Remarks by Malcolm Graham
24 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 1
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will vote for this deferral so we can get more information, but I just caution us as a body to not commingle issues. I think that's really, really important. We all agree and understand that there's a cancer within the organization and that our police chief is working extremely hard with others to root it out, which is the text messages, racism, hatred, and discrimination. It's deplorable, right? That being said, we do have a responsibility to make sure that we give the CMPD the tools necessary to be effective and efficient in doing their jobs. And I think the question…
Thank you. Council Member Graham. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, too. I will support your substantive motion. I think it makes sense in terms of moving forward, as well as the study, anything that other council members want to refer to over the next 30 days. I'm not sure what that looks like, but certainly I'm comfortable with based on my previous comments in reference to the effectiveness and efficiency of the department and being able to bifurcate issues, right, in terms of the effectiveness and the equipment needed versus some of the other issues that we're dealing with. So I think it makes sense.…
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First, I do want to thank the staff and the City Attorney's Office, City Manager Allen and others for the work they've done on this for the last year and a half, actually. It's important work, but very disappointing that we have to do this. A lot of people know me as an elected official, but That's what I do. It's not who I am and for a large part of my career I've been an advocate working in the space of supplier diversity Helping level the playing field for black-owned businesses female-owned businesses Latinos and Indian Americans, etc As a nonprofit executive…
No, as the chair in the government relations, I think we should follow the legal advice. It is the law in North Carolina. As of July, when the attorney general... attorney indicated, we'll see what happens in the long session depending on what happens in November. And so I would take an act of the general assembly to reverse course. And so, you know, being up there for 10 years, that probably won't happen until... Yeah, something, there's a change in leadership on November 3rd. That won't happen until sometime mid year of 27. So it's a marathon.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that came out last month to my town hall meeting. Travel, tourism, sports, and entertainment. We had over 300 folks attended the event at the Bowplex. Huge success. And I just want to make a couple announcements that we got coming up This month in December, November and December, November 8th is the Ally Women's Basketball Championship with number one South Carolina versus North Carolina, North Carolina State and Kentucky in women's basketball. And then on December 11th is the third annual Charlotte Invitational…
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Let us pray. Eternal God, we come before you tonight not just as elected officials, but as servants of a city we love, a city that is hurting, a city that is searching, a city that deserves better and is capable of better. We ask tonight for wisdom, wisdom to lead with clarity when the path is unclear, to preach truth when it's uncomfortable, and to act with courage when courage is what this moment demands. We ask for healing for a community shaken by the loss of a four-year-old child stolen from his bedroom by senseless gun violence. We ask for integrity in our police…
I'm just going to get a sense of the turnaround time to the response to the council on their requests.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I won't be late with the conversation, but I think shower really kind of summarize when he spoke last in terms of what I think my position is, obviously it could go through the committee, right? So, but I think we're making meaningful progress in terms of trying to fill those void in uptown Charlotte. This is uniquely different. The building does qualify for historic destination. So it was not like someone's creating or making it up. The historic landmark commission has done its due diligence. going back to may and has come to this council directly indirectly for…
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First let me Say thank you to Council Member Mayfield. Everyone leads in different ways and different spaces. And anyone who admits publicly that they read over 300 pages of regulations just for fun is either committed or somewhat special.
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Thank you, Council Member Driggs. Council Member Graham. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I, too, will support the ordinance. And notwithstanding the fact that, and I asked many of my questions prior to this meeting, so I'll take maybe a minute and a half, two minutes to make some comments. that notwithstanding that we're talking about the youth curfew, about two years ago we had a shooting on the New Year's Eve. It involved young people. And this council really began to focus really narrowly about how do we prevent crime in general. And I see this as being part of a series of things we have done over…
Right. We got empty high schools every weekend with gyms, classroom space, and pools not being utilized. All over the city, right? And so if we can really begin to partner with Mecklenburg County, partner with nonprofit organization, certainly the faith community has shown up tonight. They wanna partner with us, right? I think it's a commitment to work together because we're better together and we try to solve the problem together and listening to the young people who have demonstrated that they want to be a part of the solution too. So hats off to you. I'm willing to give you nine months to…
Malcolm Graham, District 2. Ed Driggs, District 7.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Again, we had that conversation today. I chair the committee. We look at a wide variety of options, not wanting to debate the committee meeting right now. But your point has been taken and is under consideration in terms of how we move forward or if we move forward. So it's still up for debate.
If we're debating potential improvement, the other discussion, I, I, again, w we are looking at the process question and committee one council member brought it forward. The committee is discussing it to see if it's appropriate. If any changes will be made at all, the committee is still discussing it, so it's still on the table.
And I'll be, I'll be voting against that as well. And I think council, if you would allow the committee to process the request that you made, and we don't know what the committee is going to recommend. We don't know what the council will eventually vote on what we have done to start a discussion. And we have to keep the rules as they are today, and they may or may not change tomorrow. So I think we need to plow forward and allow the council and the committee, the process, the work that you asked us to do. It is not ready. It's been prioritized. We'll be talking about it again in two weeks. I…
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I didn't have a 9 p.m. curfew. I had to street light, right? I would be on the tennis court and I'll be riding that bike as fast as I can to get home because I knew if I didn't make it, there was accountability at the end of that ride. And so I want to thank you for your leadership in bringing this forward. This is a part of a crime reduction strategy, big picture strategy. Going back, Council Member Wallington, me and you met two years ago in my basement when there was a shooting on New Year's Eve, right? And we've been looking at a wide variety of ordinance to update,…
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out and make an announcement. The shout-out is to Steve Bagwell and the men and women of the Charlotte Regional Business Authority for doing an outstanding job last week in hosting the 41st Annual Stella Award. The community really came out and showed out. Over 14,000 tickets were sold. It was a sellout for the event. I want to thank the host committee who did a tremendous job. Each had very difficult tasks to do as it relates to performance and talent and working with churches, getting folks there. Certainly want to…
And I'll be quick, Mr. Mayor. I understand your time limit at 6 o'clock. I just want to thank CMPD and Chief Patterson for their leadership on this particular issue. I was at University City joining the team takeover, and it was... different at best for sure. There was a news article interview where three football players actually supported, high school football players supported the teen curfew and wanted restrictions and guidelines for themselves as well as their peers. But they also wanted something to do as well, right? Where they can go for a safe space and be responsible and hanging out…
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'm honored to have the opportunity to read the city of Charlotte proclamation. Whereas national black philanthropy month is observed annually in August. to celebrate and elevate the rich tradition of generosity, volunteerism, civic engagement, and charitable giving within black communities, recognizing philanthropy as a powerful force for positive social change. And whereas the Foundation for Black Philanthropy, an affiliate fund of the Foundation for the Carolina, was established to inspire charitable giving strengthened led black organizations and advanced…
Council Member Graham. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think Council Member Drakes is right. This conversation is different from the committee meeting because now we have details that we didn't have two weeks ago. It is called research that we were not able to do when we started the the presentation before. Chief Patterson, this is not about you. It's not about trust and confidence in you. It's trust and confidence with our federal partners. Let's be blunt about it, right? And once upon a time, cities and states would roll over backwards to do business with the federal government because they trust…
So I... Don't know if you can answer maybe 80 questions by September 1st.
All very legitimate. And some you can't because you got the policy and then you got the politics. And I'm letting you know that there's just no trust. Duly noted.