When the Greensboro City Council by a 5-4 vote agreed to give former City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba three months of salary and benefits, he had already resigned and was not a city employee.
At that point, giving Jaiyeoba about $100,000 in salary and benefits would have been illegal because in North Carolina governments can only spend public funds for goods and services – gifts are not allowed. Giving money to someone not for goods or services is called an emolument and the North Carolina Constitution makes emoluments illegal.
So, the city had to have an agreement with private citizen, nonemployee Jaiyeoba in order to continue to pay him for three months after he was no longer working for the city. That agreement spells out what the city receives for the public good and services and what Jaiyeoba gets paid.
The city doesn’t get much for its hundred thousand or so dollars. Jaiyeob,a by signing the document, agrees not to sue the city or say anything bad about the city.
The city, along with paying the $100,000 in cash and benefits, also agrees not to say anything bad about Jaiyeoba and to give him a good job recommendation.
In other words, the city agrees to withhold the truth from prospective employers about the reason Jaiyeoba suddenly resigned. Of course, prospective employers can always do a Google search to find out the truth.
According to extremely reliable sources, Jaiyeoba stopped coming to work and resigned because the city had evidence that he had been sexually harassing a city employee.
If Jaiyeoba had been fired for cause, he would not have been eligible for severance. It is common in city manager contracts to provide six months or more in severance if the city manager is fired without cause. Since being Greensboro city manager means working for the nine-member city council and keeping at least five of them happy, giving managers some job security in the form of severance package is considered necessary.
Resignation does not have a severance package. In many cases, managers who are about to be fired without cause will negotiate for less severance if they are allowed to resign. The city saves some money and the manager doesn’t have a termination on his or her resume.
However, the situation with Jaiyeoba was different since he had resigned and was have been eligible for severance under his contract.
The city had to find some “public good” or “public service” that the city was buying with its $100,000 and the “public good” or “public service” appears to be that Jaiyeoba won’t sue the city.
It looks like an extremely one-sided agreement with almost all the benefits to Jaiyeoba and the cost to the city.
The City Council was scheduled to discuss this agreement in closed session on Thursday, March 14 but that meeting has been canceled. The city made no official announcement about why the special meeting called by Councilmembers Goldie Wells and Sharon Hightower was canceled.
This is the way Democrats do business. We must keep this City Council intact and in office for as long as possible.
Enjoy the future, City voters!
Clowns.Plain and simple. Just a bunch of clowns protecting one of their own…
Hightower and Wells got what they wanted, severance for their MAN, no need for a meeting.
The FIVE City Council woman have provided A slap in the face to every woman in Guilford County.
What kind of message does this send to the city and the city employees? You are repulsive!
Why is this scumbag allowed to get a severance package when others have been fired for the same offense?
Nothing to see here. Just shut up and pay your taxes.
LOL….city council is still pissing into the wind. That $100k could have sheltered the many homeless council and Guilford County continue to invite. That’s one expensive DEI race card that the taxpayers got stuck with.
The same people that think this is a good idea…
Squealed like stuck pigs when President Trump made money from a Hotel he owned in DC.
The difference is that services were delivered for the money paid to a legitimate business.
Normal for this City Council. I expect that the some CITY COUNCIL members came up with his “severance package.”
On another subject, I purchased a 5-pack of the leaf bags from Home Depot, just to examine them and show my friends and neighbors. ($2.65 + tax). We ALL came to the conclusion that it will take one person to hold the bag and another to put the leaves in. If the bags get wet, they will come apart in short order. I’m looking forward to tons and tons of leaves in the streets, because folks are NOT going to use the bags and can.
I’m a little confused, exactly what was his basis for a lawsuit. What a stupid council we have. He was just another black face in the woodpile
Manager sexually harasses an employee.
Manager gets opportunity to resign versus being terminated WITH cause, as he should have been.
Manager, because his five “mommies” figured their beloved “son” deserved a reward for his bad behavior, gets three months severance, that is an actual violation of the constitution.
Manager also gets benefit of good job recommendation from said “mommies”.
Manager then convinces two of the “mommies” to go to the Council and threaten them that he will sue if they don’t stop saying bad things about him.
“Mommies” find some sense or they are berated by their peers for supporting a SEXUAL HARASSER, and they cancel meeting.
THIS IS WHY VICTIMS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT DON’T SPEAK UP.
THIS IS WHY VICTIMS FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE NO ALLIES.
THIS IS WHY VICTIMS ARE TYPICALLY ALIENATED and SUICIDAL AFTER THESE TYPES OF ISSUES.
THIS IS WHY.
AND FIVE WOMEN CONSENTED TO THIS.
FIVE WOMEN.
Exactly. No one wants to use the fake city HR GSOCares because they go rat you out to your supervisor in what is supposed to be an anonymous reporting system.
Councilwomen Hightower, Wells, Hoffman, Abuzuaiter, Johnson thanks for setting back your city employees decades. If there were allegations a proper investigation should have been conducted, the former city manager should have gone through the same process all other employees do, and let the chips fall where they may. If the evidence was present allegedly as I have heard then the former employee should have been fired with cause.
Is this transparency like I hear all of you tout? Is it transparent that all of this happened in closed meetings under the guise of personnel privacy laws?
Hahahahahahaha and now you’re going to get a black women filling the post should of left well enough alone you can’t win here, he was tipped off, resigned instead of terminated and now he will make more the most of the people who comment on this post for less then a year’s worth of work, you guys are losers!
Good job. Keep moving your goal posts and redefining what winning means to you. I thought you originally said that nothing would happen to him. Anyway, I’m sure Tai thinks he won too since he’s out of a $300k+ job now.
So, if you are so smart and savvy, why don’t you apply for the job of city manager. Why is it that Blacks like to live vicariously through other Blacks? From your comment, it appears you received joy in believing the ex-city manager got one over on the GCC. Did the ex-city manager’s unfair and against city policy severance pay make your life better? Did you receive compensation in any way from the “win” of the ex-city manager? The answer is what non- Blacks see and understand about Blacks’ behavior; Blacks support other Blacks merely because they are Black even when that support gains them nothing; or hurts them in some way or another. When Blacks become free thinkers and discerning, only then will Blacks as a group advance. Blacks’ lack of advancement has nothing to do with racism.
One he was not fired or terminated for the incident at his home and I was right in that regard, many assumed that that incident would be his downfall, there where grumblings behind the scene that he had other in house issues and it would be best he resign with a generous severance. Mathaney wanted an outright termination to appease the good ole boys but he was denied and then put in his place when they awarded severance and cancelled the meeting even without even discussing it. I was informed of this by someone close to a city council member so I stopped commenting plus I have a stock portfolio and two small business to maintain I don’t live for the comment section of the rhino times sorry I’m a black businessman in this city I have better sources then the man whole runs this paper so it’s better to shut up and let things play out
For someone who has better things to do than read the Rhino Times, you sure do spend a lot of time reading and commenting on the Rhino Times.
Thank you Term Limits,but city the manager was a narcissist Assho$$ who committed sexual abuse ( which is a federal crime) that he can still be arrested for so if I were you I wouldn’t crow yet. This m situation is not over yet. If you ever need a job let know I’m always looking for some second class help. Dawg b
You live In a city ran by black people t with one of the largest black colleges in the country talking about black advancement, do you hear yourself! Yes his or any other black people accomplishments make us proud I’m sorry if that offends you plus like I said in a previous post I have two small business and a stock portfolio why would I trade that in to be someone’s employee and I have not worked for anyone for the last two years and I’m in my thirties, I get a thrill out of putting you guys in the present, which I hope would better help you realize this is not the 60’s anymore and you have to deal with new power which you try to explain away with DEI or affirmative action, whatever you may think the days of Billy Yow and BJ Barnes are over and good riddance to the old days.
A black college that’s always on the edge of losing its accreditation.
I have sources too. Hopefully Zack gets the one vote he needs to release the 300 emails of a certain nature. Don’t think you are getting anything over on anyone. The public information request on his domestic led to the information coming out. And at some point the old ass ladies on this council won’t be here to protect.
I would not be bragging about Black people running Greensboro City. Look around you, Greensboro is in shambles. Say what you like about the past leaders of Greensboro, the leaders were chosen because they were competent. Their decisions were not clouded by animus. As far as DEI and affirmative action, both programs are illegal, giving preferential treatment based on immutable traits. DEI is especially shameful since it supports the idea that the end justifies the means.
As far as A&T you’re right it’s an awesome school but only because White people allowed it to exist
Thanks for the compliment big city, I’m glad you recognized me as the “big dawg”
Funny thing about you big city, you crow when the sky’s black and run and hide when the sun shines. By the way the number so far is 10 and it’s only March 15th. The FORMER Nigerian prince is gone maybe you should go along and he may let YOU shine his shoes. By the way Greensboro has already had a black woman manager and she did a great job. Get over yourself
Rebel you must love me, and I have addressed my absence in other posts I’m glad you missed me but I do get busy, I have kids a wife, and a life, get one big dawg,
City you couldn’t carry my briefcase in my world. I’ve heard you do have a couple businesses in Greensboro, but so do a lot of people. The only difference is I’ve heard your wife keeps your keesters in a “little “
purple Crown Royal bag so stay on the porch until you can run with the big dogs.
Nothing to crow about big city. You say you haven’t worked for anyone in 2 years and you have 2 small businesses well ok you probably can’t get a job with anyone either because of your attitude or past record or both. I’m guessing your business is a tobacco vape shop or a car detailing business. Prove me wrong. I’m also betting you can’t vote or legally own a firearm.
“Why dontcha click ya heels together three times ‘n go back to Africa!”
– Silky Johnson
Extortion…
Idiots.
“Jaiyeoba by signing the document, agrees not to sue the city or say anything bad about the city.”
This is what the city gets. Since the mayor and city council members committed acts of defamation against their employee by saying he had violated a policy when he had not been proven to have done so, they could be sued and probably for quite a bit. The city probably got a good deal with the severance all things considered.
The GCC cannot break their own policy because of fear of being sued. What municipality would want to hire an animal control officer who has sued their employer? The severance pay was a love letter to the ex-city manager from the GCC. To reiterate an earlier comment, voting within districts works if there are term limits. Otherwise, the same old inept candidates get reelected over and over because the voters are uninformed.
I would imagine that severance agreements and negotiations with former employee falls within the city’s personnel policies to spend money on and their contract for employment with the city manager. I don’t know about his future employment prospects if he had sued for defamation, but I would also imagine that future employers would see that the statement by city council members and the mayor constituted defamation pretty blatantly.
Imagine if your employer told the newspaper and anyone that might hire you that you had stolen money from the company even though they had not proven it nor had undergone the personnel procedures for proving it. My guess is you’d want to sue them as well and future employers would see that your company had made a huge mistake in how they’d handled the situation.
What you imagine is wrong. A copy of the severance agreement is available to anyone who requests it. The agreement includes a clause stating that it is a public document.
Greensboro has gone too far by electing DEI council members. They only think about power and how much they can skim.
I work for the city, and I am a woman.
How can I express my disappointment and ask questions of Chuck Watts (do not overlook how he has been steering this ship- from the court/BWC to the severance to the press release) and Council without putting my job at risk? After seeing how Tai was rewarded for violating our sexual harassment policy (overwhelming evidence, but yes, without an investigation) I have no confidence in our city leadership. This is actually corruption. How can I contact these people and still be protected?
Chuck Watts reports to GCC. There you have it. Watts is way past retirement age. He is more than well-paid, so why retire from such a cushy job? How often does Watts work at home in Durham?
If the human debris posing as Greensboro City Council had any moral bearings they would not have given over 100K taxpayer dollars to the DEI hire.
If they cared at all about women, minorities or other protected classes they would not have allowed him to simply resign.
No, they only care about themselves and their own grift and the perks that only THEY enjoy. Unfortunately, the minion that installed them in their ivory tower will continue to support these thieves and all the corruption they represent. Greensboro fast becoming San Francisco of the East Coast.
So there we have it………..a very progressive “Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive” agreement from a very progressive city council. As I have said for several years. Greensboro is slowly, but ever so surely morphing into the San Francisco of North Carolina.
My question is, how much will the city pay as a settlement for its City Manager perving an employee?