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Laying people off, the public, the press and Skip Alston

Over the last two days, we've talked a lot with Guilford County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston.

And he's had a lot to say about the layoffs, the press and the public. First, the layoffs, which he and others say ultimately come from interim county manager Brenda Jones Fox.

Tuesday he couldn't say when the layoffs are coming.

"I know when Brenda tells me, because it's her decision to do RIFs," Alston said Tuesday.

Then, this morning, he seemed to know more than yesterday.

"I know what's going on, I just ain't told you yet," he said.

And he takes exception to what a NC Press Association attorney told us about the open meeting law.

In particular, he believes that a meeting that interim county manager Brenda Jones Fox calls can be closed to the public, even if two commissioners are sitting in on it, as they have previously said.

Alston said that at least five commissioners have to get together before any gathering is an official meeting. And since Yow and Arnold, who have sat in on Fox's meetings and given direction, are not on an official committee for those meetings, Alston argues that it's not an open meeting.

"Because those two commissioners are not acting in any official capacity as it related to the full board," Alston said.

So, then, that would make them just a couple of guys sitting in on a government meeting? Couldn't anyone, then?

"I don't know if (Fox) allows the press to be a part of the department head meetings," Alston said.

Alston, who has previously said he's in the county headquarters nearly every day, then implied that he didn't know the nature of the meetings that Fox had been holding. We've heard from numerous department heads that she's discussing the budget, asking for cuts, and then the commissioners present ask for even deeper cuts.

Arnold has also said that he's given input on the layoffs. According to the county's reduction in force policy, the board of commissioners or the county manager can conduct a reduction in force.

The Board of Commissioners, that we've been able to find, have not officially given the power to Arnold to act on their behalf concerning layoffs/reduction in force.

And we've not been able to get much on what thinking is behind the layoffs.

Back to the budget meeting, after we read to Alston this section of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law ...

a social meeting or other informal assembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not constitute an official meeting unless called or held to evade the spirit and purposes of this Article.

... he said this:

"We're not going to agree with that. Y'all are going to continue to report what you report, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. And I'm not going to adhere to you-all's version of it and I don't have have no problem with that."

Now, for that public/private thing, Alston sees a difference between the public and the press. Which we've gone over here before.

"I'm more of best friend of the public than a news reporter is," Alston said Tuesday. "I have volunteered as a public service. I have more commitment and accountability to the public than the newspaper does."

That's a subjective position, of course, so we're not going to respond to it other than to say that we constantly strive to be consistent, fair and objective. Also, Alston gets paid $24,300 a year by the county to be chairman. Arnold will receive $21,000. All other commissioners receive $20,700 a year from the county. Each can spend up to $1,500 a year on commissioner-related travel expenses.

And then Alston went after the News & Record, attempting to draw links to between news and the editorial staff.

Allow me to take off the reporter's fedora and speak directly to you, dear reader. I do not speak with the editorial staff. They are housed in a different section of our building. I may say hi as we pass in the hall. The most that we have interacted in the last year is when I sat in on the occasional candidate interview and said very little, or if they ask me for a contact so that they can fact-check some piece they are writing. I rarely read editorials, and read letters to the editor about as little.

Which is also what I told Alston. Now let's put the reporter hat back on.

"I don't see y'all as the public," Alston said of the News & Record. "I see myself and elected officials as the public. We have been sent here, not you all, to do a job on their behalf, after consultation with them, not after consultation with the press."

He said that our interest is only in selling papers - which we reporter types often hear from elected officials and others annoyed by our work.

Alston also mentioned that his number is published, and he welcomes feedback from constituents. Here, again is his contact information:

Melvin l. "Skip" Alston
2705 W. Vandalia Road
Greensboro, NC 27407

(336) 272-5779 - Business Number
(336) 854-2910 - Home Number
skip.alston@gmail.com

And for every other commissioner.