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The nine-member Board of County Commissioners is the governing body of Mecklenburg County. Elections are held in November of even-numbered years, and Commissioners elect a chairman and vice-chairman during their first meeting each December. Six Commissioners are elected by district and three at-large Commissioners are elected by county-wide vote.
Important Information
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Chairman Jennifer Roberts is a Democrat elected at-large for her second term on the board. Roberts was executive director of the Charlotte World Affairs Council from 1997 until 2002. She is currently an adjunct professor in the International Studies Department at UNC-Charlotte. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and has a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC and a Masters in European History from the University of Toronto. |
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Vice-Chairman Parks Helms is serving his eighth consecutive term on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, elected at-large. He was first elected to the County Commission in 1992, and served as chairman during five of his seven terms. Helms was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1974-1984, He was chairman of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party from 1986-1987. A Charlotte native, Helms earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. |
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Dan Ramirez, a Republican, was elected to the Board in 2002 and 2006, both times at-large. He works for Nova Digital Systems in Charlotte. Ramirez is founder and chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of North Carolina, an affiliate of the Republican National Committee. He earned his BS at University of Grancolombia in Bogota, Colombia and he studied Minority Business Enterprise Program MBEP and Advanced Minority Business Enterprise AMBEP at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. |
District 1
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Karen Bentley, a Republican, was elected to her first term on the Board in 2006 representing District 1. This is her first elected office. Bentley served as President of the Lake Norman Charter School PTO. She also served as President of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Republican Women's Club in 2004. Bentley was part of the grassroots effort to study the deconsolidation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2005 & 2006. |
District 2
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Norman A. Mitchell, Sr., a Democrat, is serving his fifth term on the Board representing District 2. Mitchell is retired from the U.S. Postal Service, and is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam where he was wounded in combat and received the Purple Heart. Mitchell serves on the Homeland Security Task Force and Human Services Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties (NACo). |
District 3
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Valerie Woodard, a Democrat, is serving her third term on the Board representing District 3. She is a National NAACP Trustee, a certified mediator, and a graduate of Focus on Leadership. She is a Deaconess at Saint Paul Baptist Church and a member of the Golden Hue #15, Order of the Eastern Star. Woodard, a former criminal investigator in the Office of the Public Defender, is a conflict resolution consultant. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from UNC-Charlotte and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia College in Columbia, S.C.
Note: Commissioner Woodard died Friday, October 3, 2008. The Mecklenburg County Democratic Party will chose her District 3 replacement. |
District 4
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Dumont Clarke, a Democrat, is serving his fourth term on the Board representing District 4. Clarke is an attorney who concentrates his practice in corporate finance with the law firm of Moore and Van Allen PLLC. He is a former member of the Mecklenburg County Citizens Capital Budget Advisory Committee, which helps the Board prioritize its capital spending. He graduated from Vassar College in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and he earned his law degree four years later at UNC-Chapel Hill. |
District 5
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J. Daniel Bishop, a Republican, is serving his second term on the Board representing District 5. He also serves on the Effective and Efficient Government, Natural Resources and Education Liaison Committees. Bishop is a native Charlottean, having graduated from South Mecklenburg High School. He received his B.S. in Business Administration in 1986 from UNC-Chapel Hill with highest distinction, and his law degree with high honors, in 1990. |
District 6
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Bill James, a Republican, is serving his sixth term on the Board representing District 6. James serves on the Board's Community, Health and Safety Committee and has served as the chair of the Effective and Efficient Government Committee. James served as the first Chairman of the City of Charlotte's Privatization Advisory Committee. He earned his MBA in accounting from Nova-Southeastern University and a B.S. in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University. |
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Meetings
Regular meetings of the Board are generally held the first and third Tuesdays of each month beginning at 6 p.m. in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. Meetings are open to the public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is my Commissioner? Use the Address Information Center to locate all your representatives.
Where is my district? View the map of County Commission districts.
How do I contact a Commissioner? Download the BOCC address list or email all nine commissioners at once.
Duties
The Board's major responsibilities include adopting the annual County budget, setting the County property tax rate, and assessing and establishing priorities on the many community needs, especially those related to health, education, welfare, mental health and the environment. The Board also makes appointments to citizen advisory committees.
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