Law allows party to fill Scarborough’s seat after death. Will county keep interim appointee?
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In one of the most heated meetings of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners this year, members in February voted to fill commissioner Ella Scarborough’s seat with an interim replacement while Scarborough was on medical leave.
Scarborough, who died May 24, was ill and unable to attend meetings in the months leading up to February. Her death brought tears to the dais and memories of how the trailblazing Black woman became an icon for racial representation in Charlotte government.
Though state statute opens up another option, Scarborough’s interim replacement, Wilhelmenia Rembert, will likely finish out the term through December.
I asked Gerry Cohen, the former legislative director at the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh, what typically happens when a county commissioner dies. State law, he said, allows the Mecklenburg County Democratic Executive Committee to pick a replacement within 30 days of a county commissioner’s death.
The local Democratic Party then submits its nominee to the Board of County Commissioners, which accepts the decision, Cohen said.
The statute says: The commissioners or chair of the county commission “shall appoint the person recommended by the county executive committee of the political party of which the commissioner being replaced was a member, if the party makes a recommendation within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy.”
Jane Whitley, chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, said she hadn’t completely made up her mind, but said the party is unlikely to follow that process.
She added that it isn’t required; it just opens up the option if the party chooses. Rembert’s work so far and her reputation, combined with the logistical headache of holding a party election, are nudging her to skip a new nomination process.
If the party were to nominate someone, there are two obvious choices.
The first is Arthur Griffin. The former school board chairman was the second-highest vote-getter in the May primary election. There is just one Republican running in the general election, Tatyana Thulien, and the Democrats are favored to win. In other words, Griffin is likely to be the newest at-large county commissioner.
The strongest argument to nominate Griffin is that he advanced through the primary. He’s the only person in the county who isn’t currently serving as a county commissioner and was elected to serve as one by Democratic primary voters this year.
The second most likely option is Rembert, who told me she would not object if the party selected someone else.
“I understood when I came into the position that it was temporary,” she said.
Griffin told me he doesn’t like the idea of a new replacement. The county commissioners already decided who would fill the interim role, he argued, and the voters decided who their Democratic nominees were.
So why fix what ain’t broke?
He also argued it’d be appropriate to have a Black woman serve the remainder of Scarborough’s term. Rembert is a Black woman and previously served as vice chair of the Board of County Commissioners.
“I think the replacement process has worked well and I don’t think the party should institute a different process,” he said. “It makes no practical sense to do that.”
Cohen told me county commissioners could fill the role with whoever they choose if the party doesn’t submit a nominee within 30 days of Scarborough’s death. When they nominated Rembert, though, they appointed her to serve the remainder of the term.
It’s also unclear what difference it might make to have Griffin versus Rembert. The most pressing issue in front of the board right now is the county’s proposed budget. It includes funding for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and a decision on whether to close the juvenile detention facility, among other things.
Griffin said he wasn’t educated enough on the proposed budget to comment on CMS’ allotment. The county is proposing giving the schools less money than the district asked for. Rembert said she was open to hearing the schools’ arguments, but she added there are other critical, competing demands that might need the money more.
It’s unlikely the county could adopt Scarborough’s permanent replacement by then, anyway. The commissioners are taking straw votes on the budget on June 15-16 and expected to make a final vote June 22.
“Dr. Rembert is doing a fantastic job by all accounts,” Whitley said, adding that it would “probably be in the best interest of the community and the party” for her to complete the term.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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