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BY JOHN ALEXANDER

Anyone living in these parts but the proverbial hermit knows that two of our local elected bodies -- the Greensboro City Council and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners -- are deeply divided on some fundamental issues. But there is one issue on which they should all agree: The sanctity of the council-manager form of government. But this bedrock principle is also in jeopardy. The county commissioners have all but abandoned it, and the City Council is in danger of doing so.

Why is the council-manager (or board-manager) form of government so important? Let us count the ways:

l It creates a necessary division between the legitimate policy and political responsibilities of the elected officials and the day-to-day operations of government overseen by the appointed manager.

l It acknowledges that the manager and his or her staff have technical expertise in areas such as infrastructure, law enforcement, fire and safety, public health, coliseum management, parks and recreation, legal issues, and land use, among others, that elected officials do not have and that we don't elect them to manage or frankly want them to manage.

l It provides an element of stability in the management of local government, since elected officials often come and go but agency and department heads typically don't; and it provides a useful buffer in that an experienced manager can guide the elected officials toward good decisions and steer them from bad ones, while at the same time serving as a buffer to protect staff from political interference by elected officials.

l It has a long and successful history in North Carolina, and is one of the reasons North Carolina is known for the relatively efficient and clean operations of its local governments.

Despite all of these advantages, a majority of the county commissioners have turned the board-manager system of government on its head: They summarily forced out the county manager, the deputy county manager, and the county attorney; and they have made decisions about personnel and day-to-day management that are normally left to the manager to decide, with policy guidance from the commissioners. Although a new county manager has recently been appointed from within, it is clear who is still running the show.

The Greensboro City Council isn't far behind. After months of squabbling, a majority of the council recently fired the city manager and is in the process of looking for a replacement.

The jury is still out on whether the members of the council will come to their senses and return day-to-day management to the professional staff, or whether -- taking their cue from the commissioners -- they will begin to interfere in decisions on personnel and other matters normally delegated to the manager and his or her staff.

Let's be clear on one point: Elected officials do have the power to hire, direct and ultimately fire a manager; that's not in dispute here. What's at issue are the manner in which the dismissals are carried out and the underlying motives of some elected officials to find compliant managers who will do their bidding and not provide the frank, independent counsel that a strong manager should bring to the table.

If this alarming trend is not reversed, damaging consequences both intended and unintended will occur, if they haven't already. First, this kind of meddling has a demoralizing effect on the staff. We know this is true because a recently released survey of city employees said so. The staff in essence said: Please give us the overall policy direction and then let us do the jobs we are trained to do.

Although no similar survey of county employees has been conducted, you can be sure employees are running scared and keeping a low, risk-averse profile.

Who wouldn't when you don't know which commissioner will swoop down next and fire you or eliminate your job? Related to this, why would any highly qualified candidate want to apply for the manager's job when the candidate knows the elected officials won't give him or her the trust, respect and leeway necessary to do the job?

I will cite just one more negative consequence. While majorities of the commissioners and council members make changes at the top and immerse themselves in day-to-day operations, long-range strategic planning suffers. Yes, both elected boards must be mindful of the negative impact that tax increases can have on citizens during a severe recession, and they must direct the manager to look for efficiencies and redundancies in provision of services. But if our elected officials are not also taking a longer view and envisioning what our cities, county and region could become, and what their future needs will be -- especially with regard to education and economic development -- we will pay a heavy price. This long-range focus is another important role a strong manager can play -- if only our elected officials would stop quarreling long enough to ask.

A retired president of the Center for Creative Leadership, the author is currently Elon University's Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership.