“I, personally, have such an affiliation with downtown Matthews and trying to drive it and make it a bigger destination for folks, and I’m going to continue to do that, regardless of if it’s Seaboard, or Beer Temple or Temple Mojo. I’m in it for Matthews first before I’m going to worry about any specific business.” – Rob Jacik on merging Temple Mojo and Carolina Beer Temple (2/07)
“I am concerned for our community, especially those who are sick or at higher risk of becoming infected, as well as those who have either lost, or are at risk of losing their job or business. The consequences of this crisis are already deep and severe, and we’re not yet through the worst. I am confident, if we come together as a community and taking radical measures to protect ourselves, we will emerge from this crisis with resiliency and strength.” – Mint Hill Mayor Brad Simmons during the early days of the pandemic (3/27)
“This was supposed to be our year. It almost feels like we got robbed. It’s not over yet, but as of now it’s hard to be optimistic.” – Butler senior second baseman Travis Ziefert on COVID-shortened season (3/27)
“I love this town. I want to do what is right for the whole town. I had differing opinions, but I don’t want this town to be torn apart.” – Matthews Commissioner Jeff Miller on his motion and vote to appoint Ken McCool to Barbara Dement’s vacant seat on the town board (2/28)
“This makes me very angry because I feel like the task force could have been more creative with coming up with graduations. A virtual graduation is not optimal for us because we’re literally sitting through a video to hear our name called out for about two seconds and probably a picture. That is nothing compared to an actual graduation.” – Ashley Adam, a senior at Rocky River High, on her disdain for virtual graduation (5/15)
“I’ve seen a lot of people giving of themselves to help those in need. That’s something that I think this pandemic has brought out in a lot of areas and that’s people helping other people.” – Mint Hill Commissioner Mike Cochrane on his thoughts about the pandemic (5/22)
“Even in these uncertain times, it may feel as though our lives are in limbo, waiting for the next announcement to let us know whether another thing we have been awaiting for years has been postponed, canceled or switched to a virtual format.” – Carmel Christian valedictorian Grace Villanueva during her graduation speech (5/29)
“COVID-19 cannot define your greatness or minimize the accomplishment of graduating. It can only make you stronger and prepare you for the many other challenges in life as a college student, as a working adult and as a productive citizen in our society.” – Butler High School Principal Vincent Golden to the Class of 2020 (6/19)
“We can’t control all of the things in our own life but we can control our attitude. Attitude is a choice for all of us.” – Joey Burch, principal of Levine Middle College High School, to the Class of 2020 (6/19)
“I want to give back to the community that gave so much to me. I think each representation of Charlotte, especially a predominantly conservative town, should hear a different side of the story than they’ve heard their whole lives.” – Arden Boyle on organizing a Black Lives Matter rally in June at Mint Hill Town Hall (6/19)
“It is an extremely difficult decision to make, but we feel that it is the most responsible one – and the best way to keep everyone safe at this time. We hope to come back stronger than ever in 2021 and want you to be with us again when that time comes!” – Lee Anne Moore, executive director of Matthews Alive, on canceling the Labor Day festival (6/22)
“The men and women who wear this uniform and stand with you in this crowd are just as upset with the actions of those men as you are. Remember, nothing upsets a good cop like seeing a bad cop degrade the trust of our community.” – Matthews Police Chief Clark Pennington during a June social justice rally at Matthews Town Hall (6/12)
“The current state, putting it generously, was disgraceful. It just did not properly give tribute to our fallen heroes.” – Mark Tofano, commander of American Legion Post 235, on the memorial area in Stumptown Park (7/31)
“If you love your plants and care for your plants, they’ll grow better.” – Adhvik Pradeep, 9, of Matthews, on his produce and plant stand (8/7)
“Tempers are flaring with all of this stress that we are all under right now in our community and within our school communities. People are terribly critical right now at teachers for expressing their concerns. I just want the teachers to hear that your concerns are valid.” – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education chairwoman Elyse Dashew on the pressure of reopening to in-person instruction in the fall (8/7)
“It’s with great disappointment that I have to support a proposal to remove in-school instruction from our families. Unfortunately, our hand has been forced not by a global pandemic or by a local surge in disease prevalence but by our own state of preparedness to host students in the schools starting on the 17th of August.” – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Sean Strain on starting the year with remote learning (8/7)
“We’re all working to make the most unusual beginning of school we’ve ever had to work as smoothly as it can, given the circumstances. Every community in the country is dealing with the same problems we are.” – School board member Margaret Marshall of starting school in the fall (8/14)
“I can not come up with a logical argument that says you can eat at a table if you socially distance, but you can’t sit at a bar if you socially distance.” – Mayor John Higdon on not supporting Mecklenburg County COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants (8/14)
“Growing up and having to listen to politicians label people I know and love as criminals is a horrible, horrible thing. I want to reverse that.” – Rocky River High School graduate Gina Coque on the issue of immigration prior to her first semester at Yale University (9/11)
“I think that’s one of the reasons why I won in 2018 was because our district has become so much more diverse than it ever was.” – Susan Rodriguez-McDowell during her reelection campaign (9/25)
“With respect, we don’t talk about the risk and damage when kids are not at school, which we have been told time and time and time again by public health officials at every level and by our medical partners here in the region that that is more substantial than the risk of having kids in the classroom during COVID.” – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education member Sean Strain as colleagues discussed in-person learning (10/9) ‘
“I see no reason why any adult who cares about kids, who cares about our community is not going to get a flu shot this year. I’m just going to put it out there. I need your children to get it, too, because this is really going to make a difference in how we stay open.” – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education member Margaret Marshall on the prospect of getting children back in the classroom (10/9)
“It still doesn’t need to look like Anywhere, USA. It needs to take into context Matthews.” – Matthews Commissioner John Urban during a rezoning case that would bring more senior housing to Matthews (10/23)
“With everything in the news and all the politics going on, we thought we’d do the ‘Star Wars’ stuff because it makes people happy. Even if you don’t like ‘Star Wars,’ you’re not offended by it.” – Greg Thomas on his “Star Wars”-themed Halloween decorations (10/23)
“To me, this isn’t a health and safety issue. It’s an operation failure and we are letting down our kids.” – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Rhonda Cheek on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools unable to get middle school students back in the classroom due to a bus driver shortage (11/13)
“I don’t think I’ve gotten more letters against a project since I’ve been an elected official than this one.” – Mayor John Higdon on a withdrawn rezoning proposal that would have added apartments and townhomes to nearly 17 acres off Weddington Road (11/13)
“It’s taken a little while but the future has caught up to us and we find ourselves needing these seats.” – Dennis LaCaria on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools wanting to add an elementary school to Mint Hill Middle School’s campus (11/20)
“It’s our way of doubling down on kindness. It’s what the world needs right now.” – Bella Tunno CEO Michelle Buelow on donating meals for every product sold (11/20)
“Reading emails and texts, that stuff can wait. It’s not life or death, but it could be life or death if you’re checking your phone.” – Matthews Police Officer Tim Aycock on being careful on the road (11/20)
“My overall goal is to use my platform and pageant to help more young girls and women with self-love – to be strong and confident in who they are and that they can accomplish anything they set out for,” Retired pro boxer Carrie Flock on training to become MS NC Americas United States (11/27)
“We’re resilient. Theater and storytelling have been around since the very beginning of time. We will find a way to persevere.” – June Bayless, founder of Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts, on coping during the pandemic (11/27)
“Grief is simply love with nowhere to go. Our service members grieve things that most of us will never know about or have the strength the endure. These memorials are a place of reverence and give our veterans a place to visit where they can not only grieve, but love.” – Publisher Adrian Garson on the Hooks-Orr American Legion Post 235’s restoring the veterans memorial at Stumptown Park (12/04)
“We planned this back at the planning conference to put this money aside just to be sure that things didn’t go all to hell and blow up with COVID. We planned ahead and that was what the money was there for. Here we are now. We need to do what we said we would do.” – Matthews Commissioner Dave Bland on the possibility of giving town staff raises (12/04)
“The pandemic is certainly lasting longer that I think any of us hoped that it would but at the same time, I think with our conservative projections on our revenues and our conservative budgeting that we went through this past spring, we are continuing to look to be positively positioned overall for the year.” – Matthews Assistant Town Manager Becky Hawke on the town’s healthy finance position despite COVID-19 (12/04)
“I do think it’s somewhat of a slippery slope. When I think of a dog park, maybe that would be all right. But then are we going to have the Coca-Cola Town Green?” – Matthews Mayor John Higdon on allowing sponsorships for a dog park at Purser-Hulsey Park (12/04)
“We are going to try as hard as we can to make sure people feel as little pain from this situation as possible because we know how much everyone has been hurting.” – N.C. Rep. Rachel Hunt on entering her second term (12/04)
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