Board of Commissioners - Special Meeting

All right, good evening, everyone, and welcome. Thank you so much for being here. Apologies for starting a little bit late. But with that being said, we will go ahead and start with introductions. We'll start to my right.

Good evening. I am Christine Smith, clerk to the board. Welcome. Good evening. I am Arlissa Easton, deputy clerk to the board. Good evening. I am Mecklenburg County Commissioner Elaine Powell, representing Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius, and North Charlotte. Welcome.

Good evening. I'm George Dunlap, elected by the people of District 3.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Mark Jarrell. I've been elected by the people of District 4. I want to say I have the honor of serving as chairman of the board. Welcome.

Good evening and welcome. My name is Arthur Griffin, and I have the pleasure of serving as county commissioner at large.

Good afternoon. My name is Vilma DeLeacon. I represent the most powerful district in the government. That's District 2. Thank you for being here tonight.

Good evening, I'm Laura Meyer, and I represent District 5.

Good evening, I'm Susan Rodriguez McDowell, and I have the honor of being elected by the people of District 6.

Good evening and welcome. My name is Mike Brine. I'm Mecklenburg County Manager.

Good evening, Tyrone Wade, County Attorney.

We do have one commissioner participating remotely, and I will go to her at this time.

Good evening, everyone. We give everything. If I could be there, this is Commissioner Yvette Townsend Ingram, YTI. I serve you on the Board of County Commission at large.

Thank you. And with that being said, tonight's invocation and Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Commissioner Meyer.

Uh-oh. I'm sorry. Do you want to do it?

No, ma'am. Okay. You got it. This is a surprise to me. I did not realize this, but that's OK.

We can always go to Commissioner Dunlap. Dunlap wants to do it. All right. Commissioner Dunlap will lead us in the invocation, and Commissioner Meyer can lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. How about that?

All right. We'll be brief. If you would bow. Heavenly Father, we come to you at this time thanking you for all your wonderful blessings. We thank you, Father, for being able to assemble here to address the issues of Mecklenburg County. We thank you, Father, for having given the... community, the wisdom and the courage to elect us to represent them. And now that they elected us, Father, we ask that you would give us the courage and the strength to be able to stand up for the things that would be pleasing in your sight. We ask these things with the forgiveness of all our many sins. This is my prayer for Christ's sake. Amen.

Would everyone join us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Oh, now you want to talk. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have to have fun doing this work, okay? All right, we start out every meeting and we want to remind everyone what our mission is, what our vision is, and our board priorities. These are the areas that really shape our discussion and help guide our decisions. And our mission is to serve Mecklenburg County residents by helping improve their lives and community. Our vision, Mecklenburg County will be a community of pride and choice for people to live, learn, work, and recreate. Our FY26-27 board budget priorities are as follows. Economic development, education, environmental stewardship, health equity and wellness, services for seniors, workforce development, and reducing racial disparities. Tonight, our Vice Chair, Commissioner Altman, is not with us, and the acting Vice Chair tonight will be Commissioner Rodriguez McDowell, and at this time I'm going to turn the gavel over to her to walk us through awards and recognition.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do I actually get to hold the gavel? No, no, no.

I'll bring it to you if you want.

Because we were having fun and all. I just thought, you know. No, thank you very much. So our first proclamation is a joint proclamation on National Mental Health Awareness Month that will be read by Commissioner Meyer. And while she's reading, we have Kate Weaver, the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Charlotte, and her group. They are present to receive the proclamation and will provide remarks. So if you guys want to come down to the podium, Commissioner Meyer will read the proclamation.

Thank you, and I am prepared for this. This one I knew. This is a real honor to read. Mental health is near and dear to me. So thank you all for coming. City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County joint proclamation, whereas National Mental Health Awareness Month shines a spotlight on millions of Americans living with mental health conditions, including those that are suffering in silence and increases public understanding and awareness of mental health conditions, reducing stigma through conversations leading to action, and whereas... Putting in the work through treatment, therapy, medication, and above all else, self-care, has made recovery a reality for most people experiencing a mental health condition. People with mental health issues deserve help. And whereas good mental health is critical to the well-being of our families, communities, schools, and businesses of all cultures and backgrounds. And whereas organizations such as National Alliance on Mental Health, National Alliance on Mental Illness Charlotte, Mental Health America of Central Carolina's Promise Resource Network, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention are committed to increasing awareness and offering help, support, and education to individuals and their families on their road to wellness and recovery. Now, therefore, we, by Alexander Lyles, Mayor of Charlotte, and Mark Durrell, Chair of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, do here proclaim May 2026 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and commend its observance to all citizens. Witness our hands and the official seals of the city and Charlotte and Mecklenburg County by Lyle's Mayor, Mark Jarrell, Chair, Board of the Mecklenburg County Commissioners. So moved. Second.

All right. The motion has been made and properly seconded. Is there any discussion from the board? No. All right. Well, let's hear from our guests.

Chairman Jarrell, County Commissioners, good evening. I'm Howard Olshansky, Executive Director for Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte. And I want to begin by acknowledging while three of us are going to speak this evening, we represent a community of mental health providers that want to thank you for acknowledging the importance of raising the awareness of mental health through this proclamation. You know, we're all living in a mental health crisis. And while many of you may know the data, it is significantly important that we continue to raise the awareness of the depth of this issue. 20% of Americans live with a mental health issue. If you look at the impact on their families, it means four out of five or 80% of Americans are impacted by mental health every day. And in North Carolina, that 20% is closer to 25%. And what is more disturbing is if you look at the data around our children and youth. Our kids are struggling. 40% of high schoolers, and I'm gonna read this, they report persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. And suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 to 24 year olds. Locally, two years ago, Jewish Family Services implemented a needs assessment to determine the needs of our youth in our community, and we found the same kinds of results. Almost 60% of our youth indicated experiencing excessive worrying, stress, and anxiety. but our kids are not the only ones struggling. Loneliness, depression, and anxiety are experienced by 25 to 33% of our older adults 65 and older. 55% of them will not access treatment. And the trickle is over 40% of the caregivers will also experience stress, anxiety, and burnout. At Jewish Family Services, we're trying to respond to these mental health issues by having our therapists specialize in working with our kids, working with our seniors, caregivers, dealing with trauma. But on any given day, our census limits our capacity. So you're going to hear a diversity of different interventions that we're all providing to respond to the mental health needs of our community. But it's not enough. That's why this proclamation is so important in ensuring that we continue to raise the awareness of the impact of mental health in our community. So again, thank you for this proclamation.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Dr. Lynn Puma. I am a licensed clinical social worker, and I serve on the board of Charlotte Clubhouse. We're here because May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and tonight I want to share a little bit more specifically about what that looks like here in Mecklenburg County. According to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Rural Health, 97 out of 100 North Carolina counties are designated with a mental health shortage in providers, and Mecklenburg County is one of them. That is not just a gap, that is a crisis. There are not enough people to serve the people who need them. When individuals with severe and persistent mental illness leave the hospital or step down after a crisis, there's very little waiting for them on the other side, little structure, maybe no community, no purpose. And without those things, research has shown that what happens next is they cycle back into crisis. And that's where the revolving door is precisely where Charlotte Clubhouse steps in, and it was built to stop. Charlotte Clubhouse was founded in 2022. We're the only nonprofit in Charlotte serving adults at this point in their mental wellness continuum. We serve individuals once they've stabilized, but may not be thriving yet. We are a non-clinical psychosocial rehabilitation program based on the international clubhouse model, which has decades of evidence demonstrating decreased hospitalizations, lower cost of care, increased employment, stronger social functioning, and most importantly, an improved self-belief in oneself for adults living with SPMI. Our members aren't patients, they're people showing up, rebuilding their lives, reclaiming their confidence, and finding their place in the world again. And when people have purpose, when they feel seen and needed, they don't end up back in the emergency room. That is the power of the Clubhouse model. Our largest referral partners, Monarch, Behavioral Health, Alliance, Atrium Health, they choose us because mental health professionals understand that once a person is stable, connected, and has structure and hope, that's what keeps them well. We are relocating this summer to a permanent home in South End, and the recognition tonight means everything to our members and to our mission. So thank you. Thank you for seeing this community, and thank you for this proclamation.

As you've heard, mental health touches us all, every neighborhood, every school, every workplace, every family. But what's most powerful about tonight isn't that we're here individually, but we're here together. None of us can solve this crisis alone, but together we can create a healthier Charlotte. My name is Kate Weaver, and I'm the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Charlotte affiliate. Every day our organization provides free mental health education, support groups, and guidance to individuals and families across our community. But for me, this work is deeply personal. Several years ago, my 16-year-old attempted suicide. There are no words to fully describe what that moment does to a parent. the fear, the helplessness, the questions you ask yourself over and over, I remember sitting in that pain, feeling completely overwhelmed, trying to understand how to help someone I loved navigate something so heavy. And what I learned during that time is something I carry with me every single day. Families should not have to navigate mental health crises alone. No parent should have to spend hours trying to figure out where to call. No young person should suffer alone because they're afraid to ask for help. And no family should be ashamed for talking openly about mental health. That experience changed the trajectory of my life, and that's why I'm here tonight, and that's why NAMI Charlotte exists. We meet people who are overwhelmed, isolated, and searching for hope. Our new mental health navigator program is a free service designed to help people quickly connect to providers, services, and support. We currently have almost 1,000 Mecklenburg County providers in our database, and our free website is available for everyone in the community. Awareness opens the door to conversation and that's so important. Conversation creates connection and connection saves lives. But none of this happens alone. We're so grateful to partner with Mecklenburg County, the hospital systems, nonprofits, faith communities and organizations like Jewish Family Services and Charlotte Clubhouse. It truly takes a web of all of us working together to build a healthier Charlotte. Tonight's proclamation sends a powerful message that mental health matters, that asking for help is a sign of strength, and that every person in this community deserves hope, dignity, and support. So thank you. Thank you for helping to continue this work and for helping to create a Charlotte where no one has to struggle alone. So thank you.

Thank you. Is that your last speaker? That's our last speaker. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Olshansky, Dr. Puma, Kate Weaver. We really appreciate your comments. Let's get a vote from the board. All those in favor of the motion, raise your right hand. And that seems to be unanimous.

I acknowledge Commissioner YTI.

Oh, excuse me. We have Commissioner YTI on audio, if we can hear her vote.

Aye. Yes.

Okay. So that is unanimous. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Appreciate you all.

Would you like to come for a photo? Of course.

All right.

And to get your confirmation right.

You all can shake hands and then we'll take a, come back to the middle for the photo.

I'm doing a new career. I know, I was like your last picture of course. I think you were.

Thank you.

Thank you. It's so nice to have you here. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you, everyone. For our next proclamation, this will be for ALS Awareness Month. This is going to be read by Commissioner Griffin. Commissioner Griffin, the floor is yours.

Thank you. I'm not sure if anyone's here from the ALS Association. If not, we will read this proclamation and carry on. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina proclamation, whereas amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles, slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases are reported every year, and estimates show that every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS, and someone passes away from ALS. And whereas on average, patients diagnosed with ALS survive only two to five years from the time of diagnosis. And whereas the exact causes of ALS are unknown and there is no known cure for ALS, and whereas people who have served in the military are more likely to develop ALS and die from the disease than those with no history of military service, and whereas securing access to new therapies, durable medical equipment, and communication technologies is of vital importance to people living with ALS, and whereas clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life, and fostering assistive technologies for those living with ALS. And whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research globally and has committed more than $150 million to support more than 550 projects across the United States and 18 other countries. And whereas Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS, acknowledge the terrible impact this disease has on those individuals and their families, and support research to eradicate this disease. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners does hereby proclaim May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month in Mecklenburg County and encourage all citizens to join in this special observance this 19th day of May 2026. Signed, Mark D. Jarrell, Chair, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. So moved. Second.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Griffin. The motion has been made and properly seconded.

I'd just like to speak to this just for a moment. Commissioner Leake, Commissioner Dunlap, you all remember serving with Joe Martin that served on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education when I chaired the board. Joe was an outstanding member of the board. His brother was former Governor Jim Martin. And Joe really committed himself to academic excellence here in Mecklenburg County. He unfortunately was diagnosed with ALS and was a tremendous fighter all the way up until the end. And he and his brother really contributed heavily the ALS Foundation nationally and Charlotte Mecklenburg and Bank of America was really at the forefront of this experience. He fought diligently and respectfully and really gave ALS a really proper boost here in Mecklenburg County and across the country and so we hope that I wanted to do this on his behalf. So with that said, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Commissioner Griffin. All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Commissioner.

Did we hear from Commissioner Yvette Townsend-Ingram?

Commissioner Yvette Townsend-Ingram, affirmative action. Affirmative. Yes.

All right. The motion passes.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. All right. Our last proclamation is the Historic Preservation Month, and that will be read by Commissioner Dunlap. And Stuart Gray is here, Director of Historic Landmarks, to receive the proclamation and provide remarks. So if you'd like to make your way down to the podium as Commissioner Dunlap goes ahead.

And you can bring your committee.

Sure.

As they're coming, let me just simply say that we certainly appreciate the fact that our historic landmark commission works diligently to preserve historic properties in Mecklenburg County. That's something that you don't see across this country. And just to make sure that history is preserved, we certainly appreciate the work of your committee. So Mecklenburg County, North Carolina proclamation, whereas historic preservation gives residents of Mecklenburg County a deeper understanding of our shared diverse heritage and a greater appreciation of our historic buildings and places, and whereas historic preservation month, which originated with Congress in 1973, is observed across the nation. And whereas historic preservation provides a tangible connection to our history by preserving the built environment as a vessel for the stories of our past, and whereas historic preservation is an effective tool for managing growth, revitalizing neighborhoods, creating economic opportunities, protecting the environment, and maintaining community character while enhancing livability, and whereas Mecklenburg, whereas Preservation Month provides an opportunity for all residents to learn, share, debate, and celebrate the rich history of our county, state, and nation. And whereas the Mecklenburg County Historic Landmarks Department, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, and many other public and private organizations work to increase awareness of Mecklenburg County's history and to save the buildings and places that represent that history. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Mecklenburg Board of County Commission does hereby proclaim May 26 as Historic Preservation Month in Mecklenburg County and urges all residents to take the time to celebrate our history and thank those who work to preserve it. This 19th day of May 2026, Mark D. Jarrell, Chair of Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners.

Do you want to make the motion?

I was going to wait, but I'll make that motion.

Second. All right. And so please go ahead.

Well, thank you so much. Thank you especially, Commissioner Dunlap, for that reading and your support. And thank Commissioner Chairman Jarrell and the entire Board of County Commissioners for your support. I'm Stuart Gray, Director of the Historic Landmarks Department. And I will say that we tried to get the county clerk to change the date to May 20th for the meeting so we could celebrate MCDEC and the proclamation at the same time. But she wouldn't do it. Again, Stuart Gray, director of our department. With me is my wonderful team of dedicated county employees, John Howard, Tommy Warlick, and Elizabeth Stewart. And I'd also like to recognize my boss, Deputy County Manager, Dr. Leslie Johnson, whose support and guidance are critical to our success. And I would like to recognize you, the County Commission, for your continued support for preservation. Historic preservation is good for the community, the economy, and the environment. And we work hard all year to preserve and protect the historic character of Mecklenburg County. Old houses, buildings, and historic places help tell the stories of all the people who have worked, strived, lived, and died, giving us the city, the towns, the communities, and the institutions that we have now. And it is important to save, restore, and revitalize these houses, buildings, and places so they can be integrated into the fabric of our lives today in Mecklenburg County. Having you recognize the importance of our work with this proclamation is very gratifying. Thank you so very much.

And let me just say that I hope that all of the historic places that we have preserved have been cataloged so that those who would like to see the history of Mecklenburg County through the buildings that have been preserved will be able to do so. So thank you for coming.

All right. And with that, let's take the vote. All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Commissioner?

That's Anson Ingram, virtual. Yes, confirmed.

All right. That is unanimous.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good to see you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I know it's a lot of work. Thank you. You have it.

That's right.

Stuart? Oh, we need to get a picture.

Why are you trying to run from us, man? We want a picture with you guys.

George, did you give them the? Oh, Stuart.

Let me officially give it to you.

Thank you, sir. Everybody, big smile. Thank you. All right. Thank you, guys. All right.

You want to turn it over?

Okay, that concludes our awards and proclamations. Okay, back to you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell. Excellent job. And we are going to move to arts and culture moment. And I think what I'm going to do tonight, I'm going to turn it right back over to you for the presentation. How about that?

Thank you very much, I appreciate it. I'm so excited to present this next item, our arts and culture moment. This brings me great joy. So today we are taking time to highlight the Arts and Science Council's Regional Artist Directory, affectionately known as the RAD. The Regional Artists Directory, RAD, is a juried roster of North and South Carolina artists that the Arts and Science Council uses to match local creators with public art opportunities. Its purpose is simple but powerful. Give regional artists a clear, equitable pathway into public art projects, especially those with budgets up to $100,000. For more than two decades, the Arts and Science Council has managed the Percent for Art Ordinances for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. These ordinances dedicate 1% of eligible capital improvement project budgets to public art. This longstanding commitment has shaped the cultural landscape of our community and created meaningful opportunities for artists at every stage of their careers. Those opportunities have always included international and national artists, but the Regional Artist Directory was created to intentionally elevate local and regional talent. Through the development of the Regional Artist Directory, ASC has worked with 13 Mecklenburg County-based artists and counting to create public art installations at a dozen county-funded locations, including the Arbor Glen and Chagall Creek recreation centers, the Mallard Creek Greenway, Independence Park, and more. To date, the RAD has allowed ASC to invest over $564,000 into our regional creative economy, thanks to the funding support of both Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte. ASC staff use the directory to recommend pre-qualified artists to the Public Art Commission, PAC, on a project-by-project basis. When a new opportunity arises, staff review the directory, identify a group of artists with the right skills, and convene a selection panel to make the final choice. This process has dramatically streamlined artist selection and expanded access for emerging and established artists alike. Just ask Bree Stalling, a local visual artist and the creator of Generations of Growth, a captivating mural at the Naomi Drennan Recreation Center, and a project that was completed using the regional artist directory. Quote, joining the Regional Artist Directory led directly to my selection for the Naomi Drennan mural, one of the most impactful projects of my career, said Stallings. The Regional Artist Directory creates real access, connecting artists to meaningful opportunities while strengthening Charlotte's cultural ecosystem through visibility, trust, and artists' ability to connect with communities through curiosity, leadership, and beautification. Next slide. Installations made possible through the RAD include Marek Rannis Diver, a sculptural flood marker along the Mallard Creek Greenway, Mary Carter's, that's on the left, Mary Carter's Taub's engaging multi-piece sculpture, Loop de Loop, located at the South Park Regional Library along the South Park Loop, pictured on the top right, and Georgie Nakama's Natural Rhythm, located along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, pictured on the bottom right. Additional installations completed by artists on the regional artist directory includes Love Never Loses Its Way, a mural located at Druid Hills Park, pictured top, and as mentioned, Bree Stallings' Generations of Growth mural at the Naomi Drennan Recreation Center. Pictures are courtesy of artists and the ASC. At ASC, ask our county commissioners, county staff, and all those in attendance this evening to encourage artists in your community to apply to the regional artist directory. Applications are live at artsandscience.org and are open through June 1st. Remember, no public art experience is required. ASC is proud to steward public art projects on behalf of Mecklenburg County, and we are thankful for the support of our county commissioners. Together, ASC and Mecklenburg County are not only connecting regional artists to new opportunities, but ensuring that our community remains North Carolina's public art powerhouse. All right. All right. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. And next, what we're going to do is we're going to take up some items that we had to, that we... discussed in closed session. So at this time, the chair will entertain a motion to authorize the county manager to negotiate and execute all documents necessary for the acquisition of tax parcels 033-251-08 and 033-251-09 plus or minus 9.90 acres from Patty R. Kaiser and Jeffrey T. Kaiser Parati, a.k.a. Jeffrey T. Kaiser. for purchase price of $1,696,000 for park and recreation purposes. Moved. Moved and seconded.

Can I ask a question?

Ms. Chappelle.

How many acres?

Plus or minus 9.908 acres.

So this is part of, I don't remember voting on nine acres. Is this part of the 23 acres?

It's what was presented. Nine point, it's part of that larger parcel that she presented.

So there are a whole bunch of little ones coming up?

There are.

There's multiple coming up, yes.

Okay. Does anyone?

There's smaller, like one is 3.5, 2.1, 7.8, 10.3. Okay.

You have 10, 7, 2, 3, and 9.

Okay, and that's all together. Right.

All right, so we're just betting on them separate one at a time.

Because they're different owners.

Okay, thank you.

So it's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. You have Commissioner. I'm sorry. Thank you. Commissioner Townsend-Ingram.

Abstain.

Okay.

She said abstain.

An abstention actually. You cannot abstain. You cannot abstain, Commissioner.

It's just counted as a yes. We'll move on. She's here.

All right. So commissioner, just, just so you know, it will be counted as an abstention is counted as a yes.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. Next. The chair will entertain a motion to authorize the County manager to negotiate and execute all documents necessary for the acquisition of tax parcel 0 3 3 dash 2 5 1 dash 1 0 plus or minus 3.5, 2 0 acres from Don Davies Robinson and spouse, Tina Rayburn Robinson for a purchase price. of $880,000 for park and recreation purposes.

So moved.

Second. Moved and seconded. Commissioner Townsend-Englund, let's go to you first.

I'm going to rely on my, the confidence of my colleagues and say, and vote yes on this since all of my, um, responses will be voted for, um, voting on yes. And I wasn't able to hear the closed session.

Okay.

So I'm going to say yes.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. Aye's have it. Um, next chair will entertain a motion to authorize the County manager to negotiate and execute all documents necessary. for the acquisition of tax parcel 033251-11 plus or minus 2.190 acres from Stephen W. McClure and spouse Maria H. McClure and William R. McClure and spouse Alice T. McClure for purchase price of $548,000. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Commissioner Townsend-Ingram.

Aye.

All right. That's unanimous, Madam Clerk. Chair will entertain a motion to authorize the county manager to negotiate and execute all documents necessary for the acquisition of tax parcel 033-251-12 plus or minus 7.810 acres from Lisa Nixon Gadd as trustee of the Nixon Irrevocable Trust for purchase price of $937,000 for park and recreation purposes.

So moved.

Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Mr. Townsend Ingram.

Aye.

Commissioner Townsend, Ingram voting yes.

Thank you, that's unanimous. Question, Commissioner Powell.

Does that complete all the parcels that will be assembled for that?

Yes.

So I wanted to have my comments recorded on that. So it's my understanding, and the reason I want my comments recorded, it's my understanding that this will marry up to the Oak Hills Park and that we will not be adding impervious. And it's really important because there's extreme erosion on Long Creek. caused by having the interstate right there. So if you're standing there, you can see the impact on the creek whenever it rains, and it is scary. So, you know, as part of my vote, I wanted to make sure it was going to be protected. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Powell.

Wasn't that discussed in the meeting?

She won it for public purposes.

Thank you.

Chair will entertain a motion to authorize the county manager to negotiate and execute all documents necessary for the acquisition of tax parcel 199-491-01 plus or minus 10.370 acres from SRW Venture LLC for purchase price of $2,904,000 for park and recreation purposes.

So moved.

Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Commissioner Townsend Ingram. Aye.

Commissioner Townsend, Ingram, voting in affirmative.

Okay. That is unanimous, Madam Clerk. Thank you all. Next, Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for public appearance? Yes. Okay, so we will move on. We're going to move to appointments, everyone. First is for Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees. Reappointment is needed on the Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees for one four-year term expiring June 30, 2030, effective July 1, 2026. Allison Somerville is eligible for reappointment. The CPCC President and Board of Trustees Chair recommend Allison Somerville.

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion?

Question.

Yes, Commissioner Lee.

When was the interview held?

This is a... She was interviewed the first... This is a reappointment. She was interviewed earlier, first appointment.

But for this appointment, second...

There wasn't a second one. It was just the initial appointment was the interview.

And then to continue the person there.

Yes. This is the same one that was interviewed.

I know that. That's what we're voting for. Yes.

The reappointment. Yes, ma'am. All right. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Commissioner Townsend Ingram.

Aye.

All right. That's unanimous, Madam Clerk. Next, we're going to move to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission. Reappointments are needed on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission for two three-year terms expiring June 30, 2029, effective July 1, 2026. Michael Caprioli and Robin Stewart are eligible for reappointment. Is there a motion to reappoint Michael Caprioli and Robin Stewart?

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. Commissioner Powell.

So I wanted to... just talk about my expectations for people that are serving on the Planning Commission because when I review the notes and I look over everything, I'm often disappointed that a lot of questions that I think should be asked are not asked. And so I hope that I'm gonna ask Madison to make sure that when we notify people that our expectations are communicated on robust engagement And attendance, because if, if you're just in your own little spot on a commission and not paying attention to the whole entire county, it does a disservice to the commission. And so I have no objection to reappointing people. I just think we need to remind them of our expectations for robust engagement and attendance. because it is a commission and the decisions are big and quite often people are making decisions about places they've never been and traffic they've never sat in and a lot of different things and so this is a really important board and I want them to know that we have high expectations.

Thank you, that's well said. Commissioner Leake.

I just want to agree with you wholeheartedly. Sometimes we only select those people we know within our own communities and not branch out. And those persons have never visited historically other communities that we have within the confines of our community. And I look at five and six, and they have great numbers representing them on all of these boards. And we can't stop that, but we want people to apply. Please apply for these positions. So thank you for your comment, and I had to agree with you wholeheartedly. Some of these people haven't even been out of their neighborhoods. So thank you. Thank you.

So thank you both for your comments. I do want to add a couple of things. Commissioner Townsend, I'll come to you. Well, let me come to you first. I apologize. Go ahead.

I just want to say a big ditto. I was going to say that with regard to the previous one. I think that we do things the same way. We never change anything. And I know that we've looked at our commissions and our boards and just kind of reevaluated how they were. But still, if we don't change how we do things, it discourages people from applying. They look and see that the same people are always... there so that they never apply. So we can't encourage them to do that unless we make a change or we do something different. So thank you for those comments, Commissioner Powell.

So thank you all. Um, I want to lift a couple of things up, uh, just as, um, colleagues, I think when we are point making appointments to these boards, there's nothing that precludes us as individual commissioners to certainly meet with our appointees and to be able to discuss it, you know, whether your district or whether you are at large, there's nothing that precludes us from scheduling a meeting to be able to discuss and get some, uh, more in depth information. The second thing I would just say is this. as a board, if there are expectations that we have, that's a different scenario and a different road to go down for us because we would have to, we would need to outline those things as a board. So again, we have mechanisms that I don't know if we're always utilizing everything to our, you know, to the, full extent that we have available to us. So maybe we need to think about how we want to engage these folks that we are appointing in the future. So I'll leave it at that. All those in favor, it's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Commissioner Townsend-Ingram.

Commissioner Townsend, Ingram, voting yes.

Thank you. All right, we're going to move to the Public Arts Commission. Reappointments are needed on the Public Arts Commission for one three-year term expiring June 30, 2029, effective July 1, 2026. Liz Richardson is eligible for reappointment. Is there a motion?

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Commissioner Townsend, Ingram.

Commissioner, is that Townsend Ingram voting in the affirmative? Yes.

Thank you. Next, we're going to move to the Alliance Health Board of Directors. And a motion is needed to affirm the appointment of Dr. Co-Train Penn to the Alliance Board of Directors to fill an unexpired term expiring September 30th. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. And I think we all... Third. Okay.

I'm coming to you, Commissioner Powell.

Fourth. I'm going to come to you guys in just a second. Let me come to Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell first, and then I'll come to you, Commissioner Powell. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to just speak to that there seems to be another vacancy when I looked at the roster. So after Dr. Penn, which I'm so grateful that Dr. Penn will serve on this board because she is excellent and she has so much experience and I feel so confident of her abilities to be on this board. But there's still, to my understanding, if I'm correct, that there's still an opening. Can someone speak to what we're doing about a vacancy that's still on that board? Because we have four seats. And Dr. Penn will be number three. Dean of the Oreo is one seat. Uh, commissioner Griffin is one seat and there's still a vacancy. So can someone speak to why we have a vacancy still? And what are we going to do to fill it?

Mr.

Chair, I think the reason we have a vacancy is that initially there were two people appointed who were not approved for various reasons. And that was primarily because of the role that they serve currently. in Mecklenburg County. And so we're moving forward, filling one, and we will have another two appointed.

When will we do that? Like, what are we waiting for?

Well, I think Mr. Manager, keep me honest here as we were trying to, and that's a great question, commissioner Rodriguez McDowell. And it's a fair question. One of the things that we found out One of the things that we found out was the state statute didn't allow for the previous positions that were appointed. because of the state statute, it didn't allow us to leverage those same positions. So again, we've leveraged Dr. Coltrane Penn, and then would have to find another person with the technical expertise that could meet that criteria.

So are you saying we're looking for more applicants, like from the community at large, who would be qualified for this, you know, like a mental health practitioner or something to apply? Or are we looking, we're not looking among our staff, we're looking among the general public who is qualified?

Hopefully someone from the staff. Hopefully. Hopefully it's someone working with the staff through the manager's office to provide some expertise. But we certainly have to meet the statutory requirement. If you are employed in a financial budgetary role with a provider, you can't serve on the board. So you have to be in a non-partner leadership role. to be able to do that.

And that's because the change that Commissioner Dunlap was alluding to is because our health department is providing services on behalf of the alliance. The original nominees that we submitted, given their roles in the organization, are not eligible. Creates a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest. But Dr. Penn is eligible. And we have to continue to do our due diligence to see who checks all the boxes that are eligible for that second seat.

Okay. And I just really would appreciate, you know, if maybe we could elevate, you know, this or, or at least have some visibility into a timeline, because in my view, this is extremely important that we have full representation that is allowed to us. So thank you, Mr.

I think it's fair. Let me come to the commissioner leak.

My question is Alliance health board. of directors. Has it changed from the nine members board of county commissioners to four people? And I see Dina Diori is still there. Help me understand that. Don't whisper, talk to the public.

Well, the Alliance Health Board is more than nine members. We get representation from Mecklenburg County to serve on that board. So Dina is an appointee. Commissioner Griffin is an appointee. And now, once we carry the motion, Dr. Kotrain-Penn, and to Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell's point, there'll be one additional open seat. And what we are trying to do Initially, we were going in another direction. We wanted Dr. Campbell to serve in that role, but because of her role, she was ineligible, but certainly had the expertise. So we have to find individuals that meet the statutory requirement.

She doesn't meet the statutory requirement?

She does not because of her role with the county.

With the county.

Correct. And so Dr. Penn, she does meet that requirement, and there's one more. seat to fill there, and so we have to find, to the manager's point, someone that meets that statutory requirement.

For clarity for me, so the nine members of this board no longer serves as the health board?

This is not, so it's two different boards. We still, as a board, act as the board of health and social services as well. The alliance board is a different board. And when do they report to us? They have reported, I think the last time we just had them in a couple of months ago.

When was it?

I think it was February. Was it February? Okay, so a few months ago they were in. Their CEO was in. It was a budget public policy workshop that they presented to us. And so they typically come at least a couple times a year.

At least three times.

Not three. I think a couple times a year they've come. We brought them up during the fall retreat, and so they came in after that. All right. For clarity.

Thank you.

Commissioner Powell.

Thank you. I was just really excited to see Dr. Penn's name on there. And she's so smart, caring, compassionate. And when you did that presentation on teen suicide at the school, I just, I'll never forget it. Every time I see you, like you did such a good job. So you're, I feel like you're going to be such a value on this, in this role. Thank you for being willing to do it.

Let me go to commissioner Townsend Ingram.

No comment.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you so much for serving, Dr. Penn.

All right. So it has been moved and seconded. All those in favor, let's see by show of hands. All right. Commissioner Townsend Ingram.

Commissioner Townsend Ingram voting yes in the affirmative.

All right. Thank you, so that is unanimous, Madam Clerk. At this time, congratulations, Dr. Penn. Thank you for your willingness to serve and what you do. We appreciate you. At this time, we will move to the manager's report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This evening, I have three items under my manager's report today. All three items are for information purposes only, as well as to receive feedback and guidance. No action is being requested on your part. The first item is regarding... a management framework that I am working on to put in place for the organization, known as the Balanced Scorecard. Michael Griswold, who is the director for the Office of Strategy and Innovation, will be presenting that information to you. I do want to extend my appreciation to those of you that were able to meet with Michael in advance of this update this evening, as well as those of you that also provided feedback. With that, please recognize Michael Griswold.

Michael, you are recognized.

Well, good evening, Chair Jarrell, commissioners, and County Manager Bryant. Thank you for the opportunity to present the final 27 through 2030 balance scorecard. This work represents many months of collaboration across the organization with departments, with executive leadership, and with the board's own priorities and feedback guiding the way. Tonight, I'll walk you through the framework first, then move into the objectives themselves, and close with next steps. So why this framework? So the balanced scorecard is the mechanism that connects our strategy, our performance, and our results into a single coherent system. It moves us from simply tracking activity to deliberately managing the outcomes we're trying to achieve. And there are three main ideas that I want you to take away from tonight's presentation. First, we're measuring what matters. We're not just tracking thousands of data points just because we can. We're anchoring strictly to the outcomes that we want to achieve. Second, we're learning as we go. The scorecard isn't set in stone. It's a living, iterative framework designed to adapt as our conditions change. Finally, we're managing for results, not just documenting activity. This is far more than a reporting tool. It's the roadmap that we'll use to make our decisions, allocate resources, and understand our organizational performance. So every department in the county works hard, as does every team. But currently it's entirely possible for everyone to think that they're pulling in the same direction while not actually doing so. And that's not anyone's fault, but it's a reflection of where we're at as an organization as we transition from performance measurement into genuine performance management. Now where we wanna be is more aligned to the bottom of this slide, is a single shared scorecard that gives the entire enterprise a common language. one that creates alignment between the board's priorities, the county manager's direction, and how departments execute day to day. And I want to be clear, this is not about adding work. It's about giving the work that we already do a shared architecture so that every employee can see how what they do contributes to the county's mission and vision. So the balance scorecard itself is a planning and performance management tool that organizes the county's work into a small number of strategic focus areas. Each describe where the county plans to deliver community results or strengthen internal operational capacity. Within each focus area, objectives define what the county intends to achieve and SMART goals define how that progress will be measured. This blending of operational and strategic views as well as the scorecard's intentional focus on strategic outcomes contributes to its overall strength as a management tool that helps us translate that vision into action. So our balanced scorecard design is grounded in guidance from the Balanced Scorecard Institute, which is the professional authority on the balanced scorecard methodology. BSI has trained thousands of practitioners across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. And as part of developing the county scorecard, I actually completed BSI's balanced scorecard professional certification last summer. And we've leveraged that training to ensure that the decisions made throughout this process are aligned with and supported by best practices that have been developed and refined over the past 20 years. So you can see on this slide how the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard relate to one another. So the community and stakeholder perspective sits at the top. That is the North Star, the why behind everything we do. Financial stewardship reflects the responsible use of public resources. Internal process covers how we operate, so our efficiency, our transparency, and our accountability. And organizational effectiveness is the foundation of our people, our culture, our infrastructure, and our technology. So those perspectives, they stack intentionally because we cannot deliver those community outcomes without strong internal foundations. Together, these four perspectives provide us with performance feedback from, again, both internal and external processes and outcomes, which allows for holistic, continuous performance improvement. So within the community perspective, we actually have five focus areas that align directly to the board's vision to be a community of pride and choice for people to live, learn, work, and recreate. So each focus area represents a domain of community impact and reflects the answer to a simple question. What would need to be true about the community if each part of this vision statement were realized? So for example, for this to be a community where people want to live, it would need to be both healthy and safe. And so this is not a new strategy, it actually reflects what residents already expect from county government. And what we're adding is the rigor and structure so that we can build on that existing vision rather than replacing it. So as a reminder, these are your board's budget priorities for FY26 and 27. These priorities directly informed the development of the objectives in the scorecard and are reflected throughout. I'd also like to note that as we get into the individual objectives and SMART goals here on upcoming slides, you'll see red tags next to SMART goals that align with your board priorities. So we'll spend a little bit of time here because I think it's important to take a moment to orient you to the scorecard framework. So at the very top of the scorecard is our North Star, improving the overall quality of life for Mecklenburg County residents. Running horizontally across the top are those five focus areas that I mentioned that represent your community vision. Running down the left side are our four balanced scorecard perspectives that I shared with you as well. You'll also notice that, again, we've deliberately placed the customer perspective at the top to keep our residents' experiences and outcomes at the center of everything that we do. Beneath it Financial stewardship, internal process, and organizational effectiveness form that internal foundation required to deliver on those community outcomes. Within the framework, each blue box represents a strategic objective. So you can consider those as broad, continuous outcomes that we try to achieve. Within each of those objectives are the specific SMART goals and community indicators that will measure our progress, which we'll dive into in the upcoming slides. So I want to briefly talk about how we identified these 24 objectives. So the objectives here on the scorecard are the result of a collaborative process designed to align your vision with the county's operational expertise. The county's manager's office integrated several key inputs into this scorecard. First, data from the annual community survey and recent budget surveys identified what matters most to residents. Next, Your FY26 to 27 budget priorities and specific feedback that we received from the January budget retreat were incorporated into the scorecard. So for example, direct input from Commissioner Dunlap regarding youth safety actually led to an inclusion of a specific Juvenile Crime Prevention Council goal in the scorecard that we'll talk about in a bit. Frequent and ongoing discussions with the executive team ensured that the scorecard reflects the county manager's long-term vision for the organization. And finally, collaborative discussions with department leadership and subject matter experts align their strategic goals and expertise with the county's broader mission and ensure that every department is connected to the scorecard. I'd also like to draw your attention to the community objectives that are outlined in yellow. These are the objectives where we do expect that full realization of these outcomes will require partnership and collaboration in the community beyond county operations alone. Now that may be because of the county goals or the specifics of those goals. the community indicators, or in some cases, both. And as we begin reporting progress, we will highlight those specific partnerships and how they have helped to advance the outcomes and the goals in the scorecard. Now, as I just noted, there are, again, many community objectives that we expect will need partnership in the community because we cannot achieve those results alone. The need to partner with the community is reflected in the distinction between the two types of measures that you'll see related to each objective. So first, there are the county SMART goals, which are operational in nature. And they typically are things that the county directly controls, such as the performance of our programs, the efficiency of our processes, and the reach of our services. Community indicators, on the other hand, are longer-term measures of community-wide impact that depend on many partners, economic conditions, and community-wide collaboration to improve. The county plays a critical leadership role here, but fully realizing these goals requires deep collaboration with community partners. Both internal SMART goals and those macro community indicators will be tracked, reported, and fully visible to the board. So to ensure that the scorecard is more than just an aspirational document, every objective is supported by SMART goals and concrete, actionable targets. This level of detail provides clarity on what success looks like and enables consistent tracking over the four-year cycle. Within the various objectives on the scorecard, there are two specific components that I want to call out. So there are SMART goals, which, as you can see here, are concrete measures that translate objectives into action. And they follow this SMART framing, which ensures that every goal is specific, measurable, ambitious, relevant, and time bound. And each SMART goal has or will have a target. And the target is the specific result that the county seeks to achieve within each objective to demonstrate that progress. Now, you might ask, how do we set some of those targets? Well, the strategic framework is only going to be as strong as the data behind it. So to make sure that our targets are both rigorous and realistic, we use three distinct sources. So first, many targets, particularly within our health and human services space, are tied to state, federal, or other third-party mandates or compliance targets that the county must meet. Now, where those mandates do not exist, county typically looks to peer jurisdictions and industry research. These comparisons are, it's important to vet those with care, right, to make sure that we're having an apples-to-apples alignment with our specific and local context, but those benchmarks can be helpful. And when compliance or benchmarks are unavailable, we will typically set stretch goals against our own performance baselines to ensure that we're continuing to improve. Targets are reviewed annually with the executive team and adjusted when sustained performance data warrants it. The scorecard is designed to be stable enough to allow the county time to achieve its goals without being overly rigid. And if you'd like more information on how the target was set for any specific county SMART goal, Appendix B in your packet outlines those details. Now, Mecklenburg County's balanced scorecard uses a transparent and rule-based methodology to evaluate progress. So by standardizing our scoring, we ensure consistency across all departments and provide leadership with a clear view of where to celebrate success and where to focus resources on opportunities. Each SMART goal is scored against its target using three performance bands, performing in the green, progressing in the yellow, and those with opportunities in the red. Goals under development or those that are still on the baseline setting phase are labeled under development until there's enough data available. collected to set those targets or set those goals. And as we look ahead, as it mentions on the slide as a possible future recommendation, after the first full performance year, leadership may consider incorporating year-over-year improvements as an additional scoring factor. But those conversations will be had after the first full year. All right. So now we're moving into the substance of the scorecard. Today's presentation will cover all 16 community-facing objectives, and three selected internal objectives. The remaining internal objectives are included in Appendix A for your reference. And collectively, these objectives and goals will serve as the strategic priorities for the county's operations and accountability over the next four years. So Objective 1.1 is about ensuring that residents can readily obtain the support and resources they need for healthy lives. Currently, performance is strong. Our vaccination rate is at target. HIV viral suppression is exceeding its target. And the Community Resource Center wait times are well below our threshold. That said, as the county continues to grow, it's important to keep monitoring all of these indicators, even the ones that are currently above target, because those trends can reverse. For example, CRC wait times are performing well today. But we've seen more than a 50% increase in customer volume at both CRCs compared to last year, at least in part due to the closure of some other facilities. We also know that due to changes at the state and federal level, FNS, or Food and Nutrition Services, recertification frequency will double. And FNS customers represent one of the largest volumes at our community resource centers. Both of these factors, among others, could contribute to performance fluctuations moving forward. On the community indicator side, we're tracking primary care access and cost barriers to care, both of which are currently meeting their targets. But again, these are both indicators that are sensitive to economic and inflationary pressure. So it's important to actively monitor these indicators in the event that they begin to regress. Housing is foundational to nearly every other outcome that the county cares about. So whether that's health, education, public safety, employment, or what have you, all of those connect back to housing stability. The county recognizes the importance of this work and is in process of standing up a new housing and community development department that will lead the development and implementation of the county's housing strategy. The first goal under the county smart goals section relates to the number of affordable units that the county will seek to bring online. As the new housing department is created, it will lead the development of that housing strategy, which will include setting this target in FY27. Now, the specific number of housing units aside, it's also important that available units are utilized at a high rate and that residents in need of critical home repair, many of whom are seniors, are able to receive these critical services. To date, we are meeting our utilization and senior repair targets. On the community indicator side, the county continues to see an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness within the community. While the point in time counts are helpful for directional trends, the county's one number is the more holistic count and continues to increase. As you can see on the slide, we were at just north of 2,300 in October, and more recently, 2,482 in March. The county's housing strategies must account for how we can help this population within our community. And as such, our goal is to see a reduction in this one number. Additionally, the county hopes to see an increase in the percentage of individuals who do not return to homelessness. And we're a little bit short of target there, but we are close. And the county also works quite closely with partners in the eviction prevention and diversion space. So here we are looking to increase the number by 20% over the coming years. And as we stand up the new housing department, we will reassess these housing goals and targets as the strategy develops and matures. So food insecurity directly impacts health, child development, and economic stability across the community. As I've mentioned previously, FNS application timeliness is a known performance challenge. And we're at 73% against a 95% compliance target, which is tied to our state MOU. We also expect that the doubling of the recertification frequency may put additional pressure on this result before we see improvement. And as the county manages the increase in volume, we will continue to keep an eye on that. Now the state is providing technical assistance to help improve the timeliness rate, so there is collaboration and strategic improvement work already underway, and we will continue this work. Our senior nutrition program is currently serving approximately 2,750 individuals per month. And we know that this will need to grow as the county's population ages. And we believe that we can push this number to 3,000 per month over the coming years. And on the community indicator side, residents reporting hunger due to cost is one of the indicators that we are tracking. And it's currently at 11%, which is better than our target. However, the economy, inflation, and many other factors can cause this result to reverse. So close monitoring, again, is important so that we can understand and respond to any signals in the data. Now, stability encompasses many aspects of an individual or family's life. And so here, we have goals around substance use recovery, adult and child protective services, and child support. First, the county has a goal of increasing the percentage of clients in our shelter-based programming who report a reduction in substance use. Now, we're close to the goal of 80, and we will continue to push to meet that target. Within adult protective services, whose population includes many seniors, They are exceeding its target of clients who are not experiencing repeat maltreatment events, which is a positive sign. Child Protective Services, on the other hand, has a similar goal, and there is a meaningful gap to close, as it is at 85% against a target of 95. Now, we know that this is incredibly sensitive and important work, and the county is committed to improving outcomes in this space. We also recognize that child support is critical to the stability of families within the county. The Empowering Fathers program seeks to connect fathers to resources that increase their ability to pay this support. And the program currently has results in the low 70s and we are working towards a target of 75%. At the community level, we expect that phases one through four of the county's behavioral health strategic plan will be implemented in collaboration with partners by 2030. This reflects the continuation of strong community collaboration to improve the behavioral health ecosystem in Mecklenburg County. We also recognize that increasing the number of county foster care families is an important step towards increasing stability for children seeking permanency. Prior to the pandemic, the county had a little bit more than 100 licensed foster care families. Today, that number is at 64. Now, we think that we can effectively double this to a target of 124 by 2030, which would put us ahead of the pre-pandemic baseline. So moving into learning and educational opportunities, a strong early education a foundation is essential for lifelong success, which is why Objective 2.1 focuses on kindergarten readiness for our MEC Pre-K students. First, we have a goal related to utilization, and MEC Pre-K seats are at 99% capacity, which is at target and reflects strong performance and access. MEC Pre-K also gauges performance against six benchmark areas, And all of these have had their targets raised from 80% to 85% to reflect the importance placed on these outcomes. Social, emotional, physical, and language are all meeting their new targets, while cognitive, literacy, and math are all below that new 85% threshold and represent opportunities. County early childhood leaders continue to seek better and more nuanced ways to measure and understand K readiness for our Mac Pre-K students. As that approach evolves, we will remain flexible and revisit goals and targets as appropriate. On the community indicator side, our partners at CMS use the same assessment tool and they have a target of 85% for this year and 90% by 2027. I also want to note that county leaders continue to have ongoing discussions with CMS to explore the feasibility of tracking Pre-K student third grade reading and college and career readiness data. Should these discussions yield additional data, we will consult with county leadership and subject matter experts on the best way to incorporate that within our new scorecard framework. So Objective 2.2 focuses on literacy and digital access, and those are, again, very important to employability. So both county goals here are new and align with the strategic approach that the county plans to take with our community service grant program. As you may recall, Budget Director Cox has previously shared with the board that the county intends to align its CSG program application process with the new balance scorecard goals. This approach continues the process of bringing county programs outcomes and funding decisions into even closer strategic alignment. To that end, these two goals are intended to create pathways for interested community organizations to contribute to the county's objectives through the CSG program. The 85% target is an initial starting point and baselines will be established during the upcoming CSG cycle, which could result in revisions to this target in future years, if appropriate. The county indicators here are tied to CMS scores for early literacy and end of grade reading for grades three through eight, which is an indicator of college and career readiness. Both community indicators are currently below the 26 to 27 milestones set by our partners at CMS, and this represents a real opportunity, and we look forward to seeing improvement as the new data from this school year becomes available. So Objective 2.3 recognizes that, in many cases, the county's role in student success is as a partner, not necessarily a primary actor. So MEC Pathways is the county's student internship program and is a critical way that high school and college students learn about possible careers within Mecklenburg County. SMART goals for this program will be established in 2027. The county also plans to partner with local colleges, universities, and nonprofits to support student success. So for example, just last week, the manager shared that his recommended budget includes a partnership with Johnson C. Smith University to support pathways for social work students. These community partnerships are critical to supporting student success, and these goals will be further developed in 2027 as well. Now, the remaining community indicators for this objective are tied to CMS and their credentialing tier goals. On the left side of the screen here, you can see more detailed information about the credential tiers and what they include. And our partners at CMS would like to increase both the overall number of students earning any credential and the number earning the tier two and three credentials. And current performance is close to target on those numbers and we look forward to updates again from our partners at CMS. So moving into jobs and economic opportunities, connecting residents to jobs, training and career growth is core to that economic mobility. And we have three new county goals here. The first is an employment placement rate target of 65%. And this is the first time that we're measuring the holistic placement rate across all of our internal county programs in this way, which means we don't have a recent baseline to compare against. Now we're being conservative, with this initial target. And following an analysis of the first year's results, this could be a candidate for an immediate increase. The second goal is that at least 75% of customers completing a county career advancement program will earn an hourly wage of at least $21 per hour. Now, two nuances here that I want to call out. First, that $21 per hour is expressed in 2026 dollars and will be adjusted for inflation each year so that we're measuring a real increase in purchasing power. Second, many of the county's customers for these and other programs face significant barriers to employment. And those barriers are a real factor in how we set these targets. And if you'd like additional information, I draw your attention to the asterisk on the bottom left of the screen. Now, the third goal is to increase the starting wage for customers completing the responsive rapid employment program to $18 per hour. Now, these are often some of the most challenging customers to place, and they often need placement within 90 days. And given those factors, we see that this $18 an hour as a realistic increased target. And this target will also be adjusted for inflation. On the community indicator side, we've been working closely with Dr. Virginia Koval as she leads the development of the county's economic mobility strategy. The indicators here will continue to develop and evolve, but they are aligned with the strategies that Dr. Koval shared with the board at your May 5th meeting. And as the work in this area is new and still developing, like I mentioned, several of these measures are new, and 2027 will be an important baseline setting year for this and other objectives within the scorecard. Now, Objective 3.2 focuses on the importance of economic development and making Mecklenburg County a place where individuals can start, grow, and sustain a business. To that end, we have three SMART goals focused on small business survival and MWBE participation. The three-year business survival rate is an important indicator of how well county programs are doing in their goal of helping to improve outcomes for small businesses. This is a new measure and the baseline will be established in 2027. Now, we've preliminarily set a 2030 target at 10% over that baseline, but as we learn more, we will revisit this goal if necessary. Now, minority and women-owned business enterprises, or MWBE, MWBE contractors are an important way that the county can simultaneously improve economic development outcomes and level the playing field for historically disadvantaged communities. The county has set two goals in this area, one for prime contractors and another for subcontractors. Prime contractors are at 27% against a 30% target. And on the subcontractor side, those partnerships are at 63% against a 70% target. Now that subcontractor partnership metric is one of the core county strategies in this area. And together, these represent the county's belief that inclusive procurement is a strategic lever for both economic growth and equity. Now finally, last week the manager mentioned that Project Boast is included within his 2027 recommended budget. And as that work develops, my team and I will partner with economic development and county leadership to ensure appropriate alignment between that initiative and the scorecard. So objective 4.1 focuses on protecting Mecklenburg County's natural environment, ensuring that its land, air, and water resources are healthy and resilient. For this objective, a strategic deep dive assessment will inform SMART goals that will be established in FY27. Now, we want to set the right goals here, and doing that well requires an assessment first. And so I want to be clear that this is a deliberate sequencing decision and not a deferral. So Objective 4.2 focuses on ensuring that county residents have access to high-quality parks, open spaces, and recreation opportunities. And similarly to 4.1, that same deliberate sequencing applies here, and a strategic deep dive in 27 will inform the goals that will align to this objective. Now, in addition to the environment, it's also important that Mecklenburg County preserve and celebrate the historic, artistic, and cultural resources that define our unique identity. This includes work from our historic landmarks department, who you heard from earlier today. And for those who may not know, a minor certificate of appropriateness is an administrative approval issued for minor incidental changes to a historic property. Those tend to be the most common requests that come to the commission. And as such, we want to make sure that we continue to process those promptly. So that minor COA decision timeliness is at 95%, which is, again, above the 90% target. Additionally, it's important to measure the return on investment of those culture and tourism related events, and that ROI goal will be established in 27 to better quantify the return on county investment in these events. So objective 5.1 seeks to advance a safe and prepared community through a coordinated approach to public safety, recidivism reduction, and community violence prevention. On the county goal side, targeted internal programs such as pretrial services, recovery courts, and reentry services track recidivism and public safety. These programs directly reduce court backlogs and jail overcrowding. And currently, all three programs are exceeding their targets. Now, these targets for these county programs have been revisited in recent years, but we will also intentionally reevaluate them in the third quarter of fiscal 27, because that aligns with the full implementation of HB 307, also known as Arena's Law. So the involuntary commitment provisions of HB 307 go into effect at the end of the calendar year, and we think that those could have a meaningful impact on county services through the justice system. And understanding those impacts will be critical to setting or revising appropriate targets. On the community indicator side, we're tracking outcomes that include reducing homicide rate per capita, accelerating court disposition rates, expanding the JCPC program reach, and bringing the jail population into alignment with functional capacity. These are truly community indicators and while the county plays a role, we cannot shift these community indicators alone. Lowering homicide rates requires community stakeholder strategies And improving court disposition rates requires partnership with local court officials and increased state funding. So Objective 5.2 is focused on the safety and resilience of buildings and infrastructure. Now, the county maintains a top-tier building code effectiveness grading schedule, and our rating is 1. That's 1 out of 10, which indicates world-class code enforcement. Plan review is at 91% on time against a target of 90%, And code enforcement response is at 99% within three days against a 95% target. Now, this is an example of a high performing area with strong and stable execution. And I think it's important because it demonstrates that not every objective requires transformational change. Some require sustained excellence. Objective 5.3 seeks to ensure that residents receive fast, reliable, and coordinated emergency response. On the county side, that means timely completion of autopsies conducted by county pathologists. Currently, autopsy completion within 180 days is just over 88% against a 95% target. This is a known capacity issue, and we are working to address that within the medical examiner's office. It's also an area where collaboration with the state is critical because the state's toxicology analysis is part of this 180-day window and can sometimes be a determining factor in whether we meet that target. So tracking and understanding whether delays originate on the county side or on the state side underscores the importance of sophisticated data tracking because, of course, the strategic response would be different depending on the root cause of those issues. Now on the community side, medic priority run response compliance is the community indicator for this objective. And most recently, this was at 81% against a target of 90% indicating some room for improvement. Now I'd also like to note as the footnote at the bottom of this slide indicates that the EMS study was recently completed. And as local leaders continue their review, the recommendations from that study may inform future goal and or target adjustments. So this is the last of our community facing objectives, and it focuses on the Board of Elections and the Register of Deeds. On the election side, our goal is to continue to have zero validated election protests, and we are at target. This is an indicator of the effectiveness and professionalism of the county's election administration. On the Register of Deeds side, they have a goal of at least 98% of documents that require re-keying to be keyed within 30 days. Now that is an important goal because that is foundational civic infrastructure with the documents that they make available and current performance is at 100%, again, indicating quality performance. Next, I'll move to the first of our highlighted internal objectives. This is objective six one, managing county resources. responsibly to maximize value for residents. So as part of this objective, it relates to continuing to maintain our AAA bond rating. This is a critical indicator of how well Mecklenburg County manages its financial position. Now, bond rating aside, we also want to ensure accurate revenue and expense forecasts since those drive budget and resource allocation decisions. Most recently, general fund revenues came in just north of 103% of estimate, which is within the 104% threshold. On the expense side, we were at just over 98%, again, above the 96% floor. Now, these results reflect the strong fiscal discipline that is a cornerstone of Mecklenburg County's government. For Objective 7-2, our intent here is to make sure that residents are aware of and engaged with county government. Now, I chose to highlight this objective because many members of this board have expressed interest in the past in how we can figure out ways to enhance resident awareness of county programs and activities. And we have three goals tied to resident perception. Resident awareness of county programs, resident satisfaction with communication, and resident trust in Mecklenburg County government. All three of these have room for growth. These were ambitious targets that we have set, and we are targeting meaningful improvement in the coming years. Finally, I'm highlighting this objective, 8.3, because it directly aligns with the manager's organizational reset and culture of caring initiatives. The manager and all of county leadership recognize that employees are the county's most important asset. Because of this, establishing a culture of caring and investing in people is foundational to service delivery for our residents. By improving county culture, we expect to improve turnover and enhance two-year retention rates, with turnover currently at 10.4%, just above the target of 10% or lower, and two-year retention just shy of 77, working towards a target of 80. We also plan to develop goals that directly measure aspects of employee satisfaction, development, and the overall county culture. Now, work related to the redevelopment of the county's employee survey is underway within my office, as is work to engage employees on defining the county's culture. As these initiatives advance, additional SMART goals will be established in 2027. Okay, let's take a breath. All right, so now that we have reviewed all the objectives, I want to wrap up and talk about how all this fits together. So earlier, I explained how we score individual SMART goals. And equally important to that is how those goals combine into a single objective rating. And similarly to how we score SMART goals, we have four categories here. An objective is performing or green if 80% of our goals are green with no reds. It's progressing or yellow if there was a mix of results and fewer than half of them are red. And we'll call it an opportunity if there is more than one red goal or if more than half of goals within an objective are red. Finally, again, it will be under development if the goals aren't ready to be scored yet. And on the right side of the screen, you have some different examples of how those can combine into overall objective scoring. Now, one important note that I want to call out, only county goals are set to influence objective level scoring. And so as a reminder, those internal county goals are the operational outcomes the county can directly impact because we control those programs and resources. And while community indicators are the macro outcomes that we want to see, such as housing stability or public safety or care readiness, the county plays a critical leadership role here, as I mentioned, but again, realizing those goals will require deep collaboration with our partners. And as such, those community indicators are tracked for monitoring purposes so that the manager and this board can effectively act to improve partnerships to drive outcomes where necessary. This approach gives us consistent scorecard while keeping both internal and macro metrics fully visible to leadership. So returning to the full scorecard view as we close. If we apply the rules that I just described with the most recent results for each goal, this is what the county scorecard looks like at the start of FY27. This is our baseline. This view has also identified areas where additional investment may be helpful. Recall last week, the manager highlighted a multitude of new investments and whether those are related to housing or food security, family stability or what have you. The manager's 2027 budget begins the process of aligning county resources to our new balanced scorecard. And that resource alignment is an important milestone in the development and implementation of the scorecard. Now, the balanced scorecard itself, as I mentioned previously, provides us with that strategic direction, right? It tells us where we're going. But the managing for results framework, which you can see here on this slide, helps make those outcomes a reality. So MFR is the management system that we will layer on top of the balanced scorecard. It's what makes the scorecard live and breathe inside the organization. It translates that strategy into sustainable results. It aligns budgets and resource allocations, drives continuous improvement, and strengthens transparency and trust. MFR, or managing for results, is how we will achieve the goals that we set in this scorecard. And at a high level, our four-year scorecard maps directly to the phases of the MFR cycle. So 27 is about planning a baseline. We'll launch the focus area collaboration team or FACT governance. We'll set our remaining baseline data where necessary. 28 moves us into monitoring and evaluation where we will assess our 27 performance and learn what we can improve moving forward. and into 29, where we will continue to learn and adapt, and clear patterns when cross-perspective insights will continue to emerge. Finally, 2030 is closeout and plan, where we will close out this iteration of the scorecard, determine lessons learned and what we can carry forward, and set up the next scorecard cycle for 2031. Now, while this is the big picture enterprise process, a smaller version of this cycle runs annually at the department level. Departments track results. My team and I lead the evaluation and performance conversations and regular collaborative discussions among county leadership, department leadership, and OSI help us determine how best to learn and adapt. And as part of our standard governance process, we will review goals and targets in the scorecard every year to make data-informed updates as needed. So following tonight, my team and I will incorporate any final revisions that come out of today's discussion. From there, implementation continues across three work streams, change management and communication, the focus area collaboration team structure, and data reporting. Now, this is just the start of our four-year journey and not a one-time deliverable. And before I open it up for questions, just one last thought that I'll share. In many ways, I think the scorecard itself is not the magic behind this. It's not the scorecard. The scorecard is the process that will come out of this. So what you've seen today is the architecture that will help us get there. But the real value is not necessarily in the document. It's in those intentional cross-functional collaboration teams, the quarterly reviews, the budget conversations. and the course corrections that we will make together each year. Now, I'm not here to hand you a document and be finished. We're here to share where we're at, continue the work on behalf of the community, and this framework will help us do just that. So, Chair Jarrell, that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to take any questions or comments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michael. I appreciate it. I suspect there's quite a bit of commentary. What I'm going to ask colleagues are a couple of things. This is something that we've never done before. Two, I want us to remember that let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If someone tees up a suggestion and you just vehemently disagree with the suggestion via the revisions, just let it be known. because Michael and staff are taking those, you know, taking that feedback. So, you know, want them to get a feedback, but what we don't want to do, we got to, at some point, right, we got to, we got to cut this off and say, we're ready to move and work it. So I don't want, I would prefer if we're not ping pong in this to come back again, we need to implement something. Um, if as a board, we don't want to implement something, then that's a decision that we have to make, but let's, let's try to move forward, uh, and allow the, this to take shape if we can. So with that being said, I know that there are quite a few questions. Um, and I'm assuming everyone has questions. Okay. So with that being said, let me, let me start with commissioner Griffin. Because I do know he has some feedback, and I'd like us to listen to that and respond.

Well, first of all, let me thank the manager for putting this on the agenda at a time when my voice is at its speechless. I know you all are happy.

You all are happy.

So this is great. This process is absolutely great. Something I've been waiting for for four years. Is the time wrong?

We'll let you reclaim your time.

Is the time wrong? Two years ago, the manager handed me this. Remember that time wrong? I was crazy enough to read. This is performance of Mecklenburg County. There's no framework. And we have a county manager now that has brought forth something called balanced scorecard. And it basically just puts in a box, a frame, and it makes us govern in terms of the 50,000 foot what's important. And then the staff actually moves towards execution. And then the public can follow it because it's a dashboard, red, yellow, and green. And so, you know, I love the concept. I support the concept. Uh, I put in writing some suggestions, uh, and recommendations for change, uh, because it's the first time it's chair said, we we're doing this, it's going to be some growing pains, but I think the results will benefit not only the people that we serve, but also the, the taxpayers. So they can see a return on investment. that they haven't seen before other than by happenstance, a park here or a recreation center there. And I think staff will enjoy this, too, simply because they feel good about accomplishing a specific target, an aggressive target, because these targets are outcomes, not just activities and outputs. They're life changing. I support the process. I thank you, Mr. Manager, and your team, because it takes a lot of work. On the other side, I've made some suggestions, and I'll be real quickly. Where you have your goals as 80%, you're already at 88%. I know historical trends. Kind of reassess that. those targets numbers. Uh, the affordable housing piece is excellent, but the why of affordable housing, it helps with mental health. It helps with education. There needs to be some way of putting a framework around that as we provide affordable housing. How do, how do we determine that mental health is better or education is better or all these other things are better. I mean, we haven't done that before. That's unique and different. Of course, y'all know I'm gonna talk about kindergarten readiness. I don't want us to embrace educational malpractice. The other people across the street can do that. I don't think we should embrace that. And I say that because K-2, there's no information coming back to parents, the system, Can a child count to 10? Can a child count to 20? Reading is critical. And if you wait until the EOGs to determine whether or not you can read, that's too late. And we are, most educators know that's too late. So things are happening in there. So I hope, anyway. And the other piece on education, and we don't have anything, Chairman Emeritus always said, We can't control the school. We got the parents of foster care kids. Foster care should be somewhere in this, the system, because we are, we are the parents. So there are lots of things here. I know it's a challenge, but I think it's the right time. And it's the right challenge for the residents of Mecklenburg County. So I thank you for Mr. Manager and your team. And I thank colleagues for going through this process. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Commissioner Powell.

Well, that was a surprise. I'm still writing. Can you pick somebody else?

Absolutely. Commissioner Dunlap said he's ready to go.

Okay. Thank you. Mr. Griffin, I'm glad you reminded me that I shared with you that we don't control the school board because I was going to remind you again. And I say that because when we start looking at goals and objectives, while we should hold the school board accountable for those deliverables, we can't be responsible for them. And I think there's a distinct difference between that. I like the process. I've supported it from the outset when Commissioner Griffin brought forward the idea, but I too like some of the recommendations that he brought forth. And I had one in particular that I was thinking about, I think it's 6.1, just to give an example, when we talk about elections, one of the things that we were measuring for was Whether or not there was any protests We don't we don't we don't we don't control that and I was wondering if that's really a measurement that we want to be Monitoring or look for an outcome on I can't find it now.

I thought it was It's like a 5.4 Yeah, so so

To look at this stuff again, I guess, that one was sustained election protests. I mean, do we really have control over whether or not people protest? I think if we said, for example, we want to ensure that all votes are counted within a certain time frame after an election, That's something that we can measure. But the other reason I think this process will work for us is that it also is presented in a way that the public can hold us accountable by looking at whether or not we did what we said we were going to do. And it won't be difficult for them to do it. Like you said, Mr. Griffin, the green, the red, the yellow, it tells them where we are. So I think it's an easy way for the public to hold us accountable. And I look forward to moving toward this process. There might be a few things that we need to refine, but given where we were in terms of our presentation to our colleagues about the things we wanted to see, you can see all of those things clearly in this document. And I think that's a great example of the fact that our manager and the staff has listened to what we had to share. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Townsend.

First of all, I wanted to thank Michael for just for meeting with us earlier for being so completely thorough on all of the information and it was very thorough. I have not gone through it as detailed as Commissioner Griffin, but I agree with the process. I agree that this should be the process. And I want you to know, Michael Griswold, that I appreciate all of the work that you do, that your staff does, your team did. Congratulations on your certification. I think that's brilliant. It's excellent. I want to make something clear to you specifically. Just because I make a suggestion doesn't mean that I am opposed to the idea altogether. I want to throw the baby out with bathwater. I want to start from scratch. No, I think we should move forward. And like you said, it's a living document. So I appreciate that very much. Yeah. We haven't done this before. That's been mentioned, right? And I think that if we do things the same way and expect a different result, that's the definition of insanity. So I appreciate what I would appreciate is an opportunity for consistent, maybe quarterly opportunities as we work separately, individually as county commissioners, that there are specific work groups as updates where we can possibly give input to some of the things that we're working on, as far as priorities that align with the county's priorities. And that's all I wanted to say to you earlier. I really enjoy this process. This is part of my jam, working out the balance scorecard, and for business, for every opportunity for every solution for every goal. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

Commissioner Rodriguez-McDonough.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Grizz, thank you. Thank you for all the time that you've offered to us, and I'm glad I got to take a little bit of your time today. I, too, support the concept, and I think you guys have done a fantastic job. This is not my jam. little boxes and all this stuff is not my jam, but I get it and I appreciate it. I think I will like to be able to look for yellow, red, green, and hope to see a lot of green. But having said that, I do want to mess with your categories a little bit. And I would like to suggest or propose that we move environmental stewardship out of culture and recreation. For me, it's not aligned properly under Recreate. And I would just say to my colleagues that I do think environmental stewardship should probably go under the live side because it's about health and living, taking care of our environment. So to me, it just feels misplaced under recreate. I get how there'd be a portion that could be under recreate like parks and rec, but environmental stewardship feels different from parks. I get how they're related, and that's how come boxes don't always work, right? And so I love how it's nice and neat and organized and everything, but I do want to mess up the boxes a little bit. And so that's my feedback. I appreciate... The concept, I want to be able to look at the dashboard, but I would like to see a little bit different alignment. So that's just my feedback, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Commissioner Meyer.

Thank you. And I want to agree with Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell on that. I agree with the environmental should be under live. So I won't go into that. I won't rehash what she said, but I completely agree with that. Thank you for this. And I'll be honest, this is... This is not my language. You're not speaking my language. And that's not to say that I don't appreciate what you've done. And I think that's what makes a team. We all have our strengths. We all have our weaknesses. This is clearly not my strength. But I appreciate it. I appreciate what you've done. And I've had a hard time. taking a lot of the stuff that we do and putting a number on it. And so I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around that because I think a lot of the stuff we do is not really measurable. And so I don't want the stuff, I don't want that kind of stuff to get lost in this because I think we do a lot of good stuff that maybe we can't quantify. And I think that's okay too. So I just want to acknowledge that we can't do everything with a number and I understand Commissioner Griffin with his test scores and all that stuff in education, but I just think there's some things we need to acknowledge that we can't do. And I told Commissioner, our chair, Commissioner Durrell, that what you've done is you've taken all our objectives, all our priorities, and you've broken them up into great objectives. And I think they're fantastic. And you've put them into a language of math. And that's not the language I speak. But I appreciate what you've done. I look forward to seeing this. And I have one question. Is this really the first time we've ever done this? But haven't we measured our goals?

This is the first time this board.

This board.

But actually, Dr. Leslie Johnson, when she served in a similar role as Michael Griswold back in 0203, she led the effort to implement our initial scorecard under Harry Jones back then.

Okay.

So this is scorecard 2.0. Okay.

All right. Thank you.

I appreciate what you do. Thank you.

Commissioner Leake.

Save the best for last.

No, we still got a couple. You are good, though.

Let me first say thank you for holding our attention. My concept of all of this should be presented to the general public so that they can understand what the county's responsibility is versus the city council's responsibility and the goals in which we're trying to reach. And when I underline strategic planning, that's most important. We can't just out here nilly-willy do things. There has to be a plan and a reason for that plan. And when I look back over here at the information on page 36, safe and prepared community. That jumps out as number one for me. If we're not safe, if we're not prepared, healthy living, how do we obtain it? How do we have a thriving community if we're not safe? So those are the kinds of things that touch me as a senior and concerned about the future of the growth of this county and this city and the state of North Carolina. So I went back again to the front and said, performance management and resource allocation. If the tax money is not there and funds we need to make it happen, it cannot happen. And our public needs to understand It takes funds to make it roll make it happen and the importance of job preparation. When we bring in companies the first we want to know what about the salaries. My concern is how will these individuals fit within the confines of the community that we already have. What changes will they suggest as they come in to be a part of the community? And will it hinder or help the community by their being in this environment, in our environment? And when I listened to the historical reading of the preparation, not preparation, but what we're doing in Mecklenburg County to keep things historical, we're in bad shape. We're doing some things, but a lot of things are being neglected in the process and especially within the confines of the black community. I think about Brooklyn every day. It's not a day I do not think about the 14 churches the drug stores, the doctor's office, those facilities was in the confines of our community. And all we had to do was reach, and the school system that we had, we had the best teachers in the world. And when we say that, it's not neglecting the preparation of others, but we knew we had a job to do. We knew what our job was. So I'm going to, agree with you with this and hopefully to contribute to make life just a little bit better because intending to meetings this morning before I came to our regular meeting this afternoon and it was talking about safety and the community on our communities today are not communities as they were years ago. So how do we redefine community? How do we redefine family? That bothers me a lot. When we excuse giving people as being a family, then what do we define as a family? So the bell is ringing for me to stop? Did it ring on anybody else?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much for telling me. Thank you. Did you understand my concern as a senior who is not limited in her thinking process. I think very well. I don't have Alzheimer's. I'm above board. I attend the meetings. So stop lying on me saying I'm not here. Thank you so much.

Commissioner Powell.

Thank you. Thank you for the architecture work that you've done on this scorecarding process. And so I agree with a lot of the comments that I've heard. I can't help but have some what I called historic grief. So I agree that environmental stewardship deserves a spot where it's not diluted. But also arts and culture and recreation deserve a spot where it's not diluted. And I guess we have to just think about how to do it. I feel like there's such a strong connection between the environmental stewardship and healthy, thriving communities. So rethink maybe it belongs over in the healthy living. The areas I represent in North Mecklenburg, top priorities are kind of bare. And so when you look at safe and prepared community for MEDIC, these have promote timely and reliable emergency response, and it's kind of bare right now. It says we're gonna wait for the recommendations, but also I feel like we have to have on the scorecard in my mind, the resources that they need. And so right now it's just kind of bare, but I'm hoping it gets much more meaty. And then on objective 4.1 and 4.2, we have a framework for environmental leadership action plan. We have a framework for the playbook. We have all kinds of experts giving input. At the retreat, I talked about how unhealthy the amount of impervious that we have in Mecklenburg County, and I hope that that becomes part of what we're measuring. We really need to have a mindfulness of the impervious, a mindfulness of water capacity. And then the other thing, I do agree when Commissioner Griffin said foster care, like that was something important to add. And I think I heard you mention it somewhere, but also cyber security is really a big part of safe and prepared. And I don't see it in here. So I'm just saying it out loud because I think it's really important. It's a big threat to the country. So I think we need to have that in there. And I think another thing like aspirational goals, you know, Where does that fit in? So if you're doing the compliance and you're doing the minimums that are required, how do you put the aspirational in there? Like, should we put another color? Should it be, you know, I'm just talking out loud, like something above green, like an aspirational, like, you know, sparkling, you know, like something where we go above and beyond the minimum to be sparkling. That concludes my comments, thank you.

Sparkles.

Sparkles, sparkles.

So, hold on one second team, I'm sorry, I think there's, All right. Mr. Attorney, I believe we had Commissioner YTI has left the meeting. She?

Madam Clerk? She can't leave the meeting.

Yeah, apparently she signed off. Okay. So just want to make sure everybody's aware of that.

So you'll note that she left at a certain time, Madam Clerk?

Can't hear you.

Thank you. Michael, I think it's phenomenal work. I mean, you've built this plane from the ground up. You've tried to synthesize a lot of feedback over a very long period of time. So, you know, I want to say thank you. I don't want to add... I appreciate all the feedback. I'm not as concerned about categories, only because I feel like it's more tracking mechanism, so no matter where it is, but I respect the fact that people think certain things should be under a particular category, and I think it does make sense because when the community looks at it, we do want it aligned properly. The thing, though, that I do want to make the distinction of, colleagues, is I want us to really make sure that we're not conflating tracking with accountability. Because I do think that there's things that we can track. The scorecard, in my mind, is what we are accountable for. And so I think there's a couple of different things. issues that come into play when we sort of conflate that and want to be accountable for things that generally we're tracking for the community, but we cannot directly influence, right? We have limited influence, right? So I think, um, you know, commission, I feel like a lot of, a lot of stuff with CMS, we have limited influence because beyond the, the funding mechanism, there's not really the policy that we can implement. So I'm always leery of us, and I'm just using CMS as an example. It could be any of our various other partners. I'm always leery of us taking on this level of accountability when it's really something we don't directly own. So as we move forward, I mean, I think we're in a good space, but as we move forward, I'm just saying colleagues, that's just my thoughts as far as, um, as we're thinking about scorecard accountability and, uh, reporting our results out to the public. I do think that we should, you know, make sure that we have that, that in the back of our minds, because if you're held, if we're held accountable for stuff that we can't control and people start putting certain things on us, it's going to be very difficult to unring that bell. And so that's just, I know you wanted to say something.

No, go ahead. You will be bringing this up when I get here.

No, right. I know I'm taking advantage of you. Sorry.

I'm in a leadership position. I'm in one ninth of a leadership position. Uh, all the research at McKenzie report is put out both in 2019 and 2023. So it'll take a century or more for African-Americans to reach parity. If we continue this incremental progress, we've made a century or more that's without true.

Okay. With Trump without trouble.

So my point to you is, somebody has to be, take the bull by the horn and try to make sure that we make this a community where all families and all children are successful. When you see something like, there's no measurement for reading and math, K2, that the public isn't aware of, or that we're aware of, and we spend a billion dollars for education and literacy. That's right. But we have no control over education and literacy.

Can't even talk to them.

Just think about that. We have no control over education and literacy, and we spend over a billion dollars. And I love all of y'all. There's no question about it. Your heart's in the right place. But I can't sit here and say I'm not responsible. for what other people do. We have workshops on black infant mortality, black maternal mortality.

I can't hear you with your head turned.

Black maternal mortality. Thank you.

But we're not creating babies. No, I'm not going to let you use all my time now. Go ahead, keep going. My point is we've got to step up. And certainly we have to be influential with our colleagues on the school board, the city council, et cetera.

That's just who I am, but I love y'all. But you know what, though? I love y'all. But, Commissioner, this is the thing, and I think everybody, I don't think anybody disagrees with that. I think the distinction that I'm making, and I'm not saying that we can't or that we shouldn't track certain things. I do think that the only distinction that I'm attempting to make is making sure that You know, if you say responsible, I think we're all responsible as members of this community, to your point. But as far as what I can control as a commissioner, I think there is a, you know, there's an argument that there could be a distinction. And so that's all I'm saying.

I won't belabor it. But then restructure it. I said let's have a residential... Upward Mobility Academy, where we are responsible. We put people in a building and we put the resources there. But when we partner it out, it's very difficult to do that.

And I'm not opposed to anything that any board member would tee up. I think, again, though, if we're going to hold ourselves accountable reporting to the community, the only thing I'm saying is, is that I think we should, I think if there's a school board, the community should know that the school board is responsible, directly responsible via policy and implementation and direct initiatives over the education of the children while we fund it. And so, I mean, if there's a direct tie, then I respect that, you know, to what we do. But I think it's, I just wanna be, you know, a little trepidatious as we're moving towards owning something that we don't fully control. That's all I'm saying. So, Michael, you got a lot of feedback. Appreciate colleagues where we're at with this, and I think we're... Please.

I think he did such an outstanding job because it is Commissioner Griffin's language. But like Commissioner Meyer said, it's not like we talk like this all the time. So it's a whole different kind of thinking. And you did such a great job. Thank you. So thank you to you and your team. It's going to grow on them, Michael. Don't worry. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Well done, Michael. Thank you. And thank you all for your feedback. I know Commissioner YTI had to drop off as well. We really appreciate that as we continue to refine this tool. Um, and, and also I appreciate you acknowledging Michael and his team as well. This was a heavy lift that he's accomplished in a short amount of time. So thank you for recognizing that as well. The next item on my agenda is an update from assistant County manager, Mr. Sean Carter. He's going to provide you an update on the child development accounts initiative. Please recognize this. What did you say?

Child care.

Yeah, well, we got to talk. Child accounts.

Account. He's going to explain it. Thank you, County Manager. While I'm not sure I'm anybody's jam, I am certain I will speak y'all's language.

These are jams.

Good evening, Chair Jarrell and Commissioners, Manager Bryant, County staff. Good evening, Mecklenburg County. Thank you for this opportunity. And before we get started, I'd like to thank the manager and DCM Ramos for their support and feedback as we prepared this update. I'd also like to thank Ebony Lewis from our team as she has been instrumental in doing the research and driving the content for this briefing. This presentation provides an update on our generational wealth investment projects, which are one of our long-term strategies to help families build assets and not just access services. As you know, this work was the culmination of extensive efforts of research and development supported by the Equity Investment Ad Hoc Committee. Tonight, we will focus on AIMUP, the program designed to introduce the notion of child development accounts to eligible children in our pre-K program and compare it to new federally backed investment strategies and outline recommendations for the board moving forward. I want to quickly go over the agenda as we have a lot of ground to cover. We'll start with an overview of the county's generational wealth investment projects, as mentioned, is a primary product of the Equity Investment Ad Hoc Committee. Then we'll walk through AEMUP, follow up by a primer on Section 530A or U.S. Treasury Individual Trust Accounts, or as they have become to be known, Trump Accounts. And we'll close with a comparison of the two programs with recommendation and discussion. Generational Wealth Investment Project programs are universal equity programs designed to support people in transition. In our particular case, our initial focus has been on returning citizens, youth aging out of foster care, and pre-K families. The strategy has two pillars, supplemental income to stabilize families and encourage upward mobility, and seed investment to jumpstart long-term wealth building. Together, these programs shift from crisis response to asset building. Although we won't spend much time on supplemental support programs, I felt it important that we at least bring them in the room as baseline orientation to the work. And as our first pilot program, the Ramp Up Program, or Reentry Assistance Mobility Program, which supports individuals returning from incarceration, this moment has been long in the making. In partnership with Criminal Justice Services, it provides structured financial support and mobility resources to reduce recidivism and strengthen reentry outcomes to supplement the robust array of services already provided by our partners in CJS. It is one of our strongest examples of pairing supplemental income with coaching, financial planning, and wraparound support. Second, we launched GEAR UP, which stands for Getting Every Adolescent Ready. This program focuses on youth aging out of foster care, a group that is among the highest risk for poverty and homelessness. The program provides financial stability and ongoing investment to help them transition into adulthood. There was so much more to say about these two projects, but not enough time to say it tonight, as tonight's focus is on the third leg of our generational wealth three-legged stool. But we will be back for a deep dive into these pilots with more in-depth details of the program parameters and outcomes as we have an eye towards a sustainable future. As we've shared, the people furthest from opportunity, those periods of transition can oftentimes present the greatest risk for people who fall through the cracks of society. One of those other moments is early childhood investment. As you know, MEC Pre-K is an incredible program designed to expand access to high quality kindergarten readiness for Mecklenburg County children. We got curious about what would it look like for us to make an investment in those same children that would support their post-secondary interests upon completion of high school. Kind of an end-to-end investment. It's a way of saying, if we make a significant investment in their future on the front end, what could a meaningful investment on the back end look like? Aim up or assets inspire mobility is the county's answer to that question. It is designed to help families begin saving early for education and workforce pathways for their children who complete pre-K. In this way, AIMUP is the seed investment arm for early childhood. AIMA provides families with college savings accounts, financial literacy, and investment education. The program removes traditional barriers like the lack of financial literacy resources and investment knowledge. The design at its core is ambitious as a statement. Even when there is no definitive way to truly eliminate a barrier, as establishing generational wealth is much more dynamic of a challenge, we can face that earnestly and in good faith. Ultimately, the goal is to empower families with long-term financial planning tools. In order for the plan to be sustainable long-term, certain structural features must be present. Those features are Mecklenburg County contributing a $1,000 seed investment after MEC Pre-K completion and participation in financial literacy programming. Those funds can be used for college, apprenticeships, or credentialing programs. In order to provide these resources, income verification is a must, and families must be below 200% of the federal poverty level, yet no social security number is required until the point of disbursement. This brings the effort in alignment with our broader workforce and economic mobility goals. In order for the program to work, reliable partnerships must be present at every level. In addition to the internal subject matter expertise from our Early Childhood Initiatives Division within Child, Family, and Adult Services Department, AIMUP uses the North Carolina 529 Plan and the College Foundation of North Carolina's automated portfolio management. Families benefit from low-cost diversified investment options, and the program includes the standard personalized investment guidance to help families understand long-term growth potential. And as with all of our programs, and as you heard from Director Griswold, alignment to the balanced scorecard and the principles of grounded data stewardship remain a priority for all efforts supported by the Office of Equity and Inclusion. As we've been building out the work, we have been in ongoing conversations with the Office of Strategy and Innovation to interrogate meaningful data outputs and outcomes that help us better understand and illustrate our impact. I won't read through every measure, but at a high level with our short-term measures, families increase financial knowledge as accounts are opened and activated. With medium-term measures, families begin making transactions Assets grow and financial stress decreases. And ultimately, with our long-term measures, funds support post-secondary education. Net assets grow over 13-plus years. Families build intergenerational wealth. This slide effectively shows the theory of change behind AIMUP. It helps us answer the question from earlier. What would it look like if we invested in children at the earliest stage when many of them first become known to us, supporting their post-secondary interests upon high school graduation? And because we always knew this was the right thing to do and a nationally recognized best practice, it was no surprise that the federal government would eventually recognize this form of investment was a sound approach to meeting the demand of supporting future generations for years to come. As this has been introduced and discussed at the federal level for many years. The informally titled Trump accounts are federally seeded tax advantage accounts for children under 18. They provide a $1,000 federal seed for children born between 2025 and 2028. They are structured like a traditional IRA with contributions allowed from families, employers, nonprofits, and government. They serve as a tool for securing the financial future for millions of children by creating tax-advantaged investment accounts. Now, this is a busy slide, and usually they come up individually, so I'll walk you through it. And bear with me as I walk you through the details of Section 530A, Individual Trust Accounts, as they're known. No withdrawals before age 18. And this is the top... left-hand box. No withdrawals before age 18. After that, funds convert and are unstructured as a traditional IRA. Like AIMUP, it starts with an initial seed grant for children born January 1st, 2025 through December 31st, 2028. And contributions from the federal government begin July 4th, 2026. So in a couple months now. the box underneath that, families can contribute up to $5,000 per year, including an employer match not to exceed $2,500, as well as government and qualified nonprofits that do not count against the $5,000 cap. There are no pre-tax deductions, and as I said, government seed investments, rollovers, and general nonprofit funding do not count toward the cap. Eligible uses include higher education expenses, first-time home purchase, and entrepreneurship and business startup efforts. If funds are not used for any of those efforts by the age 30, the fund is treated as a traditional IRA and penalized if accessed before 59 1⁄2. Now, I'm no finance person, but based on those that are, the eligible investments are index mutual funds or an exchange traded fund tracking the S&P 500 or other US equity index. Investments are limited to low fee index funds. And then lastly, in this step box on the right hand side, it says geographic targeting is limited. So currently, only states in the contiguous United States plus Hawaii and Alaska and Washington DC can be designated. As you can see, there are some similarities and some significant differences between AIMUP and Trump accounts. We wanted to step you through some of the more notable differences. The purpose of the two is similar, but due to state requirements, the AIMUP-seeded accounts are exclusively for post-secondary or workforce expenses as opposed to Trump accounts, which are designated for not only that, but also home ownership and long-term capital into adulthood and ultimately retirement. Trump accounts are federal, universal for eligible birth years, while Aim Up Seed is tied to program participation and not at birth. Additionally, AIMUP allows tax-free withdrawals for North Carolina education expenses before age 30. So think about someone who's in a dual enrollment program in high school. And Trump accounts restrict withdrawals until the age of 18 and impose significant taxes and penalties for early non-qualified uses or uses after the age of 30 until the individual reaches retirement age of 59 and a half at the earliest. AimUp is more flexible for education-focused families, while Trump accounts are broader, yet more restrictive. This table was inspired by a table that can be found on TrumpAccounts.gov, where they project out assets growth across three levels of contribution. Bear with me as we walk through this, as it's more technical than we may have intended, but we felt it was worth sharing to demonstrate the power of compounding and ongoing investment beyond the original seed. First, I'll point out the color coding. The blue denotes AIMUP projections and the black are projections made by the United States Treasury. The AIMUP projections assume a North Carolina 529 account with an initial $1,000 investment, fixed annual contributions made at the end of each year, a constant 6% annual return based on a moderate risk portfolio, annual compounding, and investment horizons of 13, 20, and 25 years, assuming the child was five at the time of disbursement. Our projections do not go out as far as the Trump accounts, as age 30 is the extent of our program period. So the final column is not truly apples to apples because our projections stop at 30, while the Trump accounts project out to age 55. Again, estimates are for illustration only and taken directly from TrumpAccounts.gov and are based on an account opening at birth with $1,000 opening deposit and are derived from historical S&P 500 averages. Actual results may differ and are not guaranteed. While higher income households can build substantial assets through large annual contributions, a $1,000 starting investment ensures every child benefits from compounding, creating a foundation even when ongoing contributions are modest. This slide illustrates the power of compounding under different contribution levels. Even modest contributions, like $240 a year, they produce meaningful growth over 13 to 30 years. Higher contributions dramatically increase long-term wealth up to seven-figure balances by age 55. AIMUP and Trump accounts both benefit from early and constant investment. I want to thank you for hanging with me. And with all that being said, we end with a recommendation and a plan for the near and long term. First, we recommend pausing AIMUP implementation while we evaluate Trump's account, Trump account's potential local impact. Additionally, we will continue supporting ramp up and gear up using carry forward dollars. We will continue to research ways to support communities and plan to bring an update and strategies to the equity investment ad hoc committee later this year. We will explore the potential of developing a financial literacy partnership for met pre-K families. and ultimately determine whether to continue the $3 million child development account allocation for the first eligible Trump account cohort, which will be age eligible during the 2028-2029 school year. This decision will shape our long-term equity approach to early investment. As Fayetteville, North Carolina poet J. Cole reminds us, anything's possible. You've got to dream like you've never seen obstacles. The path before us is one of possibility. Our equity investments, whether through supplemental income, early childhood savings, or long-term asset building, are not just programs. They are commitments, commitments to families who deserve a fair shot, to children whose potential should never be limited by circumstance, and to a community that believes prosperity grows when the opportunity is shared. What we are building together is bigger than any single initiative. We are laying the groundwork for a future where every resident can participate fully in the economic prosperity of this county. A future where stability is not the exception, but the expectation. A future where generational wealth is not reserved for the few, but becomes a real possibility for many. This work is long-term, but its promise is immediate. When we invest in people, we strengthen the entire system and pay close attention to the gaps that appear when people are in transition and at times when they are the most vulnerable. When we address the barriers, we unlock talent. And when we plant seeds early, financial, educational, and structural conditions for mobility last. The choices we make now will echo for decades. And if we stay focused, stay bold, stay committed to our shared values as a driver of economic growth, we can become a national model for what it looks like when a community invests in its future, one family, one child, and one opportunity at a time. I know this was a lot. And I appreciate your time, and I will invite any questions or discussion. Thank you.

Absolutely. Let me go with Commissioner Dunlap.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, we've been doing this equity committee for some time now, so I hope we're not thinking about turning around. That being said, I haven't gone real deep into the budget, but I wanted to make sure that it was continuously funded, since we made a commitment to fund it until we decided not to fund it. So I hope it's still in the budget. And I think that's to the tune of $3 million a year.

Yeah, we're going to touch on that. Well, good.

I'll let you touch on it. I mean, there's some question about it. Um, but anyway, when we think about where we've come through this, cause we first tried to do it and we couldn't do it. Then we started talking about this plan. I found out from, I went to a workshop with, um, governor hunt and found out we could do the five 29 plan. And then the Trump plan just kind of dropped in place after that. And so we're looking at the two. And my first thought is that we ought to be able to marry the two in such a way that the children get the best benefit out of the two programs. where one starts at year, age, soon as birth, we may have to delay it until they finish the pre-K program, but still get the benefit of that. So I'm just hoping that we will stay committed to this because I think as Commissioner Griffin always talk about the outcome of kids, this is another opportunity to ensure that kids get an opportunity to get a leg up. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Commissioner Meyer.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. I want to give you an opportunity to talk about the $3 million.

Yeah, so tomorrow during the detailed overview, as you know, with these funds in our budget, we've been carrying them forward for some time because we're waiting to see exactly how we're going to utilize this. As I shared with you as I was preparing my budget, I was going to look at everything. Everything was going to be on the table. in terms of opportunities to reinvest or realign dollars. In realigning those dollars to support other expenses does not reflect a change in your commitment to this process. Instead, it's exploring other alternatives out there. And then to Assistant County Manager Carter's point, once we learn more about the Trump accounts, and get a little more clarity on this program, then we can decide if indeed we want to continue funding this specific program here. But we'll talk more about that tomorrow, but that's what, in a nutshell, what the decision reflects is that we have this alternative program that provides similar investments to support the ultimate goal of supporting these individuals.

My time didn't go out, so let me ask this question. So, number one, we need to know how much was accumulated prior to making a decision one way or the other about what you do with the funds. And if it's decided that the funds are used in a different manner, that when we reinstitute the program, that those funds be reinstated. Because that was a commitment that we made and the money was allocated to do that. So I don't have a problem with...

I understand. But we can clearly share that with you tomorrow in terms of response to your question. Thank you. from a technicality or funding perspective, is sitting there. Certainly, there's their intent behind it, but we have not utilized those dollars yet. And when you think about all the other areas you want to invest in, that gives me flexibility for fiscal year 27 while we figure out what we're going to do here. So it's no need to continue to let it sit there while you have pressing needs for 27. And that's what you'll see reflected in the budget.

we'll talk about it tomorrow.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Um, I'm really proud to have been part of this, um, ad hoc committee that, and thank you for what you've done. And thank you to my colleagues who were on it. And I, we were really excited about, um, are these finance, these accounts. And I really don't like that they're being replaced with something else. I can't even say it, but I just am not comfortable with it. And I understand that there is great intention and we're, we just want the kids to, you know, have generational wealth and all that. I get it, but I don't trust it. And I believe it when I see it, um, we'll see what happens. And I think we're going to find that, that 3 million back in our budget one day. Thank you.

Thanks. Thank you. Commissioner Leak.

When you talk about money, we are limited as a people. So what we're asking the community to help us do is to develop, am I right, a means by which to provide those funds available that families really can't do it. But we as a government will do it, am I right?

For education purposes, yes.

I'm sorry.

For education purposes, yes.

For education purposes, yes. How then do we share this with the general public with limited income, age or out young people? How do we generate their interest to become enthusiastic about economic growth?

Yeah, I think with our initial design, we were planning to roll that out through our MEC pre-K families because they are the ones that are exclusively eligible. But that would be an outreach effort that we would partner with the Early Childhood Initiatives team to ensure that those families understood what their opportunities were.

So clarity of definition.

Yes, clarity of definition and eligibility, yes.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I am a little disconnected on this qualified geographic area thing on slide 12. Like when Commissioner Meyer said she didn't trust it, this is kind of like one exhibit A of why it's hard to trust that this will actually happen. So that's one concern. My other concern, because it has been a while since we met and talked about the program, our program, that our ad hoc committee designed, The MEC pre-K kids were the only kids that were going to get it, not if they were enrolled in a different pre-K.

Correct.

And I feel a little like, ooh, about that, just kind of like, ooh.

So I'll clarify that for the initial phase, while we were kind of working through the mechanics of it, the MEC pre-K kids were the first wave. But we did have plans in the roadmap for Bright Beginnings and NC pre-K children to be eligible as well, given that they meet the eligibility criteria, because that's the non-negotiable, the eligibility criteria of the federal poverty level and living within Mecklenburg County.

Right. Okay. That comes back to me. It has been a while since.

No, I understand.

Yeah. So can you speak to this qualified geographic area? Like, do you have any more info on that? Like, what is that talking about?

Beyond the fact that, how do I say this? The goal of the the goal of the geographic area is to ensure that the people who are eligible are currently residing in the contiguous 48 States, Hawaii and Alaska, and not living in any border countries.

Keep going.

Oh, okay. This is painful. All right. Um, Okay, that is helpful. The difficult thing about this obviously is that when somebody who wants to put their face on every single darn thing tries to take credit for something that you know, Senator Cory Booker introduced in 2018 under the American Opportunities Account Act, you know, of course we all support the idea of it, but it's the details. It's the who's eligible. It's the leaving people out because, you know, there are certain demographics or whatever. So, yeah, this is super uncomfortable. So... Yeah, we have to wade through this and I look forward to you going through it tomorrow.

And Sean, you may want to share with the board our conversation regarding some of the mechanics and details that will have to be sorted through for this particular program. Yes. That contributed to the pause.

Yeah, so part of the reason why we're bringing this to you is because many of the details relative to how the Trump account deployment would happen were not clear at the point where we were trying to make a decision on aim up. And so we decided that the best interest was to come to you all in this part of this presentation today to say, let's pause for a second, evaluate truly what the full rollout of Trump accounts will be, determine whether or not it's redundant with what we hope for, and then make a decision for FY28 whether or not we roll forward with our aim-up strategy as intended or figure out another way to, Commissioner Dunlap's point, merge these ideas because they are very similar.

Thank you for that clarity. That really helps.

Commissioner Griffin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be very brief. Whatever we do, let's make sure we have a program to help these babies. This is a phenomenal concept. I wasn't on the board when you birthed this, but it is an absolute phenomenal opportunity.

Thank you.

It reminds me of the The 25 cent saving stamps in a book.

That's right, green book.

Green book. Remember that, George? Already, you know, you get up to $25, you're a big shot. You know, this is great. So, Mr. Manager.

And bonds. Saving bonds.

Chair, let's figure out how to make it work for us. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, Sean.

I, um. I definitely appreciate this. I mean, since this was first discussed, and I've said this before, you've been able to come in and help move us in the right direction. When Commissioner Dunlap came back from the Hunt Institute and really put fuel into the fire to move the CDA concept out, I guess my sort of frustration is the fact that we've had a tremendous amount of money sitting for a while. And I love this. You know, I love the concept of the CDAs. I know the community loves the concept of the CDAs. In my opinion, our role has to be to get money out the door. If you, you talked about compound interest, I'm the biggest fan of compound. I think compound interest is the greatest concept ever implemented on planet earth. When I think about that, I think about what was lost. If we would, if we could have implemented this, right. So if you think about people that have been contributing over time, Over a certain amount of years, you have a nest egg that continues to build, and the concept of compound interest allows that nest egg to grow and grow and grow. And so there's money that's lost due to not implementing. It's no one's fault, but I'm just saying, I am ready for us to implement something. I'm not really convinced about the... the other account and what the intent is from the feds. I mean, I think it would be great if that's really gonna come to fruition, but I don't know if there's anything that is really stopping us from moving forward with ours absent that, and then there's multiple vehicles for some of our children as well. So I'm just ready to get something implemented. And if this is just not the right vehicle, Like if it's not the right vehicle, I just, for me, I don't want 3 million just sitting right. I think I would be in favor of finding the vehicle where we could get money out the door and continue and move the concept of general creating generational wealth, um, for our families, um, particularly those who have been, um, who had a disadvantage. Right. Um, so those are the two things, I guess I, you know, we need to see exactly what's going on tomorrow. in the detailed budget overview. But I don't want to wait another year. I don't want to wait another year, to be honest. I want to get moving.

Sure. Thank you for that feedback.

So thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate all the work. I mean, thank you for everything you do. I really appreciate you.

Thank you for the time.

Thank you, Mr. Carter. Good job. Thank you for your feedback. And the last and final item on my manager's report is a level set presentation regarding data centers. Senior assistant to the county manager, Zach Lewis, is going to provide that update. Please recognize Zach.

Okay. Okay. So good afternoon, Chair Jarrell, Commissioners, and County Manager. My name is Zach Lewis and I am the Senior Assistant to the County Manager. So the purpose of this presentation tonight is in response to the BOCC requesting a general overview of data centers. This presentation is based on national trends, research, and consultation, and is designed to serve as a resource for the board to have a baseline level of knowledge into the topic. So to that end, this presentation will be broken into three parts. First, we will look at a brief overview and introduction to data centers. Then we will look at a snapshot of data centers in Mecklenburg County. And then lastly, we will take a look at the county's role as it is related to data centers. But first off, starting with a definition of what exactly is a data center. So a data center is a secure warehouse facility that organizations use to house their critical computer systems, data storage, and network infrastructures needed to run their digital systems. And the actual term data center, that term itself refers to the physical space that contains these systems within and it can vary greatly in size and scale, which we will take a look at. So what is inside of a data center? The inside of a data center contains an extensive series of equipment, which can include computer servers, storage systems such as hard drives, extensive cabling systems, power systems such as generators, networking gear such as computer routers, cooling units whether HVAC air powered units or water controlled cooling units, various security systems and access controls as well as an extensive series of racks and cabinets to take care of all this equipment. And I want to note that in the appendix of this presentation, there are some pictures as well of some of the things that we are referencing, particularly on this slide. But the number and scale of this equipment can greatly vary based on the type of data center and its purpose, which we will take a look at momentarily as well. So what exactly do data centers do? So data centers operate 24-7 and can serve multiple purposes. But two of the most common purposes are for running cloud-based systems and applications, as well as storage and backup for a company's data. A couple notable examples. data points I want to share, and these come from Gartner Research, who is a leading tech industry think tank, is first, by 2026, so this year, it is estimated that 95% of all new internet applications are expected to be cloud-based. And in 2021, this was at 30%. Another data point is that as related to data storage, roughly 60% of all global corporate data is currently stored in a data center. So I mentioned that we were going to talk about the various types of data centers. And so this term data center that we have reviewed is often used as a catch-all. But distinguishing between the different types of data centers is critical because not all of them are the same and definitions matter when we are talking about them. Data centers have been around for decades, tracing all the way back to the 1940s. and they exist on a very wide spectrum of their size, scope, and scale. Importantly, one characteristic of data centers that illustrates this size and scale is their power capacity, which is often measured in either kilowatts or megawatts. On this slide are various types of data centers and the average power capacity by each type from the smallest on the far left going to the largest on the far right. Generally speaking, the smaller the facility, the more localized the computing and the larger the facility, the more regional or global its reach is for the processes that are going on inside of it. So looking at this slide, we can see a spectrum of size and scale of data centers, again, growing from left to right. Starting on the left, server rooms can be as small as a single closet, used to support an organization's basic internal IT needs. There are some inside of this building. Next are edge data centers, which are small distributed facilities placed very close to users for the purposes of quickly transmitting digital information. Moving up, there are enterprise data centers and these are mid-sized facilities that tend to be privately owned and operated and are built to support a single corporation such as a major bank or a hospital system and the IT needs of that facility. Next, co-location data centers are essentially commercial digital landlords. These are large facilities that can rent out the infrastructure to individual businesses to host their data center needs. So you can think of that like a suite. You can rent a specific amount of space based on what your needs are, and there could be many different companies inside of one co-location data center. And finally, on the far right are what are known as hyperscale or cloud or AI-based data centers. These are massive global engines that are designed for high performance computing. These AI data centers in particular are the newest and by far the most intensely demanding types of data centers that we are seeing today. And I wanted to provide a statistic to help put some of the power into scale. One megawatt is equal to one million watts. And when we talk about a 100 megawatt data center, that facility requires the equivalent power capacity of roughly 80,000 average-sized U.S. households. So where do data centers exist? As I had mentioned earlier, data centers are not a new concept, and their roots trace all the way back again to the 1940s. However, as our digital world has rapidly evolved, so has the physical footprint and location strategies of these facilities. Historically, large data centers were tucked away in industrial parks, largely invisible to the public, but today the industry is facing three major pressures, which are listed in the middle of this slide. First, a lack of available acreage in these traditional industrial zones. Second, local electrical grids that are struggling to support the massive power demands of these new facilities. Third, consumer expectations for lightning fast computing speeds, which requires these servers to be physically closer to the users. And because of these constraints, we are seeing a major geographic shift globally. Developers are no longer staying hidden in these industrial parks and are actively seeking out land that borders residential neighborhoods, suburban communities, and agricultural areas. So I want to re-reference the data point that I shared earlier where Gartner, the technological think tank, shared that by 2026, 95% of all new internet applications are expected to be cloud-based. So that data point, coupled with the current state of technological advancements, illustrates why there is a surge in data centers. And in this big box in the middle, some global trends that are being seen in this space are the artificial intelligence boom, the internet of things and smart cities, which this is referencing an increase in smart appliances, autonomous vehicles that we're seeing driving around major cities, things like that. an expansion of 5G cellular networks, growth in streaming and immersive media experiences, and generally just a digital transformation that we're seeing across all kinds of sectors and various sizes and scales as well. And these transformations can relate back to that first point as we are seeing more sectors beginning to adopt artificial intelligence technology in some shape or form. And this list is constantly growing and evolving. So again, data centers are not new. However, as this digital world has evolved recently due to factors such as those just reviewed, so too have the physical footprints and location strategies of these facilities. Large data centers were historically built inside of these industrial parks, again, largely invisible to the public. But today, this soaring digital demand is resulting in building massive, highly intensive facilities that no longer fit that historic mold. This is causing two major geographic shifts, particularly in two types of the larger data centers. the co-location or managed service data centers are expanding into the edges of suburban neighborhoods. Because the traditional land, industrial land is scarce, developers are seeking cost-effective land that still offers access to major fiber optic networks and power substations. Second, the large hyperscale and AI-focused data centers are beginning to move deep into underdeveloped rural and agricultural areas because of the hundreds of acres potentially required to build these facilities. But this exploding demand means that some data centers today, particularly those AI ones, operate fundamentally different than those built just a few years ago. So the table on this slide highlights that shift in intensity based on a handful of characteristics. On the left-hand side, the legacy data centers or those that have been around for a number of years, the purpose or the work that they accomplished was really used for data storage and hosting standard cloud applications. For cooling, they were typically kept cool using air conditioning systems. For power, tended to be enough power to, enough electrical power to power a neighborhood. And the scale of these was typically one large building, think similar to a warehouse facility. But in contrast, the modern AI data centers are now focusing as more like a digital manufacturing plant, if you will. The work that they accomplish is for actively training and teaching complex artificial intelligence models. For cooling, because these facilities run extremely hot, they tend to require advanced liquid cooling systems in comparison to the air cooling systems of older ones. For power, again, as we mentioned earlier, these facilities could require enough electricity to power a city or a large neighborhood, excuse me. And for scale, these can often span multiple buildings similar to a campus. To summarize the global trends that we have reviewed, they really fall into these four areas. First, AI is driving the demand for these bigger, more powerful facilities, as is the distance from the user for processing speeds. Power and land availability is a key constraint, causing developers to look in new areas. Third, cooling and water needs are rising due to the heat output of the computers in these facilities, particularly those focusing on artificial intelligence. And fourth, the physical data equipment and infrastructure is rapidly evolving as well, with some locations are beginning to seek better resource efficiencies themselves. In other words, as the technological world is advancing, some of these large centers are evolving in the way that physically they manage themselves as well too, and the technology that goes to power a center. But the big takeaway, though, is that globally data center growth is accelerating while power, cooling, water, and supply chain constraints shape where and how these facilities are built. Now, because of this massive rapid expansion in the industry, data centers have become a major point of conversations in communities across the country. As a result, there is existing and ongoing research regarding the local impacts of these centers. When we look at the national landscape, this debate generally falls into two camps, proponents and critics. Proponents of data center development typically highlight these four key benefits. First, property tax generation, driven by the sheer capital valuation of these facilities and the equipment inside. Second, the ability to fund public services without the strain on them, meaning that they generate revenue without adding things such as additional traffic to the roads or additional students to the school systems. Third, direct community investments. For example, when a developer is forced to upgrade local power or internet grids to support that facility, those improvements would benefit residents as well in many cases. And finally, proponents tend to cite job creation, specifically the surge of high paying trades during the construction phases of these facilities. On the other hand, critics expressing concern typically point to these major points. First are the environmental and health impacts, two notable concerns including water consumption for the cooling of the facilities as well as noise pollution concerns. Second, potential strain on local utilities with concerns that the massive power demands will ultimately lead to rate hikes for consumers. Third is a lack of transparency. as developers frequently utilize non-disclosure agreements or NDAs that can obscure the planning process from the public. Fourth is a questionable return on tax incentives. Critics argue that because these facilities employ so few permanent staff once operational, offering tax breaks to the developers could yield a poor return on investment. And last, which leads directly to the final point, is land use discrepancies, where many communities are questioning whether these facilities are the highest, best, and most beneficial use of local land. So now transitioning to what this looks like locally in Mecklenburg County. Based on our county tax parcel records, we can identify 18 data centers. These data centers are primarily commercial co-location facilities and telecommunications hubs. And as we have used the term legacy data centers and that they have been around for a long time, these are facilities as well that have been operating in this area for many numbers of years. However, again, it is critical to remember that our earlier definitions regarding type of data center matter. Our local landscape as well is actually full of much smaller enterprise and edge data centers, which you see on the bottom here. And these power things such as the IT backbones of our banking and our healthcare sectors and just really all business hubs who have some type of IT need. Because these facilities are internal, to the businesses that they represent and they are often built inside of existing office towers or hospitals, they don't necessarily show up as individual tax parcels in tax records because they are not a standalone data center such as the 18 that we were able to identify. Now that brings us to the role that local governments play as it relates to data centers. One area where local governments may play a role is in the zoning or land use planning regulations. Regarding zoning and planning, North Carolina law directs this authority to local governments such as counties, cities, and towns, including their respective extraterritorial jurisdictions or ETJs. All land that is situated within an incorporated area of a city or a town or is annexed into this incorporated area of a city or a town is under the jurisdiction of that city or town. However, any land that is not in one of these incorporated areas is in what is known as the unincorporated area of a county. However, under the law, cities and towns have the legal ability to exercise certain legal authority beyond its normal incorporated boundaries that are under their spheres of influence. This can be accomplished by establishing ETJs. And this authority includes land use planning and development within each city or town's respective ETJ. So because local governments across Mecklenburg County have coordinated and exercised their ETJ authority over decades and have established spheres of influence, the only truly unincorporated area of Mecklenburg County is roughly just a one square mile in South Mecklenburg by the town of Pineville. The land is shown on the map to the left, circled in red, and it is zoomed in on the right. However, this one square mile tract of land is accounted for with the comprehensive plan for this unincorporated area of South Mecklenburg, which was approved by the board back in January 2026, or this year. And importantly, this plan is required by state law. So aside from this one square mile, land use regulations, planning, and zoning for all of the ETJs fall under the applicable municipality, not the county. Thus, after researching the question of what is the role of the county, as well as reviewing applicable laws and consulting with the county attorney, it appears the strongest position of the county is through engagement with the cities or towns. Depending on the position of the board, Engagement can be defined however the board best deems fit and is appropriate. Some examples of engagement could include but are not limited to facilitating or requesting county participation in conversations related to data centers, fostering municipal agreements or partnerships related to the topic, if interested, or considering data center subject matter expertise when evaluating applicants for county commission-appointed planning board members on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission. However, again, engagement can be defined however the board seems fit as well as the appropriate strategies behind it. And so with that, Chair Jarrell, I conclude my presentation and I am happy to entertain any questions the board may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Zach. Appreciate that. Mr. Manager, I appreciate you lifting this up. I reached out to the attorney and the manager. to talk about data centers as it was becoming a really heavy conversation in the community. And to his credit, put Zach right on it. And hence, we're receiving the presentation tonight. I think it's important for us to be informed about what our role is. And frankly, the education on the data center is exactly what we needed. So with that, are there questions? Commissioner Meyer?

I don't really have a question. I want to thank you for this and for the information, because we really do need to be informed. It's such a hot topic right now. And even though we're not necessarily involved or have decisions coming before us, I know I listened to a long segment about data centers. It's the land use that bothers me. It's tearing down neighborhoods and farmland and open space, and that's what really bothers me. And I hope people – this is a real problem that's approaching Charlotte and our county. I mean, in the ETJ, and I know we don't have all these decisions, but we need to know and we need to educate. So I really appreciate you doing this for us.

Thank you. Commissioner Powell.

Thank you.

So it's like, it's really hard for me to listen to anything that I know there might be some positive, but it's like hard to find. And so I'll just start with drought. You know, like we have an interbasin transfer so that Mecklenburg County gets more water than, we get more than we should. there's an idea, it's frozen right now, about asking for more. And the region is very angry at Mecklenburg about getting more water. If I was, this weekend I was north, on the northern part of the Catawba, and there are parts of it that are not flowing. It is so, the drought is so bad. So if you just took those drones and flew over the Catawba, you can see the drought. It is real. So the water capacity has to be at the front of everyone's brain when they're making decisions about development in Mecklenburg County, but even in North Carolina. And so Duke has 200 plus, maybe it's like 284, I can't remember the number of subsidy stations they need to build for neighborhoods that have been approved and they don't know where they're gonna get the land. And now we are the number two state of in the nation of loss of farmland, Mecklenburg hardly has any left. And so that's where they wanna go onto our agricultural land that affects resilience. you know, so water land, um, non-disclosure agreements, like what, who comes up with that? Like we need to know what's happening anyway. It's troubling. I have one question. Does proximity of the data center matter?

When you say proximity, are you referring to proximity to people? Um, What I can say is that all of the, I had said in the beginning that the term data center is an umbrella term, and that there are many, many, many different types of data centers, all the way from those that are the size of a closet, all the way up to those that are the size of a campus. Based on the type, that proximity or impact could be very different. And just as the size and scale increases as we went from the left to the right of that spectrum that we looked at, as is the impacts could potentially be as well too, which is why particularly around the AI data centers, which are the new type that we're seeing start to be built based on the proliferation of artificial intelligence, a lot of the conversations that you are hearing when we reviewed what the proponents are saying, as well as the opponents are saying, Those are the ones that tend to be the closest to people, and those arguments are based on that proximity to people, if that answers your question.

I think I need to read more, but thank you.

Commissioner Griffin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll take the other half of the proximity question to users. As you re-recruit multinational corporations coming into Mecklenburg County that requires communications around the world, are you suggesting that the data centers need to be within some reasonable location? distance wise to the users?

So based on what the research that was reviewed and said, a lot of it has to do with supply and demand and when the the lack of land and power grid. So and I also want to be clear that this is a This is a problem that is being seen across the country and across the world to some extent. This is not unique to any one place as well. So whether it's multinational organizations, local organizations that are looking to develop within, one of the big characteristics that they are looking at is where is there enough land and where is there enough power?

One of the things, I don't know. Tyrone, keep me legal here. There is some discussions about a company coming into the region that manufactured things to support data centers. And if a corporation has done the research to determine that this is a great place to support data centers, that there's probably some information about data centers coming into this region. And so if that is the case, then how do we protect, I'm on the lane side now, how do we protect our environment here? What can we do to make sure that the environment is protected in Mecklenburg County in terms of water, air, et cetera?

And I would think that, you know, as the county attorney and I had talked and discussed, like, what is the best position of the county in terms of engagement? Those are conversations that if the board seeks that direction to engage with municipalities or engage with groups in some capacity to have those discussions, that would be, you know, one avenue to take a look at.

Commissioner Dunlap.

First of all, I want to thank you, Mr. Chair, for raising this issue. It is something that I've been talking about across the country because data centers are being discussed all across the country. What I was hoping that you would do is say that you're going to sponsor a town hall on data centers and have this presentation brought forth, primarily because it doesn't take a position. And the community wants to be educated. We don't have Duke Energy pushing their position or some other company pushing their issue. And people have real concerns. I haven't taken a position because I don't know enough. I've been invited to go to Loudoun County, which is the epicenter of all data centers, to see what one really looks like. I hope we can educate the community because there are some real concerns. I've heard about emitting certain energies or certain radio waves or something. I've heard all kinds of stuff. I don't know if it's factual or not. But I think the community wants to know. They want to be educated by somebody who hadn't taken a position. So, Mr. Chair, I hope you will take this further than just being in this chamber. Thank you.

Mr. Rodriguez-McDowell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, my limited takeaway from this is that it's kind of like a necessary evil, um, in that it's unsustainable, like the geniuses created these amazing things that we cannot sustain. Um, and we're running out of room, running out of water, running out of all this stuff. Um, in order to accommodate an industry, you know, that we all use. And so, anyway, I do appreciate, you know, we do need to have a position, I think, or we do, I think it's a place where it's a very important part of our current ecosystem and you know whether it's if we're gonna keep trying to attract businesses here and say we're a great place for doing business and you have these huge business needs to have data centers like It's just like all crashing together in an unsustainable way. So I'm I'm concerned about this I think it's a big concern and it takes some kind of forward thinking when these kind of things arise that are new. I know it's not new, but it is new how it's taking shape and fast and evolving. And some people say, well, now it doesn't use water anymore. They don't use water to cool them off. Now it's something else. Like it's evolving so fast. I think it is incumbent upon the county to have knowledge and for us to have some kind of position on it. So I appreciate the starting the dialogue there. I think it's important.

Commissioner Lee, did you have, thank you, Commissioner.

Short concern as it relates to universities, colleges, and high school storage of transcripts, that kind of information. Is that what we put in the data center?

So data storage or data backup, that absolutely could be. So the example that helped me understand it is when you go to the doctor and they put your medical records and all of the notes for your appointment, it gets stored in a system and that system doesn't necessarily live on premises within that doctor's office. Rather, it lives on a server that could be located in a data center, either onsite or offsite.

Let me say thank you for the presentation and bringing it to us but I have not heard it as a major concern within the confines of my seniors. Within the community in which I reside or find myself mobile or on the telephone. So that has not been a major discussion as it relates to the value of the county investing in data. center unless you can prove to me profitably how it will maintain some degree of economic stability for us with businesses coming to Mecklenburg County. But if it's there and the manager says it's there, I guess it has some work. But right now I'm not hearing it. A town hall meeting on data centers. My people would laugh me out of the community. And I don't mean that negative. Please don't take it as a negative to you. Please don't. But we're trying to get through this war with Trump. So that's basically what we're hearing.

Commissioner Rodriguez-McDowell, I need to add something.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had, you know, so when we talk about the cloud, like, you know, like I bought extra cloud storage, right? It's not really in the clouds.

Technically, the cloud is referring to a data center.

the cloud is on earth taking up space. Connecting these dots here. I mean, like we're all using this.

And one of the ways that it also helped me understand it as I was going through this research is Historically, let's take your laptop, for example, or your computer. When you would save something, it was actually saved on that physical device.

Yeah, it used to be bigger.

Exactly. But now when you save it, it's not on that physical device necessarily. It's being saved in a data center somewhere. Same thing with some of the systems that you access with your smartphone or on your computer. The systems, the apps, the GPS that you're utilizing, it doesn't live on that physical device that's in your hands. you're accessing that on a computer that lives in a data center somewhere.

Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things, and just colleagues, I just want you to understand a couple of things of why I wanted us to get educated. As technology advances, in everything moves and continues to move, particularly with the way AI is moving, the energy consumption is becoming tremendous. I mean, it's a tremendous energy consumption that could potentially impact utility rates, what people pay for water. I mean, there is a financial impact as we progress as a society and as a culture with respect to technology. Data centers, one of the highlights of this deck that I thought was really important, you talked about land. So if you think about how that ties into land acquisition, We're actually trying to protect the community from something that could be potentially a real threat. They are trying to locate these places really close to neighborhoods. One in my backyard, essentially, right? And one in Commissioner Dunlap's district, which is maybe a mile and a half, two miles from me. But that's because the proximity of the area in which I live is, you know, has this availability of land. But, you know, we don't know what we don't know at this point, right? And so what's going to be a shame is 20 years from now when we see these outcomes that result from what we don't know, And we see these outcomes that are disparate outcomes on communities, and we say, oops, we didn't know. We should have protected. We should have done this. So it's incumbent upon us to get ahead of it. It's incumbent upon us to protect our seniors who are on fixed income. It's on us to protect the communities that are vulnerable that developers are going into just because they see a patch of dirt and they say, hey, I can put it here next to Reedy Creek or wherever. Frankly, you clarified the ETJ because in my mind, I wanted us and I asked the attorney about how do we protect what we control, meaning the ETJ. I was going to say, hey, we need to look at potentially an ordinance because we don't know enough and we need to look at lifting up an ordinance as it relates to data centers with what we can control, even though that's 6%. You know, that's really what I wanted this conversation to start with. So again, 20 years from now, we're not on the oops trail, right, on that train. So, Zach, I appreciate it. We are going to have to, you know, I want us, Mr. Manager, to look at all the options at our disposal from a county perspective and to come back and tee those up for us to make some potential decisions there. And I do like what Commissioner Dunlap said, leveraging Zach, Mr. Manager, to help us educate our constituents and residents based off of what we know.

We certainly can do that. Zach Lewis has done a phenomenal job, as you can see, getting this presentation together, the level set to enhance your understanding. This research he did in conjunction with our city partners. So some of the information that he shared with you is similar to what city council has been receiving. We're happy to continue to monitor this. I appreciate Commissioner Dunlap acknowledging Zach's presentation and deliverance being in the middle of the road. Not to the left, not to the right. That's why I asked your proximity question. We're aware of what's being said out there, but we just want to keep it objective. We don't want to send out a panic or anything. We just want to make sure we're informing you, and we'll continue to keep this information in front of you. And as we learn more, we're happy to brief you. Perfect.

Thank you.

Great job, Ms. Lewis. So that concludes my report. I know there were three heavy lift items on there, but I really appreciate your feedback and guidance as always. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Thank you, entire team. Let's move to consent items. Is there a motion to approve those items not pulled from consent?

Second.

Seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All right. Ayes have it, Madam Clerk.

One short comment.

Yes, ma'am.

Please read your consent. There are only three of them, and they were not fooled. And I want to thank the manager. So if we have any major concerns about those three, communicate with the manager about it. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner reports, who has a report? Commissioner Powell.

It's not big. And it's good when you get presentations that are in the middle of the road. So thank you, Zach. And I love how deep you go into your presentations. I appreciate you. From my perspective, there is an urgency. There's not much land left. There are a lot of people here that rely on us to protect their health and well-being. Power matters. Before I leave my house every day, I turn off every light because It takes water to produce electricity. So like they're related. And I don't think people have a lot, it's like landfills. People don't think about all that. It's just they turn it on and it's on and nobody thinks about it. But there's an urgency to us having a position in my view. And I just wanted to say that because I do believe you have to like look to see if there is a positive But I haven't heard a lot of positive about these data centers. And whether it's a resolution, whether we meet with the Charlotte Planning Commission, whatever it is, I feel like we need to have a position and keep learning. But a delay just means more are coming. So I feel like we need to be smart about that. That's all I can think of right now because it's a lot. I mean, we're losing farmland, resilience. I mean, Mecklenburg's out of balance with protecting the environment, and it's not all our fault. So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. What else have we reported? Commissioner Dunlap.

Well, I don't have a report, but I just wanted, since I've got a few minutes to talk about the data centers. It's like the lesser of two evils. We certainly need them, but we've got these issues related to it. And so what I'm hoping is that we can at least educate the community so that they have a better understanding of why they're needed, why they're necessary. But I also support the city's moratorium until you can study the impact and the effect. So maybe you can relegate them to a certain part of the community so that it doesn't necessarily spread throughout the entire community and potentially have negative impacts on the entire community. I mean, I think there's so many things you can look at. But tonight, for the first time, I heard something that wasn't one way or the other. It was just, for me, just educational. And that's what I appreciated about it. So there's a lot more there. You know one of the people in my community that calls me about, they put that data center in my backyard, and they're actually concerned about whether or not it's emitting all kinds of stuff. That's a legitimate concern. Somebody needs to be able to answer that question. And that's the point. I think the community is begging for information. Is it true? Is it not? Does it negatively impact us or not? Are the data centers necessary? Do they need to be as large? Can they be smaller? I just, to whatever degree we can, as a county, educate our constituents about all of those ramifications so that we are making educational decisions as we move toward larger data centers and what the potential impact might be on Mecklenburg County.

Thank you. All right. That concludes tonight's meeting.

Moved and adjourned. Second.

Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Meeting adjourned. Thank you.