Excellence in Leadership awarded to Peter S. Gilchrist
By Jill Santuccio
                 
Today the 21st annual Excellence in Leadership award was presented to nine-term Mecklenburg County District Attorney Peter Gilchrist. The D.A. since 1975, his uncle Pat was a Charlotte Rotarian and quite possibly the only Rotarian from our club or district to ever have served on the Rotary International Board of Directors.
 
Upon accepting the award, Gilchrest said he was humbled and that many of his mentors, including John Belk, Bill Lee, Jim Woodward, Tony Zeiss, Allen Tate and Billy Wireman, also were previous winners. He emphasized that he was proud to be from, and serve, such a progressive city with a small-town feel.
 
In his 34 years as district attorney, he has implemented many changes. Among them was the state's first defensive driving course aimed at improving driving skills and reducing strain on court time. At first, traffic infraction charges were dismissed upon completion of the four-hour class, but later changed to prayer for judgment.
 
His office also created a dispute settlement system that allowed quarreling neighbors to resolve their differences through mediation rather than taking up valuable judges' time and courtroom hours. Similarly, a deferred prosecution program he implemented allows first-time offenders to sign contracts for restitution, alcohol- or substance-abuse programs, community service or other arrangements in lieu of court appearances.
 
Operating with "too few staff, insufficient technology and non-competitive salaries," it has taken Gilchrist more than 30 years to get a computerized case management system in place. Rookie Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers make more money and enjoy better benefits than his starting assistant district attorneys. In addition, the state of North Carolina spends half as much on the 43 district attorneys for 100 counties as it does for public defenders around the state.
 
"We're making progress, but crime is like poverty … it will always be with us," he concluded.
 
When asked about his management and leadership style, he replied that he starts by finding the best people he can hire. He then stipulates that their job is "to do justice" and encourages them how to deal with people by balancing the need to be "fire-breathing dragons" with being sensitive and treating people like "their best friend's granny."
 
He closed with a humorous story about walking uptown for lunch with former assistant city manager Don Steger. When approaching an intersection where a city crew was working on the signals, one of the crewmen noticed Steger and ordered the others to switch the crosswalk sign to "walk." With traffic lights switching abruptly from red to green and amidst screeching brakes, Gilchrist says he knew then which one of the two of them truly had "the power."
      
  
Head Table: Byron Bullard, Sheila Cottringer, Mac McCarley, Phil Van Hoy, Jim Woodward, Luther Fincher;
Invocation: Mary Rinehart;
Visitors & Guests: Gene Bratek; Health & Happiness: Elsie Garner; Song: Gregg Walker; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Two new members were introduced this week. Lynn Wheeler has sponsored Jeff Payne, a VP with CDM (Camp Dresser & McKee). Jeff can be reached at paynejf@cdm.com. Gray Langley, introduced by Tod Thorne, is a CPA and Principal with Farris, Cooke & Associates. Contact Gray at grayl@farriscooke.com. Welcome, gentlemen.
         
• The Holiday spirit filled the room on Tuesday with the Salvation Army kettle and band set up in the lobby. Thanks to Major Todd Hawks and Mark Norman for arranging this opportunity. And also to Bill Stegelmeyer for the bracelets that were raffled to benefit the kettle drive. Mary Erwin and Mark Erwin came in with the highest bids on the jewelry.
       
• Proceeds from tickets sold by the Inner Wheel ladies are used to buy artificial limbs. Tony Zeiss, Marilynn Bowler, Dale Gillmore, Paul Schmidt, Jon Hannan and Richard Bullard were winners of the basket and/or gift certificates.
       
• President Mac will present a $23,000 check to the County Commissioners to fund the long awaited clock that will be erected on the Sugar Creek Greenway. The planning process began during Catherine Browning's presidency and all are hopeful to see the final product in place by Labor Day 2009. The sketches are beautiful and members of the Rotary Club of Charlotte will be very proud of the structure.
  
• Sympathy is expressed to Trent Merchant and family upon the death of Trent's grandmother last week.
 
• A note from Sandy: My thanks to the club for the gracious Christmas gift! What a great group of friends I have and I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Might I also say there will not be a Reporter for the next two weeks. A recap of the program on December 30th will be included in the January 6th issue.
  
• Carol Jordan's second book of poetry, "Kaleidoscope: A Way of Seeing" has been published and is available from Lula.com, Amazon.com, Poplarstreetpress.com and Borders.com. Congratulations, Carol; Bill Anderson proudly reports this week's issue of The Charlotte Weekly featured Communities In Schools and the Performance Learning Center on their cover; Luther Moore extends an invitation to community leaders interested in Leadership Charlotte to attend their January 8 Open House. The event will be held from 6:00 to 7:30 at Queens University of Charlotte - Sykes Rotunda. Register at http://leadershipcharlotte.org/openhouse.html

Should you question the eligibility of any nominee, contact the Rotary office by 12/22/2008.