Cabarrus County caps tumultuous year by swearing in second new commissioner
Capping a year marked by vacancies, lawsuits and shifting appointment rules, the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners on Monday night swore in its second new member this year and elected new leadership.
Ian Patrick, a former Harrisburg Town Council member appointed by the Cabarrus County Republican Party, was approved unanimously to replace Commissioner Lynn Shue, who died last month. His swearing-in followed a 4-0 vote of the board, restoring the commission to a full slate. The appointment to a term ending in November 2026 carried heightened stakes after earlier disputes over board vacancies prompted state lawmakers to change the law this year.
Under the new state law, the political party of a departing commissioner selects a replacement, which the board then votes to approve. The statute does not clearly spell out what would happen if commissioners failed to approve a nominee, leaving open questions about how a stalemate would be resolved.
Commissioner Kenny Wortman said after the meeting that he did not want to challenge the law by voting against Patrick, but that lawmakers should consider clarifying the language about what the commission’s role is.
“I think it should be addressed,” Wortman said. “It says we ‘shall appoint,’ but an appointment means they vote… We honored what it said, but it might be something they should look at in the future.”
With Patrick seated, commissioners immediately turned to selecting new leadership – votes that may offer an early indication of how the reconstituted board may align with each other.
Commissioner Larry Pittman nominated Commissioner Laura Blackwell Lindsey to serve as chair. Patrick seconded the nomination, which passed on a 4-1 vote, with Wortman dissenting. Pittman then nominated Patrick to serve as vice chair, a motion Lindsey seconded. That vote passed unanimously.
Asked why he did not offer an alternative nomination for chair, Wortman said he and Lindsey “just have some differences,” adding that he hoped she would “do a great job.”
Lindsey and Pittman are frequently aligned with each other on contentious issues, leaning more conservative than Wortman, the board’s only non-Republican, and Commissioner Jeff Jones. Earlier this year, that conservative bloc included state Rep. Chris Measmer, who left the board to take a seat in the North Carolina General Assembly. Measmer’s departure triggered the first vacancy of the year and a prolonged dispute over how the seat should be filled.
In Measmer’s case, commissioners voted to appoint a replacement before the seat was officially vacant, prompting a lawsuit and a judge’s injunction. When commissioners later failed to reach a quorum, the decision ultimately fell to the Cabarrus County clerk of court, who appointed Jones.
The vacancy left by Measmer spanned nearly two months and left the commission gridlocked on many issues. Since Shue died, the board has only held one regular meeting with a four-member board.
Even before the vacancies, the commission was embroiled in controversy. In January, a split board abruptly fired longtime County Manager Mike Downs and the county attorney. The county later settled a lawsuit with Downs for $488,000 in unpaid severance.
Commissioners also sparred over Downs’ replacement after it emerged that the candidate had a previously undisclosed business relationship with Measmer. Wortman, Shue and Jones ultimately voted to fire that manager after just five months on the job.
During brief remarks Monday night, Patrick thanked commissioners and party leaders for the appointment and said he was “honored and humbled” to serve. Patrick said he understood the responsibility of filling Shue’s seat and expressed hope that the board would consider naming a county project in Shue’s honor to recognize his decades of service.
