The past and future intersect

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Charlotte’s halls of political power make for strange bedfellows, as witnessed last month when on-his-way-into-politics Ed Driggs and Jennifer Roberts, who is out of power for the moment, met in the entryway of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

Democrat Roberts, the college volleyball-playing former member of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners who did not seek re-election in 2012 to run (unsuccessfully) for Congress, was actually on her way into the building.

Ivy League- and Oxford-educated Driggs, then a newly minted councilman-elect and as of Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony the freshman District 7 representative on the Charlotte City Council, was on his way to the elevator for a ride upstairs to continue the orientation process into his new gig.

“You don’t have to search her,” Driggs said with a laugh as the guards inspected Roberts’ bag and had her walk through the metal-detector. “She can be trusted.”

Once Roberts was past the security checkpoint, Driggs gave her a more formal greeting as “Chairwoman,” in deference to her five-year tenure trying to hold together Charlotte’s divisive – some have said dysfunctional – Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. “Ed,” she responded.

The two warmly shook hands and began conversing sotto voce (as a reporter with notebook and cocked ear hovered nearby) as the elevator doors shut.