Jonathan Melton

Jonathan S. Melton is an American lawyer, non-profit organizer, philanthropist, 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.

Jonathan Melton
Raleigh City Councilman
Assumed office
October 2019
Preceded byRuss Stephenson
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceRaleigh, North Carolina
Alma materNorth Carolina State University
North Carolina Central University
Occupationlawyer, non-profit organizer, philanthropist

Education and law career

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.[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.[2][1] He is a member of the Wake County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.[2] Melton practices family law and works with non-profit organizations 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.[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

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]

On May 11, 2020 Melton spoke at the LGBTQ+ Dems of Wake Virtual Town Hall.[14]

In June 2020 Melton, along with Councilman Martin, defended protesters who were arrested, and were victims of police brutality, during the George Floyd Protests in Raleigh.[15]

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.[16]

References
  1. "Jonathan Melton". Gailor Hunt.
  2. "Jonathan S. Melton".
  3. 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".
  4. "Aftermath of SCOTUS Marriage Equality Decision".
  5. "Jonathan Melton". raleighnc.gov.
  6. Ammons, Jessie (2017-03-01). "Stonewall Sports League". WALTER Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  7. "Jonathan Melton for Raleigh City Council".
  8. 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.
  9. Melton, Jonathan (September 18, 2019). "Candidate Questionnaire: Jonathan Melton, Raleigh City Council, At-Large". INDY Week.
  10. "Raleighites Agenda: At-large candidates' responses". Raleigh Convergence. September 18, 2019.
  11. "Endorsements 2019: Down With the Raleigh NIMBYs". INDY Week. September 18, 2019.
  12. Tauss, Leigh (October 15, 2019). "Five Things to Expect From Raleigh's New, Younger, Queerer City Council". INDY Week.
  13. Tauss, Leigh (January 3, 2020). "Raleigh City Council's Revised Decorum Rules Would Let You Name Council Members". INDY Week.
  14. "LGBTQ+ Dems of Wake Virtual Town Hall". Wake County Democratic Party.
  15. "Raleigh police chief says she's 'concerned' by officers' actions during demonstrator arrests". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. June 19, 2020.
  16. Tauss, Leigh (July 7, 2020). "Raleigh Council Asks State to Give Police Review Board Oversight Powers". INDY Week.
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