The general public will be able to attend Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioner meetings in-person sometime in June for the first time in more than a year, County Manager Dena Diorio said Friday. Commissioners returned to in-person meetings in early May after more than a year of meeting virtually because of the pandemic.
WFAE
Mecklenburg County commissioners were surprised Ella Scarborough ran for reelection last year. She finished with more votes than any other Commission candidate.
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Ella Scarborough is an icon in local politics as the first African American woman elected to the Charlotte City Council, in 1987.
But in recent years, Scarborough, who is 75, has been struggling to participate in meetings and follow discussions, according to six current and former commissioners.
They declined to speak on the record because they don’t want to tarnish Scarborough s distinguished career.
Because of Scarborough s health, they said they were surprised she ran for reelection as an at-large candidate in 2020.
Updated protections would address discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations in the area. Author: Emma Korynta, WCNC Staff Published: 11:39 PM EDT May 24, 2021 Updated: 11:41 PM EDT May 24, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Monday night, LGBTQ advocates and civil rights groups held a rally at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center in Uptown Charlotte. Event organizers are calling for Charlotte City Council to pass nondiscrimination ordinances.
Updated protections would address discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations in the area. We ve sent thousands of emails, thousands of phone calls, and we re not getting the movement we need from our city council, said Cameron Pruette, president of the Mecklenburg County chapter of the LGBTQ Democrats of NC.
/ Mecklenburg Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell said County Manager Dena Diorio s plan to withhold $56 million from CMS made the school system a scapegoat.
Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio and Commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell clashed Tuesday night over Diorio’s proposal to withhold $56 million from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools over long-standing achievement gaps between white and minority students.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Rodriguez-McDowell criticized that proposal, which must be approved by county commissioners as part of the upcoming budget.
“We are not acting as true partners to solve a problem,” Rodriguez-McDowell said. “Instead, we have created a scapegoat. This plan is punitive in nature. No Child Left Behind was a failure, and this idea of tying of funding to outcomes is unbelievably short-sighted when we have a system that is woefully underfunded by our state.”