I had the feeling this would be the end result of Guilford County commissioners’ botched interview process for a new county manager. Last night commissioners hired interim County Manager Brenda Jones Fox, who didn’t even apply for the job.
Lone dissenting commissioner Paul Gibson said he “he believes Fox has the technical ability to manage the county’s 2,600 employees and nearly $300 million budget , he doubts her interpersonal skills with employees.” I’d definitely say personal skills might come into question with employees when you’re canning their co-workers left and right. I’m not complaining, and Gibson’s praise of Jones’ “technical abilities” means she’s the perfect person to help carry out board board chairman Skip Alston’s government streamlining that hopefully will result in no tax hike. In other words, government will function as it should.
Expect the same scenario to play out across Governmental Plaza. The City Council will make a big show and spend thousands of dollars on a search for a new city a manager before before hiring interim City Manager Bob Morgan. But the leadership dynamic in city government is different, considering the fact that the council, with a couple of exceptions, let former City Manager Mitchell Johnson lead them around by the nose.
Like Johnson, Morgan is a “long-time bureaucrat” who “knows how the game is played.” But he doesn’t have Johnson’s crusading personality, so it’s hard to imagine him taking control of city government the way Johnson did. Perhaps the City Council will actually perform the way a council should perform. But never assume with that group.
