News-Record.com

Mayor Keith Holliday called Thursday afternoon, sounding perfectly giddy.

Having learned while vacationing in Colorado that he is running unopposed for re-election, he said, he was relieved that he won't have to spend the money and resources on an extensive campaign.

But he did say he intended to campaign.

"I have every intention of going to all the forums," he said. "I want to be as engaged by as many people as I can."

Holliday also said the search for a city manager was going well and that a successor to Ed Kitchen could be chosen by as soon as the "second or third week in September."

Problem is, he said, which person to pick.

"We've got some incredible candidates," he said. "When you've got so many good people to choose from, that makes it hard."

Holliday also said he stands by his decision on the city's controversial, temporary management of the Greensboro Generals, but he would have communicated it to taxpayers differently (as in sooner and more effectively). He did not speak of Project Homestead.

And he repeated his belief that being mayor ought to be a full-time job. He said he advocates a "hybrid full-time mayor" in which the city manager still would run city government. The mayor would do "mayoral work," he said.

That way, Holliday said, the mayor could be more proactive.