Tension in Durham County board meeting

For much of the year, the Durham Board of County Commissioners has been plagued with controversy including accusations of racism and dysfunction. In the first meeting of the new board, it was made clear that commissioners are not yet completely united. While the vote to elect a chair was unanimous, the vote on a vice chair was not.

Durham's first all-female county board of commissioners was sworn in on Monday. Newly elected members Nida Allam and Nimasheena Burns joined returning board members Heidi Carter, Brenda Howerton and Wendy Jacobs to comprise Durham’s first entirely female board in its 139-year history. The commissioners believe they are North Carolina's first all-woman county board to be sworn in.

“For me, it’s inspiring and exciting to see the representation that really is needed," Allam said.

"I believe that all of us have those values and that policy that we really want to enact change in. We all ran for office because we want to be public servants, we want to see change in our communities and so I think that’s going to be a unifying factor for us," she said.

Allam is also the first Muslim woman elected to public office in North Carolina.

“It’s exciting, but it’s also a huge weight that I carry to make sure that I do this job correctly because I am representing the Muslim community now,” she said. “I want to be able to open up the doors for other young Muslim women to be able to run for office and serve.”

Heidi Carter is returning to serve on the board and believes that the commissioners will be effective if they can work together.

“I believe that we all want what’s best for Durham, setting aside political agendas,” she said. “We just need to pull together, with the strength of women, to put those policies in places.”

Durham’s all-female board of commissioners conducted its first meeting remotely hours after the new commissioners were sworn in. Brenda Howerton was unanimously voted chair of the board, and Wendy Jacobs was voted as vice chair in a three to two split vote.

Before casting her vote against Jacobs, Burns said residents need to have equal opportunities.

"At this current moment, that basic standard has not been met," she said.

In an interview afterward, Carter hoped that lack of unanimity won't set the tone for the board's work.

"I believe that this all-women board in Durham is composed of five hard-working, dedicated, strong women," she said.

Howerton said one of her first goals for the board would be to get racial equity training for commissioners.