News-Record.com

Longtime incumbent Guilford County Commissioner Melvin “Skip” Alston is a savvy and talented politician. Unfortunately, those attributes too often are overshadowed by belligerence, intimidation and a propensity to see nearly every issue from a racial perspective.

Next Tuesday, District 8 voters will decide whether Alston or opponent Greg Woodard will get the job. In this contest, the Democratic Party primary determines a winner.

Woodard, who has been active in several community and veterans-based organizations, last fall made an unsuccessful bid for an at-large seat on the Greensboro City Council. This time around, an ill-timed bout with pneumonia is preventing him from actively campaigning.

But despite his skimpy resume, he’s a better choice than Alston, who consistently squanders political capital by practicing his unique version of divide-and-conquer political hardball.

That said, Alston does deserve credit for pressuring the county into seeing that African Americans get a fair chance at county jobs and business contracts. His constituency and mission, as he sees it, stretch well beyond his own district.

But his tiresome, in-your-face tactics only serve to further hamper a board already prone to divisiveness — much to the county’s detriment. Not all issues can or should be viewed through a prism of black and white.

Woodard is an unknown quantity. Yet, if he were given the opportunity to serve, there’s every reason to believe he would respond well.

Woodard, who is white, faces an uphill fight in the overwhelmingly minority district. Not being able to campaign further reduces his already slim chances of winning.

Should Alston prevail as expected, he must take time to reassess his priorities and tone down the rhetoric.