Reminder
For those of your keeping track, the new Guilford County Board of Commissioners is sworn in today - most of them at any rate.
The new line up includes Democrats Melvin "Skip" Alston, Kay Cashion, Carolyn Coleman, Bruce Davis, Paul Gibson and Kirk Perkins. Republicans Steve Arnold, Linda Shaw, Mike Winstead and Billy Yow are also on board.
Scoop expects (given the statements of a bunch of lawyers and election officials) that Republican Trudy Wade will continue to serve while the disputed election between her and Democrat John Parks is sorted out. Parks holds a slight lead in the vote count but there is a legal question as to whether some of those votes should be tossed.
The commissioners are expected to choose a new chairman this morning and odds are that it will be Davis, a High Point Democrat.
This morning's meeting will also allow outgoing commissioners to impart final bits of wisdom. In that group will be Jeff Thigpen, who is becoming Guilford County's Register of Deeds.
Speaking of Thigpen, click below for the text of an item that appeared in the newspaper version of Inside Scoop today regarding the Deeds office.
Return to sender
Could it be that Katherine Lee Payne didn't want to miss out on the fun of being Guilford County's register of deeds once she leaves office today?
Payne, a Republican, submitted a change of address form to the post office, asking that mail sent to the official address for the deeds office be forwarded to her home on Rock Spring Street beginning on Nov. 26.
On the change of address form, a copy of which Scoop has perused, she listed not only her name but her official title "Register of Deeds."
According to the incoming register of deeds, Democrat Jeff Thigpen, someone at the Post Office thought something might be amiss with the form and refused to process it.
Thigpen said that had the form gone through, official correspondence to the office might have gotten diverted to Payne's home address.
"I just think someone who served in that office for 14 years should understand the law," Thigpen said. "The question is what official, legal documents would have been forwarded to her house. This could have exposed the county to a lawsuit."
Payne said she meant no harm.
"That was for personal use only," she said. When asked if she thought that official correspondence could have gotten accidentally forwarded, Payne said, "Ooooh, I don't think so."
Payne said that she has cancelled her request and asked the deeds staff to send her any personal mail she would get at the office.
Comments (1)
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That's great. Reminds me of when Clinton's folks took all the "W"'s off of the keyboards in the White House back in 2001.
Posted on December 6, 2004 9:40 AM