On November 4th, the citizens of Mecklenburg County made it clear who they want to be the next chairman of the county commission: Pat Cotham. Cotham received a significantly larger number of votes than any other candidate. Cotham received 24.03% of the vote and was the only county commissioner to received a vote from the majority of Mecklenburg voters (55.06% of voters cast a ballot for her). No at-large candidate has received close to 24% of the vote in at least two decades. Cotham has been a true voice of leadership on the commission. Her leadership led to significant progress in 2013. Most notably, she helped fix the flawed 2011 tax revaluation and gave taxpayers back millions of dollars in taxes they did not owe. She was not alone during that time as many of her board members supported her. Her unwavering conviction to do what is right, rather than what is easy, has made Mecklenburg County a better place to live.

The chair also is the leading voice on the BOCC. This voice must not only try to represent all nine commissioners, but also the one million residents of Mecklenburg County. Cotham brought an approach of real bipartisan problem solving to the County Commission that Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike endorsed this election. To not make Cotham the chairman is disrespectful to the voters of Mecklenburg County. Therefore you are urged to vote to make Pat Cotham the next Chairman of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners.