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The crazy system Mecklenburg County uses to fill a vacancy for sheriff resembles the Iowa caucuses (although only a few get to participate) and has created a political mess, as reported by the Charlotte Observer (latest story here).

Oh, no! Guilford County has the same system.

So do Alamance, Rockingham, Stokes, Forsyth, Davidson and Randolph counties. In fact, 45 North Carolina counties in all.

But not 55 others.

What the heck?

Here's what state law says: "Every sheriff may vacate his office by resigning the same to the board of county commissioners of his county; and thereupon the board may proceed to elect another sheriff."

That's simple.

But here's what state law also says: "If the sheriff were elected as a nominee of a political party, the board of commissioners shall consult the county executive committee of that political party before filling the vacancy, and shall elect the person recommended by the county executive committee of that party ..."

That provision applies in 45 counties specifically listed.

How bizarre is that?

What it potentially means for Guilford County is that, should Sheriff BJ Barnes vacate his office, the Guilford County Republican Party Executive Committee gets to pick his replacement for the duration of his term.

Maybe that sounds fair to Republicans. After all, voters elected a Republican sheriff.

Well, yes, Barnes is a Republican. Does that mean they would not have elected Barnes if Barnes were a Democrat? No. More likely, they elected the man, not the party.

Besides, all the voters of Guilford County had a say, not just the Republicans.

If commissioners make the selection, they might pick a Democrat. Democrats do hold a majority on the board. But at least commissioners collectively represent everybody in Guilford County, not just one party.

Furthermore, commissioners would have to make their selection in public. A political party can conduct its business in private. And that process was manipulated in Mecklenburg County to the point of choosing someone whose credentials are highly suspect, creating a big controversy and, for the past several weeks, leaving an impasse that might take months and maybe even lawsuits to sort out.

Do we want that here?

I'm working on an editorial for publication next week that will recommend a change in state law. Let's have one method of filling vacancies applicable to all 100 counties, and let's have it make sense.

Your opinion about how vacancies for sheriff should be filled?

Do you feel safe in the Triad? If not, what would make you feel more secure?

In today's paper, columnist Charles Davenport writes about what seems to be an uptick in our area of people carrying guns for self-protection. Are you carrying or thinking about carrying a gun for self-protection? Or are you looking at other ways to help ensure your and your family's safety? Or would more police or a community action, such as a neighborhood watch program, help you feel more secure?

It could be that you do feel safe, and we'd like to hear about that, too.

We look forward to hearing your views.

The chancellor search process at UNCG is under way with a committee formed and a public meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

"The committee will interview search firms from 2-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, in the Chancellor's Board Room in Mossman Building on campus. The sessions are open to the public and parking will be in the Walker Avenue Parking Deck," the university says in a news release.

Also planned are public forums, Jan. 23 and 24, aimed to solicit input about the qualities desired in Pat Sullivan's replacement.

The university also says it will establish a Web site with regular updates about the search.

UNC-Chapel Hill has done that in regard to its search for a successor to James Moeser, which began a few months ahead of UNCG. The site provides lots of information, including minutes of committee meetings.

All to the good. The chancellor of a state university holds an important public position, and there's intense public interest in the person chosen. Which is why we hope the search committees are very open with the public.

That should include releasing the names of finalists for the position when the committees get that far.

Appalachian State disclosed all six of its finalists back in 2004, but that's rare. More the norm was the search at A&T, where Stanley Battle was simply introduced as the choice.

(The chancellor is selected by the UNC system president from three finalists presented by the trustees of the individual university.)

Search committees usually decline to name finalists, saying that sort of openness discourages applicants. That could be, but ASU's search chairman said they didn't lose a single applicant because of their open process.

The university community -- students, faculty, staff, alumni -- and the community at large should have a chance to get an impression of the finalists for this important public position. How else can they get an idea of the variety of talents and diversity of experience from which the president can choose?

Your views on this subject?

The Sunday News & Record will contain a package of stories focusing on underage drinking, including a look at a new state law that stiffens penalties against those who purchase or provide alcohol to minors. The law is tough: If you are found guilty of breaking it, you could lose your driver's license for a year. The editorial board will write an editorial to run that day on the topic.

While the law is tough, we support it. In our car-dependent culture, it certainly would be a strong deterrent to buying a six-pack for some older kids. And the law does grant limited driving privileges for those found guilty, such as driving to and from work.

But we would like your input on the law. Do you think it will decrease underage drinking? Or do you think other measures also need to be taken? If so, what are they?

Do you think adults in our area view drinking by older teens too lightly? That because kids aren't using illegal drugs, they aren't that concerned?

Do you think adults in our area are complacent about drinking by high school and college students?

Tell us what you think.

Should North Carolina change the date of its presidential primary?

Many states have moved up their primaries. Should North Carolina? Or is the solution a national primary, with every state havings its primary on the same day? Or maybe you have another idea.

We're huddling tomorrow with some News Department folks to brainstorm some ideas about election coverage.

Last year, we tried a number of things we hadn't done before, including:

1. An election blog
2. A video mayoral debate
3. Video statements from any City Council candidate who chose to make them.
4. Town meetings on election issues in Districts 1 and 3.

What would you as a reader like to see in 2008, both from a news and opinion standpoint? Please share your ideas and we'll be glad to consider them.

Jason Hardin reports on yesterday's water summit at Pinecroft Sedgefield Fire Department. The meeting, led by Gov. Easley, gave an indication of some of the large questions that must be addressed as the state faces possible water shortages ahead.

One is sharing. Some cities are much better supplied with water than others. To what extent should the state "encourage" them to help supply neighbors?

Of course, financial considerations provide a certain amount of encouragement. Cities with excess supplies can make a lot of money selling water. They could be expected to charge premium rates.

At some point, however, even those cities might feel the need to hold back for a non-rainy day. They might resent suggestions that they should part with more of their reserves than they think prudent, especially if they think they've planned or managed better than their drier buyers.

So, when it comes to water, should all communities in North Carolina climb into the same boat, or float or run aground on their own?

Update, Jan. 16: Here's our editorial, published today.

After deadline yesterday, I received a call from Renee Hoffman in the governor's office responding to my question about what he could do, hypothetically, to compel one community to share water with another experiencing a crisis. She said the governor's emergency powers allow him to do whatever is necessary to ensure public health and safety.

That presents interesting possibilities, doesn't it?

Christmas break extended from Dec. 20 through Jan. 1 for Alamance-Burlington schools.

That wasn't long enough for many students at Cummings High School, who took extra time to visit relatives in Mexico.

The absences likely will hurt their performances on first-semester end-of-course tests this week.

What to do? Cummings administrators propose starting the school year two weeks earlier so they can complete the first semester in December.

The Burlington Times-News reports the story today.

My first reaction was that this was a terrible concession. I'm also incensed by parents who apparently don't care that their kids might fail. If they did care, they'd get their kids to school every single day.

But then I began to consider the other angles. Let's face it. Lots of parents in every community fail to support their kids' education. The schools have to do the best they can, anyway.

So, what's that in this case?

Remember when the school year started in early-to-mid August? Then the legislature stepped in, prompted mostly by the coastal tourist industry, and decreed schools couldn't open before Aug. 25.

Our editorial board opposed that move, primarily for two reasons:

It would push the first semester into January, making it more difficult to students to come back from Christmas break and face exams.

And the school calendar ought to be set by local school boards for whatever reasons they deem best. Why should legislators barge in to accommodate commercial interests?

Applying those two arguments, I'd say if the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education decides it's better for the academic progress of students at Cummings to begin the school year earlier in August so that the first semester can be completed before the Christmas break, the state ought to go along.

(Here's the state report card for Cummings. It's not good. Changing the calendar can't hurt.)

What's your opinion?

That's the premise of an editorial I'm working on for Sunday, in light of Martlin Luther King Jr. Day and King's views on the role of the church in the community.

According to a 2007 social capital study, Greensboro residents are more involved than most in their churches, mosques and synagogues.

They give more to religious and nonreligious chariites than the national average, despite lower-than-average median wages.

They attend religious services more frequently than residents in their peer cities.

Ironically, however, they trust each other as much as residents in peer cities. What's up with that?

We wonder if our religious institutions are an asset that should be better leveraged for the good of the community.

One example is the meeting this week among primarily faith leaders to consider how churches can help address the problem of youth crime.

Can our religious institutions do more as agents of social change? Should they? Are they working together as much as they could or should?

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The minimum-wage campaign, whose members worked very hard to gather thousands of signatures on petitions over the past year, met with apparent final rejection by the Greensboro City Council late in a very long meeting Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

We never supported this issue editorially, believing that higher wages come from better jobs and, ultimately, from having a well-educated work force.

The city attorney's office also argued that state law doesn't allow cities to set a minimum wage higher than the statewide minimum wage.

Finally, there was much confusion about the initiative and referendum process set out in city codes, particularly how to calculate the number of signatures required.

The entire episode has created frustration and some bitterness. It's regrettable that there wasn't better communication from the outset, which perhaps could have averted a lot of trouble and turmoil.

We think the power of citizen initiative and referendum is important. Residents shouldn't be made to feel the process is stacked against them, as some do now. True, citizens should strive to fully educate themselves. In this case, petitioners made a pretty obvious mistake and came up short on signatures, but people also should be given clear advice from city staff about all the requirements from the outset. These are provisions in the city codes, and the city has a responsibility to help residents utilize them.

What time should the school day start?

Adequate sleep is essential to good health (including weight control), to behavior and to learning. Does the early start of the school day rob kids of getting enough sleep and of doing well in school? What start times would be best for the various grades? If you are a parent of a schoolage child, does the school start time eat into your sleep as well as your that of your kids?

Thanks to Ed Cone, for mentioning this topic on his blog.

http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2008/01/pillow-talk.html#comments

And here is a link to the New York Times op-ed that he mentions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14kalish.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I'm working on an editorial about how the Guilford County school board should go about finding a new superintendent.

And when.

We're more sure about the first question than the second.

The how-to model was set by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board two years ago.

You remember, of course, that Terry Grier was one of three finalists there.

You knew that because C-M identified its three finalists and put them through a series of public meetings.

Here's our report about those proceedings.

I spoke earlier today with Joe White, then and now the chairman of the C-M Board of Education. His counterparts here in Guilford might want to do the same.

White said his board gathered public input from the start about the qualities people wanted in a superintendent. Then it hired a search firm, and they all worked out specific criteria.

Eventually, nine or 10 semifinalists were picked, and the board interviewed them privately. But it explained that its three finalists would have to agree to public scrutiny. All did, although some reluctantly.

Putting the final three -- Grier, Frances Haithcock and Peter Gorman -- through such a thorough and gruelling process produced a very good result, White believes. It helped make sure that the public and key constituent groups would accept the final selection -- who turned out to be Gorman.

(Further back, the Guilford board used a similar process when it hired Grier in 2000, identifying two finalists and introducing them at public Q&A meetings. That was good but not nearly as intense as C-M's exercises.)

Not getting the C-M position didn't seem to hurt Grier, who's heading for San Diego, or Haithcock, who landed a top job with Florida's department of public instruction.

So that's the how. What about the when?

This is an election year, with six school board seats up in November. Potentially, a majority of the board could turn over.

So, should the current board wait to name a new superintendent, letting the board seated after November make that decision?

White told me that's the route he would take in similar circumstances: "Had I been going off the board I would have wanted the person replacing me to make that decision," he said.

That's logical. It would be awkward for new board members to inherit a brand-new superintendent they had not hired, and it might be equally awkward for the new superintendent. Just think if you were hired for a new job only to find a new boss coming in right after you started. It might make you nervous.

But a new board won't be seated until December. Should the search process be put on hold for several months? Grier will be gone by July, if not sooner. Who will run the system until a new superintendent is hired?

We're not decided on this question. Please feel free to help us out.

The editorial board is looking at writing about the Guilford County Schools policy of providing free breakfasts for all students at schools that have at least 70 percent of students receiving free or reduced lunches.

See this story for information on it.

We are watching the still-developing story about the police shooting following a chase from Four Seasons Town Centre.

Here's what we do know, according to the News & Record's coverage:

An off-duty police officer who has been working at the mall shot and killed a man on Wednesday night. The man was suspected of running off with an engagement ring from a mall jewelry store.

Police today identified the man as Emile Baptist Williams of Raleigh but did not release his age.

A car chase along I-40 East. The officer, W.M. Symmes, was driving a police-issued unmarked SUV and Williams was driving a Honda Accord. The chase approached speeds of nearly 100 mph.

Here's what we need to know:

Did the officer seek approval from a supervisor to engage in the chase?

Why was the use of deadly force necessary? Did Williams shoot first? Did he shoot at all?

All we can say definitively at this point is that we appreciate the officer's sense of duty and initiative, but we question the need for a high-speed chase, which can place other motorists and bystanders in harm's way.

Our fanciful view of the ideal leader for a state university ...

UNCG should hire this person ... if she exists.

What qualities would you like in the next superintendent of Guilford County Schools?

The news side asked that question already, but just in case you didn't get a chance to answer it -- and would like your response in next Sunday's paper --- we are asking it again.