Renee Price, the vice chairperson of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, was presented the M.H. "Jack" Brock Outstanding County Commissioner Award which recognizes special achievement and efforts on Aug. 15.
Lacy Pate, the public relations manager for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, said the honor is awarded by executive officers who review the nominations of the NCACC Board of Directors. She said commissioners who win the award have to achieve something that goes above and beyond their leadership position in their county.
Pate said Commissioner Price’s extensive leadership positions made her a deserving recipient for the award. Currently Price is a member of numerous local, state and national initiatives such as the NCACC Board of Directors and the NCACC Justice and Public Safety and Health and Human Services Steering Committees.
Price said, ultimately, her love for people is what fuels her work as commissioner.
“What I love about the job is working with people and helping my community to improve upon the good things that we have and to improve upon the things that need to be improved,” Price said.
Price said she gets her love for others from her parents. Her mother was a beautician, and her father is a retired police officer. Price said she recently became the chairperson of the National Association of Counties' Arts and Culture Commission. She said she sees the position as something her mother would have loved and a way to break down barriers in her community.
Price said within politics, she has always gravitated to the human impact of her work, and the ways policies impact people on the local, state and national level. She has been an Orange County commissioner for the last eight years, where she worked with fellow commissioner Earl McKee.
“The thing that really stands out to me is that as a commissioner she gets out into the community, sets up community conversations, and really listens to the people she represents across the county,” McKee said.
Ray Trapp, the former vice-president of the North Carolina Association of Black County Officials, said he and Price worked together when she was president. He said they succeeded in pushing for the N.C. legislature to raise the age for felonies in the state, which he attributed to her passion and dedication.
