Orange County Commissioner Mark Dorosin is set to step down from his position in the local government ahead of a move from North Carolina.

The long-time civil rights lawyer shared a message on his private Facebook page and confirmed the move to Chapelboro on Friday. Dorosin is accepting a position at Florida A&M University College of Law, meaning he will formally leave his position on the Orange County Board of Commissioners. His final day will be July 31, as announced by Chair of the Board of County Commissioners Renee Price.

Dorosin earned re-election in 2020 by a seven-vote margin, narrowly edging out fellow incumbent Penny Rich for the lone remaining District 1 seat. He is currently serving his third term, having first been elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. Previously, Dorosin served on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen from 1999 to 2003.

In an interview with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck on Friday, Dorosin shared the options the Orange County government have available to fill his seat, which has three years of service remaining.

“Because it’s a partisan position, my replacement has to be a democrat and because I’m a representative of District 1, the replacement has to [live in] District 1,” said Dorosin. “One path is for the county Democratic Party to make recommendations, which the commissioners can choose from. The other path is to do what we’ve seen previously in this community when there’s a vacancy: applications for people interested, an interview process and then a selection process.”

The Orange County Board of Commissioners are required make a selection within 60 days of Dorosin’s departure, according to state law. The board’s selection will fill the District 1 seat until 2022. At that time, an election will be held to fill the seat until 2024, which would complete the term voters initially elected Dorosin to.

In addition to his service in the county government, Dorosin works as the managing attorney for the North Carolina regional office of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He previously held teaching positions at the UNC School of Law, the Duke University Law School, Alamance Community College and at the high school level. A Carrboro resident, Dorosin graduated from the UNC law school in 1994.

On Friday, Dorosin said he’s spent some time recently considering the next step in his career as a civil rights lawyer, something he describes as his “destiny.”

“I’ve been doing the work for the same way for a long time and started to think about whether there was another way I could make an effective contribution to the struggle,” said Dorosin. “As I started thinking about the possibilities, I saw this position at Florida A&M. It just seemed like the perfect chance to do exactly what I would envision, which is getting a chance to be training the next generation of civil rights lawyers and being a part of an HBCU.”

When asked on Friday what some of his proudest accomplishments are while serving on the Board of County Commissioners, Dorosin mentioned examples like bringing resources to the Rogers Road community and earning an affordable housing bond.

“Generally, I would say, [it] is pushing the board to look at the work we’re doing through a racial and social justice, equity lens,” said the county commissioner. “I wish we would do better with that. We’re still struggling with a huge disparity in economic wealth in our community, it’s one of the biggest gaps in the state. We’re still struggling with achievement gaps in our school systems and we’re still struggling with maintaining diversity. But those are, I think, at the forefront of all our discussions, which is an important change.”

Dorosin said there are still several items he hopes to accomplish before his final day, including preparing for the upcoming fiscal year in “the most challenging budget season” he’s seen during his time on the board. But the Carrboro resident also said he hopes to continue the civil rights work he’s done to make it even more established before his move.

“Hopefully what I can do,” Dorosin said, “[by] working with my colleagues and with the other organizations and boards I work on, is just shore up the goals and vision we’ve established. I really hope to further entrench the commitment to racial justice throughout.”


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