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Second round of layoffs coming to Guilford County

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
(Updated Wednesday, March 18 - 5:44 am)

Guilford County employees will see another round of layoffs within the next week, according to Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston.

Alston did not elaborate on the number of employees or departments that would be affected.

"Probably not this week, but the first part of next week," Alston said this morning. "I’m talking with (interim County Manager Brenda Jones Fox) and we are going over some figures as we speak."

He said that Board of Commissioners vice chairman Steve Arnold and human resources director Sharisse Fuller had been working on the layoffs as well.

Alston has said that his goal is to create a budget for next year that includes no property tax rate increase. if left untouched, next year's budget would raise the property tax bill for the owner of a $200,000 home by $100.

When the first round of layoffs were announced affecting 35 jobs, Alston and other commissioners warned that more cuts could be coming.

Guilford County's layoff policy says that the Board of Commissioners may make a reduction in force themselves, or that the county manager may make one. Having just a few commissioners working with the manager on a layoff isn't outlined. And Alston said that there's no record of those conversations between elected officials and county staff on determining who gets laid off and who stays.

"No," he said. "I go in Brenda’s office, I don’t ask her to write it down or take any minutes on it."

Not all county commissioners are in on the talks, either.

"I’m not aware of it, and I am a commissioner," said commissioner Kay Cashion of the layoff plans, "and we’ll see if that comes up this afternoon."

Commissioners will have a work session at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Old County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. The meeting is open to the public.

Accompanying Photos

Margaret Baxter (News & Record)

Comments

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scottb

March 17, 2009 - 3:18 pm EDT

Why is Mr. Alston allowed to run the day-to-day operations of Guilford County? Why is he the only commissioner deciding which positions get cut? These aren't lay-offs, these are reductions in force--the jobs are not coming back. Someone else should be involved in these decisions--someonone who has interest in others' opinions. Mr. Alston only believes in his own thoughts and ideas and seems to have no regard for those he represents. Mr. Alston, how dare you state you have no respobsibility to tell the public what you're doing, then openly admit you purposely have no record of your meetings--the meetings that decide who loses their jobs. You are despicable.

timflowers

March 17, 2009 - 8:20 pm EDT

Alston has been in office far too long and needs to go. I wouldn't care if he left town completely. He doesn't seem to have the best interests of the county in mind. His actions seem more ego driven than anything else. It's time to vote him out!

scribonz

March 17, 2009 - 11:36 pm EDT

What makes you think alston and arnold are going anywhere? Their constituents have elected them for life. They could commit all manner of ethics violations (I'm sure they already have) and the voters in their districts would vote them right back in to office. The times are tough. Its just a shame that the county could not have had better leadership in a crisis situation. You compare the quality of leadership in this county to other counties of similar size and it is no wonder why we have fallen behind and become the poster child for incompetence across the state. We were once a proud and foward thinking county embracing progress. Until we elect leaders that care about the county as a whole instead of having the priority of lining their pockets and their buddies pockets we aren't going anywhere but down the drain.

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