GREENSBORO, N.C. — For months, the Guilford County School Board and Guilford County Republican Party have argued about who should fill a vacant Guilford County School Board seat.
In April, the board appointed Bill Goebel to fill the seat.
After nearly three months, the Guilford County Republican may not be able to keep his seat for much longer.
Bill Goebel was appointed to serve on the GCS board in April after the school board, discovered a loophole in legislation passed in Raleigh that would have seated, Michael Logan.
After he was sworn in, Goebel was censured by the Guilford County Republican party.
In May, the Guilford County Republican party charged Gobel with party disloyalty.
Later that same month, two Republicans on the school board, Amy Pratt and Linda Welborn along with Michael Logan filed a civil suit against all seven of the other board members.
The lawsuit questions Goebel's position on the board and also claims there were unauthorized meetings with those seven people, including Goebel, in an effort to seat him instead of Michael Logan.
At the time, Logan did not have enough support from the board members to assume the seat.
"I never met anybody on the board before. I met Diane Small one time, a long time ago and I remember Linda Wilburn came up and introduce herself. I did not know who she was. So, I had no contact with anybody on the board prior to prior to that day of April 4," said Goebel.
Now, the legislature is once again getting involved in the matter.
Senate Bill 9 could take the process back to square one.
If passed, the bill would remove Goebel and allow for the county party to nominate someone, who must me given the oath of office at the next school board meeting.
A statement from Representative John Hardister(R) read in part: "in my view, this saga has been unfortunate and unnecessary, and the dilemma should be rectified."
"I’m absolutely being bullied," said Goebel. "They are trying to get me to resign and put enough pressure on me, but they don't know me. I don't back down. In fact, if anything, it makes the pedal go faster and harder."
According to Guilford County GOP chair, Chris Meadows, the disloyalty charges are essentially on hold for the time being until this legislation is passed.
In an email to WFMY News 2, Meadows said, "We have not dismissed the Party Disloyalty charges. We postponed the vote until we get a final resolution from the General Assembly. The legislation will remove an illegally appointed member to the Board of Education, in this case Bill Goebel, and will be effective at the time of passage of the bill."
According to Meadows, Goebel could be off the board as soon as their next scheduled meeting on July 18th.
Goebel said that he was not going to give up, saying that he has already started campaigning to run for the school board in 2024. with plans to officially file in December.
"We’re going to go full steam ahead, and it’s unfortunate that the Republicans feel that they don’t find me loyal enough or Republican enough to support me," said Goebel. "When I win the seat, I will be I will be very very gracious to them and throw out an olive leaf and say 'what’s past is past let’s move forward for the right focus on the kids.' I keep saying the main thing, the main thing is the kids and the parents of the kids. Forget about Bill Goebel, forget about Mike Logan, what’s right for the kids?"