Goldsboro News

For all of you in Wayne Co who check this page regularly,
view this statement made to the Study Committee on April 9th:

Absolutely fabulous!

Annexation group loses first appeal
More erroneous reporting from News-Argus - Read it here

Letter to News-Argus from Judge Calabria
Paper refuses to print - Read it here

Comments from Bill B:

Once again the Goldsboro News Argus got it wrong as they have so many times in the past. I do not know if other communities battling involuntary annexations are having similar problems with their local newspaper but the News Argus has habitually distorted the facts or refused to publish critical aspects of our case (see previous comments on reporting of our trial in March 2006). Their latest comedy of errors, by the way the situation is far from being funny, involves the false reporting of the Court Of Appeals decision in part of our case. Let me explain.

In October 2004 we went to full trial with City of Goldsboro to stop the involuntary annexation of our community. A part of our case involved the illegality of a tract of land that was voluntarily annexed in June 2002. This voluntary annexation of 350 + acres moved the city border approximately two miles towards our community thus making it possible for the city to meet the contiguity requirement of the involuntary annexation Statutes. Although the Statutes say that only property owners in a voluntary annexation can contest that annexation (none of us were property owners) we felt we had "standing" to do so because of what that annexation did to us. In other words we had a material interest in the voluntary annexation since without it the City could not annex our community. During preparations for the trial we discovered that the petition to voluntary annex the 350 + acres did not comply with Statute and therefore that annexation should be made null and void. By making it null and void there would no longer be contiguity and the involuntary annexation of our community could not be accomplished.

Counsel for the City argued during a pre trial motion that we did not have "standing" to contest the voluntary annexation since we were not property owners. The Judge agreed with their motion and we were not allowed to present the facts we had that proved the voluntary annexation did not comply with Statute and was indeed illegal, a fact attested to in a written affidavit by legal counsel.

In April 2005 a full decision was rendered and we attained a partial victory in that the annexation report was remanded back to the City for corrections and a new public hearing and vote was to be conducted. When that full decision was entered we appealed that portion of the judgement that stated we did not have "standing" to contest the voluntary annexation previously described. This is important because this is the only issue in the voluntary annexation that we appealed because there was nothing else to appeal. The legitimacy of the voluntary annexation was not addressed because the "standing" issue had to be resolved before the legitimacy issue could be presented to the court. However, the News Argus reported the COA upheld the legitimacy of the voluntary annexation which was a blatant false statement and attempts to get a retraction and correction of this error has been ignored by the Argus. The COA decision is posted for your perusal so you decide what they ruled on.

I think you will see the COA only ruled on the "standing" issue and nothing else. I along with many others to include our legal counsel and legal counsel for Stop NC Annexation have come to the same conclusion. Why the News Argus chose to print such a blatant error is unknown at this time and we, GNU, are looking into the situation.

Yes, the COA ruled against our appeal to recognize that we have "standing" and we have yet to determine what our next step will be. If we decide to withdraw our efforts to bring this issue to the courts or we take our appeal to the higher court and receive an unfavorable ruling, the fact remains that the City of Goldsboro approved a voluntary annexation that was in violation of NC Law. Whether the violation was an oversight or ignorance of the law is irrelevant. The cruelest cut of all is the ramifications of this illegal annexation. If our entire case is lost, the basic case is still in the courts, and the City effects the involuntary annexation of our community, that annexation and all those to follow will forever be sitting on top of an illegal voluntary annexation that was known to be illegal by a locally elected governing body. That body has chosen to ignore their responsibility to correct their mistake by voting to nullify the voluntary annexation. All they have to do is admit an error was made, notify those who petitioned for the annexation to resubmit their request, and start all over. Admittedly I, along with many others, would like to see this entire situation go away but I doubt that will happen. However, if we have to endure the negative impacts of involuntary annexation, the least our elected officials could do is comply with the laws of the State.

Court of Appeals Decision on LFHP.doc

Bill Burnette

Good Neighbors United

Wayne County, NC

StopNCAnnexation
A Grassroots Effort to End forced Annexation Abuse in North Carolina

Annexation news Timeline:
New developments in the Goldsboro Forced Annexation Ruling

>>>>> Good Neighbors United in the NEWS! <<<<<<<

Previous Stories in the News

StopNCAnnexation A Grassroots Effort to End forced Annexation Abuse in North Carolina

Annexation news Timeline: New developments in the Goldsboro Forced Annexation Ruling

>>>>> Good Neighbors United in the NEWS! <<<<<<<

Previous Stories in the News

StopNCAnnexation
A Grassroots Effort to End forced Annexation Abuse in North Carolina

Annexation news Timeline:
New developments in the Goldsboro Forced Annexation Ruling