Jessica Holmes
The new Wake County Board of Commissioners were sworn in last night and got to the business of picking its chair and vice-chair positions. Sig Hutchinson got unanimous support for Wake Chair while Matt Calabria won a split vote for vice-chair over Jessica Holmes. Jessica, apparently caught up in the moment, then announced she was resigning from the board.
This was a real shame and a shocker. Jessica has pushed some awesome initiatives during her two years on the board and her energy and enthusiasm made you want to cheer for her. Fortunately for all of us, she rescinded her resignation today and will continue to serve.
I am an acquaintance of Jessica and Matt but I know some of the other Wake Commissioners well. I don’t know what Jessica’s reasoning was for resigning (and she has yet to share it) but I do know the people she serves with are good people. I do not believe anyone was out to get her and I think she probably took things more personally than she should’ve. Politics is a long game. You can’t get tripped up by small setbacks.
The folks who think this is a racist or sexist thing (see “good people,” above) aren’t helping matters. The voters of Wake County selected these representatives; if you don’t like the make-up you can blame them. Or better yet, encourage more people of color to run for office. We have some great ones (like Jessica and many others) and could certainly use more. Labeling good representatives “good ol’ boys,” “the MALES,” or “white progressives” simply because they selected someone else as vice-chair is petty and insulting to good public servants. Jessica, to her credit, has not engaged in these characterizations but some of her supporters have and it’s not productive.
I think Jessica’s awesome and I’m thrilled she’s chosen to stay. That said, we don’t need drama, we need unity. Here’s hoping the board (and its supporters) can focus again on the amazing teamwork that has gotten us this far.
Update: apparently she did release a statement:
Yesterday, I shared my plan to resign my position from the Wake County Board of Commissioners. Serving the people of Wake County has been a privilege for which I am incredibly thankful. An opportunity had presented itself to me, and in part out of frustration, I had decided to pursue it. With the long awaited vote for the creation of Wake County’s first ever affordable housing committee, I felt proud for breathing life into an issue that has impacted me and my family and many others across our county and State. With this issue on track, I felt that I could step aside.
The overwhelming voice of my constituents has been for me to lead this work as chair of the affordable housing committee and continue pounding the pavement. This immense response from the community has encouraged me to reconsider this decision. Based on this calling, I am abandoning my original decision to resign and will stay to complete my term as a commissioner serving the community that I love. My apologies to those who were confused or upset by this decision.