UNC alumni Gerry Cohen to retire from legislature

Colleagues said it will take several people to fill the vacuum that Gerry Cohen, special counsel to the N.C. General Assembly, will leave behind when he retires in August.

In the legislature, Cohen has a reputation as an encyclopedia with a memory like a whip. As an undergraduate at UNC, he wrote for The Daily Tar Heel and earned a degree in political science in 1971. He went on to attend the UNC School of Law and also earn a master’s degree in political science from the University. He is considered an expert on the state constitution.

Cohen, who drafts bills and conducts legislative research for all 170 members of the N.C. Senate and House of Representatives, announced last week that he is retiring after 37 years at th e legislature.

“It was harder and harder to work the 20-hour days,” Cohen said.

Cohen, 63, has been working in the public sector since before he finished school. He won a spot on the Chapel Hill Town Council as a second-year law student in 1973. In the middle of his second term, he left the Town Council to pursue work full-time as a staff attorney in the General Assembly.

“I sort of came to a fork in the road of my career,” Cohen said. “I really concentrated on the nonpartisan policy aspect.”

He said he plans to keep up with local issues in retirement. Cohen is passionate about public transportation, especially in Wake County, where he currently resides.

Cohen was instrumental in creating Chapel Hill Transit during his time as a Town Council member and served on the board of Raleigh Transit Authority between 2009 and 2013.

Of the thousands of pieces of legislation Cohen has worked on, he said one of his favorites was a plan for a light rail train in Charlotte brought forth in the 1990s. He said he enjoyed seeing the long-term project become a reality in 2009. The light rail is currently being extended.

“It’s been 20 years from the time I started working on that project,” Cohen said. “Now, I don’t have anything to do with digging with the shovel, but I saw my work on that project in coming up with a solution that eventually allowed transportation needs to be met.”

Cohen’s colleagues said that nonpartisan solutions are his specialty.

“I really admire his ability to work with all the different legislators, and treat all of their ideas similarly,” said Esther Manheimer, Cohen’s former intern, who is now the mayor of Asheville.

“There’s a way to have a civil conversation with almost anyone, and there’s no reason not to communicate even if you have different views on things. Gerry was my introduction to how to do that.”

N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said he and his wife enjoyed working with Cohen during their time as state representatives.

“I quickly came to realize that Gerry Cohen was the smartest man around,” Goodwin said. “I don’t know what they’re going to do (without him) — no one will ever match him.”

Cohen said he plans to use his retirement to travel, spend time with his family, stay healthy and go to more UNC basketball games.

“I’m 98 percent sure that Roy Williams lived in my dorm my freshman year,” said the die-hard Tar Heels fan.

state@dailytarheel.com