RALEIGH -- Harold Webb, the chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners who has roundly criticized the push toward neighborhood schools, is unlikely to be on hand next week when the commissioners meet with the school board for the first time since the fall elections.
Webb, 84, suffered a stroke in early October.
His family says he has aphasia, a language processing condition that makes it difficult for him to carry on an extended conversation. With therapy, though, daughter Kay Webb says, her father is "continuing to improve."
Family members said they were not sure when Webb would return to county business. He has missed three meetings and two work sessions since his stroke.
In his absence, there have been few controversial issues on the agenda. Last month, the commissioners unanimously agreed to move ahead with construction of the $210 million Wake County Justice Center, an 11-story building slated to go up on land bordering Martin, McDowell and Salisbury streets.
"There really haven't been that many split votes," said Commissioner Betty Lou Ward.
Two potential hot-button issues loom, though.
Elections in October and earlier this month swept into office four new Wake school board members who vow to end the district's diversity and mandatory year-round school policies.
The four newcomers take office Dec. 1 and are expected to join current school board member Ron Margiotta to form a new majority controlling North Carolina's largest school district. If they vote early next year to end forced busing for diversity in favor of neighborhood-based schools, there could be heated budget discussions among the county commissioners, who hold the purse strings for school funding.
Critics say a move toward neighborhood schools would force the county to build more schools.
"It's going to take money if they go toward neighborhood schools," Ward said.
Another issue is the board of commissioners leadership. At the board's first meeting in December, the commissioners will select the chairman and other top officers for the coming year.
Typically, commissioners say, a chairman serves one year at the helm of the seven-member board.
If Webb, a Democrat, is absent from that meeting, and the three other Democrats and three Republicans vote along party lines, there is the potential for a 3-3 tie for the next chairman.
If that were to happen, County Attorney Scott Warren said state statute dictates that the current chairman would stay at the helm until a successor is elected. So Webb would remain chairman until one candidate could win a majority vote. It would be the same, Warren said, if there were a tie for vice chairman, too.
Commissioners contacted this week said they looked forward to Webb's return. They say they appreciate his quiet wisdom and extensive knowledge of the county.
"Harold, chronologically, is 84 years old," Ward, a Democrat, said. "But in every other way he's so much younger."
Commissioner Tony Gurley, one of three Republicans on the board, said he anxiously awaits Webb's return.
"It will be a breath of fresh air," Gurley said. "He has been through more in his life than anyone else on that board. I have more respect for him as an individual than I do for anyone else on that board. I may not always agree with his opinion on everything, but he is always honest."
