Civil Rights Museum Officials Won't Meet With City About Debt

Officials with the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro say they won't meet with city council members next week to help determine how much the museum owes taxpayers.

Museum officials were scheduled to attend Monday's city council meeting to discuss the organization's debt.

But according to the News and Record of Greensboro, the center's CEO John Swaine sent a letter earlier this week saying that such a meeting would be premature.

He says the museum would prefer to keep working with internal auditors and legal advisors.

Mayor Nancy Vaughn says the council will go ahead and discuss the issue anyway. Vaughn is a member of the museum's board, as is City Manager Jim Westmoreland.

The city made $1.5 million in forgivable loans to help keep the museum operating. City officials say the museum still owes more than $900,000. The museum says the figure is closer to $280,000.