(A summary of decisions made by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners:)

PROCLAMATIONS AND AWARDS. The Board proclaimed March 1, 2007 as Partners for Parks Day in Mecklenburg County.

PUBLIC APPEARANCES. The following people addressed the Board on items not on the agenda:

• Reverend Willie B Simpson spoke about the annual "We Care" Festival;
• Tariq Bokhari and Ashley Oster spoke about the Charlotte Chamber’s Young Professional Council;
• Patrice Ognodo spoke about the Taste of Africa;
• Martin Davis spoke about Parks Helms’ comments about Jim Black’s guilty plea.

APPOINTMENTS. The Board waived its attendance policy and allowed the following members to continue to serve out their terms on the Information Services & Technology Committee: Deborah Bell, Mike Brannon, Anne Marie Giuriceo, Chris Hughes, John Lillard, Joy Marshall, and Jon Vordermark. Chris Hughes was re-appointed for a three-year term.

JAIL CROWDING/DIVERSION OPTION. The Board received a report on short-term and long-term planning/solutions for jail overcrowding and information regarding jail diversion programs and strategies. This includes contracting with Kimme & Associates to conduct a needs assessment and provide recommendations to meet long-term jail space needs. The short-term approach will focus on renovations at Jail-North to increase the temporary capacity of that facility. In addition, Area Mental Health staff presented a concept for jail diversion solutions that would address the root cause of many crimes, which includes substance abuse and other mental health conditions.

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners met in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center on Tuesday, February 20, 2007. The meeting was televised live on The Government Channel, cable channel 16 and rebroadcast on WTVI at Midnight. The meeting is scheduled for re-telecast at various times on the Government Channel and GOV-TV, digital cable channel 232. Meetings are also available for viewing online.