After an extensive search process, Guilford County has named a new county attorney.
Following a closed session on Thursday, June 16, the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Andrea Leslie-Fite to fill the job. She’s been an attorney representing local governments in North Carolina for a decade and a half and she currently serves as the city attorney for Shelby, North Carolina.
After the vote, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said that Leslie-Fite rose above the competition and did so early in the process.
“I think she was in the lead from early on,” Alston said, adding that she comes highly recommended.
“I talked to the Shelby mayor yesterday,” Alston said. “He was way down – he didn’t want her to go.”
Shelby is the county seat of Cleveland County west of Charlotte near the South Carolina border. The city has a population of about 20,000.
Leslie-Fite will now represent a county with north of 540,000 people.
Actually, she won’t start the job until Monday, Aug. 22, so it’s possible she has significant summer beach plans like many North Carolinians do this time of year,
Interim Guilford County Attorney Matt Mason is currently leading Guilford County’s legal department.
According to information on Leslie-Fite provided by the county shortly after the selection announcement, she’s certified to practice law in North Carolina – a good thing because that’s where Guilford County happens to be. She is also certified to practice in the Western District of North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before taking a job as the city attorney in Shelby, she worked as a senior assistant city attorney for the City of Charlotte, where she focused on Human Resources litigation as well as advising various citizen boards on procedural matters.
She also served as the assistant county attorney for Cleveland County government.
Leslie-Fite will be replacing former Guilford County Attorney Mark Payne, who served as the Guilford County attorney for over a decade after a year in which Guilford County government ran through six county attorneys in one year.
In a prepared remark, Leslie-Fite, who was not at the July 16 county commissioners meeting, stated, “I am excited to join Guilford County as the new County Attorney and to bring my experience in North Carolina local governments to support the critical functions of the county. Guilford County is an exciting, diverse, and growing community and it is an honor to have the opportunity to serve as County Attorney.”
Leslie-Fite serves in various legal and professional societies and she’s a 2020 International Municipal Lawyers Association Fellow – a designation that recognizes attorneys who’ve demonstrated excellence in local government law.
Like many top-level Guilford County employees, she’s a UNC Tarheel: She received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She got her Juris Doctor from the North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Will WE ever see a WHITE MAN given a chance for a position of power in Greensboro again???????????????????? This is real racism and disgrace to humanity for ALL people on this earth.
Awwww
Stick your “awww”
Lol…no surprise here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she’s great. Blah… blah…blah.
Like we all predicted earlier this week, the successful candidate is black. With Chairman “Skip” Alston in control of the process, that was guaranteed. Isn’t this called racism?
——
And I’ve noticed an unusual phenomenon in 30 years of being a door-to-door salesman. Black people who are exceptionally race conscious, see everything through a racial lens, and are very defensive and proud of their ethnicity invariably drive black cars.
“Skip” Alston drives a triple black car; black paint, black interior, black wheels. Draw your own conclusions.
Door to door salesman? No wonder you whine so much. Lol
I take it you’re referring to my perceptive, perspicacious and insightful comments…
You’re welcome !
The readers of Rhino Times were correct, female and black.
She’s a be black female man I am so shocked
Who would have thunk it
The readers of the Rhino might need to grasp that Guilford County is a majority Black county and county leadership is going to reflect that.
According to the latest Census data Guilford County is 56 percent white and 35 percent black. However, Greensboro is minority majority city with 45 percent white, 42 percent black, 8 percent Hispanic and 5 percent Asian.
You are so wrong. Blacks are not the majority in the county. Regardless, the most qualified person should be hired. Being Black does not necessarily make you qualified. When the county and the city go down the tube, maybe, just maybe things will change but not until then.
Sorry Bennie but you be Wrong. Care to apologize for your misinformation
Tell me, who is surprised?
After an extensive search Skip Alston went all the way to Shelby, N. C. and finally found an attorney qualified for the job.
How do you know she is qualified?
A bit of sarcasm there if you please.
Skip Alston once said a black person cannot be racist, but his actions goes about disproving his assumption everyday. Racism can be shown in many different ways and none of them are acceptable. Choosing anyone based on color is racism, yet it is done everyday by Skip and others who make it clear, color it is a factor for them. We will never progress beyond racism until color is not a factor. When I hired people, I looked at their qualifications, the strength of their character and past work quality. Even using those criteria, mistakes can be made, but color should never be a consideration.
The choice of this lawyer I hope is the right one. Her credentials are impressive, yet her appointment because of Skip and his past actions make them suspect. Some of the readers predicted the skin color and Skip delivered. That assumption was unfair to the candidate. Nobody wants to feel that a decision was made for any other reason but merit. It’s Skips reputation and past actions that caused hose assumptions. Now this attorney will need to work harder and be better to get beyond the stigmatism of Skip. The attorney works for the board. The position is one of the few the board has direct control over, hopefully she will keep that in mind. I wish her luck.
Well said, BJ.
If her credentials are impressive, why does the color of her skin make her suspect? It is embarrassing how triggered the comments here get over the color of skin even when the candidate has “impressive credentials”.
Pathetic really.
According to the democrat party slo joe had “ impressive credentials “ after 40 plus years in Washington. How has that worked for us chris.
Because “Skip” is a racist, we all know it, and we knew he would choose a black for the job.
We were right, weren’t we?
Would be better that she reported to the county manager.
You missed the times about a decade back when a certain chairman had two offices. One was suspiciously close to a certain someone else who worked long hours. Almost had a Willie Brown kind vibe.