Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston got that job in early December of last year when his fellow county commissioners voted him into it.
Three months and one commissioners retreat later, it’s clear that Alston has a very ambitious vision for Guilford County government – one that some county residents will love and others will not.
The board used a Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5 annual Board of Commissioners retreat at Forest Oaks Country Club to discern its priority projects and make plans for 2021.
This is Alston’s sixth term as chairman and he’s already made some major moves. He stated that county citizens can expect big changes from a government that’s already dramatically different than it has been since 2012 – when the Democrats were defeated and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners fell under the control of a Republican majority.
Those days are now over. The Democrats are back in control and Alston has wasted no time shaking things up.
Even though he was only elected chairman in December of last year, Alston has already orchestrated the forced exit of former County Manager Marty Lawing, the recruitment and hiring of former Guilford County Budget Director Mike Halford as the new county manager, a $7 million incentive grant for the City of High Point, and the start of countywide meetings with city and town mayors – something Alston says will now be a regular occurrence.
At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners retreat, Alston made it clear that he has much more in store for the county in the coming months. One large project he’s pushing staff on is the design and construction of a new headquarters for the Sheriff’s Department. Alston told staff, “It’s been moving in slow motion.”
The chairman is also planning another giant school bond referendum on an upcoming ballot and says he wants to right many of the wrongs that occurred under Republican rule from 2012 to 2020.
After the first day of the retreat on Thursday, while there was still daylight, Alston did get to take some time off from reshaping county government to engage in one of his favorite pastimes, hitting the driving range. Above, he can be seen grabbing his clubs from his fastest car in the Forest Oaks Country Club parking lot.
When asked, Alston said he hadn’t played golf against former Republican Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow in years, but he said he’s still confident he would be able to beat Yow.
“Billy can hit the ball a long way – but he hits it into the woods,” Alston said.
As it is, I don’t trust politicians, but I ESPECIALLY don’t trust politicians who drive or ride around in cars like that.
Wouldn’t trade my Yo Yow! t-shirt for a dozen Skips.
What do you expect from someone who builds a skip macmansion in a hillbilly neighborhood
Will, you hit that nail right on the head!! Lol! Remember when that house was built was when all those new roads were going to be built too… maybe it didn’t quite work out
Let skipper drive what he wants he,earl and nelson will find out Karma is a bitch Skippy will also find out that there’s no such thing as a trailer hitch on a hearse
Be nice people, be nice.
Why
Skips ego is showing once again when a man his age wants a car like that.
Keep an eye on his agenda, somewhere down the road you’ll be opening your wallet to fulfill Skips ideas.
I can read that Skip is going to try and undo the record of no tax increases the Republicans had from 2012 to 2020 .Why do the people of Guilford county vote in suck Nincompoops as Skip and the other Democrats????? Why do you reject the prosperity that the Republicans brought you.When I worked I wanted to pay as few taxes as possible!!! It seems the masses of Guilford county want to pay more.Get ready Mollie ,Skip is coming for 1/2 of what you make and then he is going to give it away .Your choice in 2 years is vote these people out if you want lower taxes .I plead with you To vote them out .I like to carry a little change in my pocket and not let These Government goons take it all .I guess most that voted them in did not know that the philosophy of the Democrats is take all your money and use it as they wish,You are not smart enough to handle your money and affairs.
Of course. It’s not his money so why does he care