Commissioner asks county to place full‑time veteran service officer in Huntersville town hall

Commissioner Quarrels asked Mecklenburg County commissioners to work with Huntersville and neighboring towns to locate a full‑time veteran service officer in the town’s new town hall at no cost to the town.

Quarrels, who identified herself in the meeting as the “twelfth congressional district commissioner for veteran affairs,” said many veterans and dependents in the area do not currently see a local veteran service officer and framed the proposal as both an access and economic issue. “There are over 4,000 veterans in and Cornelius that are not seeing a veteran service officer,” Quarrels said during public comment.

Quarrels told the gathering that, in her estimate, the region is losing substantial economic activity when veterans travel outside the immediate area for services. “Weare thrown away or missing anywhere between 109 to $190,000,000 in Mecklenburg County,” she said, adding the town and nearby communities have organized letters of support, including from the Lake Norman Chamber and Davidson officials.

She asked county commissioners to work with local officials “to hire 1 person full time to be in our new town hall” to serve veterans and their dependents. Quarrels said the proposed service would cover veterans and dependents, and noted limits on advocacy for dependents once they reach age 18.

The request was presented as a public‑comment appeal and an ask of county commissioners; the meeting record does not show any binding county action, a vote by the Huntersville commission, nor an agreed funding commitment as a result of the comment.

Supporters mentioned in the meeting: Lake Norman Chamber, Cornelius Town Commissioners and Davidson officials; a state representative (Vicki Sawyer) was mentioned as a bill sponsor on separate transit legislation discussed earlier in the meeting but not as a funder of the veterans proposal.

No formal motion or vote on the veterans office was recorded at this meeting.