On Monday, Oct. 28, there was a nice downtown ceremony at which Guilford County government dedicated the building at 201 S. Greene St. to Commissioner Kay Cashion and named the building after her.  Cashion, of course, gave some off-the-cuff remarks at the close of the ceremony – and, while she was doing so, she let something slip out that clearly indicated that the county will have another 12 months of leadership by current Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston.

Alston was the driving force behind getting the building dedicated to and named after Cashion, and, when she spoke, she said that, when she arrived and found out about her big birthday surprise, “I told Skip, ‘Why are you doing this – I already told you you have my vote for chairman again.”

The new chairman of the board is voted on by the board at the first commissioners meeting in December, and, usually, those seeking the chair have started to ask for votes by late October. Three seats on the board held by Democrats are contested in the November election, but the board currently has a 7-to-2 Democratic majority and is expected to at least maintain a majority after the election.

And one thing is very, very certain about the Democrats on the current board – if Alston wants to be chairman again, then a Democratic majority board will put Alston in the seat for another year.

 At some times in the past, there have been real battles over the chair seat – with some in the minority party teaming up with some in the majority party in a contentious race for the leadership role.  However, on the current board, Alston is the closest thing the county has to a king, and if he wants the seat, as he almost always does, it will unquestionably be his.

Commissioner Alan Perdue, one of the two Republicans on the board, said that Alston had not asked him yet for his vote, but Perdue added that it seemed very obvious to him that Alston would be the chair of the board again for 2025.

The Board of Commissioners will make that decision in about one month, and, as the first order of business at the meeting, the board will almost certainly elect Alston to another year in that top job.

That will make it the 10th time Alston has served in that role.

Alston always likes for the vote to be unanimous and often it is.

As the Rhino Times pointed out last year at this time, “Perdue and fellow Republican Commissioner Pat Tillman may vote for Alston since two no votes wouldn’t change a thing and there is something to be said for starting off a new year with some harmony at Christmastime.”

Occupying the middle seat on the dais in the commissioners meeting room in the Old Guilford County Court House means a few thousand dollars in extra pay each year, but here’s why Alston values the role so much: The chair has the ability to set the board’s agenda, meet with staff often, establish committees and name the members and run the regular commissioners meetings.

In other words, the chair has more power than the others on the board and Alston really, really likes power.

Alston was first sworn in as a Guilford County commissioner in 1992 and has served on the board every year since – with the exception of a five-year hiatus from 2012 to 2017.

Alston told the Rhino Times earlier this year that he would like to help see through in 2025 some of the projects the board has begun under his leadership – such as the county’s big focus right now on helping the homeless. There are also major capital projects in progress such as the renovation of the governmental plaza in downtown Greensboro and the construction of a new administrative headquarters for the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

There is one possible scenario in which Alston might not be chair and might not even be on the Board of Commissioners next year.  Alston is friends with Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris and it’s conceivable that, if she wins, Alston could play some role in her administration, thus taking him away from Guilford County – to the chagrin of some and to the joy of others