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Starting Jan. 19, folks who want to speak to the City Council are going to have to wait their turn.

Mayor Bill Knight will move the “speakers from the floor” portion of the council meetings from the beginning of the agenda nearly to the end.

This regularly scheduled public comment period is required by state law. Public boards must allow for at least one half-hour of open comment every month.

The City Council’s public podium draws all kinds of folks — residents unhappy with city services, political candidates, nonprofit groups hoping to promote projects.

And in recent years, it has gotten a bit unwieldy, running hours on end.

Knight already attempted to rein it in by limiting the time to a half hour.

City Manager Rashad Young implored council members not to talk back during the session, to try to cut down on the time.

Now, Knight plans to rearrange the meeting schedule to put public hearings and business items first, he told council members last week. Speakers will be heard at the end of the meeting, after the consent agenda.

Knight said this will give people a chance to get home from work and have dinner before they come to meetings.

Councilman Zack Matheny and Councilwoman Trudy Wade liked the idea, arguing that it would be best to get the city business out of the way first.

But Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small warned it might not be a very good public relations move.

“The message is going to be that we don’t want to hear from people,” she said. “Yes you put it on the agenda, but it is the very last thing.”

On Thursday, the idea was met with hostility from residents when Councilman Jim Kee announced the new policy at the Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro meeting.

Some in the audience thought it was disrespectful of citizens or a way to squelch public discourse.

Kee told them the council was trying to be a more cohesive unit and support Knight on this.

Goldie Wells, a former councilwoman, asked Kee to go back to Knight and let him know the residents of District 2 didn’t like this idea.

Not so floppy

In last week’s column, we unveiled the Scoopies, our awards for the ridiculous and sublime in local politics. U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan would like to return her “Belly Flop Flop” award.

For those who don’t know, early in her tenure Hagan gave a speech to a women’s group, telling them that the Senate swimming pool was a “men’s only” affair.

And as Scoop noted, that isn’t actually the policy of those who run the Capitol complex.

However, Hagan notes that there was, in fact, a sign outside the pool that indicated that it was for men only and that an attendant told her it was the practice.

The sign and whatever practice there may have been are gone.

Steve Arnold Watch 2010

It’s no secret that Republican County Commissioner Steve Arnold has had some business troubles the past few years, including a bankruptcy in which a judge found he had transferred assets to avoid creditors.

Last week, Arnold said those troubles won’t affect whether he runs for his District 2 seat again in 2010.

However, leaders of both the Guilford County Democratic and Republican parties told Scoop that Arnold, unopposed four years ago, may face competition this year. Republican Chairman Bill Wright said he’s already heard from a few Republicans.

“Some of them are people who are established in politics in Guilford County,” Wright said.

Arnold said he’s close to making a decision on whether to run again.

In an interview, he sounded like a man with plans for the Board of Commissioners in the near future.

Arnold is very popular in his district, which includes High Point, and hasn’t had a close election in more than a decade.

Many of the people who talked to Scoop this week — including some of Arnold’s fellow commissioners — said he would likely be able to weather the current storm and be re-elected.

If that’s what he wants.

But last week, Arnold also told the N&R’s Doug Clark that he’s considering running for mayor of High Point. The city’s popular Mayor Becky Smothers hasn’t yet said if she’ll be running again.

A lot can happen between now and February — and even more before November. Stay tuned.

A city/county merger?

They might just be — at least in terms of office space.

On Friday, City Manager Rashad Young and County Manager Brenda Jones Fox met to discuss the possibility of using the Old County Courthouse as the legislative chambers for both the Guilford County Board of Commissioners and the Greensboro City Council.

Commissioners currently meet at the Old Courthouse. The county chamber has more room than the City Council’s quarters in City Hall. Sometimes, council meeting attendees end up sitting in overflow space on folding chairs, watching the proceedings on TV just feet from the live event.

And although the city has better broadcasting technology, Young said, the county is due for an upgrade.

The council members could use some courthouse rooms that will soon be freed up for better office space. They use cubicles in the manager’s office.

Council members said they were interested in exploring the idea, but they wanted to know what it might cost before making any commitments.

“That would be the first step in the city and county working together,” Councilman Jim Kee said.

Reefer madness

At last week’s county commissioners retreat, Commissioner Kay Cashion gave a serious, sobering report on juvenile substance abuse in the county.

She asked the board to get a substance abuse plan started that would include a drug court and diversion programs.

There were also a few lighter moments that gave the small crowd in attendance the giggles — if not the munchies.

“I want to say I have never used marijuana,” Cashion said in the middle of her report ... when no one had suggested she had.

This led to a moment of awkward silence in the room before the crowd burst into laughter.

Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston volunteered, “Well, you never inhaled ...”

Later in the same discussion, Commissioner Bruce Davis recalled his days as a Marine Corps recruiter. Every recruit had to under go a drug test, Davis said — and one recruit who claimed to be clean as a whistle came up positive for marijuana. After arguing his innocence at length the young man finally gave in. Sort of.

“He said, 'Well, they had a going away party for me and I drank a lot of beer and passed out,’ ” Davis remembered. “ 'And then when I woke up one of my best friend was blowing marijuana smoke in my face.’ Well — we told him that probably wouldn’t have gotten it into his lungs. Then he said, 'Well, another friend of mine was on my chest, pressing down and making me inhale.’ ”

When the laughter in the room finally subsided, Davis concluded that teenage brain chemistry is indeed ... different.

The sound of whispers

At the commissioners retreat last Thursday, Alston kept referring to “whispers” about the county’s human services departments not communicating well or operating as efficiently as they could.

Alston said people have been whispering that bringing them all under one umbrella — held by the commissioners — would be a good idea.

After commissioners asked just where these whispers were coming from, Alston said he himself had been doing some whispering.

“Well we’re glad to know what you and Scott are whispering about,” said Commissioner Linda Shaw, referring to the Rhino Times’ county editor, Scott Yost.

“I’d like to know if this whispering is being heard before or after Scott’s Night Out,” Shaw asked, referring to Yost’s bar column. Yost joined the rest of the crowd in laughing.

Mayor gives diversity talk

Mayor Bill Knight will be among the speakers at a diversity forum Tuesday.

The “Diversity Empowers Greensboro” event, hosted by the city and the HR Group Inc., will include speakers Knight, City Manager Rashad Young and City Human Relations Director Anthony Wade.

It will be held at 8 a.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum atrium.

Proceeds from a $5 continental breakfast will go to the United Way of Greater Greensboro and the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium. For reservations, e-mail info@thehrgroupinc.net.

Staff writers Amanda Lehmert, Mark Binker and Joe Killian contributed.