Remarks by Michelle Burton
44 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 6:55
“Thank you, Chair Lee. I just only have a couple of, well, three announcements, real brief. First, I want to give a really, acknowledge our colleagues, Commissioners Wendy Jacobs and Commissioner Stephen Valentine, as well as our sheriff, Sheriff Clarence Burkett, for serving on a panel last Wednesday night sponsored by the Durham branch of the NAACP. It was really, really great. I don't know if you wanna talk more about it, but talking about mental health and criminal justice, our youth mental health and the HEART program and how we can collaborate more. So I'm really grateful that the Durham…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 25:01
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 29:00
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Board of County Commissioners · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 16:43
“okay i see commissioner jacobs did you have something commissioner burton thank you chair lee i just wanted to um if someone could come up and explain about how much it has increased due to tariffs and inflation because that's something i know that many of our residents will be interested in knowing understanding because these costs are going up these construction costs are getting more and more expensive Even though we know when the bond passed, it was one amount. Now it's increased to another amount. So thank you.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 18:51
“try to meet the goal they have increased their capital campaign as well as um sort of longer term looking at strategies to to close those gaps and i know commissioner also yeah and i think this is you know i totally understand i think you know when we're just in a different time things are just going up and they're increasing and um making sure that when we go out and talk to our residents like things are increasing we have to absorb the cost as well and we're doing everything we can to use the tax dollars judiciously so i just really wanted to hear what um david had to say county manager had…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 52:58
“Thank you, Chair Lee. Thank you for this wonderful report. And I really am excited to hear from you, Jillian, because I serve on Central Pines Regional Council and all the work that CPRC does for the region. So thank you so much for this. The question that I had, and I'm going to make a comment first. I'm really glad we're doing this work. I know this was something that was discussed on Alliance Health Board a few months back. I serve on that board about street outreach, health outreach. So I'm really glad that we are doing this. I think the thing, and this is just me saying this, what really…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 55:52
“Well, that's good to know. And because we know that's an epidemic that doesn't get talked about a lot. You know, when we think of homelessness or unhoused individuals, people who are on the street or have to access the homeless shelter, but we just have so many people who are living in their cars, they're working, living in their cars, living in a weekly motel where you pay every week and things like that so thank you so much for this report and i'm looking forward to hearing more about what else we can do to make sure people are getting the health care that they need commissioner valentine…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:21:07
“There are a lot of veterans here in Durham County. I believe there are, what, 14,000? And about only 4,000 get services. And I just want to shout out our Department of Veterans Services because my father's a veteran and I was able to navigate that system to get him his services that were allowed to him. If we can really, really hone in on that, I think because the VA, I mean, once you found out what the VA provides, it's unbelievable. So we got to get as many of our unsheltered veterans connected to veteran services so they can get the support they need. That's the only thing I wanted to say.…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:49:08
“Thank you so much, Chair Lee. Thank you. This report is outstanding, and it was easy to digest. So thank you for all the clear numbers, the graphs, And I agree with you, Chair Lee, about the performance scorecard. What really caught my attention is around where people who are unhoused, they're looking for resources to better their situation. Like, where do we go? What's out there? The computers, checking their email to stay connected, right? Device charging so they can stay connected, right? Also, how do I make sure if I stay clean because it's good for health outcomes? Washing my clothes,…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:53:38
“So I don't have any, more questions right now i may have some later but i just want to say thank you for giving us this update it was really impressive and so i appreciate the work that you all are doing with the day center and um let's see what else we can do so thank you thank you yeah i'm gonna add something um hello again to everybody also at the day center yeah we do have uh employment resources and housing resources but we have a lot of people that come in that want to further their education beyond high school”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 2:30:11
“Yes, yeah, thank you, excuse me, for this presentation and why Commissioner Jacobs, I did not know that was an actual community. When you drive to Northern Durham County and you see Orange Factory Road, I know in my mind I'm thinking, okay, what was that about, right? And I'm always tempted to go down another, I think it's Willard, go down that road to see what's down there. And I also think it speaks to the importance of the Museum of Durham history. and why we want to document the history of Durham City and Durham County because we have so many new people coming into Durham City and County…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 2:38:42
“Thank you for that, Chair Lee. I was just wanting to say, I saw on the calendar that it's October 12th that was put on our calendar. I just want to verify if it's the 12th or the 20th.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 3:22:11
“Yeah, I was just gonna say if you can explain Yes.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 3:35:10
“Yeah, I agree with you, Commissioner Jacobs. And also, how do we make this information digestible for our residents? Understanding that, OK, the error rate when I know when I put this out on my social media or talk to people in the community, understanding, okay, what that is, we know what that means. Because I think many people don't quite, get the understanding that they're doing this through paperwork. It's a deliberate way of, okay, you can make one mistake, tiny mistake, that's an error rate, or you didn't get this paperwork in on time, or you lose your benefits. So really making this…”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 3:40:13
“Yeah, and one quick follow-up about, because it's volunteer work, trainings, like what are we, and I asked this question when Congresswoman Fushi came about are there organizations that”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 4:05:52
“Yeah, I just had a question. I know, Commissioner Jacobs, you said about the $21 million. I just want you to explain that a little bit more about... How that works.”
Board of County Commissioners · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 1:32:15
“that concludes the announcements published in tonight's agenda thank you clerk wallace all right the next item uh are there any other announcements uh we'll go to commissioner burton thank you chair lee um i just want to share on this past saturday i went to the digital empowerment day that was held at the chesterfield building It was sponsored by Digital Durham. Digital Durham is a non-profit that really is trying to close the gap with community members with digital awareness, technology, things like that. And it was a really, really good really learned a lot about AI and how it's going to…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:00:23
“Thank you, Chair Lee. And congratulations, White Rock Baptist Church, on 160 years of faith and worshiping God and serving God and serving the Durham community. One of the things I want to say is when I come to White Rock, one of the things that I love about that church, not only the warmth of the people, but that beautiful organ. It is amazing. It's just amazing when you hear it play. And I remember, this is many, many years ago, my aunt came to Durham and we came to write rock because she's a musician, a pianist, and she wanted to hear music. the organ because it's so beautiful and she…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:26:46
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:28:04
“And that's good to know because I know people are just really excited about the possibilities as to what could be done with the property, particularly Durham School of the Arts. So just giving, I guess, an estimate of how long it'll take to finish it. So thank you so much for your report and all that you do around this.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:39:49
“going into detail about what's happening with Head Start and the rule changes and things like that and I concur with Commissioner Jacobs how do we get this to a wider and bigger audience because a lot of times you know people are not really understanding how these services are funded you know they they really just don't have any full understanding of it and how these rule changes will greatly impact how we can educate our young people, our little people. And thinking about the rules around SNAP and Medicaid, those are gonna start on October 1st, and I try to put it on my social media to sound…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:41:18
“And I also think it's done on purpose to keep people scrambling because it's like, what do you do next? How do I get this? How do I get that? So I think it's done intentionally to keep people to not take action, if you understand what I'm trying to say. So thank you so much.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 3:08:30
“Thank you so much for that wonderful presentation. I am so excited about this because I know this is something that I was advocating for I remember when I first got on the board and I was trying to figure out, okay, how can we get money to so many of these great after-school programs to serve our youth? And it's now coming to fruition. So I'm looking forward to – there's so many really great community – programs out there in Durham who are really trying to serve young people, give them something to do, particularly after school, because we know that when kids, particularly in middle school…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 1:41:11
“Thank you, Chair Lee. And I, too, was so impressed with your dedication to Durham County government and how many years you have worked for the youth home. And because that takes real dedication to work with young people, particularly young people who are going through some severe challenges. So thank you, thank you so much. I am looking forward to working with you and learning more from you. And also I know we're going to take a tour of the youth home because that's a concern of all of us up here. We want to make sure that no matter what the circumstances our young people are in, we know that…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 14, 2026
- Play at 1:43:48
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 14, 2026