County Losing Baby, Bath Water

Guilford County government is seeing a radical changing of the guard and a mass exit of experience in a very short period of time – and that became even more true last week when Guilford County Assistant Manager Sharisse Fuller, who's also the county's human resources director, turned in her letter of resignation, effective Thursday, Feb. 28.

In addition, longtime Guilford County Information Services Director Barbara Weaver is retiring at the end of this month.

Guilford County Manager Brenda Jones Fox had previously announced she would be stepping down at the end of January.

In addition to Guilford County losing its manager, assistant manager, human resources director and information services director, several other top level retirements have been announced in the last couple of months: Emergency Services Director Alan Perdue, Facilities Director Fred Jones and Elections Director George Gilbert all made it known they were retiring as well.

Add to that the fact that Fox is considered the director of the county's Administration Department and the fact that two county departments – the Planning and Development Department and the Property Management and Parks Department – currently don't have directors (they're being run by interim directors), ­and that means that eight of the county's 24 departments will be without directors soon.

Guilford County also has a new parks division as of Tuesday, Jan. 1, but it has no parks manager for those 30 new employees. The county is reportedly attempting to fill that position, which it has known about since June. So, in six months, the county has been unwilling or unable to take any action to fill a newly created position – but now, past the deadline for taking over the parks, it is beginning to start considering beginning the process to hire someone while 30 employees in a brand new county division have no management with experience in overseeing parks workers.

Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen, who said he is not retiring anytime soon, said the striking thing about recent events isn't just the number of directors calling it quits, but also the massive amount of experience that's leaving Guilford County government in one fell swoop.

"I think we're losing about 500 years of experience," Thigpen said.

He said the loss of so many department heads in such a short period of time makes the choice of the new manager all the more important.

Thigpen said county employees were watching the search for a new manager closely, and he added that it will be a critical decision for the future of the county. Thigpen said he hopes the board will hire a manager who is professional and has a great deal of appreciation for what a well-run county government can accomplish.

Some county employees said they're worried the new Board of Commissioners – now run by a Republican majority for the first time since 1998 – will hire a "slash and burn" manager whose main activity will be cutting government to the bone.

The Board of Commissioners, which just began the process of sifting through applications for the manager's position, underwent a radical loss of experience of its own on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012.

On that day, the board shrunk from 11 members to nine, four brand new commissioners were sworn in, and after that swearing in ceremony 76 years of commissioner experience walked out the exit doors of the Old Guilford County Court House.

While the county has lost a great deal of experience on the board, and is losing experience in top staff, it should be pointed out that that isn't necessarily a bad thing because some of those commissioners were ineffective and turned a blind eye to corruption and, while some departing county administrators have stellar reputations, others have been seen to be dishonest, ineffective or willfully negligent.

Fox has received the brunt of criticism for Guilford County's poor management, and rightfully so. Her highly questionable and destructive activities have been well documented.

But other county administrators have also seen a lot of criticism. Weaver came under fire when it took the county three years to shift county employees from monthly to biweekly pay, as well as when her department paid a web development company about $40,000 with no contract in place. When those services weren't delivered, the county was out that money with nothing to show for it.

Also, Jones has been criticized by some county staff who say his Facilities Department hasn't dealt effectively with issues at the county's building at 325 E. Russell Ave. in High Point. Staff who work in the building say it has problems ranging from rats and ants to holes in the roof and in the floors.

Fuller has been criticized by some who say she has consistently looked the other way while Fox conducted all sorts of sketchy activities in the next office over.

Regardless, the new board will have its hands full trying to figure out the best way to run the county with all of the sudden vacancies at the top. With the exception of the county's Board of Elections director position, which is expected to be filled by Guilford County Board of Elections Deputy Director Charlie Collicutt, those vacant positions aren't likely to be filled until a new manager is hired. Commissioners and other county officials alike said that hiring new department heads should be left to the next manager since he or she will be the one who has to work with those directors.

So all the focus now is on hiring a new county manager.

One county department head speculated that the current high level of turnover in Guilford County government could negatively influence the impressions of candidates considering applying for the job.

Commissioner Jeff Phillips said recently he wants the manager search to move along quickly. He said he hopes the county can have a new manager in place well before the March 1 hiring deadline that was put forward by county staff in a proposed timeline.

However, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Linda Shaw said this week that, realistically, she doubts that could happen before March – given that the new manager may have to allow time to leave a current job before taking the job with Guilford County.

"It would be April at the earliest before we could get someone in there," Shaw said.

Also, if the new manager is hired from outside Guilford County government, he or she will need some time to become familiar with Guilford County's operations, financial situation and personnel procedures.

Until Fuller announced her retirement last week, there was an assumption that Fuller would act as a placeholder in the county manager's slot until a new manager was hired and taught the ropes, but now, with Fuller's announcement of her retirement at the end of February, those plans are up in the air.

One county department head said the commissioners were unlikely to name someone an interim manager for just one month. That may be, but their choices are becoming severely limited.

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When Shaw was asked what the board was going to do about the vacancy created by Fox leaving on Jan. 31, Shaw said that was a good question.

"We have a lot of serious thinking to do," Shaw said.

Budget Director Michael Halford is one department head whose name keeps popping up as a potential interim manager. Halford may have applied for the manager's job, but, if he did, he isn't saying.

Halford said he didn't wish to comment on any matter related to the county manager search or the decision about an interim manager, but he was willing to talk about the fact that the county is quickly coming into the height of budget season.

He said that having so many directors positions vacant won't make the task of putting the 2013-2014 budget together any easier.

"It obviously increases the level of uncertainty," Halford said.

When Fuller was asked this week if she would serve as the interim manager for the month of February – after Fox leaves and before Fuller's retirement – Fuller said she would be willing to do so if asked.

"I will do whatever the board desires," she said in her usual reserved and diplomatic manner.

Fuller said that retirement had been on her mind for a while and she said she's looking forward to the free time it will afford her.

"I have been considering leaving for well over a year," Fuller wrote in an email. "As I have shared with you before, it has been over five years since I had a vacation. My leaving could potentially afford perhaps two people job opportunities. My position has not been a 40-hour a week job. On average, I work 75 to 90 hours per week. I work at the office then go home and continue working."

Fuller stated that, after she leaves county government at the end of February, she wants to take some time off and then move on to new things.

"I would like to take a short break and then pursue some other interests," Fuller wrote. "Of course, I will be happy to help the county out any way I can."

Fuller's letter of resignation was submitted to Fox on Thursday, Jan. 3. In the letter, Fuller expressed gratitude to her coworkers and gave some insight into her decision to retire.

"The HR staff, other County staff and the customers we serve have been a central part of my life," she wrote. "I have so enjoyed working with each and every one of them. It is with much thought and deliberation that I have made this decision. After discussing this with my family, considering my personal goals and my continuing journey as an individual, I believe that I have made the right decision. I have given Guilford County my best over the years and I am proud of my accomplishments; however, it is time for me to retire."

Fox can now put Fuller's letter of resignation in the pile of resignation letters that has been growing recently.

The new county commissioners are getting a baptism by fire with the immense turnover in Guilford County government.

"They're dropping like flies," said Republican Commissioner Alan Branson, who was just sworn in last month.

Branson said he suspects that the arrival of a new Board of Commissioners – which he said will provide stricter oversight of county operations – likely had something to do with the timing of the announcements.

Branson said that, when former Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston had firm control of the board, county staff had "free reign." However, Branson said, there may be a realization among staff that those days of anything goes are now over.

With Fuller's announcement, and the knowledge it would take the commissioners awhile to decide on a new county manager, there were renewed fears this week among county employees that Fox might attempt to extend her stint as manager past Jan. 31.

It's easy to see why county employees are so paranoid about what seems like a surreal scenario: Fox has had many lives when it comes to governing Guilford County and despite two straight years of one major scandal right after another, the previous Board of Commissioners, as well as the current board, kept Fox as county manager.

There has been a lot of bad blood between Halford and Fox over the years and some county employees said they thought Fox might work against Halford getting the interim county manager job because of that.

"If Brenda sabotages all the viable options then they'll have to ask her to stay," one county employee said.

One high-ranking county official who asked not to be identified said there was some speculation that Fox might back Finance Director Reid Baker as interim manager since Baker worked under Fox for years when she was the county's finance director. However, other than that, Baker's name hasn't come up in talks as a potential interim manager.

Shaw said the Board of Commissioners would establish a committee this month to oversee the search for a new manager.