The Headline article of the News and Record for Thursday May 17, 2007, reads: Build Trust in Guilford, leaders say.  The article is about a panel discussion that was held on Wednesday May 16, at High Point University and sponsored by the Greensboro News and Record, concerning the state of Guilford County.  The discussion was great and it should have taken place, however, there was only one key component missing and that is representation from County Government. 

The article states that about 225 leaders from Guilford County packed the High Point University auditorium to listen to various speakers on the panel talk about what we can do as citizens to make our County better.  However, none of them were Senior level County Staff such as the County Manager and none them were in charge or presently serving on the board of County Commissioners, which has the power, the funding and the influence to implement some of the plans they were discusing. 

My question is this, why wasn't the County Manager invited to attend a panel discussion that involves the County that he is incharge of.  Tonight the County Manager will be presenting his budget for the years 2007 and 2008, which is estimated to be 540 million dollars.  This budget will include funding for the schools, social services, mental health, the sheriff department, the health department, Community based organizations, the arts, economic development, 2600 employees about twenty five other departments that directly affect the lively hoods of about 450,000 citizens in this County.  One would think that this person would need to be apart of any discussion involving the future of Guilford County. If not the Manager, then the Chairman of the County Commisioners, should have been invited.

Or maybe it is the organizers opinion that they do not need the County Staff and the elected County Leaders to implement plans for the future of Guilford County.  Something to think about!