98th Annual Conference
Roesler appointed deputy director

By Todd McGee
Director of Communications

New NCACC Deputy Director Patrice Roesler meets with (from left to right) Rep. Linda Coleman (Wake), Sen. Jim Jacumin (Burke), NCACC Executive Director David Thompson and other members of the Legislature’s County Coalition on Aug. 3. (Photo by Todd McGee)

NCACC Executive Director David Thompson announced during his inaugural address to the membership that he has elevated Patrice Roesler to the position of deputy director. Thompson made the announcement Aug. 27 at the business meeting during the Association’s Annual Conference in Mecklenburg County.

Thompson said that Roesler, who has been with the Association for more than 30 years, would assume her new duties effective immediately. “Patrice will never forget the date of her promotion, because it just so happens that today is also her birthday,” Thompson said in making the announcement.

Roesler joined the NCACC on Jan. 15, 1975, as director of research and publications. She served as the first editor of CountyLines, which began publication in February 1975 under the title North Carolina County News.

She became a member of the lobbying staff a few years later and developed into one of the key members of the Association’s legislative team. In 1979, she was promoted to director of intergovernmental relations, and in 2003, she added the title assistant executive director.

Roesler will continue to serve as a member of the advocacy team, Thompson said, but she will also lead the Association as it begins implementing the long-range planning and visioning project.

“One of Patrice’s main responsibilities is to be sure that our organization is focused on the long-range planning project and to develop strategies and initiatives that will help us achieve the outcomes identified during this process,” Thompson said.

“I am very excited,” Roesler said. “It’s a big challenge for me, and it gives me an opportunity to broaden my impact in the role of the Association and help counties do something that has longevity.

“When working on one of the reforms I have worked on over the years, like Structured Sentencing Reform or Welfare Reform, it takes about five years to develop the need for the issue to get attention until it comes to a closure. It is really intense in those five years, but then it ends. When I look at the strategic planning, it doesn’t have an end. It is a perpetual evolution of change for the organization, and that is exciting for me.”

Roesler is a graduate of Atlantic Christian College. She and her husband, David, have one daughter, Heidi.