Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones thanked the well-wishers who sent him cards and emails or called, then closed his comments at Wednesday's county commissioners meeting by urging the board to get along.

Late last month, as sniping among commissioners intensified, Jones said he was beginning intensive treatment for an illness he has yet to disclose.

On Wednesday, he told commissioners he's experienced "significant growth personally and significant spiritual growth" through his "ordeal."

As he undergoes treatment, Jones has continued to work. "I've been accessible every day," he said. He said he still may be forced to take a leave of absence and would disclose the illness when it was appropriate.

Jones then urged commissioners to look beyond political and personal differences to work for the county. But it wasn't clear Wednesday that commissioners took his words to heart.

Democrat Harold Cogdell and fellow Democrats have been bickering since early December after he ousted Democrat Jennifer Roberts as chair by allying with the board's four Republicans.

Then during the Dec. 20 meeting, Cogdell's first as chairman, Democrat Vilma Leake asked Cogdell why her chair had been moved to the end of the dais next to Jones, while Republican Neil Cooksey was moved closer to the middle where she once sat. Cogdell told Leake the issue wasn't on the agenda and quickly moved on.

So Leake, with Roberts and Democrat George Dunlap, had the issue added to Wednesday's agenda.

On Wednesday, Leake told fellow commissioners that she'd found a note after the Dec. 20 meeting. She said it was from another commissioner and that she believed it had been slipped to Cogdell during the meeting. The note, she said, read: "Tell her the truth. No one, Republican or Democrat, wants to sit next to her because she's so disruptive."

Leake said she felt attacked: "No one on this board works any harder than I do. ... I have not disrupted this meeting, nor have I, in any way, created any outburst. I am asking that we communicate with each other and that we be respectful."

She said she's not upset about where she's sitting, but how she's been treated. She said she asked the other Democrats if they'd asked not to sit next to her, and all said no.

At Wednesday's meeting, Roberts said she'd be happy to sit next to Leake. "Part of our ethics policy is to treat each other with respect," Roberts said. "It is clear Mrs. Leake feels publicly humiliated. Communication is at the heart of everything we do. Yes, we can differ in opinions on policy issues. But if we can't communicate with each other, then everything falls apart."