,” rebuffed Vaughan in a letter to The Assembly. Once Greensboro’s staff has plans in hand, approval of residential and commercial projects ranks “well ahead of state guidelines and faster than many major metro areas in North Carolina.”
After searching documents online, longtime Greensboro journalist Ed Cone said in a Facebook post that Kotis, a UNC Chapel Hill trustee, may have been behind the content. Kotis, CEO and owner of Kiss Ass Concepts, a Greensboro-based retail and hospitality development company, didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
In a 2019 profile of Kotis, Business North Carolina described the developer Kotis as critical of “unduly restrictive city codes” and aggressive enforcement officials.
“A developer arguing for a freer hand to develop is not big news,” Cone wrote. “A developer who swings the big stick Kotis does in this city and state launching a broadside at local government is bigger news! To the point that I think The Assembly owed its readers more than the developer’s bland nom de plume.”
In a blurb accompanying the content, The Assembly said “sponsored content allows institutions and organizations to reach The Assembly’s audience through brand messaging and written articles.”
The content pegged its criticism of Greensboro to the Nov. 4 City Council election, saying “pro-growth candidates” who win or retain seats could “chart a way out of stagnation and redefine what kind of city Greensboro wants to be.”
The candidates are aligned with executives and neighborhood organizations who “describe a city that says it wants growth, but makes it hard,” the content said. “These hopefuls aren’t aligned on every issue. But their comments and proposals point to a blueprint for Greensboro’s revival: fix the culture of `no,’ professionalize approvals and build on what’s already working.”
If blurring the lines was its objective, the content went too far, according to Vaughan, who isn’t seeking re-election after serving as mayor for more than a decade.
“In reality, it was an advertisement masquerading as journalism,” she said. “What was missing was balance. The statistics were misleading, the framing was selective, and the `reporter’ effectively hid behind a political action committee to advance a one-sided narrative rather than inform readers with facts.”
The storyline “that Greensboro has somehow `fallen behind’ ignores the extraordinary economic momentum we are experiencing,” the mayor said. She listed Toyota Battery Manufacturing, Boom Supersonic, Marshall Aerospace and JetZero as projects that “will bring tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, strengthen our regional supply chain, and generate billions in economic impact. That is not stagnation, that is progress.”
In its first seven months, the city’s five-year initiative to build 10,000 new housing units at various prices and types is approaching 25% of its goal, with 2,363 new units approved or completed, Vaughan said.
Looking ahead, Cone said “a more interesting question is how Greensboro can catch up on housing stock and accommodate what growth may come without being another sprawling soulless sunbelt suburb of itself.”
