The big switcheroo
County commissioners rarely change their votes after casting them. But Democrat John Parks did just that on Thursday night.
Parks initially voted "no" on a plan to seek extra state money for the Academy at Smith project. The vote was 6-5 against. Proposal rejected.
As dismayed school board members left the commissioners' chambers, Democrat Skip Alston poked his head out a side door. Somebody was about to change their vote, he said, so sit tight. Smith High School is in his district.
Thinking hard about the project was Parks, a former school board member. In an interview on Monday, he said he was torn over his vote, and when he realized that he could make or break the project, he switched his vote. The revised tally was also 6-5, but this time the plan passed.
"I didn't want to kill it," Parks said.
The switch brought to light the interesting relationship between Alston and Parks, who rejoined the board just a few months ago after a long absence. Some county officials whisper that Parks does the bidding of Alston, the board's senior Democrat.
The stories go all the way back to 2000, when Parks was running for a third term as a commissioner. Speaking out against him was Alston, who questioned Parks' commitment to black constituents.
Alston was and is a member of the Simkins PAC, a group of influential black leaders that had endorsed Parks in the previous two races.
But the PAC did not support Parks in 2000. Here's why, according to an N&R story from May 4 of that year:
Sources say the committee lost faith in Parks over three matters.
The first arose in 1998 when the committee wanted Bob Landreth and Skip Alston to be chairman and vice chairman of the commissioners but Parks did not support that, sources say. In 1999, Parks did not support the push among some black leaders to make the school board funnel enough money to Dudley High School for a complete overhaul.
The final matter was Parks' opposition to the county's purchase of the Carolina Circle Mall in northeast Greensboro.
In the three-way Democratic primary for two at-large seats, Parks finished third. His re-election bid was over.
Fast-forward to the 2004 election, when Parks tried to regain the seat he had lost. He sought support from Alston, got it, and returned to the board this year after prevailing in a long legal battle over provisional ballots with former Republican commissioner Trudy Wade.
"John came to me and said, 'Skip, I've made some mistakes,'" Alston told Allen Johnson in November 2004. "He extended the olive branch and I accepted it."
So Parks is back in the voting seat. On the board's most controversial vote of the year, the decision to fire county manager Willie Best, who is black, Parks was the only white commissioner to vote against dismissing him. Parks sided with Alston, Bruce Davis and Carolyn Coleman.
Parks said Thursday's decision to switch his vote was his own. He wasn't influenced by any other commissioner, he said.
Said Alston: "I think me and Bruce talked with him and told him the importance of it, and he said he didn’t know that."
He said he hadn't been controlling Parks, as others have suggested.
"John is just a good guy trying to do what's right," Alston said.
Comments (1)
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Nate, if you were able to see fully all aspects of the relatively recent history of our city and county governments, you would probably find many other similar instances of influence wielded over elected officials by Simkins machine principals. The Parks example you offer is particularly egregious and blatant.
Posted on September 26, 2006 4:47 PM