Guilford County Commissioner James Upchurch’s sudden resignation from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to take a job in Georgia has created an interesting situation when it comes to filling the vacated District 6 seat.
Usually, when a commissioner steps down mid-term, like former Guilford County Commissioner Ray Trapp, or dies in office, like the late County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman, they are replaced by a member of their own party.
In this case, however, Upchurch, a Republican, will be replaced by a Democrat, and the Democratic majority on the Board of Commissioners will grow from a 6-to-3 to a 7-to-2 majority.
Upchurch’s situation is interesting because, while Upchurch was serving on the board as a Republican, he was elected when running as a Democrat in 2020. One year after taking office, he changed his party affiliation to Republican – and he often voted accordingly.
North Carolina General Statute 153A-27.1 lays out the process for the Board of Commissioners to follow when vacancies occur on the board. The executive committee of the political party that nominated the elected official has 30 days to make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. The board will then vote whether or not to seat that nominee.
Once the seat is filled, Commissioners Pat Tillman and Alan Perdue will be the only two Republicans on the board.
Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston, as the most powerful Democrat in Guilford County, will no doubt have a whole lot of say in who’s selected to fill the District 6 seat on the board that he currently chairs.
The Board of Commissioners will hold its next regular meeting Thursday Oct. 5 with only eight members. The board only needs five for a quorum so, even if three other commissioners resign between now and then, the board would still be able to function.
It seems pretty clear. A Democrat was originally elected to that post, and regardless of Upchurch’s later flip-flopping that party gets to select his replacement. The GOP had to fight to get the Board of Education to follow the rules in a similar situation, so they can’t argue otherwise now.
Scott, sorry for the second request. My recent clarification was regarding the tax increase rip that the city and/or county committed against the taxpayers stated in your excellent article last week.
Was the $90,000,000.00 tax collection by the city only, county only, or combined city and county?
So laughable.
1st he screwed the Democrats who elected him, now he’s screwed us all. Rest assured they’ll replace him with some extreme libtard. Way to go buddy!
What does it matter about the number of Dems on the Board? They have the majority vote now, and the Republicans are too afraid to stand up to Skippy. So, in essence, the entire Board is dim-voting.
Skip should use the same criteria as Gov. Newsom in CA, did when he replaced Senator Feinstein.
Any wagers on that one?
I’m thinking in keeping with the principle of equity as a function of the general population in Guilford county, the nominee must be a Hispanic gay male. The only possible choice.
Guilford County has less then 10% Hispanic population an Asian American from the south side would be a better fit