I have known Orange County commissioner candidate Mark Dorosin for almost 30 years, and throughout that time, his interest in social and economic justice and fighting racial discrimination has never faltered. In the 1980s, he protested against Apartheid and U.S. interests in South Africa. He focused on the history of the civil rights movement while attaining his master’s degree – then imparted his enthusiasm for history to ninth- and 10th-graders in Asheboro as a civics teacher. The discrimination he witnessed as a teacher and soccer coach inspired him to go to law school, where he met professors and students who helped shape his resolve to become a civil rights lawyer. Fighting for the rights of working people became his first priority, and he made certain that his own employees got a living wage and free health benefits. Later, he worked to help others start businesses in economically depressed communities, get small business loans and support in developing their business plans. At the UNC Center for Civil Rights, he has joined the struggle for integrated and fair public schools, and equal access to government services for all.
Since Mark is my husband, I have been privileged to see the former students, town workers, law students and UNC employees who stop him in the supermarket or on the street to say hello, shake his hand and often thank him again for some help he provided. Sometimes, they have new clients to refer or new issues for him to look into, and he always listens to them. The best is when one of his high school students, now grown, shyly asks, “Mr. D, do you remember me?†He does remember them, and is thrilled to hear about their lives and that they remember him.
I believe that Mark will take his commitment to serve so seriously that you could not find a better candidate for Orange County commissioner. His work is his passion, his hobby and his creative outlet at times. Please vote for Mark Dorosin, and give Orange County a new kind of commissioner.
Bronwyn Merritt
Carrboro