‘Critically worried’: Mecklenburg County commission candidates clash over education
A forum-turned-debate at the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg unearthed disagreements between candidates running for the Board of County Commissioners, with education serving as the most contentious point.
Four candidates, including two incumbents, spent time Thursday trying to undercut Jennifer De La Jara, a school board member running for a county commissioner seat.
In her opening remarks, commissioner Vilma Leake told the audience education should be top of mind for the county and children who received a poor education are too often bound for poverty.
“The school board is failing children who look like me,” said Leake, who is Black and a former member of the school board.
Commissioner Pat Cotham also opened up with a shot against De La Jara. Former school board chairman Arthur Griffin and Yvette Townsend-Ingram set their sights on her as well.
“Those lives, as they continue to go on, what will be their future?” Cotham said, referring to Black students at under-performing schools. “We are critically worried about this and the public is as well.”
De La Jara, an at-large school board member elected in 2019, told the crowd her primary mission as a county commissioner would be a united governmental front to improve life across the county — particularly for minority neighborhoods.
She said the government too often works in silos, with the city doing one thing, the county doing another and the school board doing yet another.
One way to improve outcomes for Black students, she said, is to focus also on their lives outside of the classroom. Some of that responsibility falls to the Board of County Commissioners. She added the board has discussed improving outcomes at low-performing schools and that she hosted a call less then two weeks ago to address these concerns.
“As we focus on reducing those disparities in our community, that also impacts our students,” De La Jara said.
Candidates speak on taxes, transit
The caucus also asked candidates whether they agreed with its proposal to only approve a new sales tax for transit expansion if it comes with certain guarantees about the impact on Black communities, including increased minority vendor participation and anti-displacement measures.
Commissioner Leigh Altman said the county “can honor promises made and we can protect those most impacted by new mass transit,” but she did not give a yes or no commitment to the caucus’ demands.
Leake also did not say “yes” or “no.”
“Whenever they want to raise taxes, here they come running to the Black community to support it,” often without Black residents reaping the benefits, Leake said.
De La Jara said she agrees the county should have a “robust program” to avoid displacement, but also did not give a yes-or-no answer.
Griffin, Trina Boyd and Yvette Townsend-Ingram all said they supported the contingencies. Cotham said she wished the caucus asked for more guarantees.
No candidate said the county should increase taxes to pay for additional programs and keep up with the needs of growth.
Altman said County Manager Dena Diorio has worked to cut under-performing programs, which increases efficiency of county government, and pointed to a recent deal the county led to bring in the city’s first medical school.
Efforts like that, Altman said, bring in large amounts of tax revenue paid by corporations rather than individuals.
“We want to do everything we can to not raise taxes,” she said.
Who’s running? Who participated?
The Board of County Commissioners includes six district representatives and three at-large members who represent the whole county.
Every incumbent other than Ella Scarborough, who is on medical leave and is not expected to return, is running for reelection.
Of those running for reelection, most will not have a competitive primary in May.
Leake faces Angela Edwards, who lost to Leake in 2018 by a wide margin and did not come to the caucus’ forum on Thursday. Two Republicans, Desiree Zapata Miller and Jeremy Brasch, are competing in the primary for District 6, which includes southern Mecklenburg County.
Other candidates running in the at-large race will face competition. With Scarborough not running for reelection, there is one open seat.
Cotham and Altman face De La Jara, Griffin, Ingram and Boyd. All of them came to the Black Political Caucus forum.
The primary is May 17.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 1:14 PM.
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