MATTHEWS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Wholesale changes on the Matthews Board of Commissioners became official Monday night, as the town swore in five new members to the board.
Out are Renee Garner and Ken McCool, who did not run for re-election; Leon Threatt, who lost a bid to become mayor; and Mark Tofano and Gina Hoover, who failed in their re-election campaigns.
John Urban was the only commissioner to remain on the dais after the outgoing members gave parting remarks. Mayor John Higdon also remains for his fourth term.
New to the board are Susan Chambers, who received the most votes in November; Kerry Lamson; Jonathan Clayton; Jennefer Garrity; and Brian Hacker.
Tofano often served as a dissenting voice on the board.
“I’ve been feeling like Don Quixote, it’s constantly trying to get initiatives passed,” he said of the title character of the classic Spanish novel. “As democracy will play out, it’s always been against the majority, which didn’t necessarily share the same viewpoints that I had.”
He lamented the construction developments that are planned for the town, despite the rezoning process often being more deliberate than in other local municipalities.
“We wanted to make sure, going back to President Eisenhower, be careful of the military-industrial complex,” Tofano said. “We recently had a member of Congress who said be careful of the government-industrial complex. I just want to put out a word of caution to be cautious of the government-developer complex. There’s many big things coming up soon, want to make sure we look everything with clear eyes and with Matthews in mind.”
McCool previously announced that he’s running as a Democrat for the N.C. House of Representatives District 105. He was 21 when he first ran for the Matthews town board in 2019, then two years later was the top vote-getter.
“He’s done a great job. He shares a lot of the same likes that I have,” Higdon said. “Both of us are kind of old souls; now I’m old, he’s still young. It’s unusual to see a young guy like to listen to 1930s and ’40s jazz like I do, and he does as well.”
Hoover was the mayor pro tem and garnered the seventh-most votes for the six-person board. Higdon was absent the commissioners’ meeting known for the Zoom-bombing.
“I have missed about three meetings in about 12 years, and Gina sat in his seat and endured a horrific night of verbal abuse, and she did an outstanding job. We should give her a round of applause for that.”
