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The county commissioners' annual retreat is set for Jan. 26.

But who needs a retreat?

Steve Arnold and Skip Alston are doing just fine on their own.

Let's see ... thus far Alston, chairman of the Guilford County commissioners, and Arnold, the vice chairman, have gotten rid of the county manager, eliminated the deputy manager's position (while he was in it) and forced out the county attorney.

They've vowed to reshape county government in their image. And they've managed to do most of this without talking to at least some of their fellow commissioners or the media.

"It's frustrating to have to wonder what they're slipping and doing next," said Commissioner Billy Yow, a Republican who is one of the loudest critics of Alston's and Arnold's tactics.

Why are they conducting the county's business this way? Because they can.

They've built a bloc of six votes on the 11-member board. As they see it, they don't need no stinkin' news media ... or those other five votes, either.

At least the few times they've explained themselves, they've left us with a good quote or two. Regarding the quick-and-dirty ouster in December of former County Manager David McNeill and his deputy, Ben Brown, Alston channeled his inner "Sportscenter": "I've already evaluated that (McNeill) couldn't throw the long pass and (Brown) couldn't catch it." Whatever that means.

While there may be an acute shortage of information about this laser-quick coup, there is no shortage of rich irony. Where to begin?

A match made in heaven? Alston, the staunch Democrat, and Arnold, the arch conservative, are about as odd a couple as you'll find in county politics. Then again, political alliances are marriages of convenience, especially among the commissioners. As one former commissioner, Greensboro City Councilwoman Trudy Wade, put it: "Skip always says there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics."

Do as I say, not as I do: Then there's the irony of Arnold's and Alston's crusade for fiscal prudence versus their own occasional business travails.

One dispute involving Arnold's struggling company, Arcon Inc., got so nasty in 2007 that a Randolph County judge ordered his arrest for contempt of court in a business fraud case.

Alston has had better luck as a businessman, but he hit his own major bump in 2005, when residents of a taxpayer-subsidized low-income housing complex he was managing, St. James Homes II, complained about disrepair and an unresponsive landlord.

Alston was supposed to have spent $1 million of public money to renovate the complex but there was little evidence of upgrades. The city ultimately wound up spending another $400,000 to purchase and demolish the complex.

Bipartisanship gone wacky. This is what we've been hoping for, right? Alston, a Democrat, working hand-in-glove with Arnold, a Republican. But most people probably hoped the parties would unite to do good, not to abuse power.

An admirable goal. Perhaps the biggest irony of these peculiar bedfellows is that their stated premise is actually worthwhile. Times are tough. Who could argue with cutting costs and finding efficiencies?

For instance, there's nothing wrong with seeking ways to work with Greensboro to save taxpayer money, is there? As it turns out, yes.

Yow said he was invited to a breakfast meeting last week with Arnold, Commissioner Kirk Perkins and City Council members Mike Barber and Robbie Perkins to discuss merging some county and city departments.

Problem is, the press wasn't notified and neither were other council members, including the mayor -- until after the fact.

Should the media and the public have known? "Absolutely they should have made that a public meeting," Yow said. "But they decided to do it over breakfast."

On the other hand, does the end justify the means? You certainly can do more things faster if you don't have to worry about such piddly nuisances as informing colleagues or the public or the media.

But you also can destroy employee morale and erode public trust.

In the end. Yow predicted, the six-vote alliance won't hold. "They are going to come apart."

As for where the blame lies, we have met the enemy and, well, you know. Arnold and Alston are virtually untouchable at the polls. Each represents a district that rubber stamps his re-election and can do pretty much what he wants with relative impunity.

Come next election night, the voters will line up like frat pledges asking for another whack of the paddle.

"Thank you, sir. May I have another?"