news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Guilford County’s recently retired manager David McNeill didn’t please most commissioners,  said Steve Arnold, vice chairman of the Board of Commissioners.

McNeill submitted immediate retirement plans Thursday , leaving behind questions and uncertainty as commissioners said little about his departure.

A manager such as McNeill, who ran day-to-day operations for the state’s third-largest county and a $587 million budget , typically would give notice months before retiring to smooth the transition for a new manager.

But there was no warning here.

“I didn’t feel that the existing leadership was going to be capable or helpful in helping us in the coming months,” Arnold said Friday , citing a “new direction” that commissioners plan for the county.

Part of that, Arnold said, means  getting commissioners involved earlier in budget planning rather than waiting for a recommended budget from the county manager, which usually arrives in May.

The process would circumvent the traditional role of a county manager in preparing and delivering a budget to commissioners.

Committees also were created to review the budget by line item ,  a process that Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston  said Thursday would be closed to the public — an apparent violation of the state’s open meetings law.

“Committees themselves are subject to the meeting laws,” said Amanda Martin, an attorney for the N.C. Press Association . “There’s nothing in a budget review that would specify a (closed meeting) under the exemptions.”

Alston contends that because he appointed the committees, they are not subject to laws that keep government affairs and spending in the public eye. But Alston said he would open those committees if the law says to do so.

Martin said: “Sounds to me like these are just independent public bodies  and they have been formed to carry out the itemized functions.”

Those committees were in the works before Alston and Arnold met with McNeill on Monday, although Arnold said he didn’t bring up the topic with McNeill.

“I think there was a clear interest in a majority of the county commissioners to have new leadership at the top of the county,” Arnold said.

The Board of Commissioners can hire and fire the county manager, attorney, clerk to the board and directors  of finance and the tax department.

All other hiring of the county’s approximately 2,400 employees occurs under the manager.

Commissioner Linda Shaw, who leads the manager search, was hesitant to talk about McNeill on Friday.

“It’s a new board, there are some new ideas, and we’re going to move forward,” Shaw said.

McNeill did not return a phone message on Friday.

Former finance director Brenda Jones Fox  was named  the interim county manager.

She said she was approached by a commissioner before McNeill’s announcement.

“I was asked that, if he retired, would I help out,” said Fox, who has been an interim county manager before and said she is ready for the job.

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