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Guilford County Manager David McNeill announced his retirement under unclear circumstances Thursday.

“Now is the time to move on,” McNeill said after the announcement to the Board of Commissioners.

He has worked for Guilford County for six years and in government across the state for 31 years.

His retirement pay will consist of an average of his highest four years of pay while a government employee, as is customary for county retirees with more than 30 years of government experience.

But no one would say why he is leaving as manager of the county’s day-to-day operations.

Finance Director Brenda Jones Fox was named as his interim replacement, effective immediately.

Similar to a chief executive officer in the business world, the position of county manager answers solely to a board.

In this case it’s an elected Board of Commissioners whose “stockholders” are the county’s taxpayers.

Some commissioners previously had said that a group of six on the 11-member board was ready to remove McNeill from office.

“I did meet with McNeill, me and Steve Arnold on Monday at 10 a.m.,” said Melvin “Skip” Alston, the board’s new chairman and a Democrat. Arnold, a Republican, was elected vice chairman earlier this month.

Alston would not give any details of the meeting and said he’s “moving forward and not looking back.”

McNeill will take vacation through the end of the year and be available as a consultant for the county beginning Feb. 1.

Through the week, some commissioners had said that the potential move was unfair and would hurt the county.
Democratic Commissioner Paul Gibson was among the most vocal.

“Would you want to work for us 11 commissioners? You’d be crazy to work for us,” he said of the hasty nature of McNeill’s departure.

The former manager had not previously given any sign that he planned to retire.

“This is a position that serves at the pleasure of the board,” McNeill said when asked about the conditions surrounding his departure. “We understand that when we accept these positions.”

Alston also announced that he plans to hold closed meetings to scrutinize budgets in each of the county’s 26 departments, a move to circumvent the traditional role of the county manager preparing a budget for the board to alter and approve.

“We’re going to go by line item, and by March, we should have a proper budget,” Alston said as he announced that the committees would consist of three commissioners and staff personnel.

Those committees, however, could violate the state’s open meetings law.

“I don’t want the press to be able to put some actions out there before we have had a chance to hear about it,” Alston said.

“I don’t want county employees to be scared based on discussion,” Alston said of the committees, which are intended to scrutinize government for efficiency and even personnel cuts.

County attorney Sharron Kurtz could not say Thursday night whether those committees would violate the law.

“I tried to get clarification,” Kurtz said of the groups’ membership and duties. “I don’t know if they will be open.”

If the meetings are supposed to be open, Alston said that he wouldn’t attempt to block the public.

Though he added that the meetings may include salary and personnel discussions.

Under state law, personnel discussions can be done in a closed session.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com