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INSIDE ▼ McGinn seeks Senate rematch PAGE 2A Friday, December 19, 2025 • Vol. 25 • No. 51
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Mint Hill says goodbye Mayor Simmons, hello Mayor Dalton by Justin Vick justin@cmgweekly.com
MINT HILL – Brad Simmons handed the duties of mayor to Dale Dalton during the Dec. 11 Mint Hill Board of Commissioners meeting. The board also filled the commissioner vacancy left from Dalton becoming mayor.
In his last remarks as mayor, Simmons echoed former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “There’s no greater challenge and there’s
no greater honor than to be in public service.” While the mayor and commissioners tend to get a lot of credit for what happens at town hall, Simmons credited staff for doing all of the hard work. “We had this great big long list of what this board accomplished, and that doesn’t rate anywhere close to the blessings that my family and I received by serving this community,” Simmons said. Dalton read a proclamation recognizing Simmons for his service, which included
involvement in organizations like the Mint Hill Kiwanis Club and Mint Hill Athletic Association. Before becoming mayor in 2019, Simmons served on the parks and recreation committee from 1999 to 2013 and the planning board from 2013 to 2019. “Mayor Simmons consistently met with residents to address concerns and suggestions,” Dalton said. “He values his connection to the town and upholds his pledge to be open, honest and approachable. He publicly
and privately supports and commends the town staff.” Dalton thanked Simmons as well as previous Mayor Ted Biggers, both of whom he had the opportunity to learn from by serving alongside them. “My vision and commitment are simple: to serve with integrity and listen with compassion,” Dalton said. “Along with the town staff, police, firefighters, public works and
Seemingly Overzealous Ice Cream to expand to Matthews
Story continues, see DALTON page 3A
Tofano cautions against ‘governmentdeveloper complex’ By Mark Tofano Contributor
community dials 911, help shows up quickly and professionally. We also dreamed really big. We voted to bring Discovery Place Kids to Matthews and tied that investment to a new elementary school and a new downtown park. I don’t think many people realize how transformational that is. Years from now, families will be able to walk downtown, learn, play and build memories together right in the heart of our community. We invested in parks and green spaces, and we did it the right way by listening. We went to the voters and asked for their support on bonds because we believed, and the public confirmed, that Matthews deserves quality places to gather, to play, to walk and simply take a breath.
I’ve lived a blessed life and a long life. It’s been filled with sometimes unspeakable joy and also the deepest of sorrow, sometimes with the Tofano highs of success and the lows of failure, and sometimes with abundant wealth and abject poverty. In the background of that kind of experience, winning or losing an election doesn’t even compare – doesn’t even register in life experiences. But it does have its effects, and it does have its consequences. For the last four years, I’ve been feeling like Don Quixote, constantly trying to get initiatives passed. But as democracy will play out, it’s always been against the majority, which didn’t necessarily share the same viewpoints that I had. Some of the things I really tried to get pushed through, and hopefully they’ll get consideration in the future, are to have real-time access to public records, a finance advisory committee, zero-based budgeting, limiting high-density development, keeping taxes as low as possible, controlling debt, promoting freedom of speech, pedestrian corridors, promoting veterans, trying to find ways to solve the homeless veterans problem, and so much more. I see Rick Gilbert here in the audience. Rick is with the Home Again Foundation. And one of the things that I tried to do, along with (Gina) Hoover and (Leon) Threatt, was to find land for Mr. Gilbert to use to house homeless veterans. And I hope we can see that sometime in the future. So just a word of caution. As many of you may or may not know, this last election was fairly heavily influenced by some of the largest developers here in this area. Going back to President Eisenhower when he left office, he said, “Be careful of the military-industrial complex.” We also recently had a member of U.S. Congress that left and said, “Be careful of the government-industrial complex.” I just want to put out a word of caution to be cautious about the government-developer complex.
Story continues, see MCCOOL page 3A
Story continues, see TOFANO page 3A
Seemingly Overzealous Ice Cream has three shops in Charlotte, including this one in Plaza Midwood. Photos courtesy of Seemingly Overzealous
CHARLOTTE – Jessica Berresse and Garrett Tichy founded Seemingly Overzealous, which has shops serving dairy, egg and gluten-free ice cream in Plaza Midwood, Dilworth and Camp North End. The brand plans to expand to Davidson and Matthews next year.
The Davidson store is slated to open in May as a part of Sadler Square shopping center, 207 Griffith St. The Matthews location is slated to open in late summer at 126 Matthews Station St. Guests can expect 12 to 16 rotating flavors, including best-selling classics like cookies and cream and chocolate peanut butter cups, as well as unique creations like blood orange with candied ginger. The made-from-scratch dairy, egg and gluten-free ice cream will continue to cater to those with allergies while also satisfying those looking for the creaminess they’ve come to expect from full-fat, dairy-based ice cream.
Future Davidson and Matthews locations will aim to create an immersive experience for customers, offering cozy seating areas and playful décor.
Both shops will be designed by Cluck Design Collaborative and Mad Goat Studio. DK Hayden Construction will return for the fourth and fifth time to do the complete buildout.
The shops will offer scoops, gluten-free waffle cones, ice cream sammies, ice cream cakes and pints. These new locations will also introduce shakes, flights and expanded baked good offerings. “Opening Seemingly Overzealous in these two communities is a dream,” Berrese said. “We are so grateful for the support we have already received from our existing customer
base, from the families in the neighborhood that walk or bike in for their weekly treat and those who make the trek from further out of town for our specialty products. The expansion into Matthews and Davidson allows us the opportunity to connect with and serve even more members of our community, and we couldn't be more excited.” On the web: seeminglyoverzealous.com
McCool reflects on three terms as Matthews commissioner By Ken McCool Contributor
Tonight is bittersweet. I’ve spent the last few months reflecting on what this service has meant to me. First, I want to thank my family and friends for the support over the years. I grew up here. I watched McCool former leaders, some of our former mayors, who are in the audience tonight, with a lot of admiration. And now I’ve had the privilege of sitting in those very same seats held by the people I looked up to the most. At 21 years old, I was given an incredible responsibility of stepping into a vacancy on this board. I lost the prior election. I also want
to say I think it’s a rite of passage in this town to lose your first election to John Urban. You have to do it before you can get elected. I think that’s pretty fun. But when I was appointed, I was young, I was nervous and I was determined to not waste the trust this town had put in me. Since then, we’ve been through a lot together. We invested in public safety by moving Fire Station No. 3 from an idea to a fully funded project so our firefighters can reach more of our town faster. We approved the first responders training facility so that we can train the next generation of first responders right here in Matthews. We worked to keep police and fire pay competitive, added firefighter positions and made sure that when someone in your
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