Jonathan Melton
Jonathan Melton | |
|---|---|
| Raleigh City Councilman | |
| Assumed office October 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Russ Stephenson |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Alma mater | North Carolina State University North Carolina Central University |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Jonathan S. Melton is an American lawyer and politician. He is one of the first two openly gay people to serve on the Raleigh City Council. He is the current Chairman of the Raleigh City Council's Economic Development and Innovation Committee. Melton is also a founding board member of Stonewall Sports, a national LGBTQ philanthropic sports league.
Education and law career[edit]
Melton graduated from North Carolina State University in 2008 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.[1][2] While at State, he served as president of Delta Upsilon and was a member of the Honors Program.[unreliable source?][1][2] In 2011, he graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi.[unreliable source?][2][1] He is a member of the Wake County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.[2] Melton is a divorce lawyer who practices in Raleigh, North Carolina.[3] In 2013, he joined the firm Gailor Hunt Jenkins Davis & Taylor as a law partner practicing divorce law after working as a judicial law clerk for Richard A. Elmore of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.[unreliable source?][2][1] On August 5, 2015 he wrote an article for Attorney At Law Magazine titled Aftermath of SCOTUS Marriage Equality Decision, which covered the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States.[4]
Melton is a founding board member of Stonewall Sports, a national LGBTQ and allied philanthropic sports league.[5][6] He also serves on the board of directors for TLC, formerly the Tammy Lynn Center.[5] In 2017, he helped create an annual fundraising event for the North Carolina AIDS Action Network.[7]
Political career[edit]
Melton ran for Raleigh City Council in 2019 against sitting councilman Russ Stephenson.[8][9][10] Melton was endorsed by Indy Week.[11] He was elected to the council as an at-large member, defeating Stephenson, in October 2019.[1] He and Saige Martin were the first two openly LGBTQ people to serve on the City Council.[12] He serves as the Chairman of the City Council's Economic Development and Innovation Committee and is a member of the Transportation and Transit Committee.[1][5]
In January 2020, Melton, along with Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin and Councilman Patrick Buffkin, drafted new rules that would allow Raleigh residents to use the names of city staff and council members during public comment grievances as long as they refrain from personal attacks.[13]
In July 2020, Melton spearheaded an initiative to ask the North Carolina State Legislature to grant the city's Police Advisory Board oversight powers so that it could investigate and discipline police officers.[14]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Jonathan Melton". divorceistough.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 [unreliable source?] "Jonathan S. Melton". Attorney at Law magazine.
- ↑ [unreliable source?] Mildebrath, Nick (October 16, 2019). "CTC Client Jonathan Melton defeats a longtime incumbent to become the newest at-large member of the Raleigh City Council". Convergence targeted communications.
- ↑ [unreliable source?] "Aftermath of SCOTUS Marriage Equality Decision". Attorney at Law magazine. 5 August 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Jonathan Melton". raleighnc.gov.
- ↑ Ammons, Jessie (2017-03-01). "Stonewall Sports League". WALTER Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
- ↑ "Jonathan Melton for Raleigh City Council". jonathanmelton.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-16. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Billman, Leigh Tauss, Jeffrey C. (October 11, 2019). "Updated: Raleigh Has Its First Two LGBTQ Council Members. Kay Crowder and Russ Stephenson Will Not Seek Runoffs". INDY Week.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Melton, Jonathan (September 18, 2019). "Candidate Questionnaire: Jonathan Melton, Raleigh City Council, At-Large". INDY Week.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ "Raleighites Agenda: At-large candidates' responses". Raleigh Convergence. September 18, 2019.
- ↑ "Endorsements 2019: Down With the Raleigh NIMBYs". INDY Week. September 18, 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Tauss, Leigh (October 15, 2019). "Five Things to Expect From Raleigh's New, Younger, Queerer City Council". INDY Week.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Tauss, Leigh (January 3, 2020). "Raleigh City Council's Revised Decorum Rules Would Let You Name Council Members". INDY Week.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Tauss, Leigh (July 7, 2020). "Raleigh Council Asks State to Give Police Review Board Oversight Powers". INDY Week.[permanent dead link]
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