Listen and Learn

Our commissioners are back from their island getaway and at least one of them is touting it as a great success.

"I'm a better commissioner today because I went to that conference," said Commissioner Paul Gibson.

Particularly useful, he said, was a morning-and-afternoon session on budgeting that featured a presentation by Mecklenburg County, which recently switched to a more results-focused budget process that treats county government like a business.

It seems to me that you could have learned a little about that here. If you would listen to your fellow commissioners instead of excluding them because they are from the "other party" you might hear something interesting.

Commissioner Mike Winstead told you the day you passed the budget that he couldn't imagine a business being run this way.

Now after passing a $510.5 million budget and taking your $3000 taxpayer jaunt to the islands, you're receptive to the idea of running it like a business?

What was the "other party" telling you? Input, input--discussion, discussion. Instead you left them out, proceeded with your "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" budget negotiations AND included yourself a 40% raise on the back of the taxpayers.

Shame, shame.

Now after the budget full of "pork" and your "vacation" you have finally had a revelation and have seen the light due to a meeting in Hawaii?

We'll see.

One thing I do like about your "revelation."

"RESULTS-FOCUSED"

Hopefully that means that the majority party will at least listen to and try to work with the minority party and try to get some positive results for Guilford County.

What you have been doing is nothing but an embarassment.