GOP Majority Eager to Right County Ship

When Bob Dylan wrote, "The times they are a changin'," he was talking about a political shift to the left. However, those same lyrics could be used to describe Guilford County government, with the caveat that, this time around, the things that are a changing are taking a decided political shift to the right.

These days, people are fond of saying that elections have consequences, and one only has to talk to the three new Republicans coming onto the Board of Commissioners to realize that – with a Republican majority running the show for the first time in 14 years – a lot of changes in Guilford County government can be expected.

Since before the turn of the century, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has been led by a Democratic majority that raised taxes with abandon, handed out taxpayer money to wealthy companies without giving it a second thought, let the county manager and department heads run free – no matter how crazy their actions were – and never took a close look into how the school system spends the money the county gives it.

Also, for the past decade, the Democratic majority on the board has taken most of its cues from the highly liberal Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston – even during the five of the last 10 years when Alston wasn't chairman.

But all that's about to change.

Well, probably not all of it – however, if the new commissioners govern anything like they talk, there's going to be an entirely new way of doing business in Guilford County.

Even the lone new Democrat District 8 Commissioner-elect Raymond Trapp, often sounds like a conservative when he talks about "trimming the fat" in county government.

One wide-ranging change all the new commissioners say they want is for more thought, deliberation and transparency in board decisions.

New Republican District 6 Commissioner-elect Hank Henning said he's been paying close attention to the current Board of Commissioners, and he's been alarmed at recent instances when the board either passed, or attempted to pass, major motions as a rush job.

The reason that's happened systematically for years is that Alston and Guilford County Manager Brenda Jones Fox have been largely running county government on their own. However, Alston is departing the board on Monday, Dec. 3, when the new board is sworn in, and Fox is retiring on Feb. 1 – setting the stage for a brand new government in Guilford County, led by Republicans, and by a county manager of their choice.

The new Republican commissioners also say they want to explore undoing some of the things the current board has done. Henning said he wants the Republican-led board to take a closer look at some recent moves by the current board – ones made with little discussion and even less thought.

For instance, Henning said, he wants to revisit the county's plan to form a Guilford County parks and recreation department that will begin managing and operating the county's parks.

Guilford County has never run its parks; the county has always outsourced those duties to towns, cities and counties that have the staff and experience to do it. However, in June, the board voted to take over the county's parks on Jan. 1.

"I want to revisit the parks department – that's one area I want to take another look at," Henning said.

He also said the current board didn't seem to really think through an attempted rezoning that would have rezoned 618 of the Prison Farm's 806 acres to make way for a corporate park.

"It does seem one area where they rushed through it," Henning said.

Henning also said the new county government has to be more open and accountable for its actions. The new Republican commissioners say the next county manager isn't going to have the free reign that Fox did.

"First I want to get the transparency part of it in place," Henning said.

Trapp said that, from him, voters can expect a reasoned, thoughtful approach to county actions. Trapp said that he also was surprised at the way the Prison Farm rezoning was handled by the current board, a process the new board could handle better, he said, going forward as the county decides how to use that land.

"I think it doesn't have to be rushed," Trapp said. "It needs to be a public process and we need to plan it out right."

District 5 Commissioner-elect Jeff Phillips said he's often been stunned with the way the Board of Commissioners has operated in the past. He said that right now could be a very pivotal point in Guilford County history, a time when the board can change its opaque style of government, as well as its often unruly behavior.

"We have an opportunity before us to bring a level of professionalism and respect to the Board of Commissioners," Phillips said.

Phillips said those qualities haven't been completely lacking from the board, but he said everyone who's been watching Guilford County government in recent years has seen what's transpired.

"The people say it's been dysfunctional in many respects," Phillips said. "I want it to be more functional, much more professional, much more transparent to the public, to the people they represent. I think that's been missing for some time."

He said a Republican majority on the board and a new county manager will bring an opportunity for real change.

"I think that's a powerful combination if we handle it right," Phillips said.

Phillips added, "I want to regain the respect of the people of the county, because it's their money, their tax dollars. We work for them."

When Alan Branson, the District 4 commissioner-elect talks about his hopes for the new board, he stresses attacking the budget using a new level of detail. Branson said he wants to look at every county department and find any wasteful spending. He added that there are things he's seen when it comes to the county's Department of Public Health and the Animal Control operations that lead him to believe county savings could be found there.

Branson added that taking a focused look at the spending of each county department doesn't necessarily mean cutting in all cases. He said he wants to make sure critical county services such as fire protection and emergency services are funded to the extent they need to be to keep the county safe.

During Branson's campaign against outgoing District 4 Commissioner Kirk Perkins, Branson was critical of what he said were Perkins' attempts to cut key emergency services.

Branson said he wants to make sure the county's fire departments are well funded.

"We need to look after our fire volunteers," he said.

He said savings can be found in less critical areas of government.

Branson said, "We just want to do more with less money."

One group that might not like the new highly hands-on attitude of the three new Republicans is the Guilford County Board of Education. That board of elected officials enjoys doing its own thing and, if the school board had its way, the county commissioners would just hand over the money the school board asks for each year and save the advice.

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However, while the new commissioners say they understand they have little say in the details of school expenditures, they also say they know that controlling the purse strings carries a lot of weight. In addition to federal and state dollars, the Guilford County school system relies heavily on funding from Guilford County, and the Board of Commissioners determines how much in operating funds the county gives the county schools each year.

The Board of Commissioners over the years has met with school officials once in a while, and commissioners have occasionally complained about the cost of school administration or school construction. However, there's never been a real concerted effort for the Board of Commissioners to get involved in the operation of the school system and the construction of schools. That might change with the new Republican-led Board of Commissioners.

All three new Republican commissioners talked repeatedly about schools, school policy and school construction during their campaigns, and they say they're going to make school spending a point of emphasis in the years to come.

Phillips said it's critical for the Board of Commissioners to do whatever it can to help keep school spending in line.

"It's a high priority for me," Phillips said. "It's 43 percent of the total budget. That's a huge percentage of our overall budget."

"The first step is improving the relationship between the Board of Commissioners and the school board," he said. "I think it's interesting that, in the past at least, some commissioners have washed their hands when it came to school spending. They've said, 'That's the Board of Education and it's off our plate.'"

Phillips said he wants to see that attitude change.

"Our responsibility is to better understand how those dollars are being allocated once they're released to the schools," he said.

Henning has also had a lot to say about schools for a candidate in a county commissioner race.

"I want to open a dialogue with the schools," he said.

Henning said he wants to see the schools get what they need when it comes to new schools, but he added that the county doesn't need "upscale schools" when schools that meet basic educational needs will suffice.

He also said that making sure the bidding process is handled in the best way possible could help control the cost of school construction and maintenance contracts.

Henning said citizens are about to see a new era in Guilford County government. He quoted Yogi Berra's famous quip: "When you come to a fork in the road – take it."

"Well, we've come to a fork in the road," Henning said.

The new board is likely to continue to hand out taxpayer money to rich companies in the form of economic incentives, but at least it sounds as though there will now be some scrutiny of those requests.

Under the Democrats, the board's de facto incentives policy has been to give out incentives to any company that requested them. However that may change. The new commissioners say they'll scrutinize each request, but they aren't against incentives as a rule.

"We defiantly need incentives just to play ball," Trapp said. "Everyone is doing it."

Trapp said that, during his time on the board, he wants to explore ways in which the county can encourage economic growth, and he said targeted incentives may be part of that plan.

Henning said on incentives, "I'm going to keep an open mind and decide it on a case by case basis."

On the campaign trail, Branson said he wanted to see state and federal legislation that would end economic incentives. That's not going to happen anytime soon, but Branson and his fellow new Republican commissioners say they plan to examine incentives requests carefully before handing over taxpayer money.

The new Republicans are unified against higher property taxes, but they are not of one mind when it comes to raising sales taxes.

Branson said the sales tax does have some appeal to him because it would take some of the tax burden off of property owners.

Henning, however, said, "At this point it's just a new tax." He added, "That would be a further burden."

It's estimated that a proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase would raise from $12 million to $16 million – which is equal to what is raised by 3 or 4 cents on the property tax rate. So theoretically the county could lower property taxes by 3 or 4 cents and come out even. But even if that were to happen, and that is a big if, there is nothing to keep the commissioners from raising property tax rates the next year.

The increase would also need voter approval, and in Guilford County the sales tax hike has already been voted down three times.

Phillips said that, to him, it made more sense to find $12 million to $16 million in wasteful spending and cut that, rather than raise the sales tax.

"That's the first order of business," Phillips said.

In past years, area arts organizations and other community nonprofits have had a very good run of getting county money in each budget, but that may change in future years.

The new Republicans all say there may be a place for that in better times, but right now funding needs should face strong scrutiny.

Henning said of the arts: "It's important, but it's not putting food on the table."

He said those initiatives look a lot more appealing for funding when the economy is better and the money is there.

Phillips also said that, in better economic times, the commissioners might have more money to fund the nonprofits, but right now the board is going to have to make some very tough choices.

Alston said the new starry-eyed commissioners will have their hands full. He said it's important to keep in mind that the Republican's 5-to-4 majority is the slimmest majority possible, and Alston said he knows from his 20 years on the board that type of majority doesn't mean one party will have a say over everything.

"That's a narrow margin," Alston said. "It's hard to get five votes out of five people – they're going to need to reach across the aisle and pull votes from both Republicans and Democrats. That's what's made my past four years as chairman a success."

Alston said it's easier to talk about cuts than to actually make them. He said even the most right-leaning commissioners have, for instance, plenty of arts supporters in their districts, and those people vote he said.

Commissioner Carolyn Coleman – a Democrat who'll be serving on the board under a Republican majority for the first time since she joined the board in 2002 – said she isn't sure what to expect from the new Republican commissioners.

"I just don't know them," she said.

But Coleman said she will continue to make her presence known.

"Being in a minority on the board as a Democrat," she said, "I certainly don't intend to roll over and die."