New Mecklenburg County Commission To Be Sworn In

A new Mecklenburg County Commission will be sworn in to office tonight. Democrats still control the board, but Republicans have gained an extra seat. The only uncertainty for tonight is who will become board chairman. Usually there's not much guessing as to who becomes chairman. Traditionally, that goes to the highest vote-getter among the at-large commissioners. In this case, it would be current board chairman Jennifer Roberts. But Roberts seems to think Harold Cogdell, whom she helped mentor, is trying to pull rank on her. On her Facebook page she writes, the voters of Mecklenburg have indicated their continued support for me as top vote-getter. The she continues, "Harold Cogdell will come round to realize that now is not the time for a personal power play." There's speculation that Cogdell, a Democrat, is courting Republicans for their vote by agreeing to vote for Republican Jim Pendergraph as vice chairman. WFAE could not confirm that. Neither Cogdell nor Pendergraph returned phone calls.