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GREENSBORO - Guilford County Manager David McNeill announced his retirement tonight before the Board of Commissioners.

After the announcement, finance director Brenda Jones Fox was named interim manager by the commissioners.

The move comes at the end of a week that included conversation among several commissioners that McNeill would step down Jan. 1.

McNeill said that he would take vacation through the end of the month before his retirement officially begins.

"Now it the time to move on," McNeill said when asked why he chose to retire.

 Fox will serve as acting manager until another is hired, and McNeill will be available as a consultant staring Feb. 1 until the end of July.

Melvin "Skip" Alston made the announcement at the start of the commissioners meeting, his first since taking the role of chairman this month.

"It’s been some interesting times in the last six years and we certainly have an agenda that's full for the coming year," McNeill said after the announcement. "I look forward to some new endeavors in the coming year."

McNeill, who moved here as a deputy manager from Moore county, was named interim manager when the board fired Willie Best two years ago and then McNeill was named county manager.

After the announcement, the vote to name Fox as interim manager passed by a 9-2 vote, with commissioners John Parks and Paul Gibson voting no.

No commissioners commented on the announcement, although Alston said before the meeting that McNeill was not forced out of office.

On finding a new manager, Alston said he's looking for, "Somebody that has the vigor, the motivation, the wisdom and the desire to really move this county forward and take it to another level. Somebody who can come in here with a vision and be able to listen to what the 11 members have to say."

Earlier this week, some commissioners had said that there was a move by Alston and new vice chairman Steve Arnold to get the six votes needed to fire McNeill, but that he chose instead to retire. "Skip could broker a deal," Gibson previously said about any move to get McNeill out of his position.

No commissioners would speak to why McNeill would step down, or if he was forced out.

"I’m not going to say anything derogatory at this point against David. I want to wish him well," Alston said.