On Thursday, Aug. 10, the City of Greensboro sent out a request for proposals (RFP) for a private company to run the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
The Coliseum is and has always been managed and operated by City of Greensboro employees and Coliseum Managing Director Matt Brown, who has for decades been the highest paid city employee.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that sending out the RFP was “part of Matt’s succession plan.”
Brown has been the managing director of the Coliseum since 1994, just short of 30 years, and during that time he has greatly expanded the facility, which now also includes The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Greensboro. Also included in the Coliseum Complex, along with the 22,000-seat arena, are the Novant Health Fieldhouse, Greensboro Aquatic Center, White Oak Amphitheater, Odean Theater, Special Events Center, ACC Hall of Champions, The Terrace and Piedmont Hall. Listed on the RFP are two facilities that don’t currently exist – a proposed downtown music hall and a proposed Greensboro soccer stadium
The timeline for the RFP is tight, with the deadline for written proposals set for Aug. 29 and a vote by the City Council on Nov. 6. According to the RFP, the term of the contract would be seven years and would begin on July 1, 2024.
The Greensboro City Council has not held a work session or a public meeting on the RFP, but Vaughan said that between now and the scheduled vote in November, the City Council would either hold a work session or discuss the RFP at a public meeting.
City Councilmember Zack Matheny said about the proposal to have a private company operate the Coliseum Complex: “I know it has worked in other places, but there are a lot of questions that haven’t been answered.”
He added, “It’s rare to have a public entity manage a venue the size of the Coliseum Complex.”
Vaughan said, “I wouldn’t necessarily call this a done deal, but we decided to move forward with the RFP at this point.”
Does this smell? No invested work from this council per article. I can only anticipate the muck ups and snafus that will come out of this council.
Matt Brown has done an outstanding job from the day he started. His assistant, Scott Johnson also does a great job, but he is probably nearing his retirement.
What happens to all the city employees of these venues?
Yeah that’s the idea get rid of people that just now starting to make a life they’re going to crash that place they’re not asking anyone or talking to anyone who has been there 30 some years that place has a lot of connectivity in the community and the people that work there who really run it why not ask them what should be done and how it should be done or at least get there view since they have been there like me I also popcorn and peanuts there when I was 14 I work there now I am a show installer and I have been at that venue since I started 30 years ago and I know as much or more about it s operations as many of the management people do maybe more in some cases and so do many of the people I work with
Dude… that’s painful to read; use some punctuation.
they must already have someone in mind as 19 days seems like a very short time to get a credible and competent entity to actually bid on the project.
I’m typically against private companies running government property/programs. But Matt has done such a terrible job in the past few years that it’s time for some new blood.
I worked with (not for) Matt at times in the past, and he does an incredible amount of work to get the coliseum to what it is today. If it privitazed, the City will pay more. If itgoes private, who knows . . .he may be the new Coliseum director in teh private sector. 🙂
If you want it to DROP in quality, let a third party run it.
They won’t run it like a part of our community with a dedication to bringing in great shows. They will ONLY see how much profit they can make.
I’m sure Matt has staff under him who would make great leaders in the next phase of the complex.
The fix is in. Follow the money and PIRT everything about this. Mandate Mayor and Matt Brown have probably been planning a handover for quite some time. What a facade our city leaders project all the while making decisions behind closed locked doors. For shame. Someone is gonna make a lot of money in this whole deal and taxpayers and residents will get the bill.
Mandate Mayor mentions Matt Browns “succession plan” . Unfortunately he is just an overpaid city employee and she is abusing her supposed authority once again.
From Oxford dictionary “the act of taking over an official position or title; the right to take over an official position or title, especially to become the king or queen of a country”
By what “right” do our Mandate Mayor and flimflam Matt get to hand pick the future of Greensboro’s Complexs? These RFPs with such small windows usually favor entities that have been preselected and pre-approved by powers that be to enrich certain interests or to block others that are untenable to those that are authoritarian and knowitall nogoodniks.
Sounds like someone cooked some books so bring in an outside party a ms the blame can be placed on them
Vaughn either does not understand how an RFP works or is completely disingenuous requesting an RFP, or both. I cannot imagine any reliable and capable company submitting an RFP when the decision has not been made by the city to engage an outside vendor to manage the facilities. RFPs are challenging to put together requiring a lot of work. While there are times when requesting an RFP is done with earnest intentions but after review, the RFP submissions are rejected for various reasons. However, to announce as Vaughn did that this RFP request is a fishing exhibition, is beyond comprehension. Maybe there is a company hungry enough to answer the RFP.
I hope that the RFP does not seek managers who would base their compensation on the “economic value” of the facilities and activities conducted therein as Mr. Brown does. It would be a shame to endure another 30 years without a profit (as everyone else calculates a profit) under a private management contract…
My guess is Matt Brown is retiring, then forming a private company in which he will continue the job he is doing as a loss leader for the city. The fix is in-it is always in with this council.
It will be interesting to know who submits a bid. DTF, you are smarter than I. I did not give this Matt Brown idea a thought. This City Council is so devious, you just may be right.
Staff has not yet been officially informed. He told upper mgmt Friday and has been out of sight since. Most staff will lose pensions, life and health ins. and probably jobs. RFP says they can be laid of in 6 months. They run the place. this is all about Matt finding a way to make more $ as a private consultant. staff are afriad to go public with what they know. He rules by intimidation and profanity.