CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners will vote for Wilhelmenia Rembert to temporarily fill the empty at-Large County Commissioner seat.
The seat is currently open due to the Board approving a Commissioner At-Large Ella Scarborough’s request for medical leave back in February.
Rembert was up against three other candidates for the empty at large county commission seat left open by Ella Scarborough.
Commissioners said she led the pack of finalists
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“Dr. Rembert, she, wow, she had such depth of understanding," Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, the District 6 Commissioner.
Rembert is a former At-Large County Commissioner, serving as Vice-Chair between 2004-2006, and a former member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board.
The board asked the candidates questions from a set of predetermined 8 questions covering the topics of budgeting, equity, resident engagement, personal reflection, and teamwork.
Each candidate had three minutes of open and closing statements. Followed by questions the board members asked them which they had up to 7 minutes to answer.
"When I decided on how I wanted to live my professional life, I chose the profession of service, to give back to my community to serve individuals, families, communities, organizations," Rembert said.
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Commissioners also considered Beverly Earle a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives who served District 101, which covers Mecklenburg County, from 1995 to 2018.
"The many leadership positions that I have held has prepared me for this position," Earle said. "I have displayed my ability to work with others on many levels. I can work across party lines, which is very, very important in politics.”
Also in contention was Mary McCray a former at-large member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education. McCray said she served as board chair for seven years.
“I stand before you not seeking another school board term, but as a former elected official who has served the people here in Mecklenburg County," McCray said. "I have the dedication, the time and capacity to help those constituents who may have been overlooked.”
Also in the running was democratic communications and strategist expert, Sam Spencer. He also chaired the Charlotte Meckenburg Planning Commission for several years.
"I'm usually the campaign manager, I'm the communicator, I'm the guy behind the curtain. And I think leading from behind is very important," Spencer said. "And at this moment in time when we have so many competing interests in government, and we have some people honestly, who want to burn it all down."
Commissioners said it came down to how Rembert answered the interview questions.
"She's process-oriented," said George Dunlap, the Meck BOCC Board Chair. "There was not one question that she did not answer. Some of the other candidates attempted to answer some questions but didn't follow the process."
In response to an answer about how Rembert would handle competing needs in a budget, she talked about her past experiences on the board.
"The benefit the county has today is that the county is certainly in a much better position than I found myself in when I was in those roles," Rembert said. " And I had to build those budgets by having the persons directly reporting to me evaluate what their needs were, not what their wants were, but what the needs were."
The board was also impressed with her clarity on answering a question asking candidates to name one thing they feel most needs additional resources if new resources were available.
"Because you asked me to be specific, I want to do that and say that I would select affordable housing," Rembert said. "And I would do that because of the rising incidence and prevalence of homelessness in our community."
When discussing the candidate's interviews, before submitting a recommendation, Dunlap said this answer made her stand out.
"When we asked you to give us one many of the candidates gave us several," Dunlap said. "Now there was a reason for asking for that one thing because I would agree with all of the candidates, certainly everything that was mentioned is important. But what we wanted to know was what was that one thing?"
The Board will ultimately vote to appoint Rembert to serve as a temporary At-Large County Commissioner through Dec. 5, 2022. The new commissioner will be sworn in during a ceremony on March 22 when the term beings.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.