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GREENSBORO — Those in the Empire Room waiting for a verbal tussle over local government may have been disappointed Wednesday by an Action Greensboro forum on local government.

But Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones did speak to the recent churn in Guilford County’s administration during a discussion of controversy, communication and compromise among politicians in Greensboro and Guilford County.

“Since 2000, when I was named (Mecklenburg County) manager, I think Guilford County has had five managers,” Jones said, looking at Commissioners Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston.

Jones was close: The county has had four managers in those nine years.

“When you’ve got that revolving door occurring that I see in Guilford County, it will be  hard to create that long-term” strategy, Jones said.

That can hurt in attracting top talent to replace a manager because people at that level talk to each other, he added.
Elected officials must respect the position of county manager, he said, and in more than 40 years under the council-manager system, Mecklenburg has had only four managers.

The turnover affects the movement and morale of the county, Jones said.

Jones participated in the forum with Mike Smith, the dean of the UNC School of Government, and John Alexander, professor of leadership at Elon University Law School.

Among other topics, the panelists discussed:

-- Keeping elected officials as policymakers and not crossing over to areas where government employees do their work.
“The people who are setting policy are getting into the administration of government, and things may be less efficient and may be more political,” Smith said.

-- Long-range vision and planning, which Alexander said has become more difficult lately because of turnover in local government.

“Where are we trying to go as a community?” he asked.

-- And in response to an audience question, how a frustrated community can heal. Greensboro has had its share of controversy in its police department and in efforts to deal with repercussions from fatal shootings 30 years ago.

That can be helped when regular people take roles in the community, Jones said.

“You can hold (elected officials) accountable, and others, by becoming involved,” he said. “And you have to worry about not being negatively critical, but constructively critical.”

Commissioners Kay Cashion, Paul Gibson and John Parks attended, as did City Council members T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, Zack Matheny, Robbie Perkins and Mary Rakestraw.

Leaders from both bodies spoke. Alston hit upon his points of efficiency and accountability, asking constituents to call him personally about the work the county is doing.

Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat spoke to working more closely with nearby communities to keep the area from losing jobs. “We probably all on the council need to find out what we need to do to help,” she said.

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