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Path of Portraits: Dan Ramirez

Path of Portraits: Dan Ramirez

Dan Ramirez (1947-2014)

Portrait by La'Porscha Smith

Dan Ramirez became the first Latino person elected to the Mecklenburg County Commission in 2002. As an at-large commissioner, he represented the entire county, even while battling ALS toward the end of his life. He received the Longleaf Pine award from Governor Pat McCrorey - the State's highest award for public service - in 2013. At the time of his death in 2014, he was still the only Latino ever to be elected to public office in Mecklenburg County at any level.

Ramirez was born in Bogotá, Colombia and immigrated to Texas in 1970. Four years later, upon arrival in Charlotte, he started a successful GIS company (Nova Digital Systems) which made him well-known in the business community. He took that business mindset to county politics, where he was a socially and fiscally conservative presence. For example, he was a loud voice for balanced budgets and lower taxes, while supporting a state constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage in 2004.

Ramirez's focus always stayed local and he never aspired to higher office. He was always active within Charlotte's Latino community, helped to bring the Charlotte Knights to the city in the early 1990s, and always championed local investment. After Ramirez was diagnosed with ALS in 2012, he largely gave up political work to focus on raising money for people affected with the disease. 

See more of La'Porscha's work on Instagram: @grittygalart

Tags:   Latin American History  |   Politics  |   Immigration

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