City Council Zoning Meeting - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Thank you. Thank you for being here. We're really glad to see you all here as we continue to work on how do we make our city a better place for everyone. So thank you very much everyone for being here and we're delighted to have the opportunity to see so many of you. And that's, um, I'm going to begin with, um, a call to order for our meeting. And I want to say good evening and it's well, thank you again for joining us in person and for watching you online. If you must have that kind of opportunity. So let's, um, begin with the reduction re introductions to the people that are working for us and all of us.

So let's begin with our city clerk, Billy times, deputy city clerk. Andrea Leslie fight city attorney.

Good evening to pledge man and welcome.

Good evening to a male representing district 3. Good evening and welcome to district one down to Anderson district one.

Marcus Jones city manager.

I'm by allows and I am almost a man. A retired.

Good evening everyone. James Mitchell may approach him.

Good evening.

Kimberly Owens, representing District 6.

Malcolm Graham, District 2.

Good evening. Luana Mayfield, Council Member at Large.

Good evening. J.D. Masueta-Arias, proudly representing the East Side, District 5.

Good evening.

Good evening. I'm Renee Johnson, and I'm honored to represent District 4.

Wait a minute we have one more council member coming down the steps and we'll just So as well as

Ed Driggs coming around. I think that we have a few people that were out in the audience, so we'll come back and say we'll start with Ms. Watlington.

Good evening. I'm Victoria Watlington. There's William. How are you doing? And I have the pleasure of serving you all as a member at large.

All right. Is there anyone that we missed? Mr. Driggs? He called it down. He called it all the way down.

We didn't have a mic.

I think she wants you to introduce yourself.

Yes, good evening everybody. I'm Ed Driggs, District 7.

Thank you very much. I do want to say that we begin our meeting with an invocation, which is an expression of our inspiration, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. We hope that everyone would be able to participate in this. We are, even though we know that there are people that without religious faith. So tonight we're going to ask council member Graham to give our invocation. And as soon as that is done, we will have our, our pledge of allegiance to the flag.

Thank you, madam mayor. Um, let us pray your Lord. We come together today, not nearly as representative of our own views, but the servants of the entire community. Grant us the wisdom to listen before we speak, the humility to consider what we may not yet understand, and the courage to choose what is right over what is easy. Remind us that those seated around the dais and those we represent beyond the walls are bound together by common hopes. Safe neighborhoods, thriving families, and the city that cures for its most vulnerable. Extend grace to us today for those who struggle. Extend grace for those who need our help. Extend grace to this council for the decisions that we have to make. Extend grace to our community. In your name we pray, amen. Amen.

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you everyone. Our next item on this for this meeting is to be Mayor and Council consent items. Questions and answers on the consent items number 22 and 44 may be considered in one motion except for those removed by a council member. So please note that on item 29, which is the woodland elevated storage tank construction and construction administrative services with item number 39, that an airport technology on on-call services are being deferred by the staff until a future meeting. So before we take the vote, is there anything that a council member would like to council comment?

Ms. Mayfield. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would like number 42 and 43 pulled for separate vote.

43.

Okay.

Any more items from council that need to be pulled? Councilman Mayfield, items 42 and 43, Mayor. All right.

Thank you very much, Mr. So, do we have a motion on the floor?

Move to approve the consent agenda with the noted exceptions. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any comments? Hearing no comments, all in favor, please raise your hands. All right, I believe that is unanimous. Thank you very much.

So we have consent and we've done the... Now we'll move, sorry, Madam Mayor, if I may, then we'll move to items that were pulled, which is item 42, I believe, first, and then 43. All right.

Thank you. So, Ms. Marie, if you would help us walk us through for those two items, please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. And I've had a chance to speak with Council Member Mayfield, but I believe she has some additional comments and questions.

Thank you, Marie. Thank you, Mayor. So, for item number 32, what we have identified is 3315 and 3317 Pelton Street. One, that's one property. There is no such thing as 3317 Pelton Street, according to Mecklenburg County specialists. But for this one property, the tax value of it is $1,676,000. What we're offering for these properties is $2,415,000. We are in a soft market. Yes, there was staff identified that in February an appraisal was done, but our market for corporate as well as residential has been soft for the last six months. And I'm concerned about us offering a considerable, almost $700,000 over the actual tax value of these properties. So I wanted some more information as to how we are adapting in today's market of sale of retail and or mainly retail space, especially when we're looking at potential financial constraints.

And Madam Mayor, if I am able, I also got this.

I know it's a little bit. We had a lot of feedback up here. And if you guys would have named some of your devices to be cut off, so that we can all hear what's going on up here. So thank you. Thank you.

And Madam Mayor, if I may, Council Member Mayfield was able to catch some of the staff just now, and they did want to make sure you are aware that this property originally was listed for 2.8, and like to your point, sat on the market for a while. And then it went down to 2.4, and then, or 2.5, I'm sorry, I might have the number wrong, but Then we got an independent appraisal, and we got it for slightly less than the appraised value. So to your point, thank you for watching us on that, but we definitely do make sure and get appraisals and then an independent review of those appraisals and watch for market conditions.

Thank you, Marie. So, Mayor and Council, what I want us to consider is when we have our department within real estate that's going out, What was just identified is that this property has been sitting on the market for a while. The original amount that they identified for sale was not an amount that they received a bid on. Yes, we have an appraisal amount, but again, our tax value on this was $1.6 million and some change. I could see if maybe there was an offer of $100,000 over but almost 800,000 over the asking on a property that has been sitting there and it has already been reduced, especially in this market where we are facing some potential financial constraints. I do not think that that is in the best interest of this council. I feel like staff could have identified an amount closer to the tax value amount versus The proposal today of 2,415,000. That could have been a request easily under 2 million for this property in order for us not only to save tax dollars, but also to still be respectful of a property that has value, but it does not have the value that they initially wanted.

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. There's one other piece that's just specific to this one, but FTA, and I forgot until you were just speaking, sorry, FTA requires that CATs pay fair market value. So for this one, we couldn't go lower than the fair market, too much lower within the range of the fair market value.

So when we say a range, I'm still going to say in that range of fair market value, that range could be interpreted to go up or that range could be... Because if it's a range of, say, 5%, then we could be closer to the 1% than the 5%, or if it's a range of 20%, we still have a window. I just have concern with this particular dollar amount. I am not going to be able to support this, but I did want to have an opportunity to speak to it. Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Ms. Mayfield. We also have Kimberly Mayfield. Owens to join us, and you have remarks as well.

I just had a quick question, Marie. Can you speak a bit, because I don't lightly substitute my judgment for you all, particularly when you do have the constraints on doing it fair market value. Is there something unique about this particular address that makes it so attractive to CATS? Is there something that we need to understand more about this contract?

Yes, ma'am. To CATS specifically, it abuts existing CATS property, and it's going to be used for parts and facilities maintenance. 42. So it's expansion of existing cats property. And also to your point, that area is a hot commercial area that therefore it drives the market up more in that area than some other areas. Thank you.

Ms. Johnson. Thank you, madam mayor. I wanted to know what was the date of the appraisal?

It was in February of this year, ma'am.

Okay. Thank you.

All right. Any other comments?

All right.

Are we prepared for a motion? All in favor of the motion, please.

Madam Mayor, I move to approve agenda item number 42.

Second. We have a motion and a second for agenda item 42. You've heard the discussion. All in favor, please raise your hands. Anyone oppose? We have three opposals, and we recognize those with the clerk. I'm sorry. And so, um, the remaining, so now anyone that's, um, we're, we're going to item 43. Thank you, mayor.

And this one was more of a clarification. Correct. Marie, because I also, when I attempted to look up the address that we have noted for it, one for North Avon drive through Mecklenburg County specialist, that is not a valid address within. The system. And just for clarification, my colleagues know that when we're looking at property purchases, I'm going to go to the board board, the board of County commissioners, and look up the actual tax value of these properties to make sure that the investments that we make in are in alignment. But you did have an update on this one for clarification. Yes, ma'am.

And the original, and some of you have paper copies. It was printed as 4184 North Haven Drive. 4814. Actually, 4814 is the corrected version. 4814 was the address that was listed. I think that correct is 4184. If you're looking online, it's correct online now.

Okay, now it's been correct. Okay, so it was not accurate, but I just wanted to make sure for this one. Excuse me, Madam Mayor, that we had the correct address listed in case anyone chose to look it up. So for this one, I would like to make a motion to approve the following condemnation.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. I also have someone that would like to comment.

Ms. Anderson, just a point of information. I just heard two different addresses that are different than our agenda that is online. So is, is it, um, 4,809 North Haven drive? Because that's what it's listed as number 43.

And it happens to be a, so that is the part that's in the action. But if you look down further, Where it says property address, that's the one that was misprinted. It originally said 4184 and it's supposed to be 4814. Thank you.

Alright, thank you. Is there any other questions? Hearing none, we have a motion. All in favor of the motion, please raise your hand. I believe that's unanimous. Thank you very much. And so we'll move on to a that we're going to have. We all know how West Charlotte is a special high school in this city. And we have Mallet Creek tonight as well. And now I know that there is someone that's special in this community around basketball, I guess, because did he win or lose or what? I lost a lot. I lost a lot. I'd like to now turn over to Mayor Pro Tem to recognize the members of this both two great opportunities for basketball. what athletics can be and academics as well. Mr. Mitchell.

Mayor, thank you, and Council, thank you for this opportunity. On the first recognition, I'm going to turn it over to City Councilman in District 4, where Mallard Creek champions reside in. Council Member Johnson.

Thank you so much. Thank you. I know that athletically they're equal, but I'm old school, so ladies first. How about that? There you go.

Yay!

It is my distinct honor as your District 4 Council Representative to recognize an extraordinary group of young women who've made our community incredibly proud. The Mallard Creek High School Ladies Basketball Team. Let's give them a hand. Thank you. They have won their first ever 8A girls basketball. Is it the first?

It is. Okay.

All right. Okay. Basketball state championship on March 11th, 2026. This championship was not won overnight. It was earned through early morning practices, late nights in the gym, setbacks and comebacks, and through a relentless commitment to one another and to excellence. These young ladies showed up every single game, and every single game they gave everything they had. This season, the Lady Mavericks finished with an impressive overall record of 24 and 6, Defeating the Hoggard Vikings 49-45 in overtime. truly sets this team apart is what they represent beyond the hardwood. These young ladies are students, leaders and role models. They remind us that excellence is possible when you invest in our youth and that it is exactly what we are committed to doing here in Charlotte. To the players, coaches, families and school staff, thank you for your sacrifice and your dedication. You have given this community a reason to celebrate, and you have set a standard of greatness for every young girl watching who dares to dream big. Please join me in another round of applause for the Mallard Creek High School Girls Basketball Team.

Madam Mayor, those are our future Charlotte Crown players.

We can see it, so thank you.

Mayor, I have one more. Someone whose daughter was a great player at Mallard Creek still have ties to Mallard Creek. Council Member Graham.

Thank you. I don't have any prepared remarks because this is like family to me. Mallard Creek women's basketball don't have a team. They have a program. And for years, since my daughter was the first Mallard Creek player to score 1,000 points in school history, boys or girls, to the day, I've probably seen over 300, 200 basketball games at Mallard Creek High School. I want to give special recognition to Coach Dixon, Carrie Sargent. Terry Seidgen, a former city employee who's the assistant coach. Coach Bree up there in the audience, the athletic director I see. They do it right at Mallard Creek. They do it right at Mallard Creek. I know at least 17 former players. They all have master's degrees from Mallard Creek High School. I would be remiss if I don't certainly give credit for building this championship team to Coach Dixon, but not to mention the name of Clarence C.J. Johnson, who laid the foundation for this program, and it continues to thrive under Coach Dixon's leadership. So, ladies, congratulations. You've done it with so many other teams before you came to the door, but you were able to kick it in this year. Congratulations on winning your first state championship.

We will now appreciate that.

Hey, may I have a may? Do you see?

Do you know?

Do you see? You know.

Dub C. You know.

All right. So congratulations to the West Charlotte Senior High School basketball team for winning the 8A championship. To Coach Davis, thank you. To the principal, to staff, and to the student athletes, what a performance. I had a chance to join you at Wake Forest. You were down by 17 points out of the first quarter. Like a typical Lion, you roared back strong. And we finally took the lead with two seconds to go. So, both teams, please stand. The champions of Mallet Creek and West Charlotte take a bow at this time. Thank you, Mayor and Council.

So thank you very much. And now we're going to move on to our next item, which is something that's very, very important to our communities, all of us in this country. I want to begin with a recognition for Mental Health Awards and Awareness Month. And then we'll go with Council Member Juarez.

May I make a motion to suspend the City Council Awards and Recognition Policy that we adopted on March 23, 2017. This policy related to no remarks or presentation being made during the meeting by the honorees. Councilmember J.D. has invited outstanding citizens to speak on this mental health awareness topic. I would like to make this motion so they may speak.

We have a motion on the floor. All in favor, please raise your hand. Second. And a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. I do. Anyone opposed? All right. Thank you very much. Let's go. Which one of you would begin?

Thank you. Would you like me to read the proclamation?

I would like for you to do the proclamation.

And then I'll invite the guests to come up. Whereas National Mental Health Awareness Month shines the spotlight on the 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, Self-care has made recovery a reality for most people experiencing a mental health condition. People with mental health issues deserve help. And whereas we can realize our shared vision of a community, a culture, and a society where anyone affected by mental health, no matter their background, can get the appropriate support and quality of care to live healthy, fulfilling lives. 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 Illness, National Alliance on Mental Illness Charlotte, Mental Health America of Central Carolinas, 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, so we by alexander lyos mayor of charlotte and mark durell chair of the mecklenburg board of county commissioners do hereby proclaim may 2026 as national mental health awareness month thank you thank you very much i do believe that we will have rebecca peacock to address yes our community and this And we have some other guests from the organizations to come and present as well.

I think we may be having some music outside.

Mayor Lyles and city council members.

Yes, thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm Howard Olshansky, Executive Director for Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte. And I want to begin by acknowledging while there's three of us that are going to speak to you this evening, we represent a community of mental health providers that want to thank you for recognizing the importance of raising awareness around mental health through this proclamation. Folks, today we are truly living with a mental health crisis. And while many of you may be aware of the data, it is critical that we continue to raise awareness around the depth of this issue. 20% of Americans live with a mental health issue. And if you consider the impact on their families, four out of five or 80% of Americans struggle with a mental, are impacted by a mental health issue every day. And if you look at the data on our youth, it's even more devastating. Our kids are struggling. 40% of high schoolers report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. And suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10 to 24 year olds. Locally, two years ago, Jewish Family Services conducted a needs assessment to determine the mental health needs of our youth in the community. And the outcome of our study was representative of the data that I just reported. Almost 60% of youth in our study indicated experiencing excessive worrying, stress, and anxiety. But our kids are not the only ones struggling. loneliness, depression, and anxiety impact 25 to 33% of older adults over the age of 65. And over 55% will never access treatment. And the domino effect is that over 40% of their caregivers also struggle with depression, anxiety, At Jewish Family Services, we attempt to respond to the issue by having our therapists specialize in working with our children and youth or our seniors or our caregivers. But on any given day, our census limits our capacity. You're going to hear a diversity of different types of interventions that we are all trying to implement to address the issue of mental health in our community. But it's not enough. That's why this proclamation is so important for advancing the level of awareness regarding the impact that mental health is having on this community. So thank you again for this proclamation.

Good evening, Mayor Lyles, members of the city council. My name is CJ Olenek, and I am lived experience. I'm here to speak about the importance of mental health recovery, peer support, NAMI, and the Charlotte Clubhouse. My mental health journey began in 1987 when I was first diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which is the worst parts of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. That diagnosis changed my life, but it did not end my life. Over the years, I continued to fight for meaning, purpose, and stability. In the early 2000s, I played saxophone in a band. In 2006, I earned my PhD in chemical engineering. Those parts of my life matter because people with serious mental illness are not just diagnoses, We are students, musicians, workers, volunteers, family members, and your neighbors. But my journey also included long periods of crisis. During the pandemic, isolation, worsening symptoms, and an unfortunate combination of medications led to a suicide attempt in 2022. I do not see that attempt as simply something I did. I see it as something that happened to me during a severe medical and psychiatric crisis. That distinction matters because it reminds us that people in crisis need care, dignity, and support, not judgment or stigma. In 2024, I entered another major crisis and spent five months at Duke University Hospital in Durham. That treatment helped me begin to recover. Afterwards, I found Charlotte Clubhouse, and through that community, I began returning to functionality. I started cooking, running support groups, and serving as a mentor for younger members of the clubhouse with severe and persistent mental illness. I was also able to return to facilitating peer support groups through NAMI, Charlotte NAMI and NAMI Piedmont Tri-County. Charlotte Clubhouse gives people like me something essential, structure, community, purpose, and a place to belong. It helps turn survival into participation. It helps people move from crisis back into life. I am living proof that recovery is possible when people receive the right support. I ask you to support Charlotte Clubhouse, NAMI, and the continued development of community-based mental health resources in our city. I would also like to remind everybody, if you are in severe crisis with suicidal ideations, please dial or text 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline. Thank you for this proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Lyles, members of City Council, and everyone here for recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month and for caring so deeply about the well-being of our community. I also want to give a special shout-out to Councilmember Johnson for all the work she does around brain injury and mental health. We appreciate your leadership. My name is Kate Weaver, and I'm the Executive Director of NAMI Charlotte, which is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We provide free mental health education, support, advocacy, and navigation services for people and families across our community. We often say that we are the front door to mental health, because when someone is struggling, the hardest part is often figuring out where to start. And for me, this work is very personal. Several years ago, my 16-year-old attempted suicide. Honestly, nothing prepares you for that moment as a parent. I remember sitting in the hospital feeling terrified, overwhelmed, and completely lost trying to figure out how to help someone I deeply loved. And what I learned during that time is something far too many families discover the hard way. Our mental health system can be incredibly difficult to navigate. No parent should have to spend hours trying to figure out who to call. No young person should suffer in silence because they're afraid to ask for help. And no family should be ashamed for talking openly about their mental health. But there's more to the story. Today, my daughter is doing really well. She's thriving and building a beautiful life. And that matters because when we talk about mental health, we can't just talk about the crisis. We also should talk about hope. Recovery is possible and lives can change when people make connection, support, and importantly, access to care. And that's why I do this work and that's why NAMI Charlotte exists. Last year, we launched a mental health navigation program to help people quickly connect to resources before they reach crisis. Thousands of people have already turned to us for help because the need is enormous. We're also seeing how powerful awareness campaigns can be when they truly connect with people. Our own J.D. Mazaris Arias, our communications coordinator at NAMI Charlotte, yes, he also works with us, he helped launch a mental health awareness campaign focused on Charlotte's Latino community this month. Listen to... Listen to the early results. Last month, in March, we had 183 visitors to our Spanish site. This month, 2,500 people have gone to this site looking for help. This tells us something so important. People are looking for resources, and when we reach communities in ways that feel trusted and people feel safe, they respond. Awareness matters because awareness opens the door to conversation, and conversation creates connection, and connection saves lives. We have so many incredible partners strengthening the mental health safety net in our community, including Jewish Family Services, Charlotte Clubhouse, Mecklenburg County, Real progress happens when organizations come together, each bringing their own expertise to the table. So 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 and dignity and support. So thank you very much for making this proclamation.

Good evening, Mayor Lyles, Mayor Pro Tem Mitchell, City Manager Jones, and member of the City Council. My name is Rebecca Peacock and I serve as the director at Sante Behavioral Health and Crisis Response serving Mecklenburg County. When most people think about public safety, they think about police, fire, and medic. But every single day across Charlotte, mental health crises are also being responded to by behavioral health clinicians and community crisis teams. As we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, I appreciate the City of Charlotte for continuing conversations around mental health, wellness, and public safety as these needs continue to grow across our community. I also appreciate the Council members who have taken the time to meet with me over the past several months to better understand behavioral health crisis response in Charlotte. For 20 years, Sante has provided Mecklenburg County's only 24-7, 365 mental health crisis response service. Our specialists respond directly into the community to support individuals experiencing things like suicidal or homicidal thoughts, psychosis, substance use issues, as well as situational crises like financial, housing, or food insecurity. Last year alone, our teams helped divert hundreds of individuals away from emergency rooms, involuntary commitment, and jail involvement. Our whole goal is to keep people safe in the community so that they can flourish. And while mental health funding often falls to the county and state, the reality is this. These crises impact public safety, hospitals, first responders. I could keep going, but mental health affects everyone. At some point, communities have to decide that addressing mental health cannot always be pushed to the next system or the next agency or the next budget cycle. Charlotte already has strong leaders and community partners engaged in these conversations. And I hope to continue exploring innovative and collaborative approaches to crisis response moving forward. Long term, I encourage the city to do what many other cities have, and that is to recognize mental health as a fourth response in public safety. Police, fire, medic, mental health, different roles, shared missions, all essential to a safer community. I thank you for this proclamation and the opportunity to speak. Thank you.

Kate, I would like to give you the proclamation.

Thank you everyone for the opportunity to learn more and understand better. Thank you very much. So we're now going to open the sub public forum. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us and on behalf of the entire city council members, I would like to talk about a little bit of our, our rules. Well, first of all, I want to make sure. that people understand that we want to hear everyone. And that's important because everyone has come down to be a part of this. So what I'd like to do is tell you that I think that we would like for you to be civil and courteous in the use of your language. We would like for our speakers to address the council instead of the audience so that we can understand why and what's important for this to happen and so with that i want to ensure that we also want to have everyone be able to be here heard and again that's most important all of you are here and we want to hear from each of you so we're going to begin with our public hearing and it's a decision on Our speakers list here. Our first speaker tonight is Mr. Shemrick. And I forgot to tell you, every speaker has two minutes because we have many people here, so that's what we're doing. So is it Sherrick? Shrenick. Shrenick. And it's upstairs.

I think I just spoke. Thank you, that's Srinik.

Thank you very much.

I did my very best, but it wasn't very good. That's completely fine. Oh, my bad. No, you're fine.

You're fine. FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING AN AMAZING LEADERSHIP TEAM, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CITY IS GOING THROUGH A LOT OF CHANGE. GOOD MORNING, MRS. MAYOR, FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS, AND EVERYONE WHO CAME HERE TO WATCH TODAY. MY NAME IS SHRENIK SHRIDHARALA. I'M A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AT ARDRICAL HIGH SCHOOL AND A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR. I LEAD AN ORGANIZATION NAMED TEEN WEALTH ACADEMY THAT DELIVERS FREE FINANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION TO K-6 STUDENTS. In the past year, Teen World Academy has taught over 500 Charlotte Mecklenburg students and run a free summer camp reaching over 130 students across eight East Coast locations. But throughout all of these lessons, one thing is what I've learned. Kids in this district of Charlotte are hungry to learn about money. They want to know how it works. They want to have the feeling of managing their money. They just don't have the opportunity to do so. That's what my organization brings to Citi. You see, financial literacy is not something you can give a high schooler before they graduate and expect to stick with them their entire lives. It's a skill that must begin being developed in a child since their early and formative years. It's a skill so crucial, maybe even the most crucial, to a child's future that me and 4,726 other community members that I personally spoke with all believe isn't being developed enough in the city of Charlotte. My organization does as much as we can to go directly into these schools and spread financial literacy, but that only does so much because true change arrived for such a crucial issue only when the overarching body like the people sitting in front of me, are also committed to that same mission of advancing this crucial skill within their students. Now, I've already reached out to most of you about this, because we need to create change, especially in this importantly crucial skill. And I'll continue reaching out again. But truly, at the end of the day, I really hope that the city of Charlotte will work with me and my organization to advance the mission of providing structured and free financial literacy to anyone, anywhere, and anytime. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Preston Gibson. How is she doing? We have a petition for the mental health person.

Would you please come down and speak? Rebecca, yes.

It's Gina.

It's Gina Gupton. They did.

Would either of you like to come down and speak? Where is Gina? If not, we... Either one. Our next speaker is Preston Gibson, District 1. Lynn Purvis.

Diane, again, are you here?

Not. Diane?

Kaiser, are you here? There you are.

Thank you.

Mayor, City Council, good evening. My name is Diane Kaiser and I work at the Charlotte Douglas Airport as an unaccompanied minor escort, assisting American Airlines passengers for over two years. I am here today to speak up for airport workers who work day and night to make sure thousands of passengers can travel safely every day. It's my job to keep children safe while they are traveling alone. I also step in as a wheelchair attendant assisting elderly passengers and travelers with disabilities, seen and unseen. We do essential work every day. As soon as we walk through those doors at the airport, we are faced with unstable workforce. The turnover rate is horrible. And we are so short staffed as we speak. Wheelchair attendants are feeling the pressure to double push passengers and rushing from one assignment to the next. And this is on a daily, all day situation. The dangers, not only for workers, but for passengers as well. We don't have paid sick time or paid vacation. There are no decent benefits. Some of my coworkers make as low as $12.50 an hour while taking care of the airport's most vulnerable passengers. And I'm lucky, I get to make $14.50. It's such a struggle to survive off of that in today's economy. where rent, groceries, and gas prices are all extremely expensive. Charlotte City Council, are you going to wake up and see that your people need you? For years, airport workers have been telling you we need a better deal. We need standards at the airport. Is that it? Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Maribel Macbeth. Thank you. Not here.

Not here. Not here. Not here. Not here. Not here.

All right. And our next speaker is Eric Fink. Mr. Fink.

How about this one then?

Be careful. Oh, wait.

Oh. Bill. Yeah, he's a malice. He's a malice.

Thank you. Mayor and council members, I managed to get here without falling, tumbling down. My name, pardon me, my name is Eric Fink. I'm a law professor at Elon University in Greensboro, not yet in Charlotte, but I'm here today speaking in support of the airline workers or the airport workers about their request to include a wage provision in the city's lease with the airlines at Charlotte Airport. I sent a full statement to the city attorney and I thank you for receiving it. So very brief summary. I understand there's some concern about whether state law and specifically the Wage and Hour Act would prevent or be an impediment to this provision. My assessment, as I explained at greater length in the written statement, is that the Wage and Hour Act is written in very specific language. that applies to measures by a city in its ordinary governmental policy-making capacity. These are, you know, mandates by the city for wages that would apply in general to employers or to a broad class of employers. A lease for city-owned property as a legal matter is a fundamentally different thing. It's a different being. Our state Supreme Court has said that when public entity, a municipality, has leases for a municipally-owned airport, it does not act in its governmental policy-making capacity. It acts in an ordinary proprietary capacity, essentially like any other private landlord. and it can lease that property on terms that are mutually beneficial. And the important thing that distinguishes the lease from the kinds of measures that are restricted under the Wage and Hour Act is that a lease is a voluntary, negotiated, and mutually agreed on provision. Okay? Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Annabel Rodriguez. Is she? Annabel Rodriguez. Okay. Well, we can come back. Our next speaker is Raul Gonzalez. Raul.

Raul. Raul Gonzalez.

Okay. Raul, un-go. All right. Okay. Our next speaker is Enrique Lopez-Zarria.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Dr. Enrique Lopez-Lira. I am the director of the low-wage work program at the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center. I'm here to share research on airport labor standards and their direct relationship to work for stability, safety, and economic efficiency with specific relevance to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Many essential airport workers earn wages that fall far short of what it takes to get by in the city. The MIT Living Wage Calculator places the living wage for a single adult without children in Mecklenburg County at $25.53 an hour. According to U.S. Department of Labor data, workers in the Charlotte MSA the average living wage is $15 per hour. The average living wage per day doing this occupations like wheelchair agents are earning a median of $17.80 per hour as of May of 2025 and a median for cleaners of vehicles and equipment which do cabin cleaning functions of $15 per Similarly, if you look at ZipRecruiter data for North Carolina, the average wage for wheelchair attendants is $14.59 an hour, and the average wage for cabin cleaners is $16.21 an hour. Again, far short of the MIT living wage threshold. Low wages drive high turnover, and turnover is a safety problem. Airports experienced turnover rates of 20% to 50% in certain contracted service occupations. A less experienced workforce is less familiar with security and safety procedures. Research at the Seattle International Airport found that newer workers were 80% more likely to receive citations for security breaches. This matters especially here in Charlotte, where the Charlotte Douglas Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world by landings and takeoffs and generates nearly $40 billion in regional economic impact. But we know what works. At San Francisco National Airport, when the wage was set higher, turnover fell by more than 60% for every 10% of wages raised. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Angela Edwards.

She can go right up there.

Can she stay up there? Yes, you can. Ma'am? Ma'am? Miss Edwards?

Use the mic right there. I think you can use the mic.

Yes.

Hallelujah. Jesus Christ. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Angela Edwards. I'm from Springfield Community. I am the leader. It is an old community. I've been here over and over again and nothing has happened. The community is desolate. The community needs help from the city. It is enough that the community engagement do their part, but everybody's all hands on deck now. The drugs, You know, the desolation of our buildings, it's time for some help. I'm waiting on Terry Brown to get back with me about that 300 bill to be amended. But it's time. And we talk about crime, crime starts in the house, community, outside of the community. Then it comes downtown. But when it comes downtown, you guys want to jump on it instead of jumping on it in our communities. Our babies are being, at early age, becoming drug dealers. Police ain't doing nothing about it. I keep telling y'all, we gotta go back to the old thing. What is that, the thing that they did a long time ago, where they had the police, they do a whole, they watch this house for a year. It's called Silent Night. They gotta go back to that. You know, enough of all this talking. We do a lot of talking, but at the end of the day, there's nothing being done. I'm an action speak louder than words person. You understand what I'm saying? That's why I came from the south side of town up that hill to the steps to come up here tonight in the rain because it's serious business now. And Ms. Joy Mayo, she knows. how adamant I am about Springfield and what Springfield need to look like. We need beauty for our ashes now. That's what we need. And then I'll take care of some of the mental health problems because we ain't got no money. That's one of the biggest problems. But to see a desolate place all the time, it's too much. Thank you, Ms. Edwards.

Our next speaker is Marcel Lineo-Marion. Marcel Lineo- For council members, if you would choose to.

And it's.

Yes, it's I was just saying the council members to activate the device to make sure it's on everybody.

Thank you, Bill when I know she's senior al-qaeda is that you know, the member of the.

Moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment, a moment.

Gracias. Como buen Colombiano, me presento ante ustedes en nombre de mis compañeros del aeropuerto. Buenas noches. Mi nombre es Marcelino Marin y he limpiado aviones en el aeropuerto de Charlotte por casi cinco años. La mayoría de pasajeros no nos ve, pero los limpiadores de cabinas somos esenciales en la industria de los viajes. We clean planes, we take out the garbage and we prevent diseases that can spread germs to passengers. We also ensure security to ensure that passengers are safe from objects or weapons that can cause damage. And we do all this regardless of the weather conditions. We go from one plane to another under the rain, snow and heat. La labor que hacemos no es fácil. Cuando limpiamos los baños de los aviones, tenemos contacto con riesgos biológicos como sangre, agujas, vejeringas desechadas y fluidos corporales. La basura que sacamos de cada avión es pesada, puede afectarnos el cuerpo, la columna y muchas enfermedades más. Debido al constante cambio de personal y la falta suficiente de personal, el volumen de trabajo para nosotros se ha triplicado. No contamos con plan de salud asequible, ni con vacaciones pagas, ni días por enfermedad pagas. No podemos darnos el lujo de faltar un día al trabajo porque es dinero que nuestras familias pierden. Los supervisores nos faltan al respeto y apenas sí tenemos tiempo para darnos un respiro para tomar agua o usar el baño. Trabajamos en el aeropuerto CLT, se siente como estar en un taller clandestino. Eso no es justo. No podemos dejar esto que siga así otros 10 años. Al Consejo Municipal de Charlotte, ustedes tienen el poder para garantizar que esta concesión resulte en algo justo para todos. Implementemos una evaluación por 45 días y trabajen juntos para garantizar que contamos con buenos beneficios días de enfermedad con pago y vacaciones. Merecemos estabilidad, respeto y voz en el futuro del CLT. Gracias.

All right, our next speaker is Tara Long. Ms. Long? A little bit.

All right.

Tara Long.

Hi, everyone. I'm Tyra Long, for those of you either who don't recognize me or that haven't met me yet. It's good to see you, Mayfield. Good to see you, Temple. It's good to see everyone. So I'm just asking for Jennifer Roberts, our interim mayor. She knows what she's doing. She's always involved with the community. It would be a very easy transition for her into office. And so I've emailed everyone and I hope I hope you guys have a wonderful time and it's great to see all Of this activity out tonight So I'm very happy for everyone and it's good to see you and I won't take up any more of your time But thank you.

Thank you very much Our next speaker is Candace tall and Our next speaker is Benjamin Andrus.

Good evening.

My name is Ben Andrus. and I work for HMS Host at the Charlotte Airport. I'm a member of Unite Here, Local 23. My union also represents Sodexo workers who serve in the American lounges and the sky chef workers who cater the planes. Working for HMS Host, I've been a crew member at Shake Shack for two and a half years. As a crew member at a fast food outlet, I work in both front of the house and kitchen positions. Some days I work register or expedite orders. Some days I'm doing food prep or cooking at the grill or on the fry station. And let me tell you, people love Shake Shack. That means we're the first faces many travelers see when they get off the plane. Travelers need to eat good food that's served quickly and safely, and I believe all jobs are important. I do my part to make the airport run efficiently. I make $15.40 an hour. I could get a similar job outside the airport. Maybe it would pay about a dollar or two less, but I wouldn't have to be badged. I wouldn't have to go through the security line. But because of my union, I have some of the best health insurance I've ever had in any of my jobs, and that matters a lot to me. HMS host lease expires in a few years. In the event HMS host is out and a new company comes in, concessions workers need to be able to keep our jobs. Whenever there's a change in contractor at the airport, we need worker retention. Runaway inequalities like a runaway train, it doesn't make for a stable airport or a stable economy. All the jobs at the Charlotte airport should be jobs that people can stick with long term. The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County deserve to have a well-trained and stable workforce at our airport, and that is why the city council needs to support airport service workers. That's all I have. Thanks.

Our next speaker is Kiara Thomas.

Okay. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kiara Thomas, and I am here speaking as a union worker and a member of Unite Here Local 23. I used to work at Charlotte Airport, and awareness needs to be brought to the instability that many workers experience at the airport. I worked as a hostess at a sit-down restaurant called Main 1897 inside the terminal. At that job, I was the face of hospitality in Charlotte. I was able to meet a lot of people traveling through the airport. I did my part being friendly and welcoming guests to our city. Airport workers represent Charlotte. But when I worked at the airport, it was hard to make ends meet. I was door dashing to make additional income right after work. Housing is expensive in Charlotte. I rent a one-bedroom apartment, and my rent is $1,900 a month. And that's with utilities included. Duke Energy and Wi-Fi have gone up since I moved in, which was in February. I'm 20 years old, and as a young person, I dream of one day buying my own house. And I will need a stable job if I am ever going to achieve that dream. The Charlotte Airport is important to our city's economy. And that is why it is critical to have a well-run airport that is staffed by experienced and trained workers. Workers deserve fair wages that allow them to stay at the same job. And stable jobs are good for workers like me and good for the airport.

Our next speaker is Sophie Hagee.

Sophie isn't here. She's not here.

All right.

Sophia?

All right, then our next speaker is Yukama, I guess, Anne Nakey.

Kamaka.

Is that it? Mm-hmm.

All right. Is she here? All right, we'll come back to her. Our next speaker is Christopher Wallace. Mr. Wallace?

All right.

I think that closes out our public forum for today. Thank you all for your patience, your attention, your energy. Thank you for being a part of this and the conversations that you've given us to be able to make us understand better. So thank you all. So that ends our introductions for that. And so we now will move forward in our agenda. And we're going to open the public hearing on a resolution to close a portion of Winona Street. and Penman Street and the adjoining alleyway. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers? I think this gentleman just missed us.

Oh, great. All right, Mr. Wallace, sorry, you are, please come down.

Thank you for being present and understanding that there are a lot of people upstairs. Thank you for being here. Thank you.

Good evening, councillors. My name is Chris Wallace, a North Meck transit rider. I do not hold a driver's license and I'm here tonight to illuminate for you the experiences of transit-dependent taxpayers like myself, under this micro transit pilot program. For context, the village riders were three bus routes that ran only once an hour for a trio of towns covering over 60 square miles. That is to say, they were a failure to our communities, they were a broken system, and far shy of a passing grade for service. Relying on these was a nightmare that has nearly cost me multiple jobs and hundreds of dollars in rideshare costs as I struggled to compensate. I'm here tonight to tell you that I would trade my non-dominant hand to switch back from Katz Micro. I have repeatedly spoken to both CATS and the old MTC about these challenges, but I see now that these bodies overcommitted and the MPTA is now trapped in a sunk cost fallacy. The system they are entrenched in, the system they seek to expand, and the system they now wish to pull money away from rail funding for has only one consistency, unreliability. Whether it's me booking my trip to work two hours before I clock in and still being late, or my mother missing her oncology appointments because her driver keeps having to pick up new riders before she gets there, this system is an abject failure. A 2020 study by Monash University and UC Berkeley showed that more than half of these systems fail worldwide due to cost and reliability issues. This reliability issue is not a failure of implementation, it's a failure of selection. Micro transit is the wrong tool for this job. It does not fit. Worldwide, cities are not using this high-tech gimmick to fix their transit. They do it with increased frequencies and expanded routes instead of funneling money into a service that will fail riders and require even more money to be replaced. So I am tonight asking City Council to direct its MPTA representatives to leave the rail funding untouched, deprioritize or decommission micro, and reinvest the funding back into the rest of Butter Bus. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right, so now let's move on. All right, item five. We're going to again go back to our public hearing and a decision on the resolution to close a portion of Winona Street, Penman Street, and the adjoining alleyway. Anything? Any speakers? Madam Clerk?

Move to close the hearing and adopt the resolution.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Ms. Mayfield, yes.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So I want to address that we have this item and a couple of others where we are opening a public hearing. as well as motioning to adopt the resolution on that public hearing on the same evening. But yet we're going to have a discussion later where we're opening a public hearing and we're not actually approving and adopting a resolution. And that's going to be when we have the discussion on the data centers. So I would like for some clarity on how we identify discussions where we open a public hearing as well as have in the motion the adoption of the closing whether it's for a street or any of our public hearings just for consistency sake because as I mentioned we have two public hearings we have a total of four public hearings this evening but one of these public hearings is just the action of conduct a public hearing to consider adoption versus we're having a conversation now of actually opening a public hearing and adopting a resolution. So that will be something that I believe that we're going to have to have a conversation, whether that's in the manager's office or that's language from the attorney's office where counsel has the authority with who decides the language that's coming before us. But I have a concern that we're conducting a public hearing as well as adopting a resolution. But when we get to the conversation of data center later, that is not the options that we have of adopting the resolution and closing it. What we are going to be discussing is just opening and discussing on a public hearing to discuss the resolution. So there's a challenge because when we outreach, we outreach to... 300 350 feet, but we have done a lot of infield building over the last 5 years. So if you are community that was built with in the community that radius of outreach might not even make it to the end of the original neighborhood street. So I think we might have opportunity to look at how we're doing engagement to ensure that we really have Community participation when we're talking about closing streets, especially when we receive emails and calls from residents where what is now an alley becomes parking, becomes a dumping area in some communities for large items, and it's not very clear who's maintaining these spaces once we close it. Thank you.

Thank you. I think we're going to turn this over to our city attorney. And do you want a report right away or at some point in how we can address this? To a man?

I did not reach out to the attorney prior to tonight, so I'm not going to ask our attorney to respond now, but if we can have a response email to counsel by the time we have our next meeting, it will be helpful. That sounds great.

If I can draw one distinction between the items that are on tonight versus the data centers, or I should say the petition to close the streets, In both instances, Councilmember Mayfield, these items are without opposition, and they have been petitioned by the owners of the property, and certainly staff has contacted the surrounding property owners. As you often highlight, Council has a couple of different options. You can certainly approve, deny, or you can defer. And so in this instance, yes, you're correct. Both items have been consolidated, the hearing and the adoption of the resolution. You could defer it, but in this instance, seeing that you don't have any opposition as, as, as it appears, you don't have any opposition, um, approval would be appropriate. The other piece is with respect to the data centers, typically with your rezoning hearings, if you recall, typically you have your hearing, um, on one night and then you defer for another month to allow, um, for decision. And so in this instance, we staff found the data center. analysis to be analogous to your hearings on rezonings. And so we wanted to ensure that there was enough time to not only just consider the information that will be presented tonight, but allow staff to get opportunity to craft some of the requisite statements that will be required for adoption if Council so chooses to adopt a moratorium in the future.

Thank you, Attorney Leslie Flight, because I did have opportunity to reach out to you earlier and you did get back to me, but I wanted to make sure that we had the opportunity to make sure that The process was also on record. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Do we have a motion and a second? And a second. All in favor, please raise your hands. All right. That carries. All right. So our next item is to be an opening of the public hearing on ASHU commercial phase voluntary annexation. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers? No. We have no speakers. Again.

We'll close the hearing and approve the B.

All right. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please record. Yes. Anyone opposed? Ms. Mayfield opposes. All right. Our next item is item eight, which is hearing on temporary moratorium on the new telephone. No, Lofton Voluntary. Lofton Voluntary. Did we skip seven? Go back to seven.

All right. Six.

A public hearing and a decision on the Lofton voluntary annexation. And now we're going to open. Do we have any speakers? Madam Clerk?

Move to close the hearing and adopt the ordinance.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Anyone? Okay. Hearing none. All in favor? Anyone opposed? Ms. Mayfield opposes. Thank you very much. All right, so now we can go to the public hearing on the temporary moratorium on new telecommunications and data storage facilities. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers?

Yes.

A lot of speakers. I think we'll be around a little while.

Move to conduct a public hearing.

We have a motion to begin the public hearing, and is there a second? Second. Second.

All in favor?

Raise your hands.

Anyone opposed?

No one opposed. So this is a public hearing on temporary moratorium on the new telecommunications data storage facilities. We have a list of people that would like to speak on this item, and I think most of them we will go ahead and begin now so that we can get the speakers, and the council will then deliberate. So our first speaker is Craig Reynolds. Each person has two minutes, so please be certain of your speech. Am I right, Mr. Reynolds?

Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Manager Jones, and members of the City Council. I am here to speak in support of the 150-day moratorium. I come to you as a subject matter expert. I have spent 25 years, I know I look young, but I have spent 25 years in big data.

We like that.

Server farms, systems engineering, and artificial intelligence. And the last three years have been spent almost exclusively on deploying AI responsibly for businesses big and small. of the data centers in the state of carolina and many of whom are in north carolina. The question for me is not whether The question for me is, how do we build a footprint that makes Charlotte a national leader in distributed, resilient, redundant infrastructure without devouring our land, our water, and our power? How do we benefit the most of us without doing so at the expense of the least of us? I'd like for you for a moment to consider the scale. One facility in Morris Chapel, which is my neighborhood, will begin at 400 megawatts. It will grow to 750. That is eight to 14 times the combined residential power demand of the entire city of Morrisville for one facility. During a moratorium, I urge this council to study modular data centers, cited strategically throughout the city, so businesses that genuinely do need the high compute and low latency get what they need. without burdening our grid or draining our reservoirs. And if you do choose to approve any hyperscale facility, I implore you to consider two things, water consumption, where that one facility in Northeast Charlotte will take 2% of total water capacity for all of Charlotte, and ensure that the taxpayer revenue that comes from those facilities get returned back to us in the form of dividends to offset the rates that we are gonna pay in electricity and water. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Preston Gibson.

Do you see Preston?

All right. We'll keep on moving in terms.

Tina Schull. He was here.

He was here.

Good evening, and thank you, council members, for your due diligence. I'm Tina Scholl. I'm an associate professor of history at UNC Charlotte, a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders and the North Carolina Data Center Network. I direct a research project called Climate Inequality CLT. As a resident of East Charlotte, I'm deeply concerned about the impacts of the proposed American Tower data center in my neighborhood, and the two hyperscale centers already approved. But this is not just a NIMBY, not in my neighborhood request. This is a request to stop and make a new plan for data centers entirely. A 150-day moratorium and an environmental impact assessment are the first steps. Because the South is and has long been the backyard where large corporations have been invited to cite projects in black and brown communities that, as history shows, have borne the brunt of their toxic harms. Charlotte has made proud contributions to environmental justice. For example, a UNCC alum, civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., coined the term famously, environmental racism, while protesting a toxic waste site in Warren County in 1982. However, the map of existing and proposed data centers in Charlotte falls on an old pattern of crescent and wedge social and environmental inequalities that our research tracks, histories of redlining, segregation, urban renewal, and gentrification created, histories to take heed of. The two hyperscale sites approved on Morse Chapel Road and University Boulevard and the proposed site in East Charlotte are all sited in EJ communities in the Crescent. This means that according to data published on our project website, they're all in census tracts that are in close proximity to facilities with toxic chemicals, hazardous waste storage, wastewater discharge, and flood zone risks. They are labeled disadvantaged by the government's climate and economic justice screening tool. They're low income. They pay a higher burden energy costs and a majority minority. We need a moratorium and we need a environmental impact assessment and an ordinance.

Our next speaker is Nia Anderson.

Good afternoon. Good evening, madam mayor and council members. Thank you very much for the opportunity. My name is Nia Anderson. I'm a 61 year old resident native resident of Charlotte. I've been living about a half a mile from the proposed site since 2002. I want to make this perfectly clear tonight. I understand about growth. I do. I do. Charlotte has grown tremendously, particularly in the areas of the Plaza extension 485, rocky river road in like thousands of houses and town homes that have been built just the stone throws away from my home. But growth doesn't, it comes as an expense to people who really built their lives to just find a really good place to live. When I bought my home 20 years ago, I intentionally bought it because it was quiet. It was tucked away. Nobody even knew that area of town. And at 61, I'm not looking to start over anywhere. How can I? But I'm being placed, my home wants to be a place of industrial chaos to me. And I keep asking myself, who thinks about the residents that are already there? Who thinks about the seniors on a fixed income? Who thinks about families who invested everything they had into homes believing that they were going to buy into neighborhoods not beside massive data centers? I live on a well system by choice. If the groundwater is affected, who's going to help me pay those thousands of dollars to be connected from the street to my home? If energy demands rises, utility costs, will residents receive assistance with increasing power bills? And while many people speak about infrastructure, I want to speak about quality of life. Health is not just only physical, constant noise, bright lighting, diesel generating emissions, traffic, interruption of sleep. Remember mental health.

Hey y'all.

There's a 2.5 million square foot 300 megawatt hyperscale data center being built in my neighborhood.

That's enough energy to power a city of three-quarters of a million people. Now, it was approved in 2023, and I know most people, including myself, had no idea. We didn't know what we know now about data centers, so I can forgive that. We didn't know how they caused havoc. We didn't know who's behind them, any of the information that we know now. But we do know now. And so if we knew better, I expect that we would do better. There are a few things that are environmentally and politically toxic than the support of data centers. With that in mind, I'm demanding a couple of things. One is a moratorium on all data centers that not only applies to those that have been proposed, like the one in East Charlotte, but also retroactively approved, like the data center in University City in my neighborhood. So we're sending that approval and instituting the following reforms and maximum enforcement capacity. A racial equity analysis of the neighborhood compositions where data centers are planned. Early warning detection systems and plans to prevent hazardous materials and contaminating water bodies in the event of leaks from so-called closed loop systems failing. Noise tests and limitations that carry the force of law, not mere fines for multi-million dollar corporations. a residential data center, UDO, frequent air and water quality testing and compliance measures, elimination of tax incentives and provisions to protect rate payers from subsidizing the cost of electricity for billion dollar corporations. I say this with respect. Don't put your faith in these developers like AARP and assume that everything that has a potential payout equals progress. The human cost and the cosmic kind often don't show up on a balance sheet.

Our next speaker is Antoinette Mingo.

Tony. Tony. Miss Mingo, can you step to the back so we can hear you in the microphone? I want to be close to you.

Okay. There you go. Okay.

Yep. As I said, my name is Antoinette Mingo. I live less than two miles from the 2.5 square foot, 2.5 square million, 2.5 million square feet data center on University City Boulevard. And the project number for anyone who wants to look it up is 2023-030. I, like Mr. Ford, am also in favor of a moratorium and a retroactive moratorium. But added to what he said, I'm asking for a rescission of the approval of the data center, that same data center, in 2023 when no one knew what a data center was or the impact of a data center. We didn't know as the public and neither did the council. Listening to or reading the minutes of the August 21st, 2023 council meeting minutes revealed that there were many questions asked by Councilmember Johnson and Councilmember Mayfield that were not answered. Those were the two people who did not approve of the rezoning. And so I'm not understanding why my community has to live with a data center that we knew nothing about, had no input on, and that no one knew anything about. No one. And so in 2023, there was a lack of transparency on the part of Duke Energy and the developer. Yes. For example, data centers create something called heat the islands. And so around data centers, heat increases. Thank you.

I'm going to ask if we can do this. We're going to have two people because we have two stations here. And so we're going to have two people come down, but each person gets a chance and the opportunity to speak. And so my first person is Reverend Dr. Janet Garner Mullins. And to join her, Kibi Bree Everett. Kibi.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. For months, Duke Energy and other corporate interests have tried to frame community concerns as misinformed, emotional, anti-technology. But let me be clear, our communities are not confused. We know exactly what's at stake. While you hear about energy demands, water usage, environmental impacts, that is not just about impacts. It's about long-term decisions and who those decisions are made for. because data centers are not temporary. Once approved, they define land for decades. So every approval is also a decision about what does not get built, houses, small businesses, community service spaces. We must be honest about the economic reality. These facilities generate enormous value, but not necessarily for those who live right next door, right around the corner. This is also about process. Communities should not have to organize after projects are already in motion just to be heard. That is not engagement, that is reaction. And from an environmental justice perspective, we know how the pattern plays out. These impacts are not placed on our most protected communities. They're often placed in black and brown and low income communities. Not just once, but repeatedly. Right now, Charlotte lacks a comprehensive framework for citing transparency and community protections, yet projections and projects continue moving forward. That's backwards. That is why we are asking you to support a 150 day moratorium. Remember, it's not progress, it's displacement.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Kibri Hutchison-Everett. I'm an environmental scientist and doctoral researcher at UNC Charlotte, where my work focuses on studying the impacts of data centers. On behalf of the Charlotte Mecklenburg climate leaders, I'm here tonight to urge you to adopt a temporary moratorium on new data center approvals so the city can develop a comprehensive regulatory framework. Through years of working in the environmental field, I've seen environmental injustices arise when the burdens associated with major infrastructure systems are concentrated in or near communities that are already experiencing disproportionate environmental, economic, and public health stressors. As we already know, Charlotte already contains communities dealing with cumulative burdens tied to industrial activity, air pollution exposure, extreme heat, energy burden, and historic underinvestment. In West Charlotte, for example, there are nearly 40 facilities listed in EPA's toxic release inventory that have toxic chemicals being held on site. Through a spatial analysis I conducted for the proposed digital realty data center in Morris Chapel Road, I identified that within a two mile radius of that site, there already are facilities emitting formaldehyde, mercury, and heavy metals. The proposed site is also located approximately half a mile from the Catawba River, as well as Interstate 85, which contributes significant air pollution and chronic noise exposure, as it is already. These types of spatial analyses should be standard components of the review process before data center projects are approved. Infrastructure and industrial siting decisions made without cumulative environmental review can produce long-term inequities that persist for generations. A temporary moratorium is not anti-development. It is a reasonable planning tool that would allow the city to establish clear standards, evaluate cumulative impacts, determine appropriate siting and buffer requirements, and develop environmental justice safeguards before irreversible land use and infrastructure decisions are made. I respectfully urge the council to support a moratorium so that Charlotte can develop a transparent, evidence-based framework that protects residents and ensures that future decisions are made with adequate public safeguards in place. Thank you.

Our next speakers are Tina Castanos and Gustav Otora. Sorry. Michelle, I'm sorry, you're right. Michelle, I'm not going to be able to get that one. Michelle Chinger, I think. And then Beth Henry in District 1. Okay.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, and members of the community. My name is Dr. Michelle Eichinger. I'm a city of Charlotte resident and a subject matter expert on the impact of public health in urban planning. And I'm also a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders. I'm speaking today in support of the 150 day moratorium on new data center construction in Charlotte until the city establish a stronger public health and environmental safeguards, including mandatory health impact assessments and environmental impact assessments. The demand for data centers need to be considered as digital infrastructure in development. As Charlotte plans for future growth, digital infrastructure must be treated with the same level of planning and accountability that we apply to other infrastructure systems such as transportation and water. We must future-proof both existing and proposed infrastructure to ensure it supports economic innovation without compromising public health, environmental sustainability, or community resilience. These facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, generate air and noise pollution, strain local infrastructure, and contribute to climate and environmental degradation. The environmental impacts of data centers are significant. Large facilities require extensive land clearing, tree removal, grading, and paving, contributing to stormwater runoff, erosion, flooding risks, and habitat disruption, and urban heat island effects, all while placing additional stress on aging utility and stormwater systems. Noise and air pollution from data centers are public health concerns. These facilities operate 24-7 using industrial cooling systems, transformers, and diesel backup generators that can create constant noise, disrupt sleep, increase stress, and increase high blood pressure, and reduce the quality of life for nearby residents. They also contribute to respiratory health risks, including asthma symptoms, which are costly to the healthcare system and families, and lower life expectancies. These impacts are not experienced equally. Community is already burdened by it, and I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

We're going to go back to Beth. Miss Henry? Yeah, Beth.

I'm Beth Henry, and I live in East Charlotte. Please vote for the moratorium. Also, during the moratorium, please take all legally permissible steps to stop or limit construction of any more hyperscale data centers in Charlotte. Please start requiring all data centers to use closed-loop cooling systems and other water and energy saving systems. Finally, please do not rely on Duke Energy's advice or representations. I was distressed by several slides in staff's report because they seemed to be written by Duke Energy's PR department. Duke Energy has a huge, obvious conflict of interest. They're a for-profit company that make more money the more power plants they build. And these data centers are just nothing but huge electricity hogs that are justifying Duke in building more methane power plants that are destroying our climate. So please do not... take Duke's word for anything about data centers. I am very distressed about the exacerbation of the climate crisis by all these methane power plants. Our summers are going to become unbearable. And the data center proliferation is a big part of the problem. And it's hard to imagine how our children and grandchildren are even going to be able to live here. So please, in this process, involve people who are knowledgeable and able to push back. Otherwise, Duke's overwhelming power will have too much influence on the decisions about data centers.

Our next speaker is Tina Castanos and Gustavo Torra. Gustavo.

The police officer is on it today. I said the police officer is on it today. He knows what his tax is.

Haven't been here in a while. I'm a little bit nervous. Hey, everybody. Hey to the new folk. My name is Tita Katsanos. I'm here as a representative of the Charlotte Mecklenburg NAACP. I serve as the third vice president, and I'm also the chair of the Climate and Environmental Justice Committee. I did not write out my speech. First time. First time. But I've been mulling over thinking about what I should say. And I thought, you know what? I'm not going to write it down because I'm going to sign up late and everybody else is going to say what I need to say. So we covered environmental racism. Beth covered climate change, pollution, noise, and the biggest part, nobody wants them here. I think I was number 11. The people have spoken. They have spoken. We don't want data centers. Here's the testimony. I want to share with you a personal story. It's about AI. I've been teaching at UNC Charlotte since 1998. I teach about the intersection of indigenous life ways and climate change and environmental racism. A few years ago, I was reading these papers from students, and I'm like, what is this? What is going on? AI. It is ruining education. I don't know what kind of data center this is, but if it's got anything to do with AI or any data centers, forget it. Stop it. The madness. It's crazy. I felt like I got kicked in the stomach when I found out about AI. It was tough. No data centers.

Our next speaker is Abe Osha. Gustavo. Gustavo. Yes, he's here. Number 12.

He's here. Hi, good evening.

My name is Gustavo Toro. I am here to represent my son who is six years old and autistic, residing in Amberwood neighborhood with his mother. It brought our attention that a data center is looked into being built by Hood Road, literally around the corner from where we live. There are not enough hard evidence of benefits of these data centers. However, there are a large number of evidence proving that they ruin its surroundings. These data centers are parasitic by nature, and it's planned in being built literally on people's backyards. This will bring harm to our children, including my son. There are various churches and schools near this area. Reedy Creek Nature Preserve, a beautiful place where I venture with my family. My son enjoys such a place where he gets to have the liberty to play and learn. As a resident, I'll make this very clear, as clear as possible. For the sake of our children and families, do not build these data centers by our homes. East Charlotte is arguably the most diverse area in Charlotte. There are about over 150,000 people living in here. A lot of people, a lot of families, a lot of potential consequences. When hardworking people feel violated in their own homes because they are used as a sacrificial lamb and are shown how little they matter, they will result them into taking action so that their message is delivered, as you can see right in front of you. The city of Charlotte as a whole will react to this and see who they can trust to govern and who are willing to turn their backs on them for those who they voted for. All for a buck. Dario Amadei, the CEO of Anthropic said that the technology is getting ahead of the law and I hope you guys can reflect to that. I asked to not take away the quality of life from my son. In East Charlotte, just prove to us, the people that voted for you, that you can vote against this. Mayor Lyles, this is a good opportunity for you to make a great send-off before you leave. Please do your part. Pass the moratorium. Thank you so much.

Gustavo Torres, Toro. He just spoke. He just spoke. It's the next one. So it's 13, Abse Flimster.

I'm not sure it's correctly.

Finster? Flimster? Is that correct or close by? Abse Flimster? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Would you say your name, please?

Abiosa.

Thank you. That is a beautiful name, and I'm sorry that I did not know how properly to say it.

It's okay. Hi, I'm coming as an East Charlotte resident to speak in favor of the data center moratorium and against the East Charlotte data center development. While trying to understand the process and progress of data centers in Charlotte, I've often been dismayed with how opaque the approval process has been, and I think is a reflection of how underprepared the City Council is to take on the approval process for data centers. Previously, city council members voted against the public hearing on data centers within the city, stating they did not know enough yet, yet they have approved multiple data centers within this city. The moratorium should allow city council members more time to review the facts considering data centers, as well as procedures and most importantly, requirements. It is untenable to place data centers which have the potential to generate large amounts of noise and light pollution in the middle of multiple neighborhoods and right next to parks, which has been proposed without denial in the past. I hope that by the end of the moratorium, the city council is able to come up with procedures and rules for data centers which balances the needs of community in our environment, especially as we face climate change and increasingly harsh droughts with business interests. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Brandon Jones and followed by Ariel Tautz-White.

Good evening. I'm Brandon Jones, Catawba Riverkeeper. I'm here representing our organization, which is a member-funded environmental nonprofit that educates and advocates and protects the entire Catawba Wairi River Basin. Our organization represents over 8,000 active members and nearly 3 million citizens who rely on the watershed for drinking water, recreation, and electricity. We are concerned that the growth of local data centers may over-allocate our limited resources and decreases our ability to respond to drought. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed 150-day moratorium and strongly support the staff's recommendation to adopt it. Additionally, if adopted, we recommend the study considered a tiered approach, transparency, and total water consumption. For our water resources, the most important data center metric is net water use. A 400 megawatt facility, like the one now under construction on Moores Chapel Road, may actually evaporate more water indirectly than directly for cooling. The nearby Catawba Nuclear Station uses approximately 5.2 million gallons per day from Lake Wylie per 400 megawatts of generation. However, without transparency and reporting, it's difficult to know the current impact of those data centers and almost impossible to accurately forecast the industry's future. Most years, there's plenty of water in the Catawba for drinking, irrigation, ecological flows, and industry. However, droughts such as 2001, 2007, and today expose our vulnerabilities. These droughts are more likely than warming climate, and we are becoming less resilient with a growing population and industrial demands. Sustainable water management requires careful planning and robust coordination between all users, including data centers. Thank you for your time. I hope you will support the moratorium.

Good evening. I come before you as a mother and a family physician with a background in child psychiatry. Data centers and the entire AI industry represent a public health emergency. This is the first generation of children in history with lower IQs than their parents. The over-reliance on tech reduces capacity for critical thinking in addition to tragic consequences for vulnerable youth as chat box actively coach them through things like drug use and suicide plans. I'll skip the environmental ramifications. I think we can appreciate those. Data centers are neither beneficial to anyone nor sustainable. And when they all shut down in three to five years, and they will, will come to you, it'll be too late to reverse the devastation to the wildlife habitats where our children also learn and play. Statewide, our outdoor recreation adds $18 billion to the state's GDP, supporting 150,000 jobs. That's also at risk. I implore you all to consider the reason you got into public service. Does your loyalty lie with big tech funding misinformation campaigns destroying our planet and using facial recognition and cloud servers for citizen surveillance? Or is it with families who stand together in the name of our kids' futures during a public health crisis to say enough is enough? Surveys show, and this, that the people who you serve do not want this. I'll close by noting that a small town in Texas recently blocked data center construction using provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that forbids use of Chinese manufactured tech in government security projects. In light of these precedents, legal avenues are being carefully explored here as well. My prayer is that this council chooses to prioritize the long term health of our community. You're in a noble profession. We are coming to you for help. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Douglas Welton. And Colin Brown.

Thank you, Mayor and members of Council. My name is Douglas A. Welton, and I come here tonight to ask you to do four things. First of all, I ask you to please take time to understand the nuances when you study the subject. Data centers is a broad category. They come in a variety of sizes, types, services provided. Please take time to understand the distinct attributes that belong to each segment of the market. Secondly, I ask you to understand the velocity of the technology at play here. data centers as we see them today are evolving. New configurations and implementations are emerging that will quickly obfuscate some of the concerns that may be around resource utilization. Please make sure that you're aware of innovations like those happening at Iron Mountain, Stratospace, Subtropolis, and pay attention to what's happening at Helen Energy in Helsinki and the Crane Clean Energy Center. Third, I want you to be cognizant the cloud of fear uncertainty and doom that surrounds this issue. Uncertainty and unfortunately misinformation is one of the things that just comes along with innovation. Remember 5G was going to spread COVID. Without net neutrality we were going to pay for using Facebook and Google and of course cell phones will kill you with brain cancer. All of these things were a distraction. I'm asking you to not be distracted. And finally, please be aware that making new policies that create perverse incentives is not what you want to do. Government that governs best governs least. Thank you very much. I've enjoyed my time in the public hearing. You all have a good evening.

Our next speaker is Bobby Joe Larus. After Colin, after Mr. Brown.

Good evening. Madam Mayor, Council Members, Colin Brown with the Alexander Ricks Firm here in Charlotte. Unpopular opinion tonight, and I appreciate it, but I wanted to be on the record. I do think the data centers are becoming critical infrastructure for communities. I think so. I think they are just becoming like utilities and roads.

Okay. All right.

You know, when we started out on this, I said that there would be opportunities for everyone to speak. And I really intend that. And we're not going to do something that says that all of you have had an opportunity to speak and he has not. Now, just think about that. Is that the fair thing to do? Now, maybe it's important and that let's take it out someplace else. instead of doing it in a way that I think would be disrespectful for a number of us. Thank you very much.

Go ahead. I appreciate an opportunity to speak. Well, thank you. So I do think it's critical to many of our industries that are core to the city of Charlotte, finance, transportation, health care, but not just to industry, not just to the capitalists. I think our communities rely on this technology. I mean, we may not want to admit it, but we are addicted to these supercomputers in our pockets. They make our lives easier. They make our lives better in many ways. And I think we can say no to that. But I think if we turn these off and we didn't have access to it, we would suffer. There's a great crowd tonight. Most of the crowd tonight was organized on social media, which ironically is powered by data centers. So I think it is, I think that's the truth. And I think it's an issue we've got to face in our community.

Okay. Again.

I think I've got 40 seconds left, which I'll try to get through. I appreciate what is before you. I think we've heard a lot of good points tonight. I think when we adopted our UDO three years ago, data centers were not on our radar, they are now. I think it's reasonable to consider one of the speakers earlier mentioned balance. I think that's what it's about and that's the responsibility on you as well as our community. I certainly think, I certainly understand the counterbalance that you all are hearing, but I am telling you, My perspective and I think the perspective of many others in our community and probably your families is there is some benefit to these data centers that are serving us and we have to strike the right balance. Thank you.

Bobby, all right. Our next speaker is Bobby Joe Larris from Huntersville.

Good evening.

And Casey Moravec.

Casey Moravec. Right there. Go ahead, Bobby Joe. Thank you.

My name is Bobby Joe Lazarus. I'm here tonight as president of NAOP Charlotte, representing more than 300 members of the commercial real estate development community. I'm here to express our desire to be a constructive partner in this conversation with city leadership and with the community as we work toward an open dialogue grounded in facts and full understanding. At our last membership meeting, data centers were the primary topic because we believed it was important to do our own due diligence and ensure our members were well informed. We have also commissioned a white paper that explains the range of data center types and addresses common questions about environmental impacts and fiscal outcomes. We will provide that to all of you following tonight, and it will also be posted on our website. We all rely on the internet. Many of us now use AI tools in our daily work. Many use them to prepare for tonight. Charlotte cannot continue building the city that we aspire to be while stepping backward on the infrastructure that supports modern business, education, and innovation. That does not mean concerns should be ignored or questions should go unanswered. The best path forward is thoughtful collaboration. I'm here tonight to offer our partnership in this conversation and to respectfully ask that the city not pursue a moratorium.

Thank you. Thank you.

Any significant project would already require well over 150 days to move through the existing permitting and approval process. Allowing those processes to work gives everyone the opportunity for review and engagement without unnecessarily signaling that Charlotte is hesitant to participate in the future of technology infrastructure. Charlotte has become one of the most respected and fastest-growing cities in the country because historically we have leaned into difficult conversations, worked collaboratively, and found balanced solutions rather than stopping progress together.

Thank you.

We have a speaker.

Not as someone that's just yelling at people like you guys are. Really. All right, Casey, please.

Thank you. Good evening. My name is Casey Moravec. I'm an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. Thank you for holding this public hearing tonight. We commend you for being proactive and for hearing the community's concerns on the data center issue. We encourage you to adopt a temporary moratorium to pause data center development in Charlotte. A moratorium will give Charlotte time to study the impacts of data centers and to implement protections to mitigate their negative impacts without the added pressure of fielding project proposals at the same time. As you consider regulating data centers in Charlotte, you're right to be mindful of North Carolina's down zoning laws. Because telecommunications and data storage facilities have been allowed as of right in several districts under your unified development ordinance since 2011. However, the facilities contemplated by the UDO are fundamentally different from the hyperscale data centers of today. Today's hyperscale data centers are industrial facilities driven by enormous computing demands and water and energy needs. So they should be considered an emerging land use that can be regulated as a new industrial use under the UDO without running into down zoning restrictions. We provided you some legal research on this subject today. Looking ahead to what kinds of regulations Charlotte might put in place, we recommend you require hyperscale data centers obtain a special use permit to preserve your authority and public input in the decision-making process. This way, when a hyperscale data center proposal arises, you and your constituents, and not a developer, can decide whether and how it is in the best interest of your community. We also recommend that you limit hyperscale data centers to Charlotte's ML2 manufacturing and logistics zoning district. Anyways, thank you.

All right, Juliana Themester. Wait, Juliana. Okay. There's a speaker up there, I mean a microphone there if you'd like to do that or come down the stairway. Okay.

Hello, city council members. Please bear with me because I'm really nervous. But I come today as a very concerned East Charlotte resident. I am greatly against the data centers being built within Charlotte. These data centers have the potential to raise electricity rates, strain our water resources, and further harm our environment. They also proposed to be built in their neighborhoods and parks such as the one in East Charlotte. And across the nation, a lot of Americans, including myself, are already distrustful of our representatives because our history has shown that often the people in our environment are sold out to corporations so that they can make a profit. So please pass this moratorium and determine if allowing these data centers being built is with harming the people you represent so that corporations can make a dollar. Thank you.

Kelly Ingo is our next speaker.

think of opinions.

We have Susanna Chen. Would you mind joining us down here? Susanna. Thank you.

Good evening council. My name is Kelly Engold and I am a citizen of Charlotte for almost 15 years and I'm so proud to say I'm a part of this community. I do want to state that I want to thank each and every individual from the community taking the time and to come and speak, to showcase your experience, your passion, and your expertise, which I don't have. But I concur when it comes to supporting the moratorium. And the reason, something the, and bear with me at the names, the woman who spoke representing the company discussing how they are against the moratorium, she said something that I think we need to bring into question. Thoughtful collaboration. How can thoughtful collaboration occur when you're refusing to allow us opportunity to even collaborate? A 150-day moratorium would provide that. So I ask you, many you've heard who are against it, I want each and every one of you when you sit and meet, make a list. Who is for these data centers? Who is against the 150-day moratorium? And that, I think, is the real thoughtful collaboration, taking the time, showing the respect needed. to each and every one of us. If you truly care, you have nothing to hide. If you really what you're standing for is going to help us. Pushing things through won't do it. I am not here alone. I'm here with two individuals who have been with this community up to 50 years. They're terrified of what's going to happen at Hood Road. They're terrified about their lives that they built here, their health, who's a survivor of cancer. Will it happen again? Because evidence shows that it is a very real possibility. I just want to say thank you to everyone that comes. It's important to have all sides speak. And even though you may not agree with them, it's important for them to have a voice. But it's your decision to make the right choice for who you represent, which is the people.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Susanna Chen. I'm a resident at Crossing at Reedy Creek, which is a four-minute drive from where the American Terror Corps East Charlotte Data Center is proposed to be built, and also a proud organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. So for the last week and a half, because of the Charlotte drought, the water pressure in my house has completely halved. So it takes two times longer to shower, to wash dishes, to do anything that requires water. And I'm not here to look for pity, because I know there are far more severe problems that people here in Charlotte face. There are families I've spoken to while doing outreach who haven't had electricity in months because of Duke Energy's ridiculous rate hikes. There are mothers who work for the airport who can barely afford clothes for their children, not to mention rent. And how are we supposed to survive when so many of our people are still earning $7.25 an hour? And as someone who grew up with a single mother living on a minimum wage trying to make ends meet, I can't emphasize enough how hard this is. So I'm here to ask you, why do we have to suffer the consequences of this drought? Why do we have to suffer the consequences of these rate hikes, of these greedy corporations, while our elected officials continue to allow for the construction of these data centers that, let me emphasize, nobody wants? This fight for a data center moratorium isn't just about data centers. It's not that we're inherently against AI. I studied electrical engineering and computer science. It's not that we don't support technological advancement or innovation. It's that these projects and developments can't continue at the cost of our lives, the cost of our children, the cost of our environment, the cost of our community. And so this fight for a data center moratorium really is a fight about who actually runs Charlotte. Is it the people of Charlotte or is it the corporations that you city council members answer to? And I don't know about y'all, but I'm on the side of the people. So I know that there's some people out here on my left, members of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and also the Real Estate Building Coalition that are here speaking out against the moratorium because they want to line their pockets. But I'm here, remember, we're here for the people.

Thank you. I'm sorry.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Renee Carroll. Our next speaker is Renee Carroll. And Sam Attaro.

Not really.

Good afternoon. My name is Renia and I'm here to speak in support of the data center moratorium. For background, I'm a recent graduate from UNC Charlotte with my degrees being in environmental studies and geography and will also be pursuing my masters of geography this upcoming fall with the focus on environmental justice through urban planning. Data centers across this country have proven to be detrimental to the quality of life for those living in close and far proximity. Here are the facts. They consume up to 5 million gallons of water every single day. They increase energy bills with rates in our neighboring state of Virginia increasing up to 267%. They destroy our precious lands with the average size of their needed parcels, not the big ones, just the regular ones being 224 acres or 450 football fields. They introduce incredibly high levels of pollution into the air, water, and the soil. We've even now found that they can create heat islands with temperatures rising up to 16 degrees. It begs the question of what benefits would we see from these centers being built here in Charlotte? What I know is that it does not benefit our dropping water table. It doesn't help people already struggling to afford energy bills that have risen 22% since 2020 in North Carolina. It does not help our tree canopy that has decreased more than 6% in less than a decade. And it surely doesn't help the increase in heat-related illnesses we're seeing here in the city of Charlotte. The reality is that there is no benefit for the working class, and I'd rather not subsidize billion-dollar companies with my money when I'll see none of the profit. I not only support the data center moratorium, but a call to our elected officials to deny all future data center applications due to the immense damage they've already caused nationwide. Doing this would be a reflection of a great city council that listens to what their constituents actually want to see.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jeffrey Shen. No, Sam. Sam. Sam.

Did we forget Sam? I think she called him and he didn't come.

Yeah, she called him.

We're fine.

My name is Jeffrey. I'm a resident of East Charlotte. I'm also a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We helped organize a petition with almost 6,000 signatures opposed to the data center in East Charlotte.

You've got to back up off that mic, baby. Back up. There you go. He's over there fixing it. It's a little too short. No, no, you're fine. You can back up off of it just a little bit, actually, because it's distorting a little bit because you're so close.

But I'm here to demand that city council pass a data center moratorium. All across the country, we're seeing the devastating impacts that data centers are having. They're driving up our energy bills at a time when many of us are struggling to make ends meet. They're using millions of gallons of water during a drought. And they're polluting the environment with toxic chemicals and never-ending noise. And up until now, Charlotte City Council has actively enabled these toxic projects. They voted for, I think, every single zoning request for a data center so far. Last year, many of the counselors in this room today voted to approve a massive data center right by the Catawba River in West Charlotte. This will be the largest data center in all of North Carolina, and it threatens a vital river that supplies water to 2.5 million people. This is a shame. And in all of these cases, there's been almost no community input. I live right by the proposed data center in East Charlotte. Neither the developer or the city has made any effort to notify myself, any of my neighbors, and ask if this is something the community actually wanted. And we're here today to say that enough is enough. It's time for the city to finally act. It's time for our elected officials to grow a backbone. It's time for the city to finally listen to the voice of the people. We need to ban data centers in Charlotte. But most importantly, we need to have power over how these decisions are actually made, not corporations like American Tower or Duke Energy. We should be able to decide what is built in our neighborhood and use our resources to fund people's needs, like schools, libraries, and community centers, not more data centers. So, City Council, we're demanding you pass a data center moratorium now. Thank you.

Hi. I don't think I have your name, but let's go ahead if you would tell us your name.

Thank you. I didn't hear you call me.

Thank you.

I apologize for that.

Sam? Sam?

Yes.

Yeah, Sam.

So I come to you all today in front of you and I made sure that I wore an appropriate shirt. My shirt says that I am a Charlotte native, a true unicorn. I am born here through and through. West Boulevard, Ponderosa, and Little Rock raised me. And I've been around the world from here to Canada, Europe, South Korea, and now I'm back in my city. And I'm in front of all of you today just to ask you one important question. How does this data center benefit the city of Charlotte? Everyone has given you a lot of stats and numbers, and sometimes that doesn't connect. So if you would, listen to me. Don't hear me. I want you to listen, okay? Because I'm going to paint you some images, all right? First, imagine you go in your kitchen for a glass of water, and then brown goop comes out. Does that sound dramatic? No, because that's just what happened in Fayetteville, Georgia with their data center. Or how about some more rolling blackouts that often reoccurs in Texas year in and year out from the demand of the power grid? Now, imagine, just like they're already going to happen with Duke Energy, that your energy bill goes up more and more. Cause we know those numbers, right? And now imagine you want to water your yard, but nothing comes out the faucet. Oh wait, we're already going through that now with the drought, right? Oh, okay. So we want to make it worse. And then lastly, let's go to South Memphis where an entire county, because of the work of XAI, and their data center has poisoned the entire community where everyone has developed asthma and more. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Abby Corrigan and Sanir Johnson.

Hi, my name's Abby Corrigan. I'm an actor and a filmmaker, and I am also born and raised here in Charlotte, North Carolina. I believe the science on how data centers affect people and planet is here, and it's all being ignored for the sake of progress. If you are within a four to six mile radius of an AI data center, you are at risk of developing heart disease. The sound pollution causes a consistent level of stress with no breaks that builds up over time, making you sick. Children are having heart palpitations living next to data centers. The light pollution can be so severe you can see at night inside of your own house. Data centers of this size can use up to 400,000 gallons of water a day or more for cooling, and the biggest use up to five million gallons of water a day. If we continue like this, we are going to run out of water on the planet in four years. In four years, we're going to run out of water on the planet. And once that water is released, even in closed-loop cooling systems like the one proposed here, that water has been linked to multiple rare cancers. And I haven't even mentioned the things it does to our brains when we use AI. It is so clear. If this continues across the nation, people are going to get sick. People are going to get very sick. And no one is excluded from this. The community and the animals in Reedy Creek have a right to have a place to feel safe in their homes and rest. That is not a privilege. That is a right. Rest is a right. Access to clean air and water is a right. That park gives people access to peace, and we need that now more than anything. So what's the payoff? The people who build these machines offer us nothing in exchange. Other than a great economy, supposedly, but the energy and water bills go up and we can't breathe or sleep and we have cancer? That doesn't seem like a very good payoff. There is a massive gap in understanding these technologies and releasing them into the world, and that is dangerous. We need to protect nature, not only for the animals, but because it helps us and our well-being in a world that continues to get faster. Because whether you remember it or not, every breath we breathe in here is from the natural world.

Mr. Johnson?

Yeah. Hello. My name is Sincere Johnson, and I'm a member for the Party of Socialism and Liberation. And I've come here today to speak out against the gaga centers being built and to demand a gaga moratorium. Because as we have seen from everybody here, no one supports this except for the people who call themselves capitalists. Which is very clear of what they have going on. But, as we've also seen, that we can stop these type of things. As we've seen the pushback with the stoppage of I-77. So we request and we demand that you guys take a look at this and do your research to see what these data centers bring. They bring nothing but pain, as we've heard. People in Memphis, Tennessee are poisoned. People in Fayetteville, Georgia are drinking brown goo water. So we demand a stop to these data centers. And another question that is pressing is why are these data centers only being built in areas where environmental racism? We don't see it in District 7 where Ed Riggs is. We don't see it in the Ballantyne area or the South Park area. But we see it in black and brown communities over time and time again, just like the I-77 project. Tearing through a black community, it is clear that these corporations do not care about black lives. They do not care about immigrant lives. They do not care about lives. And this is not just a Republican or Democrat issue. This is a nonpartisan issue. People all over the aisle oppose data singers because they see no benefit from this. There is no benefit. And as you guys sit here today, I want you to consider that your elected officials, your elected officials are okay with you guys being put in harm if it gets them more money, like egg drinks.

Our next speaker is Amethyst Fernandez. And if we can have one other person on this side, Angela Orrella.

Angel Orrella.

Angel or Alana? Or both. Hi. Hi. Yeah.

Amethyst? Good evening. My name is Amethyst Fernandez, and I'm also an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. I stand here in front of you, City Council, to speak out against the data center and to impose the emporium and please place a permanent ban on data centers moving forward. Not only is this a waste of natural resources, but it also puts a strain on communities. Those communities will be the ones to pay the price through the increased cost of energy and water consumption, that of which is directly correlated to data centers being built close to residential neighborhoods. At the Duke rate hearing, myself and other community members spoke out against their proposal regarding increasing rates. Many, including myself, mentioned financial hardships, which have only gotten worse with the continued cost of living crisis and now with the current drought that we are being asked to conserve water. Yet, this proposal will only add those stressors. And as these stretches continue to build, residents who trust you to make these decisions that which uphold their families, friends, and neighbors have been disserviced by you. You have promised to represent each individual living in Charlotte. The data proposal isn't new. And the continual delay of the necessary research that data centers harm communities waste resources has been a well-established fact. On top of cost increases, members of this community will also deal with not just noise pollution, but water and air pollution as well. Polluting resources and harming residents for the game of multi-billion dollar companies is not new to this country. We have come together to speak out against the proposal and put the people first. People have been anything but quiet with their concerns about this data center. We are asking you that on June 8th for you to vote to impose this moratorium, to vote for your constituents in mind as you were elected to do. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Angel Oriana. I am a member of Party of Socialism and Liberation, and I'm also an Eastside baby. I'm here to show support for the Momatorium, and also I wanted to speak on my experience as an Eastside native. Yesterday, I had $25 to my name. I still don't really know if I have money in my bank account right now. And now, as bills are coming up with this month ending, I have to make those harder decisions every day. And this comes with the data center, this drought that has been causing pressure and There are fees if we use too much water. But that's not all data centers. Data centers get to use water freely. Data centers are able to pollute our own water that we are drinking. And I don't want to repeat more, but talking with residents on Hood Road, I've noticed one thing. They've never heard of this project. They don't understand how close it is, how it's going to affect them. And this is something that I keep on finding with this system of governance. This is a capitalism that is rewarding slowness and absolute negligence. We do not need this system anymore because this is a system that is putting profit over people. It is a system that is cannibalizing itself. We need a new system. And I believe, as a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, that that system is socialism. We need a system that puts people over profit. And we need a system that actually fights against environmental racism. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Adam Theros and Rob Nanfeld.

Good evening. My name is Adam Frayers, and I've been a resident in East Charlotte for about 30 years now. As a resident and business owner, I'm here today to adamantly oppose the construction of any new data center in Charlotte, and especially the zoning request of the American Towers Corporation and their plan to build their data center in our local community. I think the litmus test to determine if you should pass a moratorium on any new data center rests solely on the question of, would you want a data center be built in your backyard? I'm going to talk about the one that is being proposed in my backyard. The proposed plot of land that we're talking about here is surrounded by large dense neighborhoods and it's bordered by Reedy Creek Nature Preserve, which has been a Charlotte ecological mainstay for over 40 years. It's the standard playbook by corporations to place these polluting monoliths in more vulnerable, marginalized neighborhoods, which disproportionately affect the working class, African-American, and Latino communities. Data corporations choose these spots because they know that those who hold the levers of power typically care less about these citizens, and they know that these citizens are too busy just trying to survive to make it to your committee meetings. Large data centers such as this consume hundreds of thousands of gallons of potable water per day. The water is chemically treated before it is evaporated through the cooling towers and then is released into the atmospheres as contaminated water vapor vapor vapor. Water which is not evaporated by cooling towers is simply discharged as wastewater. It's heavily concentrated with minerals, dust, and treatment chemicals before reentering our precious watershed. We are currently in a period of mandatory water restrictions. So this seems like a poor use of our public resources. Add that to the droning noise nuisance. We are creating hell on earth for those who live nearby. Property values will fall. People will get sick. Local ecosystems will be ruined. And for what, what benefit would be worth all of this? I can't think of one. I hope the city council members will also stand with their constituents and pass a bare minimum of 150 day moratorium on data centers in Charlotte. and reject the American Towers Corporation to request to rezone their plot of land in our beloved Charlotte community.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, members of council, and I'm not sure if I'm going to get the same rousing round of applause, but Thank you for the opportunity to be here this evening. I moved to Charlotte 15 years ago. June 9th, in fact, is the day I closed my house. And I will tell you, trying to get around town as a newcomer was incredibly difficult. Thank goodness for this and the little blue dot that guided me around to Queens and Queens and Kings and Kings and all the various roads. I ask as you consider this moratorium, think about the big picture. Think about the technology that we use on a daily basis. My guess is if we shut down the internet for the next 24 hours, pretty much everybody in this room would lose their mind. So as we go down the road and you consider your options, you have a lot of regulatory opportunities already at your discretion to set the rules in place. as data centers are considered, I'd ask you to look through that and consider those options. The next generation of data centers, many are using a closed-loop system for water, so water shouldn't be as much of an issue as it's been in the past. In terms of energy, if you want to set up a data center, you've got to go to Duke Energy. You have a $100,000 deposit, non-refundable, for a study to determine whether it's an opportunity for you to link into the system. And then at that point, you, the developer, gets to spend the money to link into the system and become part of the infrastructure. So there are a lot of costs related to this. I just ask you not to shut it down before we have an opportunity to really figure out how to hone that and have a regulatory scheme in place that's understandable, predictable, and reasonable and fair for everybody. So thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Damien Williams and Amy Cheek. Did you hear me or are you listening somewhere else? Amy Cheek and Damien Williams.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council, and especially Council Members Ajmera and Anderson in particular. My name is Damian Patrick Williams and I am an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Data Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I have a PhD in the field of science, technology, and society. And I focus specifically in the ways that AI and other technologies impact and are impacted by marginalized lived experience and the lives of marginalized people. I speak today in support of a moratorium on data center development, not just for business as usual approval processes, but for meaningful changes to how and where they are built. In addition to demands for initial and ongoing assessments on environmental and public health impacts, we've already heard today, we also need a rules committee with meaningful community stakeholder involvement. Groups like AI Now Institute are already working to provide people with the training necessary to get involved at the state, local, and community level. Hyperscale data centers especially have many negative effects for the communities in which they're placed, including higher energy and water use, as we've heard, increased emissions, and waste heat. The more centers are built, the more those impacts proliferate. As many others have noted tonight, those burdens including increased disability and long-term illness are too often placed on those who are already most marginalized in our communities. We cannot rely on data center companies or the for-profit utilities that supply them to monitor or regulate themselves. Recently in Fayetteville, Georgia, as many of those have noted, data center used nearly 30 million gallons of the city drinking water unaccounted for until residents noticed that they were having problems with their water pressure. As of yet, that company has received no additional fines beyond the back pay for water use that they had to use. All of this is done with the promise of jobs, and while a job is a job, most jobs data centers bring in are short-term construction work. Unless until these needs are met, there should be no new data center development in Charlotte. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Amy Cheek, and I'm a public school teacher. I never expected to spend my waking hours reading AI ethics, but since the tech industry is moving forward at breakneck speed with no prudence in sight, it has now become my problem. I'd like to briefly address accusations from the suits of fear-mongering. We are not afraid. We are disappointed. I've read numerous studies with my own human eyes and have learned that data centers are ruthless extraction projects. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, admitted that for the trillions needed for AI infrastructure, he wants ordinary Americans to make mandatory investments from our savings accounts and our pensions. While they race to build and profit from data centers, we are forced against our will to fund infrastructure. We have a name for involuntary investment. It's called robbery. The new 400 megawatt data center that's next to the Whitewater Center will use the energy equivalent of 280,000 households. Data centers exorbitantly extract water, and we are currently in our driest year since 1894, already straining beyond our interbasin water transfer certificate. Data centers create heat islands, oppressive noise pollution, drones 24-7 degrading nearby quality of life and property value. These centers span 100 plus acres of our land and on average employ a mere skeleton crew of 50 or fewer people. I have not grown up in Charlotte, North Carolina, to watch our Charlotte resources and Charlotte peace of mind get extracted to profit out-of-state corporations who could not care less about what the city means to any of us. They are not going to stop themselves. We need to aggressively regulate and protect the city we love. Will you please commit to implementing noise and environmental impact studies with public hearings to take input on public results? And will you please commit to the moratorium? Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ethan White. Yes. No. Just go ahead and talk to the podium and speak. All right.

Evening, y'all. My name is Ethan White, and I'm a cybersecurity expert for the FBI. I've been with them during this time. I've operated on data centers, and I've had to build them. Everything you've heard about these is true. A data center doesn't have any magic. It's just a big giant building with computers running 24-7. You may have been told Charlotte needs this because it's about improving the internet, modernizing infrastructure, keeping the city competitive, and bringing jobs. I would like to show you what's actually going on because none of that will happen. The internet you use every day, maps like that other guy mentioned, emails, movies, communication, none of that requires any new data centers. The internet already has a lot more space for us. What these facilities actually serve are pop-up AI companies who need massive amounts of computing power. That's a private business need, not a public one. American Tower Corporation and Digital Realty are not coming to Charlotte to give residents jobs. They are coming because there's a gold rush in the AI industry and Charlotte is a target. What is a consideration is our tax money. Under our law, any data center that invests $75 million over the next five years gets a sweeping tax relief. That means companies like Digital Realty pay no sales tax on construction materials, heavy infrastructure, computer hardware. They are entirely exempt from taxes on the massive amounts of electricity required to run these facilities. Your own state analysts said this is going to drain at least $50 million from our public tax collections in the first year. To be direct, these companies are using our tax exemptions to build private infrastructure that serves private clients, generates private profit, and leaves Charlotte residents with a utility bill and nothing else. No jobs, no benefit. That's not a partnership, that's a handout. Now, before I go, the 150-day moratorium is not a rejection of this technology. It's the city doing its job. It's Charlotte saying, we are going to understand what we are approving before we approve it. That's not a bad signal. That's just basic governing. The alternative to these projects before... Sorry. The alternative to these projects... May I continue a couple more seconds? No?

All right. Please vote yes on the moratorium.

I thought you were with the FBI.

All right, so I want to have our next two speakers come down, and they are the last two speakers for this opportunity. And so our first one is we'll have Larry Shaheen. We'll have Larry Shaheen here and Nancy Carter. Thank you, Nancy, for being here.

We're not going green on this one, but that's okay. All right, let's speak. Oh, for this one? Nothing. Oh, I'm not paid on this one at all. If I may. Thank you all very much for the opportunity to speak for you today. And I want to go ahead and give a rousing shout out to Robert Dawkins for attempting to bring a modicum of respect to this conversation for the evening that we've had, as always. I respect you, man. I do.

Please, please.

But they're going to, as always. Facts are stubborn things, ladies and gentlemen. And whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. Not my words, but those of John Adams, one of our founding fathers. They laugh at the founding fathers, I'm not shocked at that. So ultimately one of the things that I'm here today to ask you to do as a board member of NAOP Charlotte is to follow the facts and follow the evidence. Fact one, whether or not we say that data centers want to be in Charlotte or not, the fact is is that they provide a significant amount of tax revenue that is going to go towards funding important necessary needs of the city of Charlotte.

Mr. Shaheen, it has been a very long day and you guys have done so many good things by staying where we needed to be and be polite and adequate with everyone. If we can just take some more time and get that done, then perhaps we can walk out of here and talk a little bit about collectiveness and what it makes and how it works. But if you're doing this in just a way of like, let's just toss it out, it's not going to be workable for all of us to be a part of it. And I'm sure everyone in this room right now wants to be a part of this solution. So please, let's try to do that. I really would appreciate it if you would do this. We'll move on. Mr. Shaheen.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. There are a lot of necessary important items that this council can fund, and they can be funded with a significant amount of the money that is generated from these. Now, those who have spoken tonight have brought up many significant concerns, and I am certain that the council will address those concerns and study those concerns and do everything they can to make sure that we as a community can walk and chew gum at the same time. There are multiple ways that we can be good environmental stewards. There are multiple ways that we can make sure that data centers and those that create them do not impact our communities, and that's your job. That's why you've been elected. And luckily, with your leadership, we'll be able to see those types of changes made. But there's another fact and evidence that I want to make sure that we're drawing attention to so that these folks don't walk away from this and after your vote on June 8th, whether or not they think that some of the things that they want to have happen are going to happen. To remind you, you do not have the authority to stop construction on an already created project. That is state law. A reminder that the downzoning provision that was passed by the General Assembly also does not allow changes to current, by right, zoning classifications. You cannot do that. And I want to make sure that that's put into the record tonight, because that's not my opinion, that's not your opinion, that's not their opinion. That's fact, and that's law. And it's really important that folks in this room understand tonight what is and what is not capable to be done legally, factually, and soundly, so that we can work together for a good solution. Thank you.

Nancy, please, thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Thank you for listening.

I support our treasured East Charlotte. Robert Dawkins and friends and their proposal and offer you some additions. Water. All data centers should be included in the circular water system efforts. If they would not accept that proposal, which would save water, then the water would have to be treated to lower its temperature to mandated level before release. Heated water destroys natural habitat and conditions in local water, can lead to algae blooms, and affects the quality of water for public use at this location and downstream. These water efforts could reduce some of the heat island generated by these centers, 14 to 16 degrees in the neighborhood. Land, best use of land, and finding out what it is is a must. Farmland preservation here now is strong, but is threatened throughout North Carolina by this onslaught. Other threatened land uses are parks, local green spaces, sites for affordable housing, solar farms, etc., etc. Excuse me. If we do not address these issues, the data centers would demand that their needs be met locally. Duke Energy would be reinforced in its building more fossil-fueled plants rather than clean energy sources. If the current North Carolina law is not changed, tax benefits feed this industry, taking needed funding from the state and increasing the state burden on its residents, as well as decreasing their natural resources and assets, land, water, and energy. The added value of these centers is their tax value, but currently their taxes are reduced or zero. After construction, they do not bring in a substantial number of jobs for our residents. So thank you for listening. Let's work together, but please, please be considerate.

Madam mayor motion to close public care.

We have a motion to close the public hearing a second all in favor.

Hi.

Hi. Anyone opposed? All right. So thank you very much. This is the closure of this. And next, we will move into the policy section of our agenda. The city manager.

No data centers!

No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! No data centers! Okay, Robert needs to drink it. So,

Can you hear me around here.

Yes, okay, so we.

Our next policy item is a discussion and a decision on the process and schedule for filling the mayoral seat vacancy. I'm now going to turn this over to the city attorney.

Thank you, madam mayor as attorney James approaches the lectern this process and I believe the slides are being pulled up as we speak. Having your packets, a presentation that gives the overview of the mayoral vacancy appointment process. I will go ahead and start with the beginning portions of the presentation and then I will pivot at slide number seven for Deputy Attorney James. Are the slides able to be retrieved on the screen?

Thank you. Thank you.

So slide number two, state law requires that a mayoral vacancy or any council vacancy for that matter to be filled by city council. In cities that hold partisan elections, such as the city of Charlotte, the interim mayor must belong to the same political party as the outgoing mayor, in this case, a member of the Democratic Party. Just for the public's reference, the municipal elections for 2027, the primary will occur on September the 14th and the general election will occur on November the 2nd. Next slide, please. This slide is designed to provide an overview of the historical background here in Charlotte. We've been here before. Uh, we've had two mayoral vacancies field in the last 20 years. Um, by appointment of note in 2013, um, mayor Fox resigned and, uh, Patsy Kinsey was appointed. Uh, she was appointed by council vote in 2014. Mayor Patrick Cannon resigned, and Dan Claudfelter, who was an external candidate, was appointed by vote. And we did note in the presentation an I in E, I for an internal appointee, and E for an external appointee. Next slide. The qualifications for appointment include, as I mentioned before, being a registered Democrat. being a registered voter, being 21 years of age or older and residing within the corporate boundaries of the city of Charlotte and also qualified to vote in city council election. Additional external appointment considerations include the list of items here would be part of the application, personal information, Some of the key highlights here, of course, first and last name, the address, whether or not the proposed candidate resides within the corporate boundaries. Of course, as your legal counsel, I want to acknowledge that there's a familiarity with the mayor and city council's code of ethics and whether or not you intend to seek election in the 2027 term. This is a non-binding requirement. or non-binding consideration. Next slide. Additional external appointment considerations. This is a list of potential questions that you all have considered in similar instances, not with the mayor, but I just wanted to highlight these on this slide. Number one would be to state your interest or state the person's interest for wishing to serve as interim mayor. Point number two, councils establish several key focus areas and being able to walk through how as interim mayor he or she would be capable and in the position to effectuate those. Item three, to describe previous experience that has prepared this person for candidacy as interim mayor. and attachment of a resume. And with that, I will pivot to Deputy City Attorney Lena James.

Thank you, City Attorney. Andrea Leslie-Fried, good evening, Mayor, Council Members. It's a pleasure to be here. I didn't expect to follow the public forum that we had, so we'll try to be quick and concise. Thank you, Mayor Lyles, for your service for the last several years. It's been a pleasure to work with you. In terms of the internal appointment process, what I would, if we could get to the next slide, suggest is that you could follow a process where an internal candidate for interim mayor may be selected in the same manner as you've done for the mayor pro tem, which is you could have a motion and a second process to follow that as you do that usually at your organizational meeting after an election. If the interim mayor is chosen from the current body, from a current council member, then his or her seat would be filled using the application process similar to what we're proposing, and I believe you've received a sample application. The successful candidate must meet all the qualifications for filling the vacancy. So again, if an existing council member fills the vacancy, then you have to backfill their position. If it's an at-large, we would follow the protocol for that. If it's a district council member, then you'd have the district residency requirement for that. And again, the criteria, as Ms. Leslie Fite reminded you of, is that you have to be the same party affiliation have to be 21 years or older and reside in the district or be filled by somebody who lives in the municipal district at large. We have two optional timelines for you. Option eight, what we're calling the expedited schedule, and we'll get to option B in just a minute. I would ask you to consider that your baseline of reference would be when you make your appointment. So with this expedited schedule, if you'll consider that what we're proposing is that council make its appointment, you'd have to call a special meeting on Thursday, June 18. and then you back up from that. So if council was to vote and adopt this process today, We could, in conjunction with the clerk's office and with communications and marketing, open the application, have it ready and available for folks who want to do that on Thursday morning. The application would be open and online for about nine days and would close on June the 5th, Friday, June the 5th. Thereafter, the following Monday, the completed applications would be provided to counsel by the clerk's office after they've checked all the eligibility criteria. And then again, you'd be back to that calling a special meeting that gives council about 10 days between June 8th and June 18th to review your applications before you get to a special meeting on, I'm sorry, you do your council appointment on June 18th. So this expedited schedule, just to point out, does not include a public forum. as we've sometimes done and as we did, for example, last year filling the District 6 vacancy. And then the candidate that is appointed by council would be sworn in on July 1st after the current mayor's term ends. If we go to option two, or option B, I should say, a little bit of a slower schedule. Again, consider that your baseline point or date for appointment of that candidate is June 22nd, which is, I believe, your last business meeting in June. So if council were to receive the presentation and hear this information today and decides to call a special meeting after your council committee meetings on June the 1st, you could adopt this process on June the 1st. Applications could be available the following day, on Tuesday, June the 2nd, and would be open for about eight days until the following Tuesday, June the 9th. Council would receive applications on Thursday the 11th. And if you were elect to have a public forum, I would suggest that you do that on June the 18th, the Thursday before your appointment, which would be on June the 22nd. And again, same as before, the candidate would be sworn in on July the 1st. Next slide is a blank, and we can, once you have an opportunity to have some discussion, we can fill in the dates. And if you'll remember last year, we did this a little bit. We gave you a couple of proposed schedules and had council have an opportunity to discuss it and think through what date and schedule works for them. So that's the intent of that one. And it'll take us to pretty much our last slide, a couple of decision points for you. One is to determine whether council wants to send this to a council committee. The most obvious one would probably be budget, government, and interrelations, or have the decision be made by council as a whole. The next decision point is whether you want to have it be an external process or an internal process limited only to to candidates who are on the dais and on council at the moment. The question of whether or not to conduct a public forum and recognizing that if it is not on a scheduled council meeting date, we'd have to call a special meeting. And lastly, whether you want to proceed with the expedited or the regular schedule. So thank you for the opportunity. I'm happy to answer questions. I'll turn it back over to Ms. Leslie Feinstein.

I'm sorry. Let's see. I want to make sure as everybody had an opportunity or if there are questions, that's what we're going to start off with first. We'll start with Ms. Johnson and I'm sorry.

Okay. I mean, are you, did you finish? Will you finish?

Yes. I was just saying that, um, we're going to go ahead and start with you and then come around. It's, I think that's the way I was seeing it when I was sat down here. Thank you, ma'am. Uh-huh.

Okay, I just have a question, the same question I asked via email on May 7th, I think. If we did select an internal person, well, during the application process, when individuals complete applications, can they submit an application to be considered for mayor and or council member? in case we select a internal candidate.

She wants to know if they can apply for two positions in the same process.

Yeah, if they can apply, like if there's a dropdown and they can apply for council and or mayor, or do we, and I understand the district versus at large, but if it's, can, is that possible? Could we do that? Is there an appetite to do that? And if, um, um, Yeah, if we're able to do that. When we interview, if the questions could be geared for council and mayor, and then we select the candidate.

It's functionally possible, Council Member Johnson, to your point. If an internal candidate is chosen to become mayor, interim mayor, then if the vacancy that is created, as you just mentioned, if it's an at-large seat, certainly any resident in the city of Charlotte could serve in that seat. But for instance, if it were a district seat, then that person may or may not be eligible depending upon where they live in the city. So it can be done. Just with a caveat, certainly we would want to be clear in our notifications to applicants that it's not a given that they would be considered for a council member seat. It would depend on whether or not they could qualify based on where they live in the city.

And there may not be interest in that. I just think since it's been almost 20 days since the mayor resigned and we're trying to keep moving forward about the people's business, I think that's an effective way to proceed. So I just wanted to know if that's possible.

It can be done. Let me answer that question pointedly. It can be done. The application as part of your packet is pretty generic, and certainly it could apply to either of those scenarios.

That's all I have for now.

Thank you.

All right. Yes, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. Attorney, thank you so much. And thank you so much, Deputy City Attorney, as well, for the presentation. I did have a quick question. For the external versus internal selection, if we open it up externally, does that stop from an internal selection?

It does not. No, it does not. It just it simply means that the internal candidate would need to go through the application process just as an external candidate.

Got it. Thank you. And then when it comes to the timeline, is there a the option A and option B? I know one is expedited. The other one is standard schedule. But the difference is, is that the appointment would be made June 18th rather than June 22nd for the expedited.

That's correct, and it's worth noting also that the option A currently does not have a public forum component. I will note, though, and Deputy City Attorney James mentioned this, between the closure of the application process, which is June 8th, until the proposed special meeting, that's 10 days. And so if you were to decide as a body that you wanted to have a public forum somewhere in between there, you have enough time to make that happen.

Thank you for that. The other question I had and it's mainly driven by historical context is this non-binding requirement and intent to seek election for 2027. Do you know when that requirement was made?

It is. A couple of community members and council members also have asked, is that something that you all could request? That's not currently in the application. You can decide whether you want that as part of the consideration. I'm just simply highlighting the fact that we believe that that would be a non-bonding component of the request.

Meaning somebody can make the case that they won't, but can end up. They can lie. Okay.

Tell stories. Change their mind. Change their mind. Yeah, absolutely.

But right. You know, current council members who have the advantage of being a city council member can, and this is more rhetorical question. And so bear with me as you entertain my thought process here can, and, and that are doing fundraisers right now can end up running for mayor, right? Like that's an every right for them to run for mayor. Yeah.

It's possible.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you. That's it for me.

All right. Ms. Mayfield. Thank you, Mayor.

Attorney question. Is there, and the question will be, do I need to identify their support around the council for us to clarify whether or not It is going to be a mandatory in-person discussion, or if it's going to be flexible to do online or in person. One of the challenges that happened previously was when we, when council member Mitchell stepped away, there was an appointment process. Over 124 applications were received from community. Yeah. Then council made a decision and appointed a former council member. one of the challenges that came back from community is the fact that some individuals came met in person. This particular individual did not. So that, so that there is consistency. And even when we had our appointment process, when council member Bakari was had the opportunity to go to Washington DC, We chose for those who are interested in serving as the representative for District 6 to actually come before council and have an interview process for the sake of identifying a title for it. would that be something that should be clarified in this language so that we have consistency because i personally do not think a virtual option should be an option because you're not going to be working for the mayor's office virtually so if you can't make it in to meet with us while we try to identify the strongest candidate to step into this role. I would have a concern that if you can't do that bare minimum, but if we don't have that bare minimum written in the application, then it's not going to be known. And that one is not one that's subjective. Whereas asking someone to actually honor their own word, we've already seen three different times in the time that I've been in office, that that goes in one ear and out the other. But having it as part of the application process, I think that would give us an opportunity to have consistency because at the end of the day, all you have to be is a registered Democrat, 21, live in the city. You don't even have to be an active voter. Nobody that's been elected around this dais had to be an active voter. The same thing that we went through, except we went to the community and was able to identify the votes, but there's no particular skill set that any of us had to have in order to file for office. But if we have the opportunity to appoint someone and we're trying to identify leadership, and if we're going to stick with these questions, I hope that if it is a question of if the majority of us need to agree on it, I hope that we can agree that part of this process and this application states that once we identify the timeline, that these are the days that we're going to have the in-person meetings. If we were going to have in-person meetings to look at the MPTA appointments, We should identify the time and the individual should identify the time to come in and have an in-person meeting if they want to be the interim of one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the nation.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. I agree with Ms. Mayfield. We have an abundant tradition of people saying they wouldn't run and then doing so. I think it would be interesting to have on this form just the question, do you intend to run? I'd like to see the answer, or the lack of an answer to that question. I think it's something that we can use for information, but we need to understand there's no enforceability around a commitment not to run. So take it for what it's worth, right? But I'd still like to see the answer to the question, or the applicant can just not answer the question. Now to clarify, the external process The internal process excludes external applicants. The external process doesn't exclude anybody.

Correct. That's correct.

I have a concern if we used an internal process that there would be those who said, hey, this was a cozy thing. That's not how it was done before. So I think I'm in favor of the external process and of the standard timeline. Thank you.

All right. Mr. Graham.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. First, let me start off by thanking you for your leadership.

Thank you.

Over the past 10 years.

I think it feels a little bit longer. It's just tonight. Just tonight.

Four and a half. To the city of Charlotte. Well over.

Thank you.

I think that needs to be said and that she is still the mayor until June 30th. That's right. She has announced her resignation. She has not resigned as of yet. Exactly. I think those things matter to me. Given that, if we don't neglect or select a mayor by July 1st, what's the consequences? the mayor pretend would serve in the absence of the of the mayor and that is permitted by charter as well as general state law yeah i kind of knew the answer right so so i think we ought to focus on getting it right i'm not i don't feel the urge to rush to make a decision I think we need to have a process that people trust and have faith in, no matter what decision that we make, that is transparent and open to everyone. I think the external process makes sense. I'm not signing up to interview 200 candidates, right? Just because you submit an application doesn't mean you get an interview. I think we need to kind of have that as a, as a, some guard rails as we move forward. Right. Um, again, I like the blank slate, uh, and for the council themselves to kind of figure out what works for us time-wise. I just look at my calendar. I won't be here on the 18th. Right. I'll be out of town. And so I think we need to make sure that there's consensus where we all can be together to make this very important decision. So thank you.

So colleagues, I actually, I had formulated some comments, but I think I'm going to reserve them until later on in the evening. And I'll just very high level address, you know, I've heard folks refer to this as sort of a mayoral conclave and that 11 of us are making a decision that is, it's not lost on me that it is so close on the heels of the voters making a decision. And so I am, again, it weighs on me pretty heavy because this is not routine and it's responsibility. And so for me, I am open to the broadest involvement of the public as possible. So for me, the external is a better process. I am inclined towards a public forum, and I am uncomfortable with anything expedited. I believe it should happen on a regular cadence. For me, though, and this is a bit of self-interest, I would like to see it go to the BGIR committee, other than full council. I think that that is the appropriate place to make some initial determinations as to who goes on to that next level. But again, I say that in self-interest because I serve on that committee and I'm keenly interested in the dynamics of this decision. And again, I have further comments because I think, you know, as someone who is not running for mayor, which is a unique position on this dais right now, I do have some things that I'd like to reach out and be heard on in speaking to those folks who do wish to run, who I respect immensely for wishing to do that. But I just, I will defer. So thank you.

All right.

So, City Attorney, can we accomplish two things on Monday, June 1st? To Council Member Owens' perspective, refer this to BGR and then still have a special meeting at 6 p.m.?

Put something that we've done seven times? Yes. You could.

Okay.

Yes, sir. You could.

I kind of agree with all the comments. I think, one, a standard schedule will allow us the flexibility. This is an important decision we have to make for our community. And we have one council member, Graham, saying June 18th could be a problem. So maybe we need to come up with some more possible dates to show flexibility. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and also thank you for your service for the last 30 years. I'm sure it feels like at least 50 or 60. You know, I will keep my comments very brief. I will say I think this is a really important leadership moment for us as a council as we look at all the opportunities over the last 20 years on the 20 years of historical examples. I can't see the slide number, but all of those in all of those instances, with the exception of two, we've had a public forum. So I think it's really important to hear from the public. I, I am, for an external process and I agree with Mr. Driggs on a couple of points. Point one is I think the standard option B schedule is the one that I would be for. It will allow us the time to have those those interviews and hear from the public. When I went through this process, Mayor Pro Tem, when you vacated your seat, I came down and had an interview and submitted an application. Unfortunately, I wasn't picked, but that's okay. Here I am. But I think it's really important to hear from the candidates whether we set a small timeline like we did for the NPTA process or a larger timeline. That's to our consideration. But I would like to advance with option B. And I do also remember when we did this process for District 6, Ms. Owens, when we selected Mr. Peacock. We did have the question on the application of whether or not you were intending to run again. We had that in our last process that we did just a year or so ago. I think it's important, even though it's non-binding, but it's on record, right? And it sets the intentionality that whoever's going to go through this process, sets a level of integrity around their answers. So I would be in favor of adding that question to the application. The last thing I'll say is this person we select will effectively serve out 75% of a mayoral term. So I believe it's really important to get this right. With option B, if there's one or two dates that a council member is out of town, we could very easily pivot that one date by taking a poll. But I think option B has thought in it. Thank you, Ms. James, for laying it out. And I'd like to advance with that. Thank you.

All right, Ms. Mayo. Thank you. I'd also prefer to do option B as well. I do go in the standard schedule. I'd also like us to go have This whole process goes to the committee, intergovernmental and budget. I think to flush out some of those questions for the application, I think we have to be really intentional about exactly what we say, particularly if we're not wanting someone to run, again, for office. So maybe being very specific, do you plan on running for any office in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, either city council or Mecklenburg County, and just kind of thinking through how can people maybe try to get over on... some of those questions and answers. Um, but I understand some people may not tell the truth. Um, but yeah.

Um, so I think those are great options that that would be my preference.

I think it's a great opportunity to hear from people. I would be curious to talk about some guardrails so that we're not having to hear from 200 plus people. Um, but I would hope that in the committee we would talk more about that. Um, the attorney maybe can give us some kind of recommendations. That's not something I'm familiar with. Um, I wasn't sure if there were kind of guidelines or best practices that you've seen in the past.

We have some thought on that. We can share that with committee, but also want to do some additional research to see what other communities are doing.

Thank you. Ms. Watlington.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I also support option B. I don't think that we need to necessarily reinvent the wheel. We've done this a number of times. We have a standard process. I think that the couple of items that are significant as it relates to this can be handled sooner rather than later. keen to get this process executed. So I'm not necessarily in support of taking it to committee for the simple fact that the committee is a week from now. And then once that happens, then you're going to have to come back to committee and then agree on that at that particular time. Certainly not trying to circumvent it, but some things I think can be executed without trying to recreate a whole new policy. This is execution level stuff, not policy work. We have a process that's worked and we've done it. And frankly, while we've seen time and time again that people don't operate in integrity, and that's unfortunate, I think the public has eyes, and the public has ears, and ultimately it is the citizen's decision who's going to serve them. So whether someone offers up to run for election, we'll be under them if they sat in people's faces and lied to them. So given that, I don't know that we need to over-engineer it, given that anything we put in there is non-binding anyway, we just beat them. So I would like to go ahead with option B tonight.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you for your service and thanks to your family for their sacrifices as well. I saw Kwame and his girls and they can't wait to spend more time with their grandma, so I understand. I want to thank Attorney James for laying out this process. I agree with what's been said by Councilmember Owens and Councilmember Anderson, as well as Councilmember Watlington, who is an engineer, said we don't need to over-engineer this whole process that has worked many, many times in the past. I believe that we continue, we proceed with option B, also that we go with external process to ensure that public trust and confidence remains in the outcome of this process. It also ensures that the process is fair, transparent, and objective. So with that, I would like to make a motion to adopt option B.

Second.

We have a motion.

We have some other stuff, though.

I'm sorry? Yeah, so option B, it is. Oh, I'm sorry. I would like to adopt. I would like to make a motion to adopt option B process that invites candidates both internally as well as externally. Second. All right. We have a motion. Quite a clarification. Does that include public forum? Yes, so option B does include public hearing. So I know the date as May 18 doesn't work for some council members, but as Council Member Anderson said, we can always do an online survey and figure out what date works. But what I'm trying to... So the motion will pretty much go with all the steps that's been laid out in option B, which is a standard timeline we have used in the past. Second.

There was a second. Madam Mayor, just a point of clarification for the attorney. With that motion, which I do support, do we need to have specific language about whether it goes back to committee or whether it stays with full council?

I just want to make sure that the- I just want to clarify. As Council Member Watlington said, we don't need to send it to the committee. Okay, understood. We need to move forward and proceed. Thank you.

If I may just add, from the date that you received the applications, which on option B would be June 11th, between that and June 22nd, you can have a special meeting at any time. That's right. I'm sorry. It doesn't have to be the 18th. It doesn't have to be the 18th.

It doesn't have to be the 18th.

That's correct. All right.

So that answers.

Thank you.

Okay. And you'll note from your timeline it was optional for date anyway.

Yes. All right. Miss Mayfield would like to have... Thank you, Madam Mayor. Since we have a motion and a second, I guess this is discussion time. So, just for clarification, Council Member Esmir, your... What you just motioned is for option B. What I asked earlier was regarding adding to the application a mandatory in-person. Now, for... This is a question for the attorney. Do I need to do that as an amendment since that's not a part of option B in order to have that? And the second part is just for clarification, just like we did with MPTA, we can create the survey piece to see which applications have the strongest support. So we're not interviewing with 180, 300 people we're interviewing, but we are having a clear understanding that that's in the actual application. So with that in mind, Madam mayor and council member as mayor, I would like to add an amendment to the motion. And that amendment is to add the language of once the date is identified to, for the application to state that a mandatory in-person meeting for those candidates invited will be expected.

That's a friendly amendment.

So that's part of the public forum, right? That's on the application that it will be stated on this application that when you apply, you know that there is going to be a mandatory meeting.

Oh, got it. So you are just modifying, adding one more item.

I'm just modifying the language if I can get the support on that amendment. to make it very clear that it will be an in-person meeting. If you are selected for the interview, it's going to be an in-person interview.

Got it. So two modifications to the application I heard. First is mandatory meeting for public hearing. And second is what Council Member Anderson said. Are you going to...

What was the exact language? Mine is not a mandatory meeting for the public hearing. What I'm saying has nothing to do with the public hearing. I'm saying the actual application, whoever actually applies, when we send this application out, this application is in here to qualify for considerations. An additional bullet is going to be added to say mandatory in-person meeting.

Got it. Okay.

And that's only for the people that would be selected. I just wanted to clarify, Council Member Mayfield. Interview.

Thank you. Interview, not meeting.

Mandatory in-person interview. Thank you, Council Member Johnson and J.D. Madam Mayor, even at that, that's just a motion, but I got a second on it.

We have a motion and a second.

There's a second. We're going to do it as a friendly amendment. Thank you. Hold on, I just want to

You go ahead, City Attorney.

The mandatory interviews, Council Member Mayfield, that you're proposing, if I'm understanding correctly, that would occur at, right, it's on the application, but the location and time, that would be at the public forum. Like the in-person interviews, would that be at the public forum or would it be at a different time?

So that's what I said. We're having two different conversations because... If we go back and I think there's only 2 of us that we're here when we first did this but also want us to keep in mind when Patrick can vacated the seat of the mayor's office that was in March of 2014 so that was an additional 3 months more than what the timeline that the mayor has given us during that process. where we identified the applications we didn't go have. Tonight we're having a public hearing and having a discussion on it. We created the application, the application went out to the community and we went through those and we narrowed it down and had the interview process. I think we're trying to create additional steps when we've already done this. We went through five mayors in eight years. In my first eight years in office, I went through five different mayors. So a process is definitely in place as well as with council members. All I'm asking, I personally don't think once we get around to raise our hands on it, then we can decide whether or not that hearing peace outside of tonight needs to happen, but ultimately it is the responsibility of council that's going to make the decision of who's stepping into the seat. Community has sent emails. People have gone to the media and share their idea of volunteering for the role. At the end of the day, we are going to, we're the ones that's going to be making that decision, but we're making it a little bit more difficult because we're saying the time we had someone who in March of a brand new election year, The seat had to be identified with the replacement. So this isn't new. I don't think we need to do any more. I will support option B as far as the timeline of it. And it needs to be a public option for me, for community to be engaged. But any extra steps beyond that, especially as we're going into the summer and trying to work with people's schedules, only thing I am adding Is an additional bullet on this application and when we get these applications out to community people apply, then we start going through. And see where their support and invite those individuals in. I don't understand the idea of this public comment.

OK, Miss Mayfield, Mr. We gotta figure out just like we did with you guys.

So we were trying to get what? Was going to be done. I think there was a motion and, but there wasn't clarity on that. That's what I'm saying, but that's why I'm pointing over there. Let's get some clarity on that motion and then city attorney. And then I guess what I was trying to do is make sure that we move on around.

She wanted to respond to her. If I may. So the public forum that is listed, that is the time period designated for the interviews. We're using the term public forum, but that is the interview time. And so I just wanted to clarify that point. Thank you.

Thank you.

Have you been on the same page?

Yeah.

So mine is a friendly amendment, Council Member Esmir.

Yeah, so it's the same thing because It's just the wording, wordsmithing. It could be public forum. It could be interview. But at the end of the day, it's option B, you know, at a high level, okay?

Okay. All right. So are we going around or not? Ms. Anderson was next, and then Ms. Watlington was also, I think. Go ahead.

Go ahead. It don't even matter.

No, Madam Mayor, I just wanted to ask the question because there was a friendly amendment. Was it accepted? Right. Ms. Ajmera? Because the friendly amendment just specifically said add the language for the mandatory interview, which is also used as public forum on page nine. On page nine in that June 18th column, it says public forum optional. Special meeting will be called to hold a public forum to receive comments. from qualified candidates, so that's the time. She just wants to have that language on the application process. So did you accept that amendment?

Yes, I did, because the attorney clarified it. The attorney said that it could be interview, it could be public forum, so that's why in the bracket it says optional.

So it's accepted.

I guess one of the questions that I think I may have missed is that you're going to do that, but I mean, what about the portion are you going to do, like are you going to be, are you planning to make a motion, I mean, are you planning on I'm running. Is that going to be?

Yes, she is. Yeah.

So that would also have to be in the. Yes, she got information. Right. What was your question? I said the question was if we were if we were going to say to people whether or not they would run. And that's what I was just saying, make sure, because you can put it on a sheet of paper. I mean, it's not like there are two things that you're saying must happen. Is that right? So, okay.

So, Mayor and members of council, Monday, June 1st, you have... I think four of your five committees, but you also have straw votes, and straw votes start at five. Right. So I just didn't know if you want this to butt up against straw votes like this, or do you just want it at the end of straw votes?

At the end, I would think.

Start at six. The straw votes start at five. So what you're saying is,

It should come right after the straw?

If it's the will of the council.

I just didn't know. Oh, got it. So there is no break in between?

Whatever works. I just didn't want us to meet tonight. I see.

Yeah, thank you for clarifying. Yes. So if you're all okay, we can adjust the time from 6 p.m. to whenever the straw meeting ends. Sure. Is that fine?

Second.

Question? Discussion? Sure. All right.

Ms. Johnson?

Yes. Two things. What exactly will we be doing on Monday, June 1st, after the straw votes?

Right here. Right here.

I can read. I'm asking the city manager.

What?

You're saying we would vote to adopt the process?

Yes, exactly.

Couldn't we just vote to adopt the process tonight? That what we're doing right now is adopting the process? Couldn't we adopt the process tonight and then to a modified option B? I mean, what do we need another week to adopt the process? That's my first question. And then my second question is the application process. Are we going to consider for mayor and council member at the same time? I think that we give applicants the option. Are you applying for both?

So you have to make that just like how I had to do a friendly amendment. You have to do that as a member.

I'm asking kind of a little discussion, but definitely I would like to amend the amendment that we adopt that we adopt option D, but that we vote to adopt the process tonight.

Yeah, I thought that's what we were doing.

A couple things with this. No, we weren't.

No, if you look, option A says council votes to adopt process today, Tuesday, May 26th. And if you read, it says council presentation to consider process and schedule the vote. The vote is June 1st. So what our manager was saying, we're going to vote on June 1st simply to adopt the process. Is that correct?

It seems like that's what this lays out, yes.

That's what this lays out. I'm sorry.

You all have not decided, or you will not have decided, when you want to hold your public forum and so that's another piece to be selected at a later time and so you can go ahead and adopt the process of option b tonight with a later to select your um your public forum or your interviews let me say interviews at a later time. I mean, that would be a reason for connecting on the 1st. But in any event, you can strike June 1 if you decide and focus on letting the applications be open on June 2nd, closing on June 9th, and the remainder. You can amend option B. Okay.

Do you want to make the amendments? I mean, there's two amendments on the table. If we just clarify, are we voting to adopt the process tonight? That would be my recommendation.

Yes, ma'am. So that's the motion I made. The attorney said June 1st will come up with more concrete timeline based on everyone's availability because the June 18th may not work for everyone. So what she's saying, they'll come up with more concrete timeline and the interview date based on everyone's availability. So that's when we will have more concrete. This is just a step to adopt the process, but more concrete timeline will come on June 1st.

A city attorney, perhaps you can clarify because I'm reading. That's not the motion you made. The motion you made states that we are going to adopt the process on June 1st, not tonight.

But look at it. I mean, it's on the slide.

Option B. That's what option B says. That's what option B says. That's what option B says. However, if you're inclined to go with the standard schedule... And not hold a meeting on June 1st. You would simply proceed with June 2nd with the application opening. And so, frankly, you can modify option B, if Council sees fit, specifically Council Member Esmeralda, if you would like, to strike June 1. You don't feel like you need it. Okay. And simply proceed with the remainder of the schedule. Okay. Accept our amendment?

So just a point of information, you're asking Ms. Ajmera if she's accepting her friendly amendment?

Yeah, just try June 1st meeting.

Yes, we're adopting it tonight. Tonight, the process. Kind of combining. Yes, we're adopting tonight because the city manager just expressed how busy we're going to be on June 1st. We don't need that on the agenda. We can adopt it tonight. So we have to drop it?

while keeping in mind that June 18th date could be adjusted later because we have to check everyone's availability. So, yes.

So you accept the preliminary? If that's the inclination, I can give you the language. Okay, sure. How about that? Sure.

And there's a current friendly amendment that's been motioned. Yes. Second. So that means we have to.

Friendly amendments don't need to be motioned.

You are okay with that, ma'am? Yeah, I'm fine.

I haven't voted on the motion.

Okay. I believe the question is. Are you ready for the question? If I may restate the motion, Madam Mayor, to see that it captures all of the intent.

Who has the motion? She's making the motion. If you will read that. No, you made the motion. She's reading your motion. Okay. We're going to have the city attorney read what we have with all of the agreements that you've made. So let's go ahead and see how that works. Okay, yes. Sorry, Madam Mayor, I have a question.

I'm sorry, Madam Mayor. I'm sorry, but she had directed the city attorney to clarify the motion on the floor so we can have clarity on what we're about to vote on or speak on. Can the city attorney restate the motion?

Yes, that's what I thought. I was trying to get to that. Thank you. But then we had someone that raised their hand over here, and so I'm just, you know, how you go.

We really only need one mayor, and she's still here. So whatever you tell us to do, Madam Mayor.

All right, so let's go ahead and get the vote, the city attorney, to give us the correct information and the motion that's on the floor now.

The motion would be to consider and approve option B striking the special meeting on June 1st and adopting the remainder of the schedule. Proposed schedule. With flexibility for the scheduling of the public forum.

Or interviews.

Or interviews. Yes.

That is external.

external yes with an external process we have we have the red we've heard the clerk and now we have mr bedriggs and um mr jd first so okay yeah thank you madam mayor i want to ask a clarifying question so we're voting on

Sorry, option B, standard schedule, which says that the application process opens June 2nd, right? However, to my understanding, we're voting to adopt the process tonight, meaning that it fulfills option A, expedited schedule, which then would in turn open the application process May 28th. So my question is, When would we open the application process? Again, I think I'm just asking a clarifying question and to, you know, I know we're frustrated because there's a lot of questions being asked, but if we're adopting the process tonight, when would the application process open?

Pursuant to the schedule, June 2nd. That's right.

June 2nd. Okay. Okay.

Mr. Driggs. Alternatively, you have that blank slate, which was one of your slides, if you wanted to write it.

If you want to change it.

Mr. Driggs. I just want to clarify that we are not going to have a question or anything about your intention to run. Is that right?

I don't know. Is that correct? All right.

So no intention of.

No question. No question. I'm fine with that.

No, no.

We do have a question. You will have the question as part of the application. We will have the question. As part of the application.

Yeah.

All right.

That's it.

Okay, I think we're ready to move forward. I mean, actually, we're ready to take a vote.

All right, we need to have a motion and a vote on this. I would have a motion and a second. We have a call to questions, so... Let's see who made the motion. Ms. Mayfield, Ms. Ashmira. Um, so let's go ahead and there was a second. So are we ready and prepared everyone all in favor of the motion? All in favor of order.

There's one question we didn't get answered. It was my question about the application process. I think, do we want to work that out later? Are we going to answer that tonight? Are we going to allow individuals to apply for mayor and or council member?

I don't have an answer for that.

I don't think there is an answer for that. I mean, how do you all feel about this? I mean, I'm asking the question. Okay, fine. Well, can I make a substitute motion then? I didn't want to do that. I mean, this is what happens when you wait 20 days to talk about something so imperative. But I think that that's effective to do that. What do you all think? effective to do to have individuals apply for both positions to be able to select both positions. I'm not going to support that.

You don't know if there is another position.

Let's make an assumption that we're looking at internal. We had the mayor.

Why not be proactive in case we did.

until June 30th.

I'm not being presumptuous. I'm being proactive. But if you all don't, that's okay. I think there's been a discussion on it. Okay, I think that's it.

She's fine.

Let's proceed.

I'm good. You guys, could we have a motion? No, we already have a motion. We already have a second. Go ahead and call for the vote. Thank you, Ms. Watlington. Okay, all in favor of the motion? Raise your hands. Anyone opposed? All right, that's unanimous. Thank you, guys. Okay. All right, wait a minute. Don't go anywhere yet, guys. Donation of artwork to the Harvey B. Gantt Center.

Move for approval, A and B.

We have a motion for approval and a second. All in favor? Okay, all in favor of these folks. Okay, all in favor is unanimous. Go ahead. Let's go. So now we will move into the business section of our agenda. Is there a motion to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute contracts with the following organizations to implement skill to build initiative supporting talent development and business engagement services for a term of 18 minutes. And there is a list in your document. Move to approve A and B.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion. We have a motion and a second. All in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you. Item 12, is there a motion to accept a grant in the amount of $125,000 from the Gambrell Foundation to help young people?

Vote to approve A and B. Second.

Thank you. We have a motion. And any comments or questions? All in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you very much. The next one is adopt a resolution amending the water and sewer interlocal agreement with the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County to formalize capacity needs in the Rocky River Region wastewater treatment plant expansion.

Move to approve A and B. Second.

Second. We have a motion and we have approval. All in favor, please raise your hand.