Latest news with #AprilLee
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lack of quorum delays vote on Frederick Health master plan
A lack of a quorum on Monday kept the city of Frederick Planning Commission from voting to approve plans for Frederick Health to develop 750 dwelling units and 1.3 million square feet of non-residential uses on its campus in northern Frederick. Scott Waxter, assistant city attorney for the city of Frederick, said at Monday's meeting that the master plan now will appear before the commissioners during their meeting in July. Three commissioners — Joan Strawson, Dorothy Menelas and April Lee — attended Monday's meeting, the minimum number for a quorum. There are currently five planning commissioners. Planning Commissioners Elaine Llewellyn and Natasha Valencia were not present on Monday, and neither was City Council Liaison Ben MacShane. Waxter said Lee had recused herself from hearing the item during earlier meetings, due to professional ties. 'While its not a financial conflict, it is sort of an appearance conflict,' he said. 'Because she has recused herself in the past, there is no reason to take that back.' During a recess from Monday's meeting, Waxter said he recommended that Lee recuse herself again, which led to the lack of quorum to hear the item. Monday was supposed to be when the master plan was voted on. It was the second time it came before planners. 'I apologize to the group that I didn't notice this earlier,' Waxter said. Frederick Health Village — a subsidiary of Frederick Health, which operates a hospital on West 7th Street — presented the master plan for the first of two public hearings before the Planning Commission in May. The plan is to redevelop a 93.2-acre site, which is zoned Mixed Use, between Monocacy Boulevard and U.S. 15, according to city records. The plan included senior living, retirement facilities, a nursing home, a medical laboratory and a helistop.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
JoCo school board rejects partisan elections. NC lawmakers could change them anyway.
The Johnston County school board has rejected a Republican Party request to ask for partisan elections, but that might not stop state lawmakers from making the change anyway. The Johnston County Republican Party asked the school board to approve a resolution urging the General Assembly to make the elections partisan. But the school board voted down the resolution in a 5-2 vote on Tuesday. 'I do not want our board beholden to a political party and whether or not they'll support a candidate in the next race based on now they voted in issues concerning children,' said board member April Lee, who is registered as unaffiliated. 'This is wrong to do that to our kids and to divide the board in such a way.' But other board members said it would help voters know more about the candidates who are running to lead North Carolina's seventh-largest school district. 'The public needs to know where you stand,' said board member Michelle Antoine. 'That's kind of what this does. Our culture is very divided now. To pretend it is not is not reality.' Antoine and board vice chair Terry Tippett, who are both Republicans, were the only members who voted for the resolution. The school board's vote may not be the final say in the matter. In recent years, the Republican-controlled General Assembly has voted to make school board races partisan even when the change wasn't supported by the school board. Prior to 2013, only 10 of North Carolina's 115 districts had partisan school board elections, according to EducationNC. But 52 school districts held partisan elections last November. State lawmakers have focused on making school board elections partisan in Republican areas. The Johnston County Republican Party pointed out in a Facebook post that the only non-Republicans elected countywide sit on the school board. The GOP said having partisan elections would help them win all seven school board seats. Five of the school boards are held by registered Republicans. One seat is held by a Democrat. One seat is held by an unaffiliated voter who was supported by Democrats. 'The Johnston GOP voted UNANIMOUSLY at our County Convention to demand this change,' said the Johnston County Republican Party. 'Any Republican School Board Member opposing this is effectively helping Democrats win.' Johnston County school board elections have been non-partisan since state lawmakers passed legislation in 1997. According to a 1997 News & Observer article, school leaders hoped the change from partisan elections would lead to the election of more minorities. Tippett presented the Johnston County GOP resolution on Tuesday. Tippett said the change to partisan elections could help the Democratic Party by having a candidate on the ballot in each board race. If the change becomes law, unaffiliated candidates would need to get 2,500 signatures of registered voters to appear on the ballot. But Tippett said it could also help unaffiliated voters have more say because they can decide which party primary to vote on for school board. Partisan elections would 'force people to tell the truth to the public,' according to Antoine. She said it would increase voter turnout if people know the candidate is a Democrat or a Republican. 'You fall somewhere in the perspective of the Democrat or Republican thinking,' Antoine said. 'There's different principle values there, especially with schools and children. And the public, especially in a conservative county like Johnston County, deserves to know walking in there.' But the majority of school board members said the resolution should be rejected. 'I would hope that we send this back and invite the Republican Party to solve their own problems,' said board member Kay Carroll, a Democrat. Board member Kevin Donovan, a Republican, said only 100 people at the Johnston County GOP convention want to make a change affecting 100,000 voters. 'Before we shove this down the throats of over 100,000 community members, I feel like we should at least get their say to understand what the public wants,' Donovan said. The resolution was opposed by Carroll, Donovan, Lee, board chair Lyn Andrews and Jeff Sullivan. Both Andrews and Sullivan are registered Republicans although Sullivan was a Democrat before changing parties last year.
