10 and 15 Years of Public Service: Commissioners Recognized with Service Pins

Three members of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners have been recognized for milestones in their service to the community. 

At the Board’s meeting on Dec. 5, 2023, County Manager Dena R. Diorio presented Commissioner Pat Cotham with her 10-year service pin, and Chair George Dunlap and Commissioner Vilma D. Leake with their 15-year service pins. 

All Mecklenburg County employees receive service pins to celebrate such milestones. In addition to representing their districts and constituents, Commissioners serve as leaders of the 6,400 employees who make up Mecklenburg County government. 

Commissioner Pat Cotham (At Large) was elected to the Board in 2012, her first elected office. During her first term, Commissioner Cotham served as Chair of the Board. Commissioner Cotham currently serves on the Audit Review and Performance Review Committees. 

Commissioner Vilma D. Leake (District 2) was first elected to the Board of County Commissioners in 2008. Her election followed 11 years of service as a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. Commissioner Leake serves on the Mecklenburg Board’s Health and Human Services, Intergovernmental Relations, and Audit Review Committees.

Chair George Dunlap (District 3) joined the Board in 2008 and has served as Chair of the Board since 2018. Chairman Dunlap also served on the Board of Education for 14 years before joining the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. He was a DARE officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, where he served for 27 years before his retirement. Chair Dunlap is currently chair of the Board’s Equity Investments Committee. He has previously chaired the Efficient and Effective Government committee, Health and Human Services Committee, and served on the Performance Review committee. 

Diorio remarked that all three have served through some of Mecklenburg’s most challenging years, including the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’ve all seen a lot in those ten to fifteen years, enormous growth in our community and dramatic changes in how we operate as a County organization,” said Diorio in her remarks. “You have all been steadfast in your support of Mecklenburg County’s work and especially of the staff. That was especially apparent when we faced the global crisis of the COVID 19 pandemic with serious consequences to the County and the Country. Under your leadership, and that of your colleagues on the Board, the County has risen to the occasions, and built a County government that is a model for communities around the nation.” 

View the Board meeting and presentation at Watch.MeckNC.gov.