News-Record.com

This could become a situation similar to the kid caught chewing gum in class, when the teacher asks if there's enough for everybody.

A few weeks ago, Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman asked for an estimate on quarterly mileage reimbursements for volunteers on the county's nursing home advisory committee and the adult care committee.

Apparently the committemembers put a bunch of miles on their cars in the duty of running around and checking up on nursing homes and adult care facilities. They don't receive any per-mile reimbursement, and gas isn't getting cheaper, she noted.

County Manager David McNeill gave a cost estimate today: $10,000 a year.

The conversation is expected to continue next week in the county commissioners meeting.

But if those boards receive reimbursements, who else should? Is this an all-or-nothing deal for the other advisory boards and commissions? And where would the money come from?

Those were a few questions that Vice Chairwoman Kay Cashion and others had.

Questions that, McNeill said, only the board can answer.

Of the 60-plus advisory boards and commissions the county uses to run its business, just a few receive money. Planning board members receive $10 per meeting, for example. Here
are the others.

Could this kind of money be spread to all the boards, or is it fair to help those people putting miles on their cars to do the business of making sure our elderly are being treated well? Or is that simply the sacrifice someone makes to be a volunteer?

What if every volunteer was compensated for thier time on a board? What would change? What if nobody was?