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INSIDE ▼ Leaders delay school bond, move forward with jail
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PAGE 2B Friday, April 24, 2026 • Vol. 26 • No. 16
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Gary Sides was sworn into the Union County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 2, 2024. A few months later, doctors would diagnose him with brain cancer. Photo courtesy of Union County
Remembering Gary Sides Colleagues mourn death of compassionate, spirited leader by Justin Vick justin@charlottemediagroup.org
MONROE – Union County commissioners convened April 20 for the first time since the resignation and passing of Gary Sides. The public servant resigned from the board March 31 as he battled brain cancer. Sides revealed in his resignation letter that he was diagnosed with stage IV Glioblastoma after four months in office. “My treatment plan has included brain surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, an intensive three-week round of high dosage radiation and chemotherapy, and continues with infusions every two weeks to fight this disease,” Sides wrote. “I am, thankfully, stable and have held out hope that I could remain productive in my work on the board of commissioners.” Sides resigned at the advice of his care team. He passed away April 7. Flowers were placed in front of Sides’ empty seat. Colleagues spent several minutes at the start of the meeting reflecting on his life and passion for public service. “He was always positive and full of hope and I think that’s the one thing that’s broken my heart because he wanted to work on this board so badly,” Merrell said during the
meeting. “He only got like four or five months in, before he had to call and let me know about the diagnosis.” Chairman Brian Helms said the board would not accept nominations for a replacement during the April 20 meeting out of respect for Sides and his family. State statute requires the board select a successor within 60 days. The county faced similar circumstances with the passing of Stony Rushing on Aug. 8, 2023. Brian Helms and Melissa Merrell were on the board then. “It is very difficult to lose a board member,” Vice Chair Christina Helms said. “Commissioner Helms and Commissioner Merrell just a few short years ago lost somebody else that they loved and so it has reopened feelings for them.” Merrell and Christina Helms also worked with Sides during their time on the Union County Board of Education, where he served for 10 years. Waxhaw commissioners Richard Daunt and Susanna Wedra offered reflections during the public comment portion of the meeting about Sides’ work on the school board. “Most memorably during the 2021 school lockdowns and mask mandates, Gary showed real courage by standing against the authoritarian
overreach,” Wedra said. “When I emailed the school board expressing my concerns for her children, Gary personally replied with a message full of encouragement and hope affirming that these measures would not stand. His willingness to speak truth gave strength to the families at this very difficult time.” Colleagues described him as a cowboy with a servant’s heart, not afraid to speak his mind and fight for what he believed in. “He always had his own style – cowboy hat to the red Corvette,” Commissioner Clancy Baucom said. Merrell recalls how Sides would jump in his red Corvette to spring into action, including very early in his tenure to help with the Union County Senior Nutrition program. “When he found out that some of our senior citizens were sitting on a wait list, the very first thing he did is he got in that little red Corvette and he went down to the human services building and signed up, so he could start delivering meals to our senior citizens,” Merrell said. “He would just make you so proud if you got to see him behind closed doors.” A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. April 26 at Lee Park Church, 2491 Morgan Mill Road, Monroe. Visitation will be held from 2 to 2:45 p.m. at the church.
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Sides reflects on his service by Gary Sides Resignation Letter
Gary Sides resigned from the Union County Board of County Commissioners with this letter March 31. He passed away April 7. Brian Helms, chairman of the board, read the letter into the record during the April 20 meeting.
F
rom an early age, I always wanted to be involved in some way to work with others to make the community I lived in a better place for all. Being elected to the Union County Board of County Commissioners is one of the highlights of my community involvement efforts. I had such high hopes. And I was ready and willing to put the time in to learn all I could about county government, research those areas I was less familiar with and physically observe the actual dayto-day operations so I could make the best-informed decisions on matters that came before me during my time on the council. I knew that is what the citizens of Union County deserved and had entrusted me to do. I was appalled to learn there were so many senior citizens on a waiting list for assistance with the see RESIGNATION, Page 3A