Editor’s Note: This the first of three profiles on the the three new Town of Waxhaw Commissioners.
In November 2017, the Town of Waxhaw Residents unseated three incumbent Commissioners with three newcomers who all happen to be women. This will be the first time that the Town of Waxhaw’s Board of Commissioners will have a majority of women as members. Newcomers Tracy Wesolek, Kat Lee, and Brenda Burns join current members Fred Burrell and Brenda McMillon.
Tracy Wesolek moved to Waxhaw four years ago so that her children could be closer to her mother and stepfather, who have lived in Waxhaw for 23 years. When she first arrived in Waxhaw, she knew she wanted to be involved in the town and applied to the Town of Waxhaw’s Board of Adjustment (BOA). This service has given her a lot of experience with Waxhaw’s culture and Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). Filling a quasi-judicial role, the Board of Adjustment is where someone can go to appeal decisions made by the town planning board. This experience will help Wesolek with her new position since the BOA was required to come to a unanimous decision giving her experience negotiating and compromising and her knowledge of the current UDO will help her understand impacts of future revisions.
“I have been very involved in the town for the past four years. I knew more growth was coming, and how we plan for the growth would be critical to how Waxhaw looks in the future. While accepting growth was inevitable, I wanted to make sure Waxhaw continued to have the small town feel we all love. I felt it was time for me to step up and play a role in ensuring this happens.” Wesolek continues, explaining, “The biggest challenges for Waxhaw is managing growth until we have the proper infrastructure in place. Traffic will continue to be a problem for many years, and this is very much out of local control. Another challenge is making the right decisions for the entire Town, while understanding we won’t make every citizen happy. We have two different groups of citizens living in Waxhaw, ones who want more growth and ones who want to remain a small bedroom community. There has been quite a bit of divisiveness in the town and this has fractured the sense of community. Sometimes we will have to make decisions which may not make sense to the average citizen today, but make sense as we plan for the future.”
Wesolek believes that Waxhaw “must continue to be involved in regional planning and partner with the leaders from the surrounding municipalities to solve these issues. We must also continue to foster relationships with our state leaders to get the support we need. I am also hoping we can partner with our local faith leaders to help bring the sense of community back to Waxhaw. I want all of our citizens to feel like we are “One Waxhaw”
Wesolek has enjoyed making Waxhaw home for herself and her children. Her oldest son graduated from Cuthbertson High School and is currently attending the University of South Carolina with an upcoming 6-month study abroad in the Netherlands. Her younger son is a junior at Cuthbertson High School and her daughter is in the 7th grade at Cuthbertson Middle School. Wesolek works for Lionbridge Technologies as an internet consultant for a major search engine. This has given her the ability to understand the needs of the people, what they are looking for, and how to meet their needs. This translates into being more receptive to the citizens and what they need and want in the leadership for Waxhaw. Since it is a global company, she has knowledge of economics and politics on a global scale.
Wesolek holds a degree in Business/Political Science and is a State and District delegate for the GOP so she has already established relationships with many Republican elected officials. She is also an NC Master Gardner and a supporter of Waxhaw’s Farmer’s Market and plans on making Waxhaw’s parks and environment a priority.
The first 2018 meeting for the Board of Commissioners will be held at 6:30 pm on January 9, 2018 at the Waxhaw’s Police Department’s Community Room (3620 Providence Road South, Waxhaw, NC 28173)
