On Wednesday, July 3, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners hastily called a special meeting that will be held behind closed doors on the morning of Monday, July 8.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston told the Rhino Times that he could not provide any details regarding the subject of the closed meeting; however, he did say that the issue discussed may become public within days after the meeting.

 Alston said the board was not expected to make any announcement or take any action immediately after the meeting on Monday.

The chairman said any announcement made or action taken as a result of the closed session would likely occur on Tuesday, July 9 or Wednesday, July 10.

Guilford County government is required by law to give at least 48-hour prior public notice of commissioners meetings when a special meeting is called.

The announcement sent in the afternoon of July 3 reads, “The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a special meeting for Monday, July 8, 2024 at 10:00 AM to be held in the Commissioners Chamber located on the second floor of the Old County Courthouse, 301 W. Market Street, Greensboro, NC. The purpose of the special meeting is to immediately enter into Closed Session, pursuant to N.C.G.S 143-318.11 (a)(3), to consult with the County Attorney and to conduct any other necessary business.”

By law, the commissioners must first meet in open session before going into closed session, and then they must come back out into open session to adjourn.

The very unusual timing of the meeting indicates that it is related to a matter of importance for a number of reasons.

 The Guilford County commissioners just adopted the 2024-2025 fiscal budget and had only one regular meeting scheduled for July – one on Thursday, July 18.

Traditionally, after a county budget is passed – the hardest and most important thing the board does all year – the commissioners take vacations, as do many county staff members.  So, the period between late June and late July is notoriously a very down time for Guilford County government – especially for the Board of Commissioners.  It would almost certainly take a matter of large concern to upset that cycle.

The fact that the commissioners called a closed morning meeting immediately after the Fourth Of July holiday weekend seems to indicate that whatever is being discussed could, as one county leader stated, turn out to be “a big deal.”

The largest event affecting Guilford County that has occurred publicly in recent weeks was the NC General Assembly taking nearly 1,000 acres of land from the Town of Summerfield and moving that land into unincorporated Guilford County.  However, there’s no indication that will be the subject of the mystery Monday morning meeting behind closed doors.

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