Remarks by JD Mazuera Arias
58 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 3
My sweater ideas, probably representing the East side district five. Good evening.
Thank you, Mayor. I want to start off with a few remarks. Buenas tardes a todos y todas y bienvenidos. Es un gran honor estar aquí esta noche para celebrar el mes de la herencia hispana y reconocer a una comunidad que cada día contribuye al crecimiento, la cultura y el futuro de nuestra ciudad. Para mí, como el primer concejal latino hispano de Charlotte, este momento tiene un significado muy especial. Good evening everyone and welcome. Tonight is about celebrating the generations of Latinos, Hispanics who have made Charlotte home and recognizing the extraordinary contributions our community…
Thank you, Mayor Harrington. Can I have Marta Tataje from the Latin American Chamber of Commerce to come and speak?
Mayor Harrington, I'm going to ask Martha and Carlos Alvarado from Latinos in Charlotte to come get the proclamation, but it will be received by also Javier Solis from our Community Relations Department.
That's all right. Council Member Masuer-Arias. I just want to echo the words of my colleague and excited to welcome this development and this project into District 5, so thank you so much.
Just for sake of clarity, thank you, Mayor, just for sake of clarity, no new taxpayer dollars will be used, right?
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Thank you, mayor. Chief Patterson. Good evening. I want to start with you because I mean this sincerely. I support you. I honor you. And I'm incredibly thankful for the work you and our officers do every single day to keep our community safe. Thank you so much for being here.
This has been a hard vote for me because I did push back at 9 p.m. because I thought 9 p.m. was way too early, and we got to 10, so thank you for that. And I did push back on a permanent ordinance change, and now we have a pilot program ahead of us. I'm still a little bit on the fence because the research on youth curfews just aren't convincing to me, right? We've seen that there's no meaningful reduction in juvenile crime overall or youth victimization, so what is the goal? Like, plain, simple, in layman's terms.
Are all teen takeovers dangerous, the ones that you stated 55 advertised, and how many actual teen takeovers have happened?
15. Okay, so out of those 15 that actually happened, has there been any crime related to them?
Under the age of 17. Yes. And so I'm trying to understand why, why would those kids just apprehended for having illegal access to a gun?
Thank you. I'm just going to pull this from real-life experience. In District 5 a few months ago in November, young people were outside manifesting in front of Manolo's Bakery, protesting the anti-immigration operation that took place over Charlotte, particularly East Charlotte. How would your police officers handle that situation if this curfew would be in place?
Two last questions. The first one is, can I get a verbal commitment from you that young people won't be stopped? The police won't conduct traffic stops because they just have a suspicion that they're breaking curfew.
And the last thing that makes me struggle with this is, and I want to get some clarity, and this is my last question, is the inconsistencies when it comes to the exceptions, right? We have exceptions in our current ordinance that won't be changed with this ordinance that recognize different ages and different circumstances. But then the actual curfew treats everybody under 18 exactly the same, and they have to abide by the 10 p.m. curfew. Help me understand those inconsistencies. There's an age range tier system when it comes to the exceptions, but there's not a... each range to your system…
Very brief. I just want to thank the community for being out here, Robert, Gustavo, everybody that's been engaged from this process. And I really want to give the kudos to the city attorney for answering my email and hearing me out the December of 2025 when I first heard from my residents of the Hood Road Data Center Extension. So I really appreciate that. I appreciate the work that everybody's doing. And I will also add, I think the reason we're going into long night hours is because everything we are referring to committee is coming out of committee and being considered by this council,…
Good evening. JD Masueta-Arias, proudly representing the East Side, District 5.
Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, staff. Really appreciate the effort and always the broader goal at hand, which is to keep our residents safe and to keep our youth safe. And Chief, I appreciate our candid conversations. Although different perspectives, right? But that is what this is all about, to make sure we come to a comprehensive solution that works for everyone. I had a few questions. So I noted and I looked at the memo before the council meeting tonight. I noted data indicating that across the different times, 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m., There is little to no net change in…
Thank you. So. When I was looking at the memos, looking at the studies, and I did just a quick ChatGPT AI, and those were the same studies reiterated to me through ChatGPT. I would love to see if there's any more comprehensive studies out there, and particularly not just positive and mixed, but also the negative studies. I want to get a whole picture, right? I think... I want to I'm a data driven person. I want to see what works and I understand your concern. This is specific. I agree with my colleagues that perhaps we look at local data and see what works and what doesn't work. But I really…
Two more. Sorry, Mayor. I know you said two, three minutes. You're close. Got it. Thank you. With the current proposal creating uniform rules, I saw in the statutes our current ordinances when it comes to the exception groups, there is still H-tier interpretations there. So I think we might have to revise that if this council so decides to do this curfew because right now one of them was like the errands, running errands. Yes. There's a certain curfew for 13 year olds for running errands. And then there's a certain curfew for 17 under. So if, if I just want to make sure that we're consistent,…
Thank you, Chief. And the last thing is, I mean, I have my 18-year-old sister here who wanted me to ask the question, but if she gets stopped by an officer, how are they going to believe that she was at work, right? She works at volleyball courts at 9 p.m. until 9, 9.30, 10 p.m. Kids are getting misjudged for being part of these teen takeovers. How is CMPD going to promise that they're not misjudged for being on the road after work?
Thank you, Chief. And last thing, Manager, I saw that map of youth opportunities. We have a big gap in District 5, so we should talk about that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor. I just want to take two, three minutes for quick District 5 updates and a broader thought. So we recently celebrated five completed and soon to be completed fully funded strategic investment area projects in the Far East. Okay. Delivering long overdue infrastructure, pedestrian connectivity, and safety improvements. So thanks to this council and the previous council and my predecessor for really funding these needed investments in the far east of Charlotte. We also celebrated Project 658's new community dental clinic in East Charlotte, expanding access to care for immigrant,…
Good evening, JD Masueta-Arias, District 5.
Council Member Masuera-Aries. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chief, and thank you, staff, for really putting this presentation. I really appreciate it. I take particular interest in this issue of being the council member closer to being a teenager. Just ten years ago. And so, and I start with that because ten years ago, there were pools, there were bowling alleys. There are places for myself and my friends to go to that. A lot of places now impose restrictions for young people to be at. I have an 18-year-old sister who I just asked recently, what does she do for fun? And the only place she was…