On Monday, Dec. 3, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners held a morning meeting to conduct a swearing-in ceremony and, though that sounds as though there’s something new on the way, the board was exactly the same old board after the swearing-in as it was before: Six commissioners were sworn back into their previously held seats for another four years.
In the ceremony, which got started shortly after 10 a.m. in the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro, Commissioner Carolyn Coleman got the honor of going first. She was sworn back into office by Guilford County District Court Judge Teresa Vincent, who had some kind words to say about Coleman before administering the oath of office.
“She’s a trailblazer – a trailblazer for social justice, a trailblazer for civil rights,” Vincent said of Coleman, in addition to other kind words.
Coleman has a long track record of fighting for civil rights and she has been arrested more than once during protests in her lifetime.
Next, Commissioner Carlvena Foster was sworn in by District Court Judge Tonia Cutchin, who didn’t have anything to say one way or the other about Foster – but presumably there’s nothing to read into that.
Guilford County Chief District Court Judge Tom Jarrell did the honors for Commissioner Kay Cashion. He said it was his honor to swear in Cashion who, Jarrell said, had been a friend of his family for about 25 years. He said Cashion and his mother have been friends for a very long time, just as Cashion had been a friend to him.
“But, more importantly than that,” Jarrell said, “in the past she has been a friend to the courthouse- and family justice-system here in Guilford County for many, many years. Without Kay Cashion, we would have no mental health court; Without Kay Cashion, we would have no juvenile drug court; without Kay Cashion we would have no Greensboro Family Justice Center.”
He added that Cashion was also a driving force for the Family Justice Center in High Point.
Cashion easily won the prize for having the most people stand up with her during the swearing-in ceremony. The other commissioners had a few family members for the most part, but Cashion had what some later called an “entourage.”
Next was Commissioner Skip Alston, who was sworn in by Guilford County Superior Court Judge Lora Cubbage.
Cubbage said that everyone in the room, had been affected by Alston’s contributions to Guilford County.
Guilford County District Court Judge Jon Kreider did the honors for both Commissioner Justin Conrad and Commissioner Alan Perdue.
As for Conrad, Kreider said he has no idea what Conrad has contributed to the county because Conrad never talks about that – Conrad, he said, only talks about the accomplishments of the board as a whole.
“He cares little for personal aggrandizement,” Kreider said, adding that what Conrad did care about was using his seat on the board to help the county’s citizens.
Of Perdue, the judge said, ”Alan is not a man of many words – he is simply a man of action. He really does have a service heart for this community and for the people that he serves.”
