acknowledgment as we convene for the Durham County Commissioner meeting it's crucial to recognize the painful truth of History we stand on the stolen ancestrial lands of the Kataba Eno okichi Shakari and tuscaro peoples whose deep connection to this land predates our arrival we acknowledge with humility the unjust displacement and violence that occurred leading to the disposition of indigenous peoples from their homelands their resilience in the face of such adversity is a testament to their strength and spirit may we humble may we humbly honor the ancestors and Elders of these nations both past and present by committing ourselves to fostering understanding healing and justice for all who inhabit this land let us walk forward together with Open Hearts acknowledging the past and embracing a future Guided by compassion respect and Unity thank you thank you Vice chair Burns uh commissioner Auten would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance
gov did you know that Durham County Youth participated in the 2024 election through kids voting Durham Durham's youth have spoken over 18,000 youth across Durham cast their ballot in the 2024 election in 51 participating schools at Durham libraries book Harvest and other community locations in the youth groups at election day precincts and online youth were able to voice
their votes for the candidates they wanted to lead see the KVD election results there is a link kids voting durham. m. m. on Saturday December 21st the game will pck the two the top two teams that Advance through the niia football championship
m. m. m. com and that concludes the announcements in tonight's agenda thank you clerk Wallace are there any
additional announcements from Commissioners Vice chair brns I had one I told um Dr Lewis who was here earlier for the reception that I would make this announcement for him raise your hand if you have a driver's license that is wonderful that means you can possibly go and get some CDLs raise your hands again if you have a driver's license oh all of you all about to be our new bus drivers he did it much better he did it much better but as many of you all have seen in the news they're going to a partial rotation uh for bus drivers uh I don't think we've ever had to do that in the history of D Public Schools one of the really beautiful things um that they are doing they're actually paying for the CDL course there is a signing bonus and they have gotten the state to approve if I'm not mistaken a more truncated course so in the event um if you have some time to pick up children in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon because we know they have better outcomes if they
get to school on time but we will share that information I'll get it to the clerk my apologies clerk for not getting it there but I I did tell Dr Lewis uh we don't want our kids to have to miss out on days of school I think we all know that we have our parents who are struggling to get to work and it's hard on them so if you know somebody by all means please tell them about this program and and please let's try to make sure that we do not have to reduce our birth Services here in dur public schools and if now I don't have my CDLs Lord have mercy I don't but my mama is here tonight and one of the things that I'm most proud of I'm not asking you to do anything I wouldn't ask my mama to do she did that for 20 years drove the bus before she taught in her classroom Mama raise your hand thank you so if if my mama can do it if my mama can do it y'all can do it too thank you so much that's my announcement and it's jamess plug about my mom's cooler than your mom thank you Vice chair Burns any other announcements okay with that we will
move to the minutes uh approving the minutes for our November 4th uh work session and our November 12th regular session I move that we approve the minutes second we move by commissioner Carter second by commissioner Jacobs all in favor say I I any opposed okay minutes are approved unanimously we'll now begin our ceremonial items while ma pass it on to manager Hager and while manager Hager is headed up we we it's customary that we do this we do have a few dignitaries in the audience I see city councilwoman DJ Freeman from the city of durm how are you this evening I also see former uh Schoolboard member city council member councilwoman Wagstaff I see Sheriff Burkhead I see president of Durham uh of Durham Tech JB buckon I see Senator Mike Woodard I also see our former School Board man javanna Lewis and shout out to the newly appointed mayor protim of Raleigh uh stormy for is also here so if I miss anybody blame my head not my heart but welcome welcome welcome to our
Chambers goodness and oh gosh also of great import uh we also have former Democratic leader and former Secretary of the North Carolina Department of mil V Affairs secretary Larry Hall hi sir Madame chair and members of the board good evening and thank you to everyone who was watching or who joined us we had quite a large crowd um for this special evening uh we are celebrating the service of our three dynamic talented County Commissioners who are participating in their final meeting I want to also thank everyone who joined us earlier and as I said there were quite a few who joined um to um personally say job well done to our
honores first I honestly uh want to say this feels like we're breaking up the band um certainly it has been a a special privilege and honor of our staff employees and the entire Durham Community to work with this historic all female Board of County Commissioners I am sure all of you recall the headlines from late 2020 when this board was established Durham's first entirely female board elected in its 139e history the swearing in of this all female Board of Commissioners is quite historic the first County Commission of all women elected in North Carolina the Durham Board of County Commissioners has influenced the narrative regarding diversity and Leadership a trend to keep watching and more and let me also remind everyone
this board took office when we were in the throws of co uh we had to literally figure out how we would um safely bring them in with their family and friends to be installed um but our team made it happened the first few um months of their meetings from December 2020 to early 2022 we're all remote um fortunately by March um 2022 we were able to transition back in person to regular meetings how time flies even in those circumstances the members of this special board proved themselves to be agile resilient and didn't miss a beat they worked together to see Duram County through a challenging period of a pandemic receiving vaccinations to comeb back the pandemic uh working with the community on key issues such as insights on decisions with the American Rescue plan act funds um to help our community
address the results of um trying to move forward past the pandemic past and strategic budgets investing in needing priorities and so many more um it has been our great Fortune to receive their innovative ideas passion professionalism and more Durham County is forever greater because of their efforts I would like to ask that commissioner namina Burns come and join me for a presentation please come and stand right beside for
we're just making up the roles now commissioner Burns it's a pleasure to present this plaque from your fellow board members that reads presented in grateful appreciation to numina Burns for dedicated service to the residents of Durham County as a member of the Durham County Board of County Commissioners and as Vice chair from 2023 to 2024 and service from 2020 to 2024 chair Nida Alam commissioner Heidi Carter, Commissioner Wendy Jacobs and commissioner Brenda Auten November 25th 2024 please join me and Applause for vice chair ntina Burns [Applause]
thank you Vice chair bur we'll just have you stand right there okay commissioner Haida Carter would you please come and join me over here and since we've changed protocol we're going to do it this way again it's my pleasure to share this plaque of appreciation with you from your fellow Commissioners and it reads present it in grateful appreciation to Heidi Carter for dedicated service to the residents of Durham County as a member of the Durham County Board of Commissioners 2016 to 2024 chair n Alam commissioner namash Burns commissioner Wendy Jacobs
and the commissioner Brenda Auten November 25th 2024 please join me an Applause for commissioner Heidi Carter [Applause] and now may I ask commissioner and former chair Brenda Auten to join me commissioner Auten I am pleased to present to you this plaque of appreciation for your fellow board members and it reads as follows present it in grateful appreciation to Brenda
Auten for dedicated service to the residents of Durham County as a member of the Durham Board of county commissioner and as chair from 2020 to 2023 and years of service from 2008 to 2024 chair n Alam commissioner nishina Burns commissioner Heidi Carter and commissioner Wendy Jacobs November 25th 2024 please join me in a round of applause [Applause] and if chair Alum and commissioner Jacobs would join for a photo as well
we e [Applause] as we return to our seats I will ask staff to please run the special video tribute to our leaders we're not done yet [Music]
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[Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Applause] Madam chair I now turn the program back over to you thank you manager Hagar I'll now bring it to our colleagues who are departing from the board starting with Vice chair Burns requested to go first I was also told it was in
alphabetical order so that's another reason I was told by Miss Deborah GRE way so I wouldn't be in a ham one second I got sworn in standing up I'mma leave standing up wait before you start you want to move can we move the mic down so it's not blocking you like the block of the M oh there you go on commissioner L all right she knew I was ready to from a closeup okay I do my best to be quick and everyone here knows that that's not true so um one first off and foremost I'm just really excited um about uh all the work that we've been
able to do and I'm G do my best to um stick to my script I don't know how I'm going to thank you all um for how much you all have changed my life I really seriously don't uh calling on people will most assuredly get me in trouble uh this evening so I will take I won't take that much long or take too long and I will call on a few people and if I don't call on you blame my head do not blame my heart so I'm happy to have my mom with me here tonight happy to have my dad watching um my parents believe like so many others that my ideas my thoughts and my life mattered that's why I feel that way about all of you your ideas your thoughts and your work matters I was raised to believe that everyone has value they learned that from their parents if my maternal grandmother was here Mary Agnes McDonald Robinson she would tell me to act pretty that was her opposite way of saying act ugly or to act ladylike she was very Gentile very demure while my fraternal grandmother was similar she was a bit more Stern
when my father was selected with my uncles a and a few others to integrate his high school uh many of the neighbors said that they would kill the first black kid to get off the bus so when my dad and my uncle were sitting in the kitchen one day some neighbors asked if she was really really seriously contempla and sending my father and my uncle to school my grandmother said the president has signed that piece of paper and someone has to go she was fearless and faithful and gave my father courage that's the same courage that I've had to serve you she was willing to send her children into the lion's den for the greater good many might ask what does that have to do with the night well I want you all to know I threw myself into the lion's den for the greater good for you all many nights and I hope you all know that I will do my best I will do uh in the spirit of both my grandfathers who I haven't mentioned I will do my best to keep my Serv my sermon succinct and uh in the spirit of my grandmothers I will throw myself into the liones den one
3 million and that dedicated team of individuals kept 191,000 families in North Carolina in that household including some of the people in this room and after doing that
from 9 to5 every day then I came in here with y'all and I was really tired a lot of days but um when I look back um I would come in the County Commission on Fight Night that's what my friends called it with the whole armor of God and if I were to say right now now Dexter Avenue Baptist Church the first thing people think about is Martin Luther King we don't think about the other pastors but I like to think about the pastor who was at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church right before Martin Luther King was there I don't does anybody know who it was okay my parents were the only people that made us watch educational videos all right it was Vernon John's and so Vernon John's Was a Race man but he had a different methodology he was most famous for saying if you see a good fight get in it as a county commissioner I saw a a lot of good fights and I got in them and in my absence I'm just asking that the community continue to do the same uh but I want to start here and this one's gonna be tough for some folks but last week uh we were at The Joint school board meeting and we learned that 47% of
Durham Public Schools were failing that's a 50-50 chance of going to a failing school here in Durham public in Durham County I can be supportive and I can still hold people accountable at the same time and here's proof for four years I set on this County Commission gave every raise that was asked for to our teachers to our classified staff and to our bus drivers when I was when I first got here I Came Out Swinging juneth became a holiday uh we just we banned discrimination against hair we paid for seron learning programs and Housing Services with the help of commissioner La we launched the tax relief program uh we led a cost of living increase for the employees employees please get one next year I've already told the new board members we developed The Immigrant Services position shout out to Nao who's here and then we expanded prek those last two are really important to me about the bus drivers in the pre cuz I watched my mom safely drive kids to school on her bus route for over 20 years and I watched my mom take her annual check uh to uh her
annual check and trick to um supply stores to make sure her classroom was the most aesthetically pleasing because she wanted her students to be able to learn in a good environment fast forward to the present and I saw all three of my sisters doing the exact same thing in classrooms in Durham taking money out of their paychecks to make sure that their classrooms had what they needed so I was proud to support the schools and I'm just asking us that we hold them accountable as they move forward someone's cell phone is going off I guess it's time for me to go um the same thing happened with black maternal health I looked at a couple of agendas before I became a county commissioner and the first thing I saw was the same thing everybody saw black women in Durham were four times more likely to die in child birth than other women that was in three budgets before I came a county commissioner that was in The Narrative you can always tell what people care about based on where they put their money so I went to my colleagues and I said can we put some money in Black maternal health and these five women knew how important Four Women knew how important it was to me and we
did it and I want to speak plainly about black maternal Health these are the sacred grounds where disparities have far too long been festered through initiatives like our black maternal Health Consortium we've sought to this man of those barriers thank you so much to Joanne uh Pierce for leading that and to uh Rod we added uh um maternal Health nurses uh we added natation Specialists and we added a couple more nursing positions and those things were all really important to me same thing to be said for what we did for our veterans I know Lois Raven was here I I watched my dad say almost on a monthly basis I love being a veteran because he will tell you that's what changed the trajectory of my life people say how did I make it off the chicken foot road to UNC Chapel Hill it's cuz my daddy was in the Air Force and I got exposed to a lot so our veterans uh in our County uh it's about 15,000 of them secretary Hall I think that's a a low count I don't think they've counted everybody but when I got on County Commission we could only service about 5,000 of those Lo came to us and said commissioner burns like we need some more help and I said I'm going
to advocate for you to get some more positions some more cards which she got and they actually are in a new building right now I did that for my dad and for my mentor secretary Larry Hall because I know how much it means to them and I saw a fight and I thought it was good for me to get in it the same thing can be said for our disparity reports uh thank you to Tammy Hall who we stole from the governor's office uh we build so much here in Durham I got an email today from a Citizens we build so much in Durham and the stuff that we build isn't reflective of the people here 35% of the folks are African-American 15% of the folks are other 55% of the folks are women but only 2% of the money that we were spending was with women and people of color well we were able to change that once we did a disparity report and we hit a 25% goal and what has made me real proud the past three groundbreakings that I've done with durren Public Schools without us saying anything the developers and the contractors got up there and say what has made them most proud is that there are parents building these schools for the students that will be going to those schools kids take an extra bit of pride
in the school if they demot their mama laid the brick and their daddy did the sheetrock so I'm happy to say that we are actually using our dollars for people in this community once again I saw saw a good fight and I got in it last but not least you've all heard me say it a million times the quickest way to stop a bullet is with a job and we can sit here and talk about violence and eruptus all day that's just one tool in our toolbox our folks want to get to work so I was really proud this year when our boy decided to reallocate Dollars and we put more money into the ha TI reborn Justice movement put more money into project Bill put more money into juvenal crime prevention Council and put more money in the project safe neighborhood Sheriff thank you for bringing that to us and last but not least put more money into my brother's keeper that's what these kids need they need structure they want structure if I can get a kid a lot of people on the city council will tell you the quickest and easiest way to build more housing is to reduce parking requirements I don't think dismantling those barriers if we really want to do more for housing we need to dismantle the barriers to get people to affordable
housing in the first place I sit up here on this County Commission alone by myself after pushing not one not two but three generations of my family members in wheelchairs and I said there was absolutely positively no way I felt comfortable doing away with parking requirements thousands of cities in North in the United States and only nine cities don't have parking requirements but I digress uh we going to move along we invested money in the hati reborn Justice movement because we were tired of seeing children die and that was one of the issues that we had inuring public schools with rapid gun violence I made it a mission to save our boys and girls a mission of action not rhetoric shared by our forever mayor Elaine O'Neal this year after reallocating those dollars I'm hopeful that even though I'm not on County Commission we'll see less gun violence here in Durham because what I do know is if I can get somebody to work and this is where I'm G give my shout out to JB buckson for the Bulls Initiative for back at work and for allowing us to let Hey Tyre born rest at dur at durm Tech
because I know if I can get a person off the streets and I can get them into a job training program if they get into a job training program they can get into some houses if they can get into some housing they can get off a DHA if they can get off a DHA somebody else can get into that house if they can get if they can get another house if they can get their kids off the street those kids aren't pulling down the tax values on those blocks that Block tax value ain't going down so now the bank can give a better interest rate if the tax value isn't going down and we not going to have to raise taxes and we did all that because we decided to give somebody a job everything we do here has been interconnected and I hope y'all see that so we are people who remember here Durham I skipped something I'm sorry um tonight I stand before you not as a commissioner stepping down away from my duty but as a daughter of the soil Tethered to you by a shared love for this place for its people together we have borne witness to Triumph to etch in our veins of this community and we've endured challenges that have tested our Collective resolve I leave this stage without acknowledging
the undercurrent of the pain and frustration that many of you all feel and still carry the national landscape tilted by the weight of an unqualified figure ascending to the highest Office cast a shadow across our aspirations and here in the heart of DM the prospect of one political action committee dictating the course of all three branches of our local government is a concern we must confront with vigilance democracy fragile as ever demands our unrelenting guardianship to share our pain is to name it to name the uncertainty that calls itself around our Spirits Whispering doubts about the road ahead but let me tell you this uncertainty is not a foe to be feared it is in its Essence The Crucible of Hope what lies ahead is not a cause for alarm but a cause and a hearken for hope the story of Durham of its people has never been one of complacency or Surrender it is a story of rebirth again and again Rising not because the odds were in our favor but because the hearts our hearts your hearts my hearts burned too brightly to fail we are people who remember we are
people who have who know that progress is not linear that set backs in the soil in which our deepest Roots find purchase we remember that power true power is not in the hands of the few who wi it recklessly but in the quiet determination of those who refuse to let Injustice have the final word we got a lot of people who are focused on just being in office to be office they want power to have power I did what my mentor told me to do use my power while I had it a lot of people I don't agree with everything that um what's my girl I don't agree with everything that Margaret th ma Margaret thater said she was a conservative I'm not but they asked her one time why in the world was she moving too fast she says it's because I intend to go very fast so when I got here I did a lot because I intended to do a lot and I didn't think they would keep me up here that long and they proved me right so we must hold each other accountable and hold the line we must refuse to measure our worth by the wealth we accumulate but by the hope we Inspire it's foolish to think of one's Legacy especially such s in such a short term
so I don't know what my legacy is going to be here that said I hope some lives were transformed and I will and will continue to be transformed with the work that we did and the measures we put in place because you all have truly transform mine I hope opportunities were made and I pray that our Endeavor for justice remains unyielding Durham this is our charge to ensure that the promises of today do not become the unfulfilled legacies of tomorrow to assure that the Arc of History though Long bends not just toward justice but towards Joy towards love and towards Liberation as I leave my seat on on this commission I do not leave you I do not leave this work the work is too great and none of us do my colleagues don't do this work is too great it's too urgent and it's too sacred it is the work of dismantling systems that oppress those elevating voices long Silence of creating Aur where every child every family every dream can strive without fear of the world's indifference so I leave you with the words of not the words of farewell but I say this stay awake and stay woke stay woke to the
power of your con convictions to the sanctity of your vote to the possibility of the future shaped by the hands that hold one another rather than the hands that harm one another let us be the architects of the Arc of justice that we seek to bend the champions of that cause and the stewards of an unimaginable Legacy hope is not passive it is defiant it is deliberate it is what you will keep us moving even when the road ahead is steep let us dare to hope not in naive but in the stubborn knowledge that this city this County this nation has been forged by those who believed in what they could not see I will walk to tomorrow with Hope just as I know that you will and I will carry Dar with me always its Beauties its struggles its promises because even as this chapter closes the story of us is far from finished thank you for this privilege for the trust and for the journey and I look forward to writing this next chapter with all of you I love you the struggle continues [Applause]
thank you for your beautiful words Vice chair Burns I'll now give an opportunity to commissioner Carter thank you madam chair I like this vantage point better so I think I'll I'll stay here I can see everyone sort of in an even kind of way um well good evening everyone I really appreciate this chance to make some final remarks I just hope I can effectively Express how grateful I am for the chance that I've had to serve Durham over the past 20 years 12 on the school board and eight as a county commissioner I I feel like both of those terms are extensions of one another and it's been 20 years total I sincerely believe it's a privilege to get to do this work it's been really meaningful in my life it's it's expanded my life it's been it's been enriching I truly value the experience and I've loved the work I like to think about complex Social
Challenges and how to make them better I like um the learning and the nerdy aspects of policy development I like to go to meetings and respond to constituents um to have had the chance based this is the main thing to have had the chance to to meet and and to work with so many wonderful people I otherwise would probably never have met and I I see some of you across this room tonight um County administrators uh such a consument professionals who know your work so well department heads all kinds of dedicated staff members Business Leaders nonprofit Partners our partners at Durham Tech our partners in the at the in the in the city council our partners at at Durham Public Schools all the other elected colleagues over the years both here at locally and also at the state level um including each and every one of you I've
really enjoyed working with each and every one of you we haven't always agreed but we almost always have if you look back at our vote record it it it's almost always unanimous when we make these important decisions that we care about so much when I first started this work I was a green and idealistic 43 yearold with four public with four Public School AG children and I wanted to work to make our Public School System the best for my children and for all children now I'm an older maybe wiser certainly more wizened grandmother whose eldest grandchild L friend Frisco is an eager happy curious kindergartener at Lakewood Elementary School a lot of time has passed and when I look back and reflect on the inexorable March of time I believe we have made many Investments and policy decisions that benefit our community and I see that we are still
working to solve many of the same problems I think it's possible there may be no endgame to this work but we are are never free to desist from it the work may be slow and incremental but we all know the need for results is urgent I've said many times over the years that our fundamental challenge is to break the link a powerful and unfair link between race and all the outcomes we measure every single one education outcomes Health outcomes wealth outcomes like graduation rates and reading proficiency and housing security and food security and on and on um basically every outcome related to health education and wealth and the re and with the recent election these next years are likely to be the most trying times for this social justice work we must double down on our local efforts to break the link it will be important that we work
together here at the local level to remember our Duram values unite Us in the struggle for justice and freedom and the breaking of this link so I urge you to continue the good work the county is doing on affordable housing and homeless services including the construction of a new homeless Services Center um and looking at new ways to increase our emergency housing um shelter Supply and also different kinds of emergency shelter um continue the good work of of improving wages across the public the public sphere the Durham County living wage and and making sure that extends to Duram Public Schools enacting policies that benefit Children and Families like prek expansion and fully funding public schools and the guaranteed basic income pilot and our school bonds please keep on a frequent tempo for a school bond schedule um other good work decreasing County Reliance on fossil fuels and improving our environmental resilience
welcoming and connecting our neighbors our our immigrant neighbors to resources and services this is going to be especially important I think in the in the in the near future protecting farmland and farmers and improving the food system to ensure healthy food for all and the sustainability of our planet and please be sure and pay attention to the farmers when you all are working on the Udo rewrite I've heard just at our Farmland board meeting last last week that there are some concerns there and when we're thinking about improving the food system remember to we want to be cooking the healthy food inuring public Public Schools we need our kitchens there it it's it's it's a really important effort on our part here as ever I especially urge you to continue to support to support our public school children and families in the form of the most generous local funding possible I'm proud of the the County's ethos to do our best to fully fund the budget requests from our partners on the board of education this will be more important
now more now than ever before with the threats to public education coming from the North Carolina general assembly in the form of inadequate funds for teachers operations facilities and the draining of billions in state funds over the next decade for private school vouchers and for segregation eies we must do all we can locally to protect the promise of public education and to make sure all of our children grow up first to be educated and wise vote voters who can accurately evaluate the governmental policies that will truly benefit them and also protect democracy second to empathize with others from different backgrounds and build social cohesion at a time in history where we are hyper divided and to have rewarding work that allows us all to take care of ourselves our families and our communities and to one day completely break the link to achieve
the promise of public schools we must fund our public schools and we really must go to school together now I want to thank how shift from policy stuff I want to thank those who have been especially connected to me during my time in office I want to send a shout out to my awesome friends the bees and their spouses who helped me run a successful campaign every single election I knew nothing about running a campaign neither did they but we figured it out I want to lift up my friend jeie my dearest neighbor and running partner for 20 years years who knew that runs could be such fruitful policy and therapy sessions I want to thank her for always listening and and offering helpful feedback and guidance I especially want to thank my family starting with my children they were here earlier I'm sorry they couldn't stay but you know there are a lot of little ones that that came I'm so proud of them all Jamie Dusty Haley Dylan and Jaime's husband
Nick Haley's husband Eric you have each in your own way they've really supported me with policy analysis communication strategies Technology support and just especially with love and moral support especially during times of political drama and my four grandchildren who were here earlier ages five years down to five weeks Lou Rose forest in Georgia they're my heart's delight and they're one of my big reasons to retire and most especially I want to Proclaim my deepest gratitude to my wonderful husband Scott who's sitting right here we've been together for going on 50 years we were high school sweethearts at the age of 17 and we both came to Durham for college at Duke we got married we each
had jobs in RTP and we built our happy life here in this great Community Scott I I want I hope you know I want to be sure you know that you are my most trusted advisor and you are my most Dependable supporter and encourager you've been there for me always through thick and through thin and you are the handy man of my heart you have this uncanny way of being able to fix anything and to always make life better yes you're going to fix my stove before 20 people come on Thanksgiving but it's more than the physical things that you fix I'm so lucky to be married to a person who is the love of my life and my forever best friend I'm lucky to get to go to sleep every night and wake up every morning beside someone who I think is kind and funny and handsome and smart if I could pick just one person to spend
my retirement years with it would be you Nino and I'm excited for this next stage of our life together finally I'm also excited about the future leadership of Durham County I will not be at the meeting on December 2nd when the new board is sworn in office so I want to offer a warm welcome to Mike Lee Michelle Burton and Steven Valentine I know they will be strong and thoughtful leaders alongside our steadfast veteran Commissioners Wendy and Nea and I will always be in the background cheering you all on so farewell good people of Durham County government County staff you're still the bomb I've Loved These days and I I will miss you
commissioner Carter you've got me teide now last but definitely not least commissioner Auten commissioner Auten this is going to be my last time getting to ask you to turn the mic on I got it it that great won have to do that anymore oh well Heidi you've got me a little bit something something here H yeah do this so thank you madam chair and you know I as I listen to my colleagues I am just a little full right now and so I am honored to be here to be able to express my gratitude to this
community to have supported me for 16 years as their County Commissioner and as they so lovingly say their people's commissioner you know I started I started out years ago as Soil and Water supervisor I I started to as a farm girl I still was interested in what it meant to be ensure that people had good food safe water and that our farmers were taken care of so I started there and I I figured that that would give me a place to start to begin to understand what it meant budgeting for County budgeting and understand what it took for those dollars to be dispersed in the right direction so after six years of serving
there with some other things happening in my life I decided to run for accounting commissioner and that it wasn't something that I woke up one morning and say oh golly this is something I'm going to do because I constantly wanted to go the other direction but I ended up as an executive coach at nccu and challenging the students in public educ in public administration to live their dreams to do what it is that they needed to do they wanted to do to push themselves until one day they turned it on me and said what is it that you want to do what is it that you're willing to push yourself to do and I said that's not the way that's supposed to work this is I'm the coach so you're not supposed to challenge me well I went home and I had to think about that and pray on that a lot because prayer is always been the thing
that's grounded me my faith has always grounded me so I real I ran in 2008 and I have served you and been honored to serve you ever since and what I will share with you in this moment is that and taking it on was not an easy Road for me it was a place in my life than I was living with a lot of pain a lot of Madness and a lot of Anger of losing two children so it was a catch 22 of wanting to fight for the community but also fight against the Injustice that I had experienced in other mothers like me had experienced of having their children Gunn down so I didn't take this on as
something to uplift my ego or to Make Me Shine it was a time of pain so this has been a journey a journey of wanting to do good for the people that trust and believe in me and when you know that people trust you and believe in you you want to do the very best that you can and that's where I have stood all of these years and as I reflect on leaving this role I'm not going anywhere just not going to be here children have always been at the cruxs of why I do what I
do because they are a future and they expect us to stand for the things that take care of them as I have been a commissioner also as far as being a commissioner state of North Carolina and when I was sworn in as the president of the State Association my initiative was at all children Thrive I go right back to our children and what that meant is Thrive it means that our parents have to thrive children can't Thrive if parents don't have jobs if they don't have a place to live food to eat so that's what Thrive wasse is that we take care of the parents so the parents can take care of the children I am so grateful for the
staff the staff has supported me they've helped me to grow they' pushed us they've helped us to do what's necessary in these roles and I am truly thankful it says what is that saying that I am who I am because of who you are so I say May the work we've done continue to inspire progress and may the future be shaped by the dedication we share 16 years ago 16 years of service has defined this journey for me leaving after 16 years is not an ending but a new chapter one where the legacy of our efforts live on and the
love for our shared Mission continues to guide the way you know public perception always it can either be strength can strengthen you or it can fool you down but we are responsible for for the public perception that we are you know as you Advocate to improve the lives of Ordinary People such as promoting social welfare programs improving workers rights and fighting the corruption or departure even departure of some of our people that we have to work with working with go triangle all of those things are part of the things that we have worked over the
years I'm not going to go through all of the things that I've done for 16 years I've done a lot and if I started naming them we'd be here too long so I'm not going to do that to you just what I want want to leave you with is that my service for 16 years has been about you it's been about this community and anybody that's been around me have heard me say that my work has not been about me cuz getting paid $50 a month it can't be about me it is about this community it's about whether Grandma and Grandpa have a place to live or whether Grandma and Grandpa have a have food in their mouth to eat whether our children get a good education it's all of those things that
is weigh on me for 16 years of my life in serving you and I am so thankful that people were willing to vote and keep me there for four elections you know running elections is not easy and today they're not cheap when I ran the first time I think I ra probably raised around $8,000 you can't do much with $8,000 today so my hope for this board is that we continue but whoever sits in these seats the new elective individuals that f continue to listen to our staff to partner with our staff to partner with
our business Community to partner with the people at the state level because it takes all of us to get this work done it's not one person's ego getting in the way it's not one person it takes all all of us you know one of the questions that people cons consistently ask me not just in Durham but across the state when I became the chair of this board because we were in a little bit of a upset and they ask how have you been able to have a board now that's not in such a disarray I it's not about me I get to sit in the middle chair I get to sign off some on some stuff but it's not about me it's about the board coming together to get the
work done and what what was said was people elected us to get the work done and not sit up here and fight with each other and they expected us to do the work so whatever was going on with our little egos and our little feelings we had to put them in our pocket and sit on it so we were able to come together as a board to work for you and I thank this board that we became a board of working together and we got a lot of work done so and I have to I have to say something about our Clerks [Applause] you know these folks put up with us five of us on a daily basis they must be God
send because they deal how they deal with us I don't know and they're always smiling or they just don't talk to us but most time I love you guys thank you so so much um I I just I will miss you terribly because you Monica you and I've been together for the whole 16 years meso 10 thank you so I just say again to this community thank you thank you for being there thank you for trusting me and let's look for the next chapter is coming thank you so
much thank you [Applause] thank you commissioner howon now pass it I'll let commissioner Jacobs go first with our comments thank you chair Alam and thank you to I'm just going to use first person names now n Machina how many pages is that and and Brenda for all of your for all of your um comments tonight we we have indeed shared an historic board together over the past four years historic all female board first in our state and sadly still a rarity in our nation but we have also been a historic
board over the past four years navigating many difficult challenges together from our first days together through the pandemic a ma attack many months of virtual meetings to make important decisions about tens of millions of dollars of funding for our community the cares act emergency rental assistance arpa funding the national opioid settlement decisions to help our businesses schools nonprofits and people in our community not just survive but also thrive over the past four years we have each changed and grown and learned a lot about ourselves and each other but what has been a constant is that we have been United in our passion care and dedication to the Durham
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billion and expanded our Bulls initiative that is is connecting Durham youth to these great jobs we've increased the salaries of our employees to make sure they are being paid competitive market wages and raise the county minimum wage to more than $19 an hour we've created hundreds of new units of affordable housing and partnership with the city and also launch DM's first Supportive Housing Community Community Carver Creek we have approved transformational new land use Transit and renewable energy plans we've prioritized investment in our children's education and future by approving historic budgets for Durham public schools and the largest bond for education in Durham's history and being an historic off femil
board we have bought a lot of things for our community together the shops of Hope Valley Shopping Center housing our new Board of Elections the former Boys and Girls Club and a beautiful new Farm campus and yay we finally have a restaurant opened across the street from the county building and there are so many other things um that you've all have also mentioned that we've accomplished together I want to take a moment to celebrate each of you Heidi Brenda and nishina one of the things that I've learned over the past 12 years is to appreciate the magic of governing each of us comes into this role as a public servant as an elected representative of the people of Durham with our own life
experiences and gifts and talents and each with our own unique perspective and skill sets that we contribute to the magic that is the new entity that we create together our board and I am grateful to each of you for what you have uniquely brought to our board and what I have learned from each of you Heidi you've been an incredible Durham public servant humble hardworking and never seeking to take credit for anything you do first 12 years on the school board also serving in leadership and then eight years here as a county commissioner most people would think you were nuts you brought your passion for our schools to this board and really helped build a more positive and collaborative relationship with our two boards the school board and our board and help Champion the need for a bond and more Capital funding for our schools you brought your Public Health background
and the fight to address climate change directly here you led important policy initiatives like the County's Banning of single-use plastics a successful tnvr ordinance and the $15 per hour minimum wage for County staff when you got me to vote against the budget on that one and you've been a dedicated and value member on the boards of which you have served like agac Alliance Animal Services Farmland EAB where you've advocated well for those boards I've learned so much from you and your steadfast focus on policy always trying to keep us in our lane as Commissioners asking tough questions willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and never making things personal I've mired your bound boldness in speaking the truth and sticking to your values Heidi I will Miss really miss you leading Us in ukulele serenades
to our staff and your bike parked in our parking in your parking space in the parking deck Brenda I honestly don't know what it will be like to not serve alongside you we have been together for my entire 12 years on this board and we have been through a lot together we have grown changed and learned I think a lot from each other I will always be grateful to you for the way you mentored me as a new commissioner encouraging me to get involved in North Carolina Association accounting Commissioners the school of government and applying to the elected Leadership Academy and helping me navigate my first national County Commissioner conference you taught me so much about the personal side of being being an elected official and governing and the importance of
relationships I have been inspired by your strength and resilience in the face of many of life's Unthinkable challenges that have powered your championing of children and of gun violence and poverty and I think we really complimented each other when we had the opportunity to serve in leadership together and I am proud about how we have been able to support our new leaders uh nid and Heidi n and Heidi n and Machina as as new voices and strong leadership on our board um I will miss you not keeping our meetings on time always being able to count on you for fun and dancing and knowing that you will be showing up at every single event in our community n Masina I have enjoyed working with you in many ways you have
been an awesome colleague to have with someone to nerd out with on policy who can get equally excited about economic and Workforce Development your encyclopedic knowledge about just about anything is astounding as well as your seemingly photographic memory that just does not forget any single thing that has ever happened or been said I admire how rooted you are and where you have come from and I will never forget that you've lived on Chickenfoot Road and I your incredible love and dedication to your family and how you bring this every day to the work that you do has been an inspiration to me you are often Fearless in your
honesty and unafraid to say what others may also think I admire the fearce passion you bring to this work and for your love for our community I will miss your skilled oratory great storytelling and ability to make people laugh you have brought valuable expertise and knowledge to our board and areas such as housing and Public Safety both at the state and federal level I will miss your smile and your energy and you saying I'll be real [Laughter] quick and I just wanted to say to to all three of you incredible public servants and leaders uh between the three of you there is a combined 40 years 40 years of service to our
community so thank you and I wish you well and the very best in the days ahead thank you commissioner Jacobs you know this momentous and Bittersweet occasion um has all of us in our feelings and I knew I could count on Wendy uh to go into all the weeds and so I wanted to use my time uh to really take a moment to honor and highlight the three incredible women um that have served on this board alongside me and our community and our County with immense dedication strength and vision commissioner Auten commissioner Carter Vice chair Burns should you have my closeup over the past four years we've navigated a historic and transformative board together we faced challenges that
tested us U moments that inspired us and Milestones that reminded us why we all serve our shared love for Durham and through it all we've been a board defined by Passion resilience and purpose commissioner Auten Brenda what can I say you are one of of the strongest most Fearless women I have ever met you've been the Beating Heart of this board and I'm constantly in awe of your energy and vitality you might actually be the youngest member of this board because you light up every Community event in space especially when you hit the Dance Floor meanwhile I'm the one who needs knee surgery but truly your leadership has been a beacon for me you've shown me the power of standing firm in one's beliefs and you've been someone I could always turn to for guidance I will miss your jokes on a regular basis which all of us here know would not be suitable for me to repeat in these
Chambers and I'm so happy for you and your newfound freedom to use your favorite word however and whenever you want and for those of you who don't know it it's the same as Madam vice presidents the one that starts with m and ends with a Heidi Heidi no offense to anyone else on this board but I'll say that Heidi you've been my favorite why because you and I have shared a very important belief that sometimes these meetings just go on way too long but Jokes Aside your steadfast commitment to Durham's children your work on the school board and your advocacy for our planet our Legacy that will resonate for Generations my own children have a brighter future because of your tireless efforts and your compassion wisdom and ability to cut through all the noise to focus on what truly matters has been an
inspiration n Machina the yin to my yang you are a force of nature your Brilliance and memory are unmatched seriously I've never met anyone who can recall details with your level of precision and you and I started this journey together and though you're leaving the board I know this is far from the end of your service to Durham and let's be honest it's definitely not the end of you telling me when I'm wrong knowing you has not only sharpened my understanding of governance but also gifted me and I'm sure many others in Durham County with thicker skin and for that I'm truly grateful your commitment to doing what's right your ability to speak truth to power and your tireless advocacy for the people of Durham are things I will always admire so to each of you I say thank you thank you for your service your passion and your friendship and your leadership Durham is better because of you and I'm better for
having served alongside you so as we close this chapter I know this is not goodbye but simply I see you later and your impact is lasting and your love for this community will continue to inspire all us Inspire us all as well as our incoming board members so thank you all so [Applause] much we're almost done you got stuck in there you're great I just I didn't want to put her on the spot but I wanted to see manager ha I just want to say thank you for your service your commitment and to your families and friends thank you for your sacrifice we appreciate all that you've done to support them as they've led us thank you thank you manager haer that now brings us oh yes sorry sorry attorney
Williams yes ma'am CL Wallace if you want to as well um I had to say something because I think Durham County is just so lucky to have had the three of you as public servants and over the years that I've been here I've just enjoyed my time with all three of you I've known commissioner Burns now for many many moons and um the passion that she's had as a commissioner is the same passion that she had what 15 years ago yeah so you have not changed at all um and Durham County has just been so much better for that that um commissioner Carter I've enjoyed my time with you you have during the time that I've known you you've LED with your heart you've been so thoughtful um and just so open to learning about other people and about the needs of Durham County Citizens and I for one am just so
grateful for you and I think again that Durham County is just better off because of you yeah commissioner Auten um what can I say about you um I have really enjoyed my time with you you've welcomed me with open arms when I first came here and um our former County attorney he told me when he first hired me he said you have to meet Brenda that's my girl she knows her stuff and he was so right um I'm just so thankful to have known you and I know that you're going to continue doing great things and and I know that um you will still keep Duram close to your heart as you go on and and do bigger and better things so I look forward to that um I wish all of you continued success and I know that um you won't forget about Durham County I know and you'll continue to fight the good fight so thank you thank you so
much I was not expecting to speak um I actually spoke to everyone um beforehand I am very emotional so I will promise I promise myself I won't cry um but commissioner Carter commissioner hton you both were here when I came on as the clerk um you actually commissioner Auten was here when I came on as an administrative assistant in the clerk's office you guys saw something in me um and I'm very appreciative of that I thank you so much for trusted me and my staff as well uh commissioner Burns Vice chair Burns um you don't play about me that's all I'm GNA say um I appreciate you um I thank you so much for your guidance for your leadership for your support um you all will truly be missed um there's nothing else I can say I love you all and I thank you all for your hard work I thank you for everything that you've done for not only myself but for um my staff as well I will actually
be graduating with my MPA from nccu on December 13th um and uh under you know with you guys leading the county and um leading um being very supportive of me during this time I really appreciate that I don't think I could have done it without the support of not only you three but the entire board so thank you so much [Applause] thank you and everyone will have an opportunity also as we leave make sure you grab the Commissioners keep them as long as you want afterwards to tell them how much you love them um with that it brings us to the consent agenda are there any items that the board would like to pull yes oh I'd like to pull them all so this meeting can go on longer no I did I do no uh it'll be real quick like Wendy said uh I did want to highlight just one
thing congrats I see that uh president buckson is here we are doing if if you all do have the time we are doing a land transfer so that we can build some new buildings at durm Tech so congratulations to you sir I know you stuck it out to make sure we gonna vote Yes you want to hear all these speeches we gonna vote Yes uh a shout out to housing for New Hope uh we will be doing a $2 million agreement with them on housing our evolving Housing Trust Fund so there's a lot of really great stuff that's in here and I just want to highlight that new buildings at Derm Tech new affordable housing new affordable housing trust fund more money for student Youth and I'm just thankful that on my last night we get to make investments in kids in education higher education and in affordable housing so thank y'all to thank you to Claudia for bringing some of these things forward some of them with campaign promises and I could have put my head down after I lost my election but I said I got 10 more months to help people Heidi new she had mons Brandon new we and and we really thank you to the staff for getting these last few things in here for us on tonight God bless y'all
amen okay oh oh I'd like to make a motion oh you got one oh I'd like to make a motion that uh we approve the consent agenda he moveed by Vice chair Burns seconded by commissioner Carter all in favor say I I I any opposed then uh consent agenda is approved unanimously now I'll pass it to attorney Williamson for the boards and commission appointments we're done y'all hold on girl you got four votes huh
okay so we have one vacant position for the Durham open space and trails commission and the board has voted for Stephen artaban in that position it's an at large position so congratulation Mr aaban I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly congratulations congratulations sir and thank you to all of the individuals who continue to serve on our boards and commissions please keep a lookout there's lots of boards I repeat this every time we do appointments but there's lots of boards for community members to serve on apply to them we would love to have your leadership in these spaces question thank you for this honor madam chair uh with that I'd like to get a motion to adjourn second no I'm I'm entertaining the motion to a journ oh she's giving me the honor oh oh oh I'm sorry so I uh ladies
moved moov by commissioner Jacob second it by commissioner Carter all those in favor say I I we are a journ thank you [Applause]