CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte chapter of the NAACP is calling for the ouster of Mecklenburg County manager Dena Diorio.
The group held a news conference Friday in support of a fired technician in the county health department who says he was let go for being a whistleblower.
The NAACP says Diorio has not done enough to improve conditions at the health department where last year, the then-director Marcus Plescia resigned after reports that 185 women were never notified of their risk for cervical cancer after getting PAP smears.
Corine Mack who is president of the Charlotte chapter of the NAACP said, “The Commissioners have the purview to hire the county manager. I want them to remove the county manager that is seated right now."
County Commissioner Pat Cotham attended the news conference and was asked if she was prepared to vote out Diorio.
Cotham said not at this point.
“We need to hear from her and we need to ask questions, but no, there is no rush to judgment here.”
The fired health technician, Dell Adams said he had seen “misbehavior” at the department that he reported.
“I saw false reporting. I saw changes in results. I saw patients wait three to four hours for services,” Adams said.
The new health department director issued a statement following the news conference saying improvements were being made at the department.
The statement from Alma Harris went on to say, “Changing the culture of an organization as large and diverse as public health is not an easy task. However, we are doing just that."
The county public affairs office said Diorio would not be making any statement.