Control of Wake County Commission swings to Democrats
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Four new faces were sworn in on the Wake County Commission Monday, marking a swing from a 4-3 split between Republicans and Democrats on the panel to total Democrat control.
Democrats John Burns, Matt Calabria, Jessica Holmes, and Sig Hutchinson took their oaths.
They replace Republicans Joe Bryant and Paul Coble, Rich Gianni, and board Chairman Phil Matthews who all went down in defeat in last month's election.
Monday, the board elected James West as its new chairman and Caroline Sullivan as vice chair.
The newly-elected commissioners ran on promises to plan public transit and support education.
Holmes, an attorney for the North Carolina Association of Educators, told ABC11 that school funding will be her priority throughout her four-year term, as well as transit. She said she knows it will be up to the voters to decide whether to pay for it.
"I'm a firm believer in putting things on the ballot," said Holmes. "I don't think it's the commissioners role to spoon feed tax increases. That's not what we're about."
