The city of Charlotte has turned to Moore & Van Allen attorney Valecia McDowell to get to the bottom of sexual harassment claims swirling around Charlotte city council. Former mayor Pat McCrory joined the powerful Uptown law firm as a director of “strategic initiatives” in January. State Sen. Dan Clodfelter, Mecklenburg County Commissioner Dumont Clarke, and numerous other attorneys with family and professional ties to local government call Moore & Van Allen home.
McDowell is a registered Democrat who has contributed to the local Democratic Party and the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, according to campaign finance reports.
In a 2005 interview with The Charlotte Business Journal McDowell said, “I am the product of busing in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. All of my professional achievements are the direct result of the sacrifices of those who demanded that Charlotte have one, integrated public school system.”
Update: According to Foxx’s campaign reports for last year, the $1250 McDowell contributed in June was among the over $5600 in donations Moore & Van Allen employees made to his mayoral campaign.