NC House win leaves Orange County commissioner vacancy. Here’s how it will be filled.
Residents who live in Hillsborough or most unincorporated areas of Orange County can apply this month to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Commissioners.
Commissioners Chair Renee Price, a Democrat, was elected to the state House in November, replacing House Rep. Graig Meyer, who was elected to the N.C. Senate. Price led her last commissioners meeting Monday and will represent District 50 in Raleigh starting Jan. 1.
She was first elected to the county commissioners in 2012 and is one of two commissioners who represent District 2, which covers the northern and southwestern portions of the county. Her current term as a commissioner ends in 2024.
She will be the second commissioner to be replaced in two years, and the second since 1981 to be replaced before their term ended.
Last year, former Commissioner Mark Dorosin, a civil rights attorney, resigned when he moved to Florida for a new job. The board chose Commissioner Anna Richards to fill his seat. She was elected to a full term in November.
How to apply
State law gives the county commissioners 60 days after Price leaves to appoint a replacement.
▪ Residents who apply for the vacancy must be registered Democrats living in District 2.
▪ Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. Jan. 6.
▪ Applications can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/3F7rc9F. Interested applicants also can contact the board’s clerk for more information or to get an application by mail or in person. Call 919-245-2130 or email clerk@orangecountync.gov.
▪ Orange County’s Democratic Party Executive Committee will review the applications and recommend its preferred candidates to the county commissioners by Jan. 30.
▪ The commissioners could discuss the nominees on Feb. 7 before voting to appoint a new member from the recommended candidates or choose their own nominee.
“If for some reason, this board doesn’t like anybody, then you can also choose someone else, but I think you’ll get some good applicants,” Price said. “And just for the record, because people have been asking this, I will not have a say whatsoever in who succeeds me, because I will not be here when you vote.”
If the commissioners fail to fill the seat by March 1, the decision to appoint the new board member falls to the Clerk of Superior Court Mark Kleinschmidt.
This story was originally published December 7, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
