A couple of weeks ago I teased you with the possibility with the possibility that the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments might go poof. Not quite true —- local governments are being asked to pass resolutions supporting the dissolution of PTCOG so it can merge with the Northwest Council of Governments, forming the Piedmont Triad Regional Council of Government.
The Greensboro City Council voted in favor of dissolving PTCOG, but not before council member Trudy Wade asked some hard questions about the dues structure, which she said is weighted unfairly against Guilford County, Greensboro and High Point. Not only is the county getting triple-dipped, Wade argued, but each of those entities only have one vote, the same as smaller local governments who pay much less in dues, which are based on population.
Last night Guilford County commissioners were asked to pass the resolution, and it was quite the interesting discussion. It was surprising —or perhaps not —that commissioners admitted they didn’t know much about PTCOG, even though fellow commissioner Carolyn Coleman serves on the board. Still, commissioners asked much harder questions not only about the dues, but services PTCOG was providing. As you can imagine, Billy Yow asked some really hard questions, concluding the council was just another nonprofit picking taxpayers’ pockets. But things got even better. Coleman was participating by phone and stated that she was disrespected by other PTCOG board members in the merger process.
That didn’t sit well with Chairman Skip Alston, who had some harsh words for Randolph County Commissioner Darrel Frye, who was representing the PTCOG board. After a somewhat heated exchange, Alston raised the issue of whether or not the county even needed PTCOG’s services, especially since dues would increase following the merger.
Commissioners voted to table the issue until an April work session. But perhaps a majority will pick up on Alston’s suggestion and decide to just pull out of PTCOG.
I certainly don’t agree with the chairman on everything, but on this issue I say get off, Skip. Don’t we have enough pseudo-governmental entities here in the Triad?
