A couple of months ago I accused Guilford County Manager Brenda Jones Fox of corruption, a charge that was questioned by some in the local blogosphere.
It may have been a little harsh, but all I know now is Fox’s reputation is going downhill fast. For starters, she once again ‘blindsided’ her bosses by eliminating 56 county positions without giving them the heads-up:
Commissioner Paul Gibson said this is just another in a long line of actions Fox has taken without informing the board. He said nothing Fox does surprises him anymore.
“I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her,” Gibson said.
It’s something of an understatement to say that, over the last six months, Fox has managed to get the county commissioners scratching their heads over her actions as manager, so it should be no surprise to anyone that Fox has the commissioners doing that once again.
A common criticism of Fox during her tenure as county manager has been that she’s failed to confer with the commissioners on major decisions before implementing those decisions.
Meanwhile, Fox continues to alienate Greensboro city staff, who told the council last week that Fox is impossible to work with. It’s nothing the council doesn’t already know, considering the difficult negotiations over the county’s contract to collect city taxes.
Commission Chairman Skip Alston evidently is fighting off calls to fire Fox. But the way Fox is going, she eventually will lose the one friend she has left.
