[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] for [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e e [Music] [Music] for the Charlotte Studio we ready to go live change to our video how are you doing Miss Brown I'm doing well it's almost time for the holidays and turkeys [Music] all right so um I'm now going to call the city council um agenda review um I believe this what do we call this now we call this the agenda overview and we are going to start with our city council we had some questions and Miss Mar Marie would you are there questions that have been submitted that we have to review in advance yes ma'am thank thank you and y'all should all have a copy at your table and I had a few questions they actually on consent items Mr barari and Miss as I don't know if you've had the chance to look over them yet or if you would like additional information Miss air you requested some questions from Marie and so I think they've been distributed so but she wanted to know if you had any additional questions no I my question question were on the business items okay so uh I don't have anything on consent agenda items and I appreciate Marie for helping me um understand there was one consent item which you provided a response to so I'm good thank you thank you all right any other questions on the consent items I I would probably just pull for comment not for a separate vote 17 all right so item 17 is police recruit advertising services and Mr barari would like to make a a brief comment about that is there any other item that anyone wants to pull from consent hearing none um we'll go to the cons we'll go through 18 through 29 I think we can just vote on them all at once and I'll comment just brief and sorry that would be 17 through 32 17 through 32 sorry I saw the consent agenda down here okay so Mr barari your comments we'll do a motion probably first I'll move to approve second we have a motion and a second to approve now Mr bikari were you including item 17 yes I'm just going to make comment we used to do comments yes we can do a comment all right Mr barari your comments yeah I just this is one of the first times we've seen some data uh like this uh and again I I'm not going to belabor the point or even at this point try to figure out and hold back the vote of the consent item I want it to move forward at this point but we don't get to see a lot of the data that I believe at the the the core of many of our organizations get towards things like recruitment retention um overall morale and I would just say that there are some concerning things here to look at and if you look at your numbers like recruit class 197 you know large number coming in 85 but only 48 ended up graduating 26 resigned during the process um 14 were recycled a record-breaking number that this could mean a lot of things and I haven't drawn any conclusions but I do think this is the kind of exercise we need to start drilling into because I I do personally believe um this is indicative of what could be a serious problem down the road and the culture the morale issues the Recruitment and Retention are all critical to that so I think it dubv Tales nicely after this comment into what the manager is already going to be doing in a series of our meetings drilling into particularly in cmpd different topics where we as a council can ask questions of data we want brought back of things we want to understand so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions now but I think it dub Tails nicely into that it was a concern I had I was glad to hear you were doing that so um I just wanted to make sure that everyone kind of saw some of those numbers there um so that we keep that in the back of our mind in this series of conversations all right um I I think Mr barari is referring to the manager um meet a presentation along with the chief this afternoon but that will be on our existing um Das after we have the speakers and all of that so we'll have that included from the manager's report okay so with the I'm Sorry Miss sash thank you Madame mayor so I wanted to follow up on Mr bakari's request um bukar point about Police recruitment I know usually we discuss uh this item specifically during the budget process um so I think having if we can get a head start on this item so if there are budget implications to it we are prepared for it ahead of time um so um Mr Jones in the presentation that will be provided to us later today are you expecting in terms of if we can tie this to our overall budget discussion for next year so that we are really uh being proactive so uh council member ashme I believe the last uh business meeting I'd mentioned to the council that uh during the manager report we would set aside time to do a deeper dive into uh Public Safety and so we we have scheduled Le I'll present uh later today um for different areas so to your point you know one of the things that I am trying to do because Public Safety has been on um the majority of the council's mind for a while is to not reduce it to one half day budget session right but to begin the conversation in November not in March and not to boil the ocean tonight because there are going to be a bunch of opportunities but to start to feel some of the questions that you would like to get more information on so um success tonight would be to introduce the concept of coming back um a couple times a month to talk about uh Public Safety and that's quality of life that's uh safe Charlotte that's violence as a Public Health crisis and everything that comes along with it that's great oh great to hear that we are getting a head start on this and uh we are being proactive I appreciate that um methodology thank you Mr Jones all right is there any further question or comment on this item heing none for adoption of the approval of the consent agenda we have a motion and a second um all in favor raise your hand anyone opposed hearing none oppose the we'll move from forward from the consent agenda so if I can keep up with you guys action review the next topic is for the proposed 2025 Federal and State Legislative agendas and I believe Mr Jones do you want to introduce yes okay so uh thank you mayor members of council we have two items tonight on the action review one is proposed 2025 Federal and State Legislative agendas that has been spent some time in committee as well as what we do uh this time of year to have um the city clerk go over the proposed 2025 calendar there's no vote on the calendar tonight other than to prepare you for a um a potential December vote and so uh mayor if there are any questions for Council I'd like to turn it over to Mr Fenton but before I do that I'd like to make one quick announcement so uh many of you uh know that we've been in search for uh someone to fill in for Dana after Dana uh retires uh we've had a series of conversations and after a lot of begging and pleading on my uh part uh Mr Fenton has decided to stay until July to get us through this next session because there's so much rioting on this next session so uh thank you Dana for um postponing your retirement and uh I I I think folks would be super nice to you based on uh your presentation tonight how's that thank you Mr Jones uh mayor uh Council thank you very much I am I'll say for the record I'm Dana Fenton I am honored and privileged to serve as your intergovernmental relations manager uh tonight presenting the 2025 state and federal legislative agendas that were approved by the committee the budget governance and intergovernmental Relations Committee just a few weeks ago we'll cover the uh agenda development process what the factors we use to to help you uh make informed decisions we'll review the legislative agenda items and then talk about the next steps uh of course annual legislative agendas communicate your priorities in this case these would be the 2025 priorities to the federal and state uh uh bodies the US Congress and North Carolina general assembly and we try to base the request upon uh several issues and I think the committee took that job very seriously this year we're looking at things that are achievable in the political climate and the economic climate it's acable through legislation budgets Grant requests and and tend to uh strengthen relationships with legislators uh this is the agend genda development uh calendar uh and the I'm going to focus your attention on the top row the yellow row uh the committee started its work in October it culminated in November with the proposed legislative agendas and we're here tonight for the action review we have a number of things to do in December in January and Beyond so I will get to that at the end of the presentation now let's turn to the uh proposed legislative agenda for the US Congress uh Mobility has always been a top priority for this Charlotte City Council and this year this coming year we're going to be facing the start of reauthorization of the federal surface Transportation program this is a 2-year Pro process that uh provides Federal matches ultimately for local Road and Highway public transportation and other types of of uh Transportation projects and again this is a 2-year process and a bill will typically not be enacted until the fall of 2026 and then we would also continue competing for federal funding opportunities Aviation uh secure funding for the fourth parallel Runway and other airport projects as you know earlier this year the uh airport was awarded a letter of intent for the fourth parallel Runway projects now we need to get our Congressional Delegation to sponsor budget amendment to secure the first trunch of funding for that project and this is the same process that's used for a lot of other things of this nature uh the letter of intent think of that as an authorization for the Congress to appropriate the funding we had to do this also for the lyx blue line extension back in the mid uh back in the last decade talent and Workforce Development we have several things in here it continues your support for immigration policy and Regulatory changes digital inclusion and corridors of opportunity couple new ads this year to this would be support reauthorization of the workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that directs funding to local areas to support talent and business needs and also support funding for child care resources to replace the pandemic era funding that has expired uh and also continue we have been very active this year they actually the quarters of opportunity team has been very active and also a few other departments here the U your information and technology department especially have been very active in trying to seek uh uh competitive grants for their areas Public Safety uh the committee felt very strongly that uh I'm sorry I had the wrong script there uh this is a a staff recommendation uh the airport would like to see uh additional Staffing for the uh security screenings that are done for folks who are arriving at the airport with their bags ready to go on a flight and then also for the international arrivals when folks arrive from overseas if the uh the staffing has been somewhat spotting the last few years and uh and it has created a problem at times uh the environment uh the city will continue uh supporting the policies and funding to implement and meet the federal forever chemical mandates but also to protect the local governments like ourselves from unreasonable liability uh by advocating for advocacy prot for liability protection for for municipal drinking water Wastewater storm water utilities Etc uh as you know with the forever chemicals those were chemicals not created by us but rather by industry and uh we were obliged to to treat those uh to treat those uh uh that water as it came down the pipeline and then housing uh one would be to continue supporting reforms the federal housing programs and then also support greater Financial Services or financial resources for Housing Programs such as the cdbg home investment partnership lead-based paint Hazard and healthy homes and low-income housing tax credit and with that I'll now turn to the proposed State Legislative agenda uh the first one is one you have seen several years in a row now that is support the Region's efforts to improve its competitiveness and grow the economy through Investments to the transportation Network and that that would involve taking the draft legislation uh to uh the general assembly uh for enactment and then also at the same time I need to say this is really not really a legislative agenda item per se but but rather we would continue working on securing access to the portion of the o line from the beberg iale county line to downtown Morrisville uh the next one is Aviation uh in continuation of last year's uh agend agenda item to support uh the North Carolina airport in Improvement program that provides funding for Capital needs at the 10 commercial service airports in North Carolina the environment uh earlier this year Charlotte water initiated uh a they they they published a notice of intent to modify their interbasin transfer agreement that takes uh water from the Kataba River basin to the to the Rocky River Basin to accommodate growth that's occurring in the eastern part of our County and that includes the towns of Cornelius Davidson Huntersville Matthews in Mill and of course the city of Charlotte and even recently the town of moresville requested a similar certificate and there's a lot of other Utilities in the in the state that are considering initiation of their own uh uh certificates uh or modifications to address their water needs as well the reason I bring this up is the context of the State Legislative agenda is that there had been some Rumblings from some Northern uh neighbors of ours uh about uh maybe there's too much water being drawn from the river and there some environmental concerns are bring being brought up as well that data is being studied it this the process that was kicked off this year by Charlotte water is a three-year process there will be an environmental impact study done uh through the Department of Environmental Quality at the state of North Carolina and that will provide information that's needed for the North Carolina Environmental Management commission to make a final decision on this modification request uh the court system the the committee was very uh strongly desirous of addressing uh court system funding and uh simply is support the the county uh State Court agencies as they seek the allocation of additional State funding for their operations and finally Public Safety uh in the public safety area the committee was really wanting to address the issue of the arcade gaming establishments that have that are all around the city and there is legislation being planned for the next session from some members of the general assembly these are uh these are members of the majority party in other parts of the state where their locality are having to face uh the Dilemma of these different establishments and they are looking at ways to help especially with the Planning and Zoning issues and code enforcement issues that are and also the public safety as well that are inherent in some of these establishments and with that the next steps uh will be taking input tonight from the city council if there's any input that needs to be directed back to the committee mayor uh the committee is poised to take that up next Monday at its December meeting and then we'll be back on December 9th with a A do for requesting consideration of the state and federal agendas and then we have several events next year uh especially uh just to give you a few just the uh we would be planning for a state delegation briefing with our with our meinberg County state folks um uh anywhere between January 13th and January 23rd and then congression briefings would be held in conjunction with the national league of cities conference that's going to be held in Washington DC uh March 10th through the 12th and with that mayor I'd be glad to stand for any questions all right um I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you Dana um you've been a trooper in all of this and so that's really good but before I turn it over one of the things that I've noticed is that as we are beginning to do meetings and we're having conversations among each other that I can't see people that sit at the corners and I can't see who's making the motion and who's not doing this so I am going to um work really hard to identify the speaker that would make the motion and then uh come come around so everybody has a chance to speak if you choose not to speak that's okay but everybody to have a chance without me leaning and guessing who had their hand up we can do two cycles of it we can do three it just depends on what item that we're working with and I believe that Miss watlington might be my first person to try this out on so miss watlington any comments and then we'll go right to Mr barari yes ma'am thank you madam mayor I've got three things the first one is on slide number seven I just I may have missed it forgive me but I just wanted to hear in that first bullet continue supporting immigration policy and Regulatory changes what exactly do we mean by that yeah we've had a a position on this for several years be substantially the same it would be uh support the workforce needs of people for example some folks come over here with h H1B visas to work they have to bring their family members over and there's all sorts sorts of issues that crop up when you bring fames members over uh whether a spouse can work whether uh whether a uh a son or daughter can stay after their 18th birthday that type of thing gotcha thank you um and then my next question is as it relates to the environment for I think specifically the State Legislative agenda um on 13 as we start to see data centers across the country move to more urban areas I'm want we we know that it has a uh an impact on water usage in those localities and so I'm wondering if that's been a point of discussion as it relates to our legislative agenda as we specifically talk water and as we think about how we're trying to really attract and recruit um um more ftech and and it related businesses Yeah Yeah from what I know is that uh of course the growth here has been phenomenal a lot with a lot of other urban areas as well and uh they're um these issues are being watched very carefully there's a benefit to the entire state by the Charlotte region and the Raleigh region and others growing and bringing in more tax revenues for example at the same time uh we need to be cognizant of the need needs for the rural areas we know that the areas up north want to expand industrially they want to make sure they have enough water and so um those types of things are are are definitely going to be talked about this coming session sure so I would love to see us Champion um policies that incentivize uh data centers and the like that look at different ways to provide energy and a renewable and a sustainable fashion uh because I think that that is going to continue to be a growing sector and certainly we as a city would want to be a part of it so just want to make sure that we're thinking about how we do that in a in a sustainable way so if we could add that to the discussion that we fantastic and then finally as it relates to the public safety measures on slot 15 uh to implement stronger arcade gaming regulations and protections for communities negatively impacted for some time now I know we've been talking I've been working with cmpd um over the years around alcohol Outlet density many of the same ills that you see where you see arcades being set up um are also seen where you see um a higher density of alcohol Outlets that are permanent for off premise consumption so I would love to see that coupled with this because I think that they're happening in tandem yeah in terms of the arcade gaming regulations I know that the the density uh of those out of those Outlets um Express through separation distances will will be considered in terms of the um of the outlets that sell alcohol wine and beer for example that's a whole different issue uh and and I think just as we talked a few years ago I I just don't see that being something that could be uh driven forward this coming year I understand I would still like it to be included because I think that there are so many different or there are so many similar issues and exactly what you were talking about from a zoning standpoint in terms of distance apart all of those things those same kinds of measures could be used not just for for as we think about entertainment districts and things like that but specifically for out that sell for off perm consumption so I would like to see it at least included in the discussion thank you so I want to make sure that what you like to see is something that the committee could would have and address does that make sense okay all right thank you Mr barari Mr DXs Mr Graham just a quick question I think you touched on it but I'd like to get a longer explanation in terms of where we are with Mobility we were thinking that this would appear in the 24 legislative session in terms of the one since sales do we have any updates since we're two weeks away from the election and they've already been meeting I'm sorry I didn't I didn't hear the last part of what you had to say Mr Graham do you have any updates on where we stand with the mobility tax that we're supposed to try to get in this uh abbreviated session oh yes yes thank you very much that's a good question the uh there was an intervie event called hurricane Helen and that has taken a lot of the bandwidth from legislators they've already passed I think now three different um uh packages of relief for Western North Carolina and uh and so right now it looks very iffy that anything could be done this year so we have we'd love to have that done this year but we have it on here for 2025 just in case it's needed okay because i' I've been spending a lot of time in R the last two weeks I'm working with the governor elect on this transition and uh depending on who you talk to uh I I get the feeling that it won't happen in 24 and uh Mr manager do you kind of concur with that in terms of I am absolutely not going to concur with that so Mr the point being is that uh we will continue to take every Avenue we can whether it's in the short session or the long session but I don't think we should tap out at any point until the session is over excuse me I I concur with that as well but at some point reality Fs in yeah thank you all right let's see May mayor protim no comment uh mayor thank you Dana M mayor this will be coming to your committee do you want me to move on to miss Molina yes meeting uh I me I know but if you had any other amendments or choices oh all the changes have been all the changes that were recommended by the committee have been incorporated into this so I appreciate uh Dana and um our consultants for working around the clock to address all the concerns that were raised at our committee meeting I really appreciate it right thank you Miss Molina do you have any comments or well it's not really a comment it's more of a a question for Dana I know that uh some of there's just a bit of overlap the North Carolina League of municipalities has a uh legislative policy committee um and actually serve on that committee so a few of the items that I see there's overlap with um the legislative policy agenda for the North Carolina League of municipalities and some of what we would like to see from Charlotte do you have any reference points on you know like what the um league is going to present and at this point no uh I I don't have any I don't have an idea what they're going to present but they have it's been fairly consistent through the years they're big on infrastructure funding yeah trying to get local sources of revenue to help build infrastructure there was one in particular that I brought up in the last meeting about the arcades um because of you know there being a general interest to you know kind of mitigate those right and I was told that there are actually cities in our state that actually like those types of businesses as opposed to them being a nuisance um and so what they did was kind of rate the items a b and c and so the A's are actually going to be presented the B's are kind of things that would come up as a possibility and C's were items that won't be um presented and that made it to the SE list um and and I mean I was really like putting our position out there but I didn't want to be like Charlotte in the room say like you know we want it cuz everyone would have got mad at me so but um I I I just I'm really excited to see you know what what you're able to you know get and I know you're tenard I know you got great relationships there but we're really interested it just didn't seem to be kind of a consensus across our state unfortunately yeah that's true you talked a different areas of the state they have different responses and uh but we understand that uh you know there's been legislation passed or not passed but introduced the last two sessions 21 and 23 and there is a u there seems to be more urgency this time around from from some legislators so we're we're hopeful on that that's what we're pining our hopes on all right really great and that's all I have thank you Madame May thank you Dana all right Miss Johnson thank you Madam mayor can you bring up slide number seven I want to piggyback off um council member watlington and ask the question about the the immigration policies I know that these recommendations were given on October 7th prior to the federal election but I know that the the new leadership is going to have immigration's policies that we as that we may not agree upon on a a city council level so I wanted to know from the chair what the directions or what the thinking was there I'm a little concerned about um stating that we're going to be aligned with the um certain immigration policies on a federal level so is there any input or detail I I would be glad to take that I I know that uh this was uh uh moved out of committee the day before the election and uh we haven't changed this at all you have a policy on things or actually it was adopted by the city council in 2019 I think it's called the um it's the compact on immigration it sets out in there what the goals of the city are including addressing the Workforce Development aspect also supporting a path way to citizenship and other things so uh that's what we would continue um uh that's what we would that's how we would approach this and I know that the incoming Administration has some different ideas but uh but also you know we still have a bamal legislature that has to uh adopt these things so uh there could be some other opinions that are brought forward I I understand that but we're saying that we I think that's just a blanket statement that I don't know that I'm that that I maybe we can consider I I don't want to cons continue to support the incoming legislators or at a federal level their immigration policies just with a blanket statement so I don't know if there's um more detail that we can have yeah yeah there's going to be more detail in the supporting position statement but we're going to try to keep it to what you seen in the legislative agenda the last few years in actually since 2020 I believe is when it was first put in there you would follow the compact in Immigration and by putting a general statement like this doesn't mean that we're supporting the incoming Administration or folks who have different opinions but there's there's going to be more um more information provided and when you say we do you mean Council we yeah you said we oh yeah with I'm sorry I think I was referring to the St the position statements that that we typically draft it's going to stay um close if not identical to your to the compact on immigration and other documents like that that have been supported by city council well just because this is a on the federal legislative agenda we're talking about continuing to continue to support immigration policies we know what's what's forthcoming um so I'm not in agreement with that so I don't know if we want to change that and I know we will discuss that more or vote on it in December but I would ask Council to also consider changing the language maybe put some more detail in that because I I'm just not comfortable with that statement um I wait miss miss asmir the manager wanted to respond to this so if we could do that so uh thank you mayor so Dana let me make sure that I'm clear on what you're saying I believe that bullet means the council is going we're going to continue to support the positions of the council related to immigration policy digital inclusion and quarters of opportunity that is correct that's that's what I read in it too so we're not changing our policies um in terms of what we believe in and this would just continue now we don't know what's going to come down the pipe and you know but this is where we stand and so any other so again wanted to say something about it as well yes so Miss Johnson raises a good point in fact council member Mayfield had raised this issue at our committee meeting and that was for additional request for um Federal officers and we got a clarification from the airport that those additional resources will only be stacked for to meet airport demands not to enforce federal laws in terms of federal immigration laws let me just be very clear but going back to that slide uh that Miss Johnson has raised continue supporting immigration policy I think Dana um I guess because I have seen this deck a few times I get where we are but I think it it can be interpreted differently so I think having maybe including the compass uh that we we all adopted back in 2019 mhm I think it was called Welcome um yes welcome something so if we can just clarify that that was unanimously adopted and approved by this Council um so if you can just include that language so that we are all on the same page because our language is that we are a welcoming City and we recognize that immigrant Community contributes to our City economically culturally and other ways uh and it also includes the GDP impact and so on so I think having that uh specific language of of whatever the policy It's called would be very helpful um but I also wanted to respond to council member Molina's question about arcades that was a that was a very passionate discussion at the committee level um um in fact council member Mayfield and I wanted to see more teeth into it uh but I understand uh that we I also recognize the reality of the makeup that we have in Raleigh so u in fact I'm not sure if you all had an opportunity to read the mammo from Alison Craig but Allison has really provided details around some of the Chang ches that are in the Udo that prevents some of these establishments uh from operating um at certain locations where they have to maintain certain distance from neighborhoods they there are also Limited hours they can only operate uh till 10 p.m. uh so those requirements will help us keep our communi safe and address cmpd's concerns while while we wait for the State uh to see what whether that item will get ever upgraded from C to a list um but I appreciate Allison's work on it because that is an issue that I often hear about not just from East Charlotte but also it's an issue in other parts of the City West Charlotte East Charlotte um and and even the one uh establishment off of Providence uh that certainly uh has created some very valid concerns among our residents that's all I have yeah thank you so thank you Miss ashmir so if we could ask that language that we will support the the city of Charlotte Compass agreement or whatever that is specifically because again this is on the federal legislative agenda and we're saying we're going to support immigration policy and Regulatory changes so we don't want you know next year for someone to say well was an what's the what's the term uh un unintended consequence right if if this is a foreseeable change that needs to be made thank you thank you okay um Miss Brown council member Brown don't have any comments All right so um you have a question Miss it's not a question it's just it came up in the conversation it's really for the clerk's office some time ago I know there was a discussion about having a repository of the active Council policy so that we could go back and refer to things like the immigration policy Etc um can we get an update at can we get an update after this as to where that stands because I just think it's very important that we as members of the council can go back and look at what we've adopted I know it's buried in the minute somewhere but a little more easily found that's all okay we'll see how um we can get that um reviewed and an assessment of it so okay I think that that covers all of the items that we had for the um legislative requests and now let's go to our calendar requests um with the city clerk does everyone have the copy of the calendar that was sent out if you do okay good evening mayor and councel I'm delighted to be before you uh this afternoon to um just briefly give an overview of the proposed 2025 calendar um you all have a copy of the proposed calendar in front of you I think you may have also received a copy in your packet uh on Thursday and what I will say to you right off the top is that there are no sweeping changes in the calendar um uh couple of exceptions I will note though um one of them is that the um the annual strategy session has been added at the end of of January as it was uh for 2024 and the um summer schedule is a little different than it was last year uh for or this year for 2024 there were no meetings in August and for 2025 there are uh the addition of uh the council committee discussions and um on the August 4th meeting and the um business meeting for August the 11th overall there are not any U significant changes to the number of meetings that you have annually this year you had eight committee uh Council discussion meetings there will be eight of those scheduled for 2025 there were 16 business meetings for 2024 there will be 18 business meetings with the addition of the August 4th and August 11th meetings and there are uh well yes there will be uh there were 11 zoning meetings for 2024 there will also be 11 zoning meetings for 2025 three fifth Mondays where there are no meetings and uh four budget uh workshops were scheduled for 2024 and the same is scheduled for 2025 so that is and I will also um point out to you that exceptions to the calendar are noted in red those are National meetings that uh you some of you may be attending or either there there may be um like the NLC meetings uh the North Carolina League of municipalities meetings icma and other such meetings I think there's also on the calendar the NAACP Charlotte will be hosting the um the meeting here and I think that has also been added to the calendar so that is what I have to present and I welcome any question questions or any feedback that you would have uh concerning this there is no action uh for this on tonight's agenda but it will come back on December the 9th for a vote of the council so if there any changes or any uh revisions you'd like to see we have ample time to discuss those okay I'll follow up with Miss Miss Johnson and then we'll come around Miss Johnson any questions miss miss Elena any questions Miss asir yes thank you Madame mayor so in add well while adding those two meetings in August what's the count of the business meeting total versus what we had in 2024 are they about the same you said well there were there are be there were 16 business meetings in 2024 there will be 18 business meetings in 202 five and one of those is the addition of that August 11th meeting and the other one is the um the 2024 there was there was a meeting canceled in September because of the overlap of the North Carolina League of municipalities meeting I believe so that meeting has been added back so there's just two additional meetings business meetings for the year and we're also taking into account or removing meetings from the calendar because of the election schedule you will also notice that um the election uh the primary is September the 9th for um 2025 there is no business meeting scheduled uh for that particular night which would be a business meeting and for the general election which is on November the 4th uh there would be a count Council committee discussion that evening but there is no council committee discussion meeting schedule for that evening thank you okay mayor protm any questions no no thank you Mr Graham Mr Driggs Mr barari Miss watlington yes I've got three uh the first one is I see here it says to be scheduled legislative action review um and evaluations for the City attorney city clerk city manager I'd like to see those evaluations slotted I know that was something we've discussed once before so I know that it is noted here but I know especially in the summertime we can get we start to have trouble with people's schedule so I'd love to see that slotted as a meeting since we know it's going to need to happen um also I just want to clarify four budget workshops I see the two and then the the budget presentation and adjustments and then the straw vs when you say four workshops are you including those particular yes okay um and then finally I know this is standard procedure at this point but just to be clear I wanted to verify that there in terms of the methods of our meetings that that was captured I know that we captured it in previous years but just didn't see it here I don't anticipate a change but just wanted to make sure that it was called out the method uh yep so committee meetings being virtually um Council meetings being in person etc etc I know that that was something that we've added to the top of the meetings before so I just wanted to make sure it was included in the policy we adopt I miss watlington can you help me um go through with that tell me you you're saying at the top of the calendar to include additional descriptive yeah it's it's it should be in the one from last year or the year before whatever's been there I think every year and I don't like I said I don't anticipate it be a change but just wanted to include the uh the method of the meetings at the top the method of the meetings at the top whether in person or virtual okay well all your business meetings um zoning meetings all your official meetings will be in person and committee meetings there's an option okay but we can add that thank you all right so um I believe that this is something that we will vote on so on December 9th de on December 9th yes ma'am thank you Madame mayor I walked in but I know that we were talking about the calendar and we we added two more dates is it to make up for something that we have in the candle the 2025 calendar or something that we may possibly Miss sorry clerk well there are a couple of meetings that were taken off of the calendar because of the election cycle that will be year 2025 your September I believe is September the 9th and November 4th meetings are not they're not a part of the 2025 calendar but we added the business meeting for August the 11th that has been added back as has your uh Council committee discussion for August the 4th there were no meetings in August um in 2024 TW none at all zero there was um there were two the zoning meeting and the second business meeting but the first two meetings of August were not uh scheduled for August of 2024 but they have been scheduled for August 2025 there four meetings in the month of August 2025 okay thank you okay so um do we have a motion to approve the calendar no action requ December on December the 9th sorry December the 9th is going to be a bear I'm sorry it's going to be a very important um agenda to be prepared and ready to go so maybe I'm just trying to push it along a little bit faster so okay I'm sorry so there are changes um that was proposed by council member watlington to add those three evaluations to our calendar just so that everyone's calendars are blocked ahead of time uh where staff is not trying to a scratch um trying to get everyone in the room uh I I think it would be important to have those schedule and before we approve this I think we had that suggestion as well as the other one to make sure that we had them all labeled correctly yes for whether or not they're virtual or um in person so all right so we have that and we will come back clerk will come back and um at our next meeting on the 9th yes ma'am all right let's see so I believe that that carries us through all of our consent agenda it includes all of our action agenda review let's see do we have coming up next I think that's it so we'll start on time downstairs and if everybody can get in we can get there and get through this I did want to say that um council member um smudgy Mitchell will not be attending the meeting today I didn't hear from Lana okay okay so didn't know that so Miss Mayfield and Mr Mitchell all right let's go downstairs we do have a full speaker agenda as well as a number of other items I think that we have to follow W starts at 6:30 I know but we we can do some other things I think [Music] [Music] la [Music] [Music] [Music] e e [Music] the e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] mayor wait a minute Studio wait a one moment studio um we're not ready to go live yet [Music] [Music] one today is Public Safety update so Mr Jones I'm going to open it up for you and um see where we are on this so thank you mayor yes we're on so thank you mayor members of council and Amanda am I getting the uh presid a pulled up okay so uh as we have discussed over the past few weeks uh there's been a concern about having enough time to talk about public safety and so what I committed to at the last uh council meeting was to bring back during the manager's report a series of conversations dealing with Public Safety uh and it goes across the the whole Horizon uh everything from uh illegal truck parking to to homicide and so what I didn't want to do is put us in the place as council member Ash Mera alluded to earlier that we are trying to cram something into a budget process as opposed to try to lay a foundation for the beginning of a discussion that we would have you know not just uh tonight but also at the next business meeting and the first business meeting in January as well as the first business meeting in uh February so with that said I'll start off with this public safety update and Jason I guess somebody's going to drive the the um the slides the um and I talked a bit about the the schedule and so um what's important is there are a number of issues that I think we've been talking about for a while and maybe some types of solutions to to various issues I'll go back to uh May of 2020 when there was a a series of discussions about what's happening in terms of violence in our community which led to a series of uh discussions at each committee meeting with recommendations that came back that became a safe Charlotte approach an approach that has um gotten accolades from across the country but there are a lot of things that came out of that report that I think are extremely important that Charlotte has become a leader in trying to do things that are other than just policing so we want to talk a bit about that as well as a quality of life approach um then we have at the end of January the cmpd annual crime report and what really kicked this off even before May of 2020 was a city county collaboration to look at violence as a Public Health crisis so so with that said had if I go to the next slide we we had um our safe Charlotte report and again if I we talk about the three legs thre leged stool with um a good paying job a Workforce Development and we start to talk about a safe place to live housing and we also talk about Mobility a way to get back and forth we've talked a lot about those areas over the course of the last year or so so I wanted to spend some time to focus on the another piece of that which is safety and then lastly before I you know turn it over to uh the chief I just want to go back to the safe Charlotte uh pillars where we talked about a safe healthy and inclusive neighborhoods we talked about affordable housing we talked about an economic climate where businesses can Thrive and and how do we Implement a Mobility Network so tonight it's really setting Foundation a bit of a baseline with some data um my ask is that there's I know there's so many questions that we have um if we can begin to get those types of questions on the table it will help us frame what the next few meetings will be like and maybe there are some things that we're missing um I also hope that we don't try to solve everything tonight in this first presentation because again we will be talking about Public Safety between now which is November all the way up into February even before we have our first budget Workshop so with that said mayor if there aren't any questions I'd like to turn it over to the chief chief thank you for being here what I'd like to say is that there's lots of opportunities to write down what you want to come back and see and there going to be three additional sessions that you can have and do that so um Miss Johnson we'll start with you I just have one question is it realistic that we can get a presentation and be able to ask any questions in 15 minutes I I that's what I was trying to say is that I think this is an idea of how do we get the questions that you have and then that will have them time to actually work on some of the responses instead of it being like hurried and rushed so what I'm asking is jot down your questions so that they can cut get into um the process so that we can have the next meeting which is December the 9th those answer answers I I just think this is a very very important issue that that 15 minute you know 15 minutes is just not a responsible amount of time for us to jot down questions and not be transparent so that's just my thought well then I think if that's the way that the council sees it if that's your comment M we'll have the chief give us our presentation and then we can do the questions when as a refresh when he comes back okay all right JS thank you Madame mayor um mayor protim city manager Mr manager I appreciate it we're going to I'll try to get through it if we have a chance to uh get to some questions I'll be happy to ask answer whatever I can uh so uh what we're going to do is kind of share I want to share some of the crime trends that is almost about 35 years of data to kind of give you a perspective of where we've kind of come and and gone to as a city uh when it comes to Crime so the first chart that you're seeing here is going to be the violent crime count you can see a decrease uh in in year to date uh from 1990 all the way to the the current year 2024 uh the trends that you see in the violent crime reductions uh we've had some uh particularly in 2020 you can see the increase in uh violent crime that is up to 8,068 uh and then since then we have seen crime reductions every year significant crime reductions in 2021 and 2022 uh 2023 saw uh flat in violent crime uh and we are currently heading in 2024 to probably be on that same trajectory to hopefully uh be flattened violent crimes once again uh for 2024 it's well it it's it's about flat right now we're going to we're we're right now about a 1% uh but the trajectory from uh the middle of the year has been continuing continuing to go down so we we're making progress there so all right then you're going to what we're going to look at which is we don't often put this chart up but to talk about the uh violent crime per capita per 100,000 in population and I'm going to have some other slides with that as well but if you look at the green line that is the trend of population within uh within our jurisdiction uh and then you look at the blue line that is per capita the rate of violent crime uh victimization per 100,000 people so uh that has consistently gone down we saw a little spike in 2020 uh but now we're starting to see that to go back on a downward Trend uh which is uh pretty encouraging when you start looking at uh the population growth and how we're able to uh um keep crime under control and manage uh violent crime in particular so the next chart we're going to talk about homicides in particular the if you look back into the early 90s uh we had some major uh homicide rates uh and as we go into 2020 we're also looking at those numbers kind of mirroring uh what we saw in the early 90s uh but we're also seeing that these numbers are kind of the last few years we're trying to keep them a little bit steady you know in 2022 we saw a number of 110 uh but um over the last 34 years you know we are looking at a homicide rate that's kind of unpredictable uh those are some of the most difficult ones to uh get in front of and and to make sure that we're um keeping homicide rates down but also I can tell you that our our detectives in the homicide division are Stellar detectives the solvability rate they they're always above the national average of of homicide solvability so so far this year the number even though it says 90 9 we just had one that came off of the numbers because of it was ruled by the District Attorney's office as being self-defense uh and we expect a couple of more of those every year we kind of have a few at the end of the year that come off uh based on uh the DA's ruling of being self-defense so we are actually at 98 versus 80 at this time last year and again the homicide rate per capita per 100,000 population uh just this chart speaks for itself but generally we kind of hover around 10 homicides per year uh per 100,000 population this year looks to be to finish the same uh we did have some low numbers in the uh in early uh two or late 2000s uh that were down to about seven in one year in particular was uh 2014 we had five per capita uh and that was a that was a hom I believe that was about 48 homicides that that year that was a a really um successful year when it comes to how many homicides that we had so the next chart year-to dat property crime counts and property crime has been a challenge for the last couple of years and if you look I want to point out specifically even though the trend continues to go down I want to point specifically to uh 2023 when uh we that the spike there with 3 thou or 38,1 187 that was specifically uh run and and driven by our Kia Hyundai thefts uh and if you remember the issues that we had with the uh Kia Hyundai challenge with teenagers that were stealing those vehicles and that wasn't just a trend in charot that was Nationwide uh we are now starting to see some some of those efforts kind of Quil that uh Trends this year so we're actually hoping to see a reduction uh in Auto thefts this year year so uh even though that was a pretty big spike back in 2023 that we were looking at we're wanting to try to get that back down to uh if you want to call it normal levels but get it back down to where we're managing those uh Kia Hyundai thefts that we saw that were that spiked our property crime so next chart property crime per 100,000 and if you again that trend is something as you see the green line again is the population growth within our jurisdiction and we're seeing the steady decline in property crime per capita uh for our city and then part one crimes these are the crimes that we report to um the FBI that are being reported out uh that's across the country that every agency reports out uh and again we're looking at the trajectory of the part one offenses some of your most serious crimes that uh that is continuing to even though you have your es and flows it still is continuing to go on a downward Trend and again we'll look at the chart based on per capita uh and that speaks for itself as well so we talk a lot about you know what are we able to effectively um measure within when we talk talking about crime and we we look at the preventable versus non-preventable and it's very difficult for us to sit and say well we prevented you know 15 homicides last year we prevented uh certain amount of crimes that's one of those intangibles that we sit around and discuss all the time as our staff is that we really have the efforts to show what we do on a daily bases within uh Charlotte meinberg Police Department however it's difficult to say say the effect of that uh but all we know is that when we look at recidivism rates of those particularly juveniles that we have within a lot of our services uh that we see success in those areas but uh to be able to measure those crimes that we've prevented is very difficult but one of our philosophies that's not anything new we didn't come up with this but uh you look at the uh crime triangle victim opportunity and offender and our goal is always to disrupt one of those uh elements in the crime triangle and if you take away one of those you don't have the criminal element that we have to deal with so uh some of the most challenging ones as I mentioned earlier homicides domestic violence and it's impulsive acts of of of random uh or non-random crimes that are difficult like a lot of our homicides that we've seen this year and we try to track what they what started those homicides arguments seem to be one of the number one uh issues that deal that we are dealing with so a simple argument turns into a homicide and that's really difficult for us and uh to to be able to say how how effective can we be in preventing homicides so I will go back but and uh just another thing we looked at that's not on the chart here is the um number of crimes that we have with that that are as far as random crimes particularly we talk about people that are minding their own business that don't have any culpability or involvement in any of the crimes that we often uh can see that uh high-risk Lifestyles for example are a contributing factor to being victimized in violent crime uh we have very few numbers of people who are not involved in high-risk Lifestyles that are victimized in in violent crime but does exist uh but at the same time we have to make sure that uh these don't escalate to the point to where it becomes a homicide or an assault with a deadly weapon or a shooting or even at the same time getting uh some innocent party involved in a dispute that uh two people might be having so we have concerns there as well uh and then our efforts like I said our efforts within our department we continue every year I I look at our numbers as far as the uh proactive work from our officers who are doing just a phenomenal job that uh it continues to go up you know just when I think that we've reached a peak of gun seizures we've reached a peak of Zone checks of arrest things that our officers are doing on a daily basis uh every year they get the numbers continue to grow and get higher and higher so that's just a testament to the men and women who go out there every single day uh despite any distractions that they're going to be doing the work uh and they're keeping keeping our community safe so very proud of those efforts um last thing I do want to mention is we will be doing the end ofe Public Safety report that will come out the week of January as well so hopefully we'll have all those numbers that uh will end up for the year of 2024 uh we'll have any homicide numbers and if the if we have any that come off due to self-defense that we'll have as accurate as we possibly can to be able to report out and make sure that uh we have uh uh finalized numbers for uh everyone to see so uh I think I finished with like one minute left two minutes thank thank you chief for doing this um I I know that we don't have a lot of time but I think this is time that would be well spent so why don't we um actually um think about this and see where we um what we might want to make um possible when December the 9th comes up and Chief I guess one of the things that I think about is that we've been growing really so rapidly yes and I don't know how to calculate your strategy or how if our strategy needs to change as a result of population or where development occurs or what's going on so could you at some point speak to the idea of what makes it possible for us to get this data but also to make sure that people understand that this was something that we did not want to occur or should not have occurred and as far as population growth yeah and you know that's one of the things I've I've stood before Council before and I said I never want to uh make an excuse that the population's growing so crime is going to grow with it and uh we we don't want to lean on that so we really haven't pushed that data out probably as much as we should but I think it is good informational data for Council to be aware of uh I think we're probably the fastest growing major city in the country and if we continue on that then we certainly resources uh for policing and Public Safety needs to increase with that as well but at the same time that uh uh we are seeing success as that population grows but the trends continue to go down it's it's very difficult to say on a year-to-year basis we're going to compare crime based on what happened last year uh that's why we focused more on the 5year average and the 5year average is continuing to to uh we we are below our 5year average if we look at it in that in that sense but um you're correct we do need to make sure that that information is as as the population grows that we are com have some sort of comparison to what crime looks like based on uh per capita uh in the growth of our city okay all right Miss asir and we'll come down this way and go around thank you thank you Madame mayor uh Chief first let me thank you for your leadership I appreciate the steud leadership that you have been providing and um I appreciate how you have been very outspoken and advocate for your for your team especially with pre-trial Integrity act uh so thank you for leading that effort and uh successfully in Raley thank you uh so this data is great because it shows um it it it really shows how um it's not a year-over-year comparison we are looking at it more holistically over a long run and that's great uh but when I look at safety I it's more of a perception yes and and when I talk to someone how do you feel safe in the city of Charlotte um if you and and the perception about certain parts of our city is truly concerning yes uh I've heard often from those who live in uptown or those who are going to restaurants or dining here in uptown they'll say uh it hasn't gotten better and that is certainly concerning to me um when we hear often about street car racing and and that's not concentrated in one part I know that's an issue in Still Creek uh university area and other parts uh but that is certainly concerning uh we have seen shootings uh on occupied dwellings where children are been put at risk uh that is concerning so when we look at Public Safety I think we have to look at this from perception perspective and what we are doing to address some of this some of these other crimes that I just mentioned yeah you you're you're 100% correct we battle perception uh just as much as we battle the reality of what the objective numbers say uh and uh you know there are things that we can you know we're in an era today where uh news is is is a media as soon as something happens it's put out there and it's it's put out there in full force and people have more access to information than they ever have I think that plays into perception as well but uh we you know we always say that if if people perceive themselves not to be safe then that's an issue for us that we have to be able to deal with and uh whether that's through presence or education or uh when we have these really good um um uh responses to different different things that we've done for street racing for example uh we want to put that information out there you know when we seize 50 cars because they took over a street uh we want to make sure people know that that's the work that we're doing every single day uh and um we've had more success in that category than many major cities across the country because they've just not had the legal tools to be able to to deal with it but you know we are uh fortunate that you know we've been able to get legislation passed to help us in our efforts and uh and we're going to continue to do that and Advocate to keep us keep us safe not just through a police perspective but I think everyone who has a piece of that that pie to keep our community safe thank you uh Chief Jennings um I certainly appreciate holding people accountable uh especially we have been able to do that successfully because of certain legislations that's being passed um this is the first time where I've not seen data on repeat offenders I know in the past we had data on repeat offenders especially our youth have we seen an improvement since the pre-trial Integrity Act was implemented I can tell you off the top of my head that uh yes I believe there's been significant Improvement not just in that uh but also in some of the juvenile effort effs that we've been putting forth uh we will we usually put that data out at the end of the year briefing so all of that will be gathered and accumulated and and uh shared with our end of the year stat statistics yes I so that so not at December 9th but January 13th January 13th yes so I would be interested in seeing that as to what is the trend now and have we made a meaningful difference in that yes we'll we'll be able to put all that information together and you know just so you know I've had um other Chiefs from across the state that are just you know just couldn't be more thankful for uh some of the legislation that's passed that's really helping them in their jobs too so oh that's great and I certainly also appreciate um how you all have been very proactive in cracking down on some of the uh arcade game uh facilities that have really been cry magnets in certain parts of our communities so thank you thank you for your leadership on there thank you all right mayor protim thank you Madame mayor and um Chief thank you as well for your leadership um in the community and U for your team some Innovative things like some Innovative things like stand up our cares team and I know we're investing and expanding in that but I I was down in uh t Campa for a national league of cities and I I sat through a couple of sessions on public safety and there there cities like Albuquerque New Mexico is doing some really Innovative things around their Community safety model that supports their police department but it it's it sits as a third plank right outside of police fire and uh emergency response but I I wonder if you I'm not I'm not sure if you're aware of some of these uh Community safety models around the country uh these multidisciplinary Echo models but I I wonder if we would benefit from a learning more about them and how they um directly impact U crime activity and outcomes um and then be if if if we believe it's something that could work here in the Queen City are you familiar with any of these AC ities in cities like Albuquerque and Detroit yeah I'm I'm not thoroughly familiar with them but uh yeah I am I'm good friends with the chief in Albuquerque and we you know we talk regularly and uh we do share ideas and uh with as with a lot of other major City Chiefs but uh I can certainly uh uh ask him a little bit more about that and and and listen to what successes they've had as well yeah that that'd be great um having a heat map of some of these um Troublesome convenience stores and and Marts and having a specific approach to trying to mitigate the crime that could potentially occur um District by District throughout the city in that regard yes I mean I I I probably get one of those a week uh where um there are complaints about whether it's a a convenience store or residence or something but uh what we can you know that's another factor that we look at that where we're fortunate doesn't all fall on the police uh you know we can we can look at measures you know how difficult it is I think everyone in this room has dealt with nuisance abatement uh and uh how difficult that is but uh you know we we will we just have to continue to keep some of that pressure on and continue to be visible where we where we can uh we've had we were just talking about one this morning where you know for weeks we put resources almost around the clock at a single convenience store and um you know that's just something we obviously can never main sustain and and continue to do but uh we will you know we we always try to use whatever resources we can to to break some of that cycle and hopefully it it goes away but uh we can we can probably put together something that that lists the top uh convenience stores that we've had calls for service and I think that'd be some data that we'd certainly be interested in seeing so i' I'd like to see that data absolutely we'll put that together and um and then just lastly with the conversation around um reality versus perception right uh and it's it's something that we deal with in in the Uptown Community um as well with people coming out and enjoying themselves but we're in a state now where we you're right we have access to so much information and so much connectivity and yet there's so many of our residents who feel like they're isolated and alone and that just feeds that fear that and that perception as it relates to Crime um and but I think there is some there's something that we could do being intentional around addressing perception um through a messaging campaign um through appreciate you and the ladies and gentlemen I see to my far right um but I'm going to be a little bit critical um but I'm going to be a little bit critical here and be very direct um uh to you and to the council and to the community uh and um uh as a policy maker I clearly understand and respect the the the the data and the research and um that you displayed earlier I can't go in any corporate boardroom or any community meeting and and talk about data uh because folks just won't get it right it's a feeling I think you heard that before and if I even told you this before if you don't feel safe you're not safe and there's too many people throughout this community that does not feel safe and I think it's not just a perception I think in some cases it may be their reality especially if you live along the basv Royal Corridor if you uh dying in uptown Charlotte uh and someone randomly gets shot and killed uh we take three steps forward and two steps backwards and so I just hope that when we have this conversation that we certainly have a a policy conversation the data and the uh and uh it's really really important for the policy makers as we kind of think about how do we move forward but we just need to really have a real conversation on a wide variety of issues the issue of nuisance em batement needs to be a real issue and we need to find um some correlation between your department and the city attorney's office in terms of identifying these hotpots if it takes two three four years the clock needs to start running on number of these facilities throughout the city um ABC enforcement uh needs to be a a a very heavy presence throughout the city of sha there may be some stores that are in compliance there may be others that are not I think we need to crack down for the lack of a better word and making sure where the Fortified beer licking wine are being sold are these vape shops really selling the generic marijuana or they're doing something illegal in these shops we need to fix figure figure that out you probably heard about a meeting I had two weeks ago on B for road we had about 20 stakehold holders their words not mine no tolerance no tolerance in terms of of some of the behavior that I've witnessed myself openair drug sales uh along the BTY for Road Corridor we made some major investments from the city's perspective quarters of opportunity private developers have done the same for third Chase Bank TD Banks um they're getting these establishment um rocks thrown through the window well you know you heard the report we had our conversation and it's it's health issues and mental health that we need to really have a real conversation with meinburg County and our health department about um because those are the core um um components of some of the crime the homelessness and you know I think we dropped the ball because we hadn't even went for it with the home for all thing right that we've spent years literally going back to Tent City putting uh a a Citywide stakeholders group in place coming up with policy recommendations and we've kind of sat on that for for whatever reasons I think we need to really have a sense of urgency about these issues lastly but not least we just talked about our legislative agenda we need more res resources from Raleigh for the judicial system right and and so that should be our top priority uh more so than Mobility right because no one wants to get right that should be it right and we need to use our corporate support the same strategy that we're utilizing for Mobility to get to uh uh our legislators and Raleigh who are on the opposite side of the aisle to understand that the largest city in the Carolinas is woefully undefended when it comes to judicial support and if we don't talk real about these issues the stats are one thing I get it I understand it I'm a policy maker I will I will interpret it to make decisions but we need to have some real conversations about have fortitude to go and Katherine Simmons uh and forcefully uh nuisance Abate the owner who lives somewhere else and we don't have the fortitude to make hard decision as we grow then you know we just got four more meetings thank you yeah I don't I don't disagree with most of what you said um% yeah 90% but I I will tell like you know there are certain limits that like nuisance abatement you know there there are laws behind that you can't just say we're going to shut you down um so and it's difficult and and a lot of what you said uh and and I hope the rest of Council heard that uh is not simply falling on police we partner with anybody and we have and we will we'll continue to do that uh even things that might be out of our purview but we'll partner with anybody that will if the ultimate goal is safety in our community then uh and sign us up well I I I know you're you're partnering significantly with with the DA's office I mean we've had this conversation before absolutely so I know you guys are solid from a institutional perspective from a policy perspective the policy makers were fragmented from my perspective right and did doesn't seem to be a a cohesive approach of working to get the type of legislation we need Al Ry to do things that we have to do getting more coach um court support working with our agencies like Atrium and noon and others uh around the issues of mental health now they're doing some things don't get me wrong but it doesn't seem to be a cohesive fit with other Community Partners where the left hand knows what the right hand is doing and there's some coordination beyond what we're trying to do so and and I'll always continue to fight for district attorney Spencer May weather he's I I I don't know how he can with the resources they provide him he he's doing the best he can so what what but but that's the rub right um and so so I get it um but there's there's more that we we can do and and it's just other than you know you heard from um the mayor protim as well as council member as mayor there's a perception problem that we're fighting each and every day not withstanding the data uh and you you know that perception sometimes again people's reality because they're living it experience it each and every day of throughout the city thank you Mr DRS thank you Madame mayor uh Chief you know I appreciate you and your officer and I hope they understand uh I'm 100% in support uh I wanted to mention I don't know if you know that Kelly weeks the Widow of the Marshall who was killed on April 29th spoke at Rotary last week yes and she told uh and she spoke in very moving terms about how cmpd officers rush to the scene and into Harm's Way I I recommend it you can find it on their website yes I would say as far as the feeling of safety is concerned uh I lived in New York during a very bad time in the city it was famous for being uh having a high crime rate if you lived there you kind of knew that if you went to certain places at certain times you weren't worried you could ride the Subways you could travel but you did not go into Central Park you didn't ride the Subway at night so as long as you played by those rules you were safe what I'm hearing about uptown Charlotte is they people don't feel that way and I've heard that uh they don't see a police presence and they are exposed to either behaviors or to uh attacks on their person verbal or whatever but they don't feel that there is a kind of a safe presence there at a time and a place where there really should be so I just use that parallel you can't be everywhere all the time but if you can't be Uptown in the evening and restaurants are closing early it's a bad situation and I've had a number of business owners tell me about that one other thing I wanted to mention uh was uh I had two calls in the last couple of months from people who had been in car accidents and had called cmpd and waited for an hour or more and no one came so I'm curious to know what the latest is in terms of response times or whether we're having to prioritize in such a way that basically nobody goes one of them by the way was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives so that's not a good look for us uh I just offer that to you um and I don't really have any questions I appreciate the work you do and wanted to bring that to your attention thank you yeah one thing I will tell you our civilian uh crash investigators they do roll out um next week I think they're finishing up their training but uh that's uh 15 uh investigators that will do nothing but property damage uh vehicle accident so hopefully that'll help with some of that response time but um yeah if they left after an hour I they an officer probably did respond but an hour uh for in a traffic accident that's you know unfortunately that's kind of where we are now um so so is that a Manpower shortage or are we just not uh not recognizing traffic accidents is me people want to see the police for the report and so on the insurance I realize it's not a safety issue at that point but yeah um are we just not promising anybody that they can expect to see a CMP officer at the scene of an accident when there's no injury no no we'll respond to accidents uh now what I will tell you is you you ask if it's a Manpower shortage I think it's more of a call volume uh issue that we we continue to um increase our call volume and you know as we continue to up our staffing and and and fill some of these vacancies and get the trainees out and U to where they're radio response officers then uh we'll probably hopefully see better response times on that but uh you know at the same time I I look at our uh dashboard on a regular basis and there there are literally times when every single officer in Patrol is assigned to a car to a call uh and they have to get off of that call to go and if they get off of that call and there's another higher priority call that's higher than an accident then that will push that accident call back a little bit so uh yeah it's it's certainly an issue I'm not going to hide behind that and say that you know we're responding well to those but um at the same time we're you know we our officers are prioritizing those calls and getting there out there as soon as they can we have talked about response times before it might be helpful to get an update on what the data look like thank you Mr barari yeah I I just say that uh particularly Mr Graham's comments I I wholeheartedly support that approach I think that is the the way he articulated prioritization amongst other things for this topic about getting other resources to the table I think that's an absolute no-brainer something we should get behind I'll also say I appla you Mr manager for for putting this series in front of us right we've talked about it for a long time kind of get oneway presentations a lot of times and the way you've articulated to me is this is our opportunity to kind of help shape what the next meeting and then the next meeting look like based on what we want to see so I think we have the right foundation to move forward I I I would just I would tweak what I heard from Mr Graham just slightly in the exploration for these next couple sessions where I don't necessarily know the data is the data and we jump over it and we just move on to perception and policy I any of us who work in data know there's a thousand ways we can slice and dice and present things and sometimes it's presented to us in rosecolor glasses sometimes it's presented in a way that sheds the best light on it and what I think we need to do is like you've suggested offline is we work offline to request what specifically we want to see how we want to see breakdowns in property crimes violent crimes um repeat offending ERS juvenile crime how we can see the internal views of morale Recruitment and Retention with without any kind of skewing it one way or another and it may take a couple iterations to get there but I I think my belief is if we can get to the real Crux of the data there may be a scenario where it isn't just perception is different than data and somehow we've got a correct perception I think that we might have to face some hard truths once we get that and be willing to go to the community and say see here it is this is this aligns more with what you're feeling in this specific angle but we can't be unwilling to go down that path because it puts a bad light on where we're going so I just think that's such a critical part of the exercise for so long across all topics we kind of present things in its best absolute light but I think those of us especially District reps who are out there Fielding calls and and solving issues and talking to neighbors and those who are talking to people in the department I mean there's some point where you got to scratch your head and say anecdotally how come this is so different than what the way it's presented to be every time so I applaud you for for doing this and I'll work with you offline as I encourage everyone to to really not jump over the data part and ask some questions Miss watlington thank you um I've got a few questions at our database U that I think will drive some of the program evaluation work so I can share this with you um offline but I agree with much of what's been said I will say though that a lot of it is not new right this is the same conversation we've been having for some time and I would challenge us to really think about how do we approach this outside of a government lens um because for me you can't legislate people's hearts right and we' we've got a cultural issue Across the Nation period when we think about what we consume on a daily basis what what are youth in particular who we know show up disproportionately as offenders we know that there is something marketly different about what we see in and out of every day whether it's social media whether it's through music whether it's through movies etc etc um so we we've got to think about how do we impact the economics of media how do we think about partnering with with these media corporations and with our federal government um entities to think about how we incentivize or how we deter certain behaviors when it comes to what we're broadcasting over the Airways um that that's a small piece of it but again much of it has already been discussed but I think ultimately we're going to be chasing our Tales if we think that we're going to solve what's going on inside of people's hearts and homes from this dis I just I think we're missing a fundamental human- centered approach to that um yes we have Partnerships with nonprofits and with our faith based Community um but there is something much deeper going on in our world today and we've got to be cognizant of that if we actually want to make some Headway thank you all right Miss Brown yes thank you so much Madam mayor and and chief thank you so much for your hard work I've watched the 11 months that I've been in office and to you wonderful folks behind me thank you for everything that you do every day I could not be a police officer I can't be anyway because of my history but I would have no desire not because I don't like what you do and how you do it but the world that we live in I have to pick it back off of Dr wallon and where I come from and family members that I see every day that choose to make the wrong decision even after I share my life story after they know they fell off the family tree all of that is cultural for me and it's deep for me when I think about my district West Boulevard Four Corners they've been working on it forever I'll even get out the car because I know some of those folks FKS this is real life stuff why are you standing on the corner what can we do to make it better for you you've been standing on the corner for years they gunshots there memorials that are on each corner at the store somebody was murdered I know these people I grew up with them or I grew up with their parents or their family members when you talk about District 3 you say Woodline disaster Woodline Road Nation Ford Road I'm talking about some of the areas you and your your staff have to deal with Wilkinson Boulevard Ashley Ro of course the four points on West Boulevard talk to those folks all the time every time I go to the store I walk to the store yes the Nu and abatement order I get it but I also would like to see and this is for us like Dr won said we are simply not going to be able to solve what's in the person's heart what their will is to do I know that the call volume has went up I was in Still Creek uh there was an accident and I was I just stopped because that's just who I am and maybe it was unsafe but it was a young person they had been driving Under the Influence about 3 weeks ago and they ran off the embankment and it took the officers a while to get there but when I was talking with them on the phone 911 placed me on ho that's not cmpd I was placed on home I'm telling you I made the call and um we were standing there with some other civilians they sto uh residence in Steel Creek on on the on the corner of the mall the premium outlet the young man had been drinking so once your officers got there they did what they did but we were put in a category uh where we were raided on the seriousness of what was going on I know this because I there yes and so I get it the young man was talking he was alert they asked me all these questions so maybe somebody on the other side of the town was maybe in a bad accent where they about to die so then we do have to allocate the priority of the call and where it needs to go I would like to see this is me I don't think you need to deal with the animal shelter I don't know what that looks like or how will we get you out from under that you guys have so much to deal with in the 11 months that I've been sitting here the seriousness of Woodline West Boulevard Nation Fort Road all these areas that are mine that I grew up in the airport you don't have time to create a traffic stop I know that um every single night on the weekend Friday Saturday not Sunday from Longhorn on 160 those young folks they line up they were so concerned about people um being unhoused on the corner where a premium outlet is where people can see them so what the likelihood of a unsheltered person killing me versus somebody coming out a Lorn speeding at 200 miles an hour in those muscle CS it could be your family my family or any of our family sitting at this Des so why I do care about unhoused population that was a priority put there and that area has been cleaned up up yet those young folks still doing donuts on 160 where they can ultimately kill any of us because if you get hit that impact there's no way we're going to walk away and if we do it's but something greater than God's grace partner partnership very important faith based Organization for me I know in some areas cuz I travel the world dealing with Justice impact the individuals that have backgrounds like me that been through this stuff when you put people in front of them that look like them that been what been through what they've been through and you reimagine what a community could look like that is what continues to happen we reimagine what a community can look like and some of these things cmpd wouldn't have to deal with because to me West Boulevard is just as important as our City Center Partners I love them I understand the economic driver may be downtown Charlotte and not on the corner of West Boulevard but it could be if we invest the proper way it's a quor of opportunity and so once again you guys can't do everything and I don't expect for you to do everything um you work very hard long hours the perception over reality is just that some folks feel like they're down on their luck and they're going to continue to do the same thing because they feel like I have a background if I go out I got to check the box and if I'm checking the box I'm only going to be able to get $750 to $12 an hour that's not going to take care of anybody's family I'm an exception to the rule that exception don't happen often it just doesn't that's the real world where I come from and so when we put it in front of what can we do and how can we do it better we have to continue to organize and mobilize and let our nonprofit organizations come in Step Up and again I'm animal shelter I don't think you should have to deal with the four-legged beautiful creaty animals that are running around here you have two-legged creatures that you got to deal with every single day and some of them are definitely more violent than the animals so why I've listened to all of my colleagues and say what perception is for me yes I have some concerns I have some challenges about where do I feel safe at but no City diers preferential treatment versus the other so I think on on on on a blanket statement if we could all come together and see we need to allocate our funding equally across the city and that's not going to happen it hasn't happened for so long that's why the four points at West Boulevard look the way they look and continue to look the way they look I know there's some work being put in there but it needs to be a little bit more work West Boulevard Woodline I get all the emails all the phone calls Nation for war Wilkerson these areas that I'm really concerned about and I know some of these folks because I've lived the lifestyle that they live so again I commend you yeah there's more to do there's always more to do but cmpd just simply cannot do it by themselves and I know because I call 911 and I was placed on ho when your officers got there it was two of them they took over they did what they do but at the end of the day we have really got to dig deeper and it may not even come like Dr Waton said from this day so I commend you on the work that you're doing there's always more that we can do and I also want to put the same emphasis we're putting on thank you Madame mayor and thank you councilwoman Brown for your passion thank you um and thank you chief for the work that you do I I can see the pride um in your eyes when you talk about your officers so thank thank you guys also thank you um I had the pleasure of seeing some officer at the University safety Summit on November 7th so they do a great job so I appreciate it I have a question um councilwoman Brown talked about 911 being placed on hold I can remember meeting with the city manager maybe in 20120 talking about uh 911 being placed on hold when there was a call and I also called 911 recently for something in the road or something and I and I hung something and I and I hung up CU by the time they would have answered I was passed it and it just was kind of pointless but they call back like 10 minutes later MH so there's still that issue so is is that a staffing issue and and is is that a staffing issue and and is there anything any priority is there anything we can do as a council to improve that statistic yeah and and one uh council did approve additional uh 911 operators uh or um communication operators uh last year I believe it was uh so those positions uh were filled but however attrition when it comes to telecommunications is pretty high so we're constantly hiring uh and and constantly losing people and filling those positions back uh we are um looking at other we have looked at other things to try and things to try and assist such as part-time uh 911 uh uh answering people just answering 911 and not dispatching uh and some of that has come into play as well but uh we still have a lot of work to do I'm not going to uh we we did something with the 911 system to where uh there's an automatic answer there's an answer to it and I don't know if that's where we're saying we're being put on hold but where you where the it's it's answered by an automated system that uh will also if you are on if you don't get picked up within a certain amount of time it goes from the police telecommunicators over to fire communication Communications and then if it doesn't get picked up in a certain amount of time it then rolls over to medic Communications so obviously the police have most of the uh communicators uh in the office working uh but we try to make sure that instead of just if it if the police don't telecommunicators don't answer then it rolls directly over and it tells people not to hang up uh that it's going over to another system so uh we have some work to do there I I I know that uh that is difficult but you know a lot of times when we have Peak moments and 911 calls you might have a traffic accident on uh the interstate and you might get 50 calls that come in and that backs up the system as well so I I've been looking at some things uh also you know can we use technology to help uh get these calls answered and dispatched for example I'm not saying we're doing this so I'm just I'm just don't go saying we're doing it but uh like AI for example you know can we get AI to answer it and dispatch you know there there are that technology is out there and available uh but uh particularly for calls where somebody just needs an officer out there and and we can uh we can avoid having to have a real person um take that specific call but I think there's some options to look at we're not going to you know it's it's difficult to solve it's it's again we get over a million calls in the Dispatch Center every year uh and um you know that's a challenge always going to be a challenge okay and and I can we can talk offline because I know we have constituents waiting downstairs so thank you for the work that you do thank you all right Miss Molina um thank you Madame mayor and you know recognizing the time I guess I'll Echo and not really a lot has been said so I don't want to you know uh um repeat anything first thank you chief for your service to our community for your commitment I think earlier this year our city for after a long period of time we humanized our officers again because of a desperate tragedy that um we had to look at you know our public servants for Public Safety through a new lens and for the first time through something so tragic I saw people you know different ideological placing you know start to look at like I said our public servants from a human perspective and so I feel like you know that uh that put um that put a new light on some of these conversations that we're having right some people now realize some of the dangers that the public servants put themselves in what ways they put themselves in in order to keep us safe um I I want to ask you a few questions how many precincts do you have Chief there are 13 divisions within the Charlotte meinberg Police Department so those each have a captain right yes okay um and are you aware of the division among like the districts um like I know for for example for me I I see one of my captains who I who I know and and correspond with and and it's just the rock star uh sitting back there um three for my district right that I get to correspond with and go do ride alongs with are we aware of like which ones correspond with which uh District I I'm not sure what you're asking so like we have seven districts so what you hear in essence from us right I know that we have to commit to overall policy but what you here in each one of our passions is the people who contact us right with their perception with the information for an example I have an ongoing conversation with actually one of the captains that are here for something that is specific to the district that may or may not involve my colleagues but it may impact how we look at overall policy that may affect your decision making for you know the entirety of cmpd right yeah and certainly like our boundaries are different from what your boundaries are with Council in responsibilities but I I've always you know encourag one the captains should know uh who that council member is uh in their that's that's overseeing their districts uh and I think that council members should know who their captains are and have that dialogue that you're talking about because at the end of the day if you send me something I'm getting in touch with the captain and asking for a response so uh so you can cut out the middleman I'm usually the middleman in that but you can cut me out uh but I encourage that and saves a lot of time and if you have those relationships it can uh uh also get you some of the attention that you want that we can help prioritize things that are prioritized on your agendas too so yeah and and so like I said what you're hearing specifically like I I can't speak to the passion of West Charlotte right because I'm not there on a day-to-day basis I'm not interacting with the community members but those are things that you know are going to impact how that particular representative brings forth that policy for each Charlotte um mayor protim and I we share an area of emphasis that we've been hearing a lot from lately the Milton Road Plaza Eastway area um and we have ongoing conversations about that and I'm really hoping that with the help of our staff and you know our very capable you know captains and even our major who's sitting over there I mean you know that we can continue to you know ideate around what's possible for that particular area but I guess I'll end with this some of the data right that governs some of our decision making it's going to be important for us to have it I I can say in abstract that I feel something for East Charlotte right um or that people are bringing to my attention something in you know specifically for East Charlotte but that data um from an overall perspective it it'll help us disseminate that information but it doesn't um say that we're not making strides it doesn't say that I don't believe that we're making strides it's just I believe from a public saf perspective there's always going to be things to do right I don't feel like that there's a a zero some game and that at some point we'll never have crime we'll never have issues but um I look forward to continuing to work with you I am proud of the East Charlotte you know leaders that I get to interact with and that's all I get to say thank you Chief thank you um and I want to say thank you to the council I know that this was something that you know we said we ought to get to the audience and we often do that but I think this was one of the most valuable discussions because we have four different opportunities to have this and this I think leads leads us into a great Foundation you've heard what people want and see and communicate to the leaders here and thank you all for being here I haven't seen you since this morning but um I guess they let you go home at night sometime but I want to say um Chief we're proud of our officers we're proud of the work that you do and I think that what this Council has said is that we as a council care deeply about the city and what we can do to support you so thank you um now we will go downstairs and we will have a council meeting but um I would just say that if we had meetings like this that were as I think open and heartfelt we'd be in a lot lot better position on a number of our policy issues so let's figure out how to make this work for all of us let's go downstairs and have some speakers thank you Happy Thanksgiving everyone yeah thank you [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] d [Music] [Music] continuing to sit I hope that you've met someone new in the audience that you s have sat by and learned something new about our community um we had a very long discussion um with our police chief and I think it was one that was great value to us and so if you'll forgive us for trying to create that ability for us all to begin to think about how our city can become more safe I really would I really want to say thank you for doing this so I'm now going to call the Charlotte City Council business meeting um to order and we'll go ahead and um start with our introductions we'll start with our city clerk Stephanie Kelly city clerk good evening margerie Molina District 5 good good evening Renee Johnson and I'm honored to represent District 4 Marcus Jones city manager vs mayor Dante Anderson mayor protim district one malcol Graham District Two Ed dggs district 7 carard 6 all right Lena James Deputy City attorney thank you um we begin our meeting with a um thoughtful moment and today we've asked our mayor protim Dante Anderson to give us a um way to lead toight tonight beginning thank you thank you mayor um you know I was thinking about this week being such a special week uh for family members to come together and to celebrate uh connectivity with your loved ones and your friends um and all the good time that we spend together during the Thanksgiving week and so this evening I'd like to share a Thanksgiving Day prayer of gratitude um that was initially shared um to the World by uh President John F Kennedy let us therefore Proclaim our great gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world on that day let us Gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by Family affection to express our Gra gratitude for the Glorious gifts of God and let us earnestly and humbly pray that God will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished task of achieving peace Justice understanding among all men and Nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever it exists thank you thank you very much now please join us if you would like to for our Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all before we move into our business meeting agenda items I want to take a moment to read into the official record the result of our recent annual evaluations for positions of the Charlotte City Clerk and Charlotte City manager for the city clerk we will include a 2% base salary increase and for the city manager we will include a 5% base manager salary increase both of these payments are effective July 1 2024 I want to say thank you to all of the people that work in our community to make it better and especially those that have to work in times like this at nighttime and the way that we have to De these meetings and their guidance for us as we continue to build a great City of Charlotte so with that we'll now go ahead and recogn I want to recognize councilwoman Victoria watlington to um recognize the of Celebration that we're going to have I think one that we're all interested in thank you madam mayor whereas the month of November welcomes in both a time of Thanksgiving and a season for sharing our resources and our freedoms to worship work and live as independently as possible and whereas some members of our community cannot find adequate employment or a place to live for a variety of reasons both simple and complex and whereas there are efforts to bring homeless children and adults Out of the Shadows of our abundance to address the diverse needs among them as well as to correct systemic conditions that have led to their poverty and homelessness and whereas our current economic challenges call for greater awareness and guidance to address needs among all of our neighbors and whereas the homeless Services Network of Charlotte meinberg its member organizations and its public Partners in the city of Charlotte and meinberg County desire to dispel myths and overcome stereotypes of homelessness and to provide opportunities for all of our citizens to learn more about the plight The Hope and the achievements of homeless neighbors of our community and to welcome them we commit to work together to overcome systemic causes of homelessness now therefore VI Alexander LS mayor of Charlotte and George Dunlap chair of the meinberg County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim the month of November 2024 as homeless Awareness Month in Charlotte and meinberg County and urge all of our citizens to honor this observance I'd like to recognize Harper Ellis Vice chair of the homeless Services Network of Charlotte meinberg and Randall hit a roof above to accept this [Applause] Proclamation thank you very much for the work that you do um we are going to have a public forum where we have um people kind that called the city clerk because they want to petition something from the city council I want to recognize that when we are doing this and we're having this work done that we actually want to ask people to be what I would call or my mom would say mannerable you know we want to we do not want disruptions and we do not want people to be um against or speak against each other because what's what you're doing is speaking to us as a council so I think that we would I'd like to say if the speakers um has disruptions then we will ask you to stop and if it goes un continues we will ask you to leave the meeting chamber I will not be asking you that young man with the blue uniform over there and the stripe gray stripes will help us if we have any need for that so thank you very much for that if we can all do this work together we also have a policy where we have 15 speakers and I believe today we are up to 15 so I'm going to begin with our first speaker and then the second person we have two um podiums so please come down with two podiums um the first one is Manish D dami and the second speaker is toana Brooks toana Brooks each Speaker gets two minutes and each Speaker gets two minutes I'm sorry I should have said that so as you're thinking about what you're going to say 2 minutes okay go behind you go to the podium and the microphone so that everybody can hear it and it'll be recorded in the city's minutes mayor I the accommodation for people she's coming she's she's coming over people that may need the accommodations what the accommodations yeah you if you need an accommodation or need um special um any special help to come to the mic we have one upstairs and we have one downstairs just so thank you for Miss Brown for reminding me of that all right so um Mr damman is that correct ma'am thank you you have two minutes uh Madame mayor council members I appreciate you allowing me to come talk with you tonight uh going to be getting some handouts but basically this is about a water main break that occurred on August 28th at my neighbor's yard at 2 o'clock in the morning uh basically had moved into my house 6 months prior and uh hundreds of gallons of water poured out of uh this water M break a couple feet from the curb uh leaving a 12T wide hole and about 10t deep and all that water flooded from my neighbor's yard into his house uh towards his garage and he has an elevated garage that then poured down into the side of my yard uh created 4ft trenches uh in the side of the yard all that water then flooded to my backyard I just put a brand new pole in and the pebbletech that had been applied the day before has to cure for several weeks with clean water no water had been applied just of just as of yet but uh my neighbor texted me at 4:00 in the morning and I found over 36,000 gallons of dirt debris sleding the entire pool uh the patio area and basically destroyed everything so later on that morning at 7 in the morning uh the pool company who had just come by to inspect and see what was going on had to pull everything out reapply Pebble Tech clean the entire patio area and basically had to truck water in because the entire uh Street had to have its water shut down uh between that the uh damage to the Landscaping the water also flooded the street in front of my house created a massive sinkhole that then had to get repaired by the city um if you add up all the costs all in general it was 22,3 $3 3124 uh had talked with the um uh the city as well and they basically said uh through uh many emails that this was basically a natural disaster and they're not willing to cover anything thank you very much my understanding and is that we are aware of this and that there is a review of it and that we would have what we're trying to do is determine what we legally would have to do to make this um work so um I expect you'll be hearing more of from the city as we go ahead and thank you so much for sharing that information appreciate thank you get it ready before the summer right thank you very much appreciate it okay Miss Brooks good afternoon or good evening I'm sorry um I live in uptown in a catalyst apartments right across from beron Park um there has been a lot of crime in that area as you all know this summer um there was a fight in july there was also a shooting right in front of the 7-Eleven on 9:25 and then on 112 someone was actually killed right outside of the park um so we were told that you know there would be more police presence um since all of that has happened the police presence has been sporadic at best we haven't seen very much difference since um all of these events have have happened um we need better Lighting in the park uh we need to make sure that the police are consistently patrolling that area especially after the park closes there's a lot of Ling in the park um especially after midnight when the park is closed there's a lot of homelessness where people are actually sleeping in the park um and I believe in the information center building that is right in the park as well and I just um wanted to ask the the council um what changes are you guys I heard you say that you guys were talking to the police chief tonight about the crime and I wanted to know what changes that you have for that area going forward well thank you Miss Brooke we have had several um comments and request for the issues that you've described very adequately more more than adequately um in terms of how the park has become something that has been more considered more negative especially for the many residents in the Catalyst and across the street and all of that we are very much aware of it and I don't have an answer for you directly but we will have someone work with you for communication of what we are going to do and as I say we're quite aware of the issues that the park is supposed to be an wonderful place but it has not um proven itself to do that and or be that in the last several months so thank you very much for telling us about it and we are continuing to work on it thank you I just one more comment I wanted to make if if at all possible um with New Year's coming up I know you guys probably have a plan in place but what I've noticed is especially on the weekends Thursday through Sunday there's really not any police presence there there are people that are drag racing up and down Church Street late at night um I myself when the shooting happened we call 111 it took an hour for someone to even reach back out to to speak with us about what had happened so I just asked the council I actually beg you to please just really take that into consideration um as for our safety the people who live uptown because we love living Uptown but we just want it to be safe thank you very much we I'm going to ask Mr Heath to um get the additional information from you Miss Brooks so that we can follow up so if you would meet with him right over there there um we appreciate you coming down and expressing this for us thank you mhm um our next speaker is Jay Walker and Vera fauler Mr Walker and M fauler [Music] do it so I see four people um that are coming down so we'll start out with um Mr Walker and Miss fauler followed by this is Miss Murphy Kate Murphy will be next and then Martha Vanessa is that our next is that make the fourth thank you all right um why don't we go ahead and begin with Mr Walker yes hello council members uh happy holidays uh actually it's not happy holidays for me I'm here with the uh my supporters we have a racial situation in Charlotte Grove Park area and I'm not happy here because the holidays because my wife is not here Ivon Walker because she just can't take she can't take this racist Richard Yuri it's a racist person live across the street in District Council 5 I was told not to call the person's name because I should be polite and cordial but her initiative is MM Eminem okay I used to like M&M's I don't like M&M's anymore more uh this situation the police and the community is enabling this white racist supremacist across the street from me right across the street uh and there's been two newspaper articles about it and um still we we're not getting any help we moved here over 10 years ago from New York and we moved here we retired we're over 70 seniors this is our Dream Home supposed to be and we moved into uh Grove Park area in New York I lived in uh mostly black neighborhoods this is my first time living in a mixed neighborhood even though he says this is still a white neighborhood and we're going to run you if I can curse here I don't knowm that's not a is not a curse word yeah a is a curse word no okay well he says we going to run you your two minutes are up though um I I I I understand that we'll go to miss um fauler next can they see canner see yes no this no you can't because we have rules and I know that it's difficult sometimes when you're all right we will not I'm I'm just explaining that we have rules and we follow those rules and if we begin to think about it differently it BEC rules at 6:30 you going to start you didn't start till 7:15 but we you start till 7 the time that we were late does not um com impact the time that we have we have as I said we have 15 speakers with two minutes let him we haven't started the time with um Miss fauler so we will begin with you miss fauler hello I'm a previous neighbor in Grove Park and towards the beginning of 2024 my roommate and I witnessed Rick Yuri's racial actions towards the Walkers infringing on privacy verbal harassment dishonesty creating an environment of fear constant surveillance repeatedly calling 911 while the Walkers are existing on their own property the list is endless these acts of racism have been well known for a long time not only are police involved and aware but communities and council members too numerous newspapers have reported on it call to actions have been made and potlucks and rallies have been held yet nothing has changed instead Jay is told to lay low while Yuri continues his harassment unchecked this has been happening for years now and even longer before Jay no one has told Yuri to take down his signs or held them accountable since 2020 Mr Yuri has called the police on the walk 66 times from a February 16th call Queen City nerve obtained from 911 conversations in which Yuri tells the dispatcher I'm a cancer survivor I'm weak and if I have to shoot him I'm going to do it you need to get somebody out here quickly because I'm going to when asked if he had a firearm Yuri replied yes ma'am and I will use it he has threatened me he's assaulted me I'm tired of it it's in my waistband this man is a clear threat to the Walkers and anyone around him who knew defending yourself to Mr Yuri would mean a call to the police he doesn't stop at this he takes hundreds of pictures daily not only of the walkers but anyone who passes including women and children there's absolutely no reason for this disgusting Behavior this is a this is not a harmless neighborhood dispute Mr Yuri's criminal record speaks for itself assault on a female assault with a deadly weapon driving well impaired reckless driving to endanger shooting in city limits and simple assault dating all the way back to 1987 how is he still not being questioned why has it taken all this just to get someone to possibly listen there should be no excuse for this racist when members of this community have been facing it for years where are the people called to protect where is the action and why is this being treated like it's nothing in the QC nerve article Mr Walker says it's almost like if your neighbor's house is on fire and you just ignore it how could you do that I couldn't do that I'm not saying to run into a burning building but you do something than you very much for your comments our next speakers are Kate mury and Martha Vanessa [Applause] my name is Reverend Murphy I'm the pastor of the Grove Presbyterian Church in the Grove Park neighborhood um and I want to continue to speak about the harassment that the Walker family has been enduring for more than five years truly the values of a community are not in what it says but in what it tolerates and the walkers have been living in hell for five years and everyone has just been tolerating it the police and the criminal justice system have been weaponized against them and leaders shrug their shoulders and say there's nothing we can do you'll just have to endure it until you can't anymore Charlotte Brans itself on being a city of the new South but right now what's happening to the Walkers feels a lot like the old South Dr Jamar tisby says sometimes Justice requires taking aside we as a community need leaders who will take a side and go to Mr Yuri and say this kind of behavior is unacceptable in Charlotte North Carolina in the year 2024 and the fact that that conversation isn't happening is speaking volumes not just to Mr Yuri but others like him in the community who are learning that they can harass and weaponize the police against their black neighbors and no one will do anything we need your help to get involved and to stand with the Walkers and let Mr Yuri know that he cannot harass him in this way and go without experiencing any consequences Mr Walker is telling me that he thinks about Medgar Evans getting shot on his way home every night that he looks in the bushes and wonders who's going to be waiting for him with a gun there how is this going to end he needs to be able to live in peace in his house without fearing for his life feeling like he can't even sit on his front yard please intervene let Mr Yuri know that this behavior is unacceptable and Mr Walker has a right to live here in peace all right Mar [Applause] Vanessa you don't tell me what to do I'mma clap if I want to cuz I agree with her Brown Miss Brown oh Miss Brown all right let's go ahead we're we're ready for you miss Vanessa other situations have escalated last month in Minneapolis Mr Davis maturi was shot by his white neighbor after he and his wife complained 19 times about the racist harassment the neighbor was never arrested after the attack the senator said that the police refusing to arrest on basis of avoiding conflict is in contrast to other situations in which black men have been killed Mr maturi recovered in the hospitals from his injuries the police chief himself said we failed this victim 100% And to that victim I say I'm sorry this happened to you apologies After ignoring a situation or waiting until it escalates means nothing here in Grove Park Mr Walker has made several complaints and has been told Rick's ashin are not criminal in 20 2023 NC passed the hate crime prevention act stating that officers had to be trained to identify respond and Report hate crimes cmpd has a crime prevention unit that states that the best way to stop violence is prevention but the walkers have not seen preventative measures Mr Walker has not been contacted at any recent time about the harassment this year the resource officer for Grove Park has been contacted by neighbors with no response racism is violent racist threats are violent racist institutions practices and systems are violent black homeowners in Charlotte have a history of being ignored and displaced and not treated with respect in 2021 our mayor apologized for the role of the city council in 1958 in voting for an urban renewal program that program displaced and destroyed Brooklyn a black neighborhood in uptown our mayor said that the current Council has a commitment to equity social justice and our City's role to address systemic racism if you can't address a white supremacist in a neighborhood on a local level you damn sure don't I damn sure don't believe they will ever be addressed on a systemic level the district council member of The Grove Park neighborhood was contacted about the issue and stated that they exploring additional resources these resources have not yet been presented to the Walkers they also stated that previous efforts including cmpd and Community layers on involvement have not yet resolved the matter the only previous Community efforts from cmpd was in 2021 and there has not been followup it resulted in officers telling Mr Walker that Rick's actions are confrontational but not criminal if the shooting of Mr maturi was 100% a police failure it indicates a lack of lack of preventative action there was no follow up with Mr Jay and Miss yon about what they have experienced since then vaness 911 Vanessa thank you for the um comments um don't wait for this to escalate it can escalate it's going to escalate if you wait Mr Walker Mr Walker um would you come down and um M Mr Heath would you follow up with him I have to say that we have heard um a number of um people that have intervened in this way and I'm just not quite sure so we're going to work on this and it's going to take some time so let's go ahead with our next um speaker which is Nikki Thomas followed by John Irwin Thomas Miss Thomas hi I'm Nikki Thomas I live in Ravenwood and I'm a neighbor of Jay and Avon Walker and I wanted to share my perspective on the response or lack thereof from our neighborhood so I've lived in the neighborhood for 6 and a half years I drive past the Walker's house probably five or more times a week but I'd never spoken to them I noticed when the handmade cardboard signs went up in the Walker's yard uh then signs went up across the street in Mr Yuri's yard and I did nothing I kept driving by when Mr Yuri erected the large lighted signs I discussed it with friends but I still didn't do anything unfortunately my response was not that much different than the response of most of the residents in Grove Park and Ravenwood when I recognized the Walker's front yard in an Instagram post raising money to purchase security cameras for for an elderly couple being racially harassed by their neighbor I went to their next event a potluck last June where I met Jay and Aon it took the Outreach efforts of University students to get me to act and it took seeing the situation on social media for me to pay attention to someone who lived out the street my reasons for not reaching out are vared but I know a big part was fear fear that I might offend them by knocking on their door fear that I would be meddling fear that without the whole story I should mind my own business my fear of Shame of embarrassment kept me disconnected from my community I think there's another kind of fear at play right now in our neighborhood as well and that's fear of Rick Yuri we live in a neighborhood that does a lot to build community we have events throughout the year we live in the kind of neighborhood where they would say that we would rally behind our neighbors to put a stop to harassment and racism that the Walkers deal with on a daily basis but the Walkers neighbors are afraid that if they stand up for Jay and Aon Mr Yuri's wrath will turn to them next there are enough stories about Mr Yu's past actions and behavior endless police calls and aggressive dog that we're justified in our fear we would be remiss not to be afraid of someone who takes photographs of our children someone who's taken photographs of Jay on his trips to the grocery store and this fear is all the more supported by the facts of Mr Yuri's history um there is an info session at the home on the other side of the neighborhood the attendance of our residents at that event was two to three times more than the events in Jay's front yard that front yard's directly across the street your time is up thank you um we'll go to Mr Irwin John Irwin members of the council I'm here to speak on behalf of Mr Jay Walker and Mrs yavon Walker as a concerned citizen of the city and and an East Charlotte Community member I find that the unimpeded harassment and intimidation of the Walkers face sets a dangerous precedent for the people who work and live in the area Mr Rick Yuri's behavior is disturbing to basically every decent person in the area he scares his other neighbors harasses the neighborhood dog walkers and takes pictures of children and adults doing nothing more than just going about their day the walkers have had to contend with this Behavior personally taking the brunt of it for years imagine working hard to build your dream life and home and in your Twilight years not being able to enjoy it because of a petty racist antagonistic little man this situation has put so much stress on the Walkers keeping them from enjoying their home and exacerbating their health concerns this is also resulted in Mr Jay being falsely accused of criminal acts when is in fact Mr Yuri Who is the criminal and that's on record everyone who has ran across Rick can attest that he is a foul person we are here today asking that the council and the city help the walkers in some way providing resources making cmpd and their Community Liaisons do their job uh censor Mr Yuri in some way one look at his property and you just know that he is violating some city or county ordinances something needs to be done to let him know that his behavior and treatment of the Walkers is not acceptable and cannot continue I feel for the safety of the Walkers and the community at large if he is allowed to continue to escalate his campaign of bullying in conclusion our city leaders should be willing and able to take a stance against racis racism and discrimination in our city and if they cannot or will not then they are not wor worthy of being our leaders our next our next speakers are Xavier danan Cano I hope I said that was close and um these um then we'll have Jen diaa um as well so um is M Dean danan here yes thank you and you'll go first and then we'll um ask um Jen of later so you have two minutes good evening it is Javier Deon thank you council members um Mr J Walker wakes up every morning to signs with his face across the street meanwhile the city council criminalizes the houseless Mr J Walker then goes to garden and his white neighbor takes photos of him that he then prints for said photographs in his beard meanwhile the city council ignores demands from the people to make a resolution against the genocide in Palestine then Mr Walker complains and he gets arrested by the cops he gets charged again and again and again Mr Yuri takes 50c protective orders against him that get dismissed because they're bogus meanwhile this city council approves plans to wipe out entire neighborhoods to expand the airport Mr Walker had a picnic with community members people here in the audience teens miners children women Mr Yuri took pictures of these people with a photograph that is like a golf camera and then prints them he walks around in front of these people these guests with a gun on his on his pants Mr Walker has tried everything to seek Justice to seek some brief rest from this harassment but of course the city council is more interested in funding the police this city council is more interested in criminalizing the houseless what are you going to do to help Mr Walker in this city that Prides itself in being Equitable that has plans for Equity yet there's a white supremacist running around taking hundreds of pictures every single day of his black neighbors I demand that you do something for Mr Walker thank [Applause] you all right before we move on to another topic with our next next speaker um we have got um we have our police officer our um community relations officer and Sean Heath our assistant city manager who Mr Walker if you would please speak with them so that we can understand more what we've heard and that we I want you to know we listen and I think Mr Walker will have the opportunity to talk to this community or the people on in that work in this community to see what we can actually accomplish in this situation so Mr um Heath if you would help us Mr Walker if you would actually go out with one of our team people team leaders okay all right our next speaker is Jen deia thank you and then we will have Neil Samson following her yes you have two minutes okay good evening Council thank you for your time this evening my name is Jennifer DEA and I'm in I'm here on behalf of the Charlotte mecklinburg Animal Care and Control first I want to thank you for approving the zoning necessary for the new shelter expansion this is a vital step toward addressing the pressing needs of our community animals however as we look ahead to the budgeting season I urge you to secure the necessary funds for the construction of this facility our current shelter is overcrowded understaffed and not able to meet the demands of our growing city and county which not only puts a strain on the animals but also on our dedicated staff who work tirelessly under demanding conditions it's imperative that we prioritize funding not just for the shelter's physical structure but also for the welfare of the animals the employees and our community as a whole additionally as we celebrate this progress we must continue to advocate for the creation of an independent Department to manage the shelter transitioning away from the cmpd oversight will allow for a more focused and compassionate approach to Animal Care an independent Department dedicated solely to Animal Welfare will enable us to implement the best practices and policies that ensure our shelter serves both the animals and our community effectively in conclusion let's work together to secure the funds needed for construction and establish an independent management structure our community deserves a safe and Humane environment for all of its residents including our Animal Companions as well as City staff and volunteers thank you for your time and support this evening thank you our next next our next two speakers are now Samson and Chenise Williams Miss Williams and Miss is n Nile Samson no is he Avail is he here is Mr Samson here okay then um our our next speaker be with Miss Williams will be ma balong m balong right oh okay thank you okay so we have I want one speaker okay and is that are you Miss Williams yes ma'am Miss Williams um you have two minutes thank you thank you good evening just coming to shot a little light on The Lamplighter in Tanglewood and timberbridge apartments that are having a lot of problems at the moment we are suffering as as far as housing go not all of us are not working some of us are really actually working very hard we have gotten you know in a little bit of a bind some of us have fall behind and we just need a little bit of help to be able to get to the next steps it's about to be Christmas time I know the Lamplighter in which a lot of us are here from right now we're having to move out by the 11th our children who sorry about them y'all no they're beautiful children are great we just really want somewhere safe for them to be where there's not a lot of drug activities there are people breaking in rooms there are people who are doing different things and our kids aren't safe and it's not that we're not trying we're really trying hard we go to work every day we just had a obstacle that we couldn't get over we just need some funding some help some housing collaborative some Supportive Housing there are buildings that can be used for supportive housings for single parents or even just people in general who needs help with that step Miss April Lewis is more than willing to help us and have been helping us she's been the you know one of the best things that's been there for us right now and we just need someone to help us and hear our story and understand that we are really not bad people because we stay in a hotel or we stay in bad Apartments we're not we're not we work hard we not we do not think of you as bad people you work every day in this town so do not think of yourself as anything except a member of this community thank you I we just want somewhere safe for our kids we having to leave on the 11th that's right before Christmas yeah so we we are doing as a lot of work on this we understand the issue the problems we have understood that we have displacement and we also know that it's Thanksgiving and it's Christmas so please just give us the time to think through this and get it done in a way that's respectful to what you have done all the time that you've lived in this community so thank you very much for coming down and saying that we'll continue to focus on making sure that people have a place to live and sleep and not just from hotel to hotel permanent permanent house we need permanent a permanent place for our kids not from not from hotel that's crappy to the next hotel and then we find out two three months later that this place is crappy too yeah it's going around town and it's like we just really need they're building all these nice places and it may be an eviction it may be something small but if somebody would just give us a second chance we are we deserve it and we we know that so thank you very much for speaking to us and telling us your story okay um so Micah you yeah uh my name is Michael bong and I'm a minister of the Gospel to those on the outside these people are in this situation because of the systemic Injustice caused in this circle in this Council because you criminalized homelessness and instead of investing 650 million dollar in the housing that could keep all of these people all of these children in a house on Christmas you decided to give that to Daddy terer who makes that in 3 months why would you waste money on that when we haven't even made back the money you wasted on him last time yes you gave a $100 million to affordable housing when your city said we needed $1.1 billion and instead you're wasting money on a stadium for a jersey that cost $45 that guy is making his own money why are you wasting the money that should be housing those children on stupid stadiums the affordable housing crisis in this city is your responsibility and there was another child 2,000 years ago who was left with an out an in to stay in and you know what he said whatever you do unto the least of these you have done also to me it is not enough to tell these people that they can go to coordinated entry because you know what that looks like that looks like someone will get back to them in 2 months after they've been homeless for 8 weeks and then they'll tell them that in 6 months they have someplace to stay and then in 6 months they won't have someplace to stay because there's another year waiting list because you have not approved the affordable housing they need to live whatever you have done to the least of these you have done to the Son of God and those of you who believe that we will see that son of God at the end of times I'm here as a minister to call you to repentance to call you to do right by those children and don't offer them coordinated entry offer them a home thank you Mr [Applause] Mah our next speaker is Carson con followed by Rick Parish thank you that's why I can is Mr Parish here Alicia so we have alici Alicia Harvey if Mr Paris is not here um Mr con you have two minutes okay okay good evening um respectfully I would ask that if speakers are told they'll be given 3 minutes that they be allowed 3 minutes to speak speak in the future in 2017 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an organization known as I can for their work drawing attention to the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons as well as the creation of a treaty known as the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons or the tpnw almost half of the world's countries 94 to be exact have signed the treaty to date the World Council of churches the Daly Lama and Pope Francis also support the treaty the fact is that nuclear weapons have power for too much Devastation killing and ruining of innocent civilian lives for those who would argue that the US needs such weapons for protection I ask them to consider whether in This Global Community they Place more value on the life of a us-born resident than they would on the life of a foreign born resident among many other US cities seven that have expressed support for the treaty include Baltimore New York Los Angeles Durham Asheville Chapel Hill and Washington DC residents of charlot are seriously concerned about the threat that nuclear weapons pose to communities throughout the world we firmly believe that charans have the right to live free from this threat a resolution requesting that the US sign the tpnw this week I will email a link of the tpnw to all Charlotte City Council Members thank you thank you for your time are there any questions or concerns I don't think there are any questions um we will get back to you if you send the email yes ma'am and the information in the link so thank you thank you for your time all right thank you all right Miss Harvey yes um you have two minutes thank you councilman thank you for having me my name is Alicia Harvey and I am a current resident at the lamp lighter in and on behalf of those residents um the conditions there at lamp light are in due to bad mismanagement declining um utility and maintenance issues that have declined over the last eight months there um it's very very inhumane at the lamp lighter and this is this is very dear on my heart you know to tag on to what Chenise is saying you know we are in need of immediate immediate safe affordable housings most of us came there under vill's place which was supposed to be transitional housing and which was false now that we know New Management took over and we didn't understand who we were paying to or who the new owners was and the conditions just continued to decline there we are human beings we are people who work hard we have people who children that go to school very intelligent individuals talented unique people who have formed Community there at the lamp lighter and doing the best that we can to sustain under conditions that what they are we have lately been with the water off not hot water no lights no um sanitary drinking water no cable no TVs all kind of conditions that's just not favorable for our families and we're asking I'm asking today on behalf of the lamp lighter that we get immediate help in this from the city in the county I'm begging you we are we are not people who don't want nothing in life I would like to see that narrative change the way that this city this County this nation and this world looks at homelessness thank you every thank you you need help thank you all right I our last speaker is Logan M M M was that was that is the last Logan m i start my name is Logan I'm a um agent for Prospect at the airport we work under a contract for American Airlines I assist kids that are traveling alone I I love helping people that's always what I want to do I'm one hundreds of the airport workers that went on strike today I felt great I made a difference and that's all I wanted to do we went on a strike because we are fed up we are fed up with the property wages and to be treated with a respect on the job even though I wasn't scared because I know my rights my co-workers were terrified Prospect has been threatening to fire us if we went on strike and that's not fair we keep the airport running without us traveling is not possible we shouldn't have to go on strike to be treated with respect we deserve to be paid wages that are livable I love this job I want to keep this job but I can't live off of 1450 an hour and my co- my co-workers are feeling the same so I'm here because I hope you all suppor us I'm going back to work tomorrow but many of us are scared they really are threatening us with our jobs we are asking you to stand with us as we demand more respect and higher wages thank [Music] you thank you that is the end of our public speaking um this this meeting um we do this um once every month and so please feel free to join us and stay as we go through the remainder of our agenda which we will now begin with item 18 or eight it should be 33 wait a minute we I'm sorry we do 17 to 32 in there let me see we're on item eight eight the item eight in the agenda to we have a series of public hearings all right so we have a re hearing item number eight a public hearing on a resolution to close a portion of Alleyway between 16009 and 16 16 15 mat Avenue do we have any speakers no speakers do we have a motion we have a motion and a second any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor of the closure please raise your hand anyone opposed all right that passes the next item um do we have a um part item number nine we're going to have a public hearing on the resolution to close a portion of Cecil Street Madam clerk do we have have any speakers no ma'am all right do we have a motion so moved second second all right thank you um any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor please raise your hands anyone oppose no one opposes item number 10 a public hearing on a resolution to close a portion of Sentry Post Road we're now going to open a public hearing if we need to anyone here Madam clerk sign up no ma'am all right we don't have any sign ups motion to close and a second any discussion hearing none all in favor raise your hand anyone oppose all right that passes now we'll go to item we're now going to open the public hearing on Blue Mount on Steel Creek voluntary annexation do we have any speakers ien you don't have any speakers do we have a motion close move we the motion needs to include that we adopt an annexation ordinance with an effective date of November the 25th 2024 to extend the corporate limits to include this property and assign it to the adjacent city council District 3 move to approve thank you we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all in favor please raise your hands all right any opposed no no one is opposed the next item is a public hearing on the decision on Mary and ARA and leavon Marsh house as a historic designation this is item 12 on your agenda do we have anyone signed up for the public hearing I think we see the staff person here and say hello anything that we need anything that we need to know signing up so with that do we have a motion to adopt an ordinance with an effective date of November the 25th 2024 designating the property known as Mary and R and leavon Marsh house as and with the parcel identification number 15361 d11 as a Historic Landmark move to clo to adopt and close the hearing second we have a motion and a second um no discussion all in favor please raise your hand anyone oppose so that passes as well item we'll go to the next item of policy which is item 13 and do we have anything else to talk about under the mayor the manager report thank you we'll do that at the next meeting um so the next item I'm Sorry Miss Johnson I have a question from the manager's report um so we heard some really important issues today and I know that we're not allowed to respond to our public um as a council it really hard I think that we should be able to especially when there's issues like that but I would like an update on some of the things they talked about is that okay um some of the things we are working on such as displacement yeah can we get an do you have an update can we get some we can get some something to you tomorrow a manager what do you think sure that in your in your packet Thursday um we put together a um series of documents that explained what was going on and what the city is doing as well as I believe the mayor did a referral yes to um the housing and safe communities committee but I can make sure that we get send that back to the top of your I think it's important that the public knows that but I did call I can't remember somebody from housing I don't know if it was Shan or Rebecca and ask about the displacement I know lamp lighter in is on our radar and there was a another one I can't remember the name of them so one of them is actually in my district council member Johnson lamp lighter which is my first time name lamp lighter lamp lighter and what else Timber Ridge no Tanglewood Tanglewood tangle wood so so timberidge is in my district when I spoke to someone last week that wasn't on our radar yet so I don't know well there were we were working on two so I want to make sure that all three of them that there's a plan I don't know if who so make sure we're working on all three of those a plan for those okay and then I also had a question about the racial harassment and maybe you can give this to us later I think I sent an email to the Chief and to Patrick Baker but is there an ordinance that would prohibit that type of behavior and something that can be done from the city perspective I'd like to know what can be done because it's not that we're not speaking for myself and probably most of us we're not willing to do something what do we have the ability to do I think it would be helpful um I received a letter of how many places have gone we have helped we have addressed this with our community relations committee it's gone through cmpd we need to figure out what didn't happen so I think it some of us has been out there for a while I think Miss Molina she she and I talked this morning about this because it's in her district and she has a very in deep you can see from the right okay and so but I think that what we have to figure out is what didn't happen instead of what did happen what I was thinking I know we passed the ndo so the the non-discrimination ordinance and I know that was from employment and and what teeth do we have surrounding that and can we sus expand that to residential or to something else does does the non-discrimination act that apply here but I think I don't know the answer to that so we need to get some legal advice and we'll try to do that so that we can go in a path that we don't guess what we're trying to accompl I mean I'd like some information it just we sat here and didn't didn't respond I'm sorry that you you know but I think the public should know that it does concern us we just aren't allowed to respond thank you okay Madam mayor yes Miss Molina thank you really really quickly because I I you know now that we've kind of um said something I I don't want to go through the semantics of it but I just there is an awareness um and what one of the residents said is right um our Deputy City attorney actually sat in on a meeting with me one of the several meetings that I've um held regarding this issue so um I anticipate like the mayor said that we'll you know have some additional information to come out I did send a memo to you guys's two pages completed to give you an update on all that's been done so far um and you know all of the information that I have internally so um I encourage you to take a look at that um and then you know I anticipate that the manager and the team will give us any information and I hope to be able to disseminate that as well to the community members that are particularly interested interested um as far as you know what we can do from a city perspective because that's you know what we'll be able to answer for and there were some answers about other entities we can't speak to that specifically but you know I'm hoping to get our answers firmly so that I can disseminate that information thank you I just as elected officials I just I think it's important that that we do respond to that thank you yeah all right so yes m thank you madam mayor so yeah um I would just have to say to um what council member Johnson has said and and definitely my heart goes out to my colleague uh council member Marjorie Molina that is a tough situation she's highly intelligent I'm sure that she's doing all she can to do what she can in that Community as far as um the lamp lighter and the animal shelter I've already spoke so I feel that mayor understand where we're coming from when this is a community Forum people are looking they see it one you can't say anything to me not you may with all due respect people in audience I'm going to say something back if I can't I need to see where I can't because I am not going to allow anybody just to paint a picture I care it matters to me it really does because we work hard we're coming together as we go to the end of the year maybe some things start here we try to disseminate things down I'm not going to be what they call us and you are what you answer to so I'll let people know that's not fair when they come in here in a public forum we can only just listen we can't say anything so our salent can be perceived as whatever they wanted to be perceived as and I refuse to let that happen how I vote is public record but maybe folk don't know that but I sit together as a whole as a council I'm not going to let ignorance just speak out to me in whatever way they think they can because that's not going to happen it's not going to happen M okay thank you mme thank you madam mayor I agree with what my colleagues have said it's important to respond whether that response comes from you as the mayor or the city manager um some of this some of this um public speakers that spoke are probably something that you expected right I mean lamp lightering or even the water main break uh racial harassment uh we need to have some sort of report uh to the council ahead of time so that we know what we are dealing with um and I remember Mr Jones you used to send us a report after public speakers addressing everyone's concerns and I I haven't seen that in my package lately so I think having that in a consistent manner would be helpful um yeah because otherwise it it seems like yeah we are hearing it but we are I don't know what are the next steps other than the staff talks to them but really we don't know what was the outcome of that so I think having that would be important yeah so I I be surprised that we're not giving you those back in your reports I'll double check and we did anticipate that lamp light are in and that's why we put so much in your packet on Thursday right so that you wouldn't be plant footed tonight yeah and the respect to you coun m was I'm sorry but that's a short period of time for you as a district rep it just doesn't seem fair to the housing committee and yourself with what we got with lamp lier that's a disaster over there you know I I've been involved in talking with staff for for days days when when when this became an issue and um actually went over there once or twice myself and the package the information we received in the package on Thursday was very comprehensive and outlined the the the steps that we were taking why we were taking those steps um and the referral that the mayor made to the committee to take a broader look at what we were doing so I'm not sure uh I felt prepared and and felt that the council should have been prepared based on the information that was distributed to us last week no sir so uh I I still have the floor in the information that was in our package about the lamp lighter a wasn't communicated to folks in the room and I think that's where the Gap is because they feel like we are not listening I I even though we are doing a lot of work uh there is so much that is happening but I feel like the information is not being communic communicated to the public so I think that's it same thing with water main break right we got this whole package and here we are sitting we have no idea as to what has happened this individual inherited thousands of dollars in bills we we don't know we haven't gotten any update on that and I know that staff has been working on this for a while so how how come we didn't get any information on that we haven't gotten any information on animal care and control I appreciate the work that is being done in terms of the resoning and that's great I think um what I am concerned about is that we are we are getting information about the topics that are being picked cherry-picked for us not everything that is being brought to our attention so I think if we can just have a comprehensive information from A to Z that would help make a suggest I'm sorry so I think it's important Gord um we get a speakers list on Friday right so we don't know what it what the what people are going to come up I mean clerk gets speakers all through the week but we get a a list you know about the same time that maybe you guys get your your packet and and I will say that um staff have communicated with many of the folks that the lamp light are in we just didn't throw something in your packet exactly um there have been Communications there have been I mean daily Communications so um we will try to get you the information maybe in a different way but I don't want you to think that we cherry pick it's just that some someone the last person who signed up signed up just now so there's no way we would have known what they were going to ask us oh so in that case a balance there because we do get people that come in and even if you said this is what I know that you're going to talk about it's very seldom what you're going to talk about and so often we do try to figure out and reach out to people that have called in I mean the clerk's office calls them we get a sheet and it has information on it but it's very seldom the same consistent information because we're all human you know you come in and you've got you know a crowd like that you're going to talk differently than if it were someone just oneon-one with the council and I I'm I'm sure that on Fridays when um these packets go out that we certainly can um get more information in them but that's not going to guarantee that we have the accuracy that you would want to have because the last thing you want to do is say we're going to help you with the lamp lighter and then not have the capacity or the ability to do it just like when margorie and I talked this morning I talked about the man Mr Walker and it's very difficult when you've got people from the DA's office you got people from the United States attorney's office you've got people in the cmpd you got community relations so how do you know you know these are things that are very important to people so maybe we have to really I think work on making sure that we're accurate so may I suggest we can get a followup report after the public speaker Forum so um now now that we we heard from all of the public speakers if you can get a follow-up report on what each person spoke here is the follow-up so for an example water main break here is where the status is I think having that would be important afterwards I understand we may not get all the information ahead of time um but now we have the information so I think uh getting a getting an email update tomorrow or day after tomorrow would be helpful all right Miss I think that Miss watlington was next and then Mr Graham yeah if I just want to make a suggestion and if if it's already somewhere out there I'd love to learn about it but I agree with the point that it's really sometimes it feels like communication is about managing US versus getting information out to the public like as long as those of us are sitting around the DI know what's going on then everything is fine and I think that that part can be an opportunity for us to communicate to the people because while we may not know who the speakers are until Friday none of these topics are brand new right we know what the what the pulse of the community is just based on the emails that we get in volume and the things that the news picks up etc etc so what I like to suggest if we don't have it already and if we do again let me know is that we just make a simple QR code Hot Topics if you're in the audience and you're sitting here and you want to speak on something and there's a report sitting in front of me of two pages of what we've done just let people go to the QR code and read up on the topic they care about it might it might you know keep save us from getting a whole bunch of ey with inaccurate information cuz we're sitting here looking at it and they don't have the benefit of it and maybe if they did their comments would be different or they might not have come down here on a Monday night when they could have been at home so if we could figure out how to push information be a very easy way where people can go look at information that they care about on a particular topic then that might save us some time again if we have it already I'm happy to help push it is there a doctor in the house love this I love it Mr gram yes I I I think it's just as Miss Johnson said earlier um the inability to communicate what we've already done right and certainly the council response to the issue of the lamp lighter I thought was well documented and well reported out to council members last week certainly on our Des is a comprehensive right up about the racism issue certainly I wanted to scream and holler about it being personally impacted by it um but we have this rule that we don't communicate right um because we want to make sure that we're not communicating based on emotions but based on things that we can actually accomplish and not selling false hopes so I'm not sure how we fill that Gap right when we know hypothetically you know the topics of the issues coming before us curo I'm not sure that might work I'm not sure but certainly if there's a way for us to provide uh information that we have as a body to the public in a in a in a way that when they and some folks just won't care which written right because they are emotionally attached to the topic right so that's that's where they are I'm emotionally attached to any conversation about racism based on my personal experience right um so you know it is just how do we it's a process issue and one of the things I I I keep um saying over and over again for the last several weeks and months is how we process our work that we keep stumbling over right Mr the manager is how we process the work and how we disseminate information to to those who need it and when they needed so I'm not sure okay mayor um my hand was actually up yes it was up before Mr Graham but with all due respect you just didn't see it I just want to say it's not it was never about the speakers list it was not for me it is making sure that I am equipped along with my colleagues on how we can be responsive to executing and allocating this information to the community while it may be Mr Grahams District folk know that I'm near and dear and they got it mixed up because I spoke to staff earlier today when the media called me they said District 3 they sent me the maps and the lines to show that it was District Two but very close to District three regardless of who District it is I get one vote with all of my colleagues around this desk and when it's all said and done I care whether it's in District One 2 3 4 5 6 or seven if it's happening in any of the districts people are looking to be displaced misplaced however you want to say it those folks have children that they care about that's their home irregardless of what the conditions are that is their home those children only know that that's their home that's where love is that's where their parents are their mothers are so to me days is not enough it's just not enough I don't know how do we get into where we get something so drastic like that we just get the information in days and it's okay it's not okay just to get that information in days and the package last Thursday is not okay for me it's not enough time to digest that and then be equipped with the resources and information and knowledge that I need to disseminate it back into the community that's for me and the media came to me and I went to staff with all due respect and I think I did a very good job today on my interview and communicating with staff to take their lead and their information which I didn't have to do that because I wasn't elected by staff I was elected by constituent so I could have just interviewed off of my passion and my experience but I went to staff with all due respect yeah I think um we all understand it's been a long day and a long night and a lot of tough issues that are going on in the city right now um so as we're continuing this I think the most important thing is that we try to get the information on where we are on housing and emergency housing this isn't the first time that we've had people have to vacate a hotel and at some point we can try to figure out what is our system and who are our partners in doing this because that's a huge part of the success of making sure that people get housed before um and I believe that if we can um then also talk about and com remember um the committee is going to meet on housing and we I've asked every council member to participate in that because it needs needs every idea and it's like you said if you're in District 3 you're in District 2 you don't know what that means it can be something that all of us need to look at and so that's what we've been asked to we are asking all of the council members what what you did where you were at the NLC what did you find that was actually resonating with you I you know what do they say a really good council member um um follows one of the persons that they found out but a great council member copies them so let's figure out how we can copy places that are really doing this good work around housing or around in our safety and all of that I think that's really the way that we can go and all of these ideas if we would actually have the ability to have small meetings and see each other in the hallway that might help us a little bit and I know it's not everyone and it's not possible for everyone but I think a lot of this is when we're together we actually do better I think it it's always been as a Council that we're best when we are talking with each other and really trying to figure out how to resolve the issues that we have in the community so with that I don't think we have any oh we do have more work to do let's talk about the restaurant that's exactly what we need to do right now so which item is that 14 all right anybody want the information on that or that whatever okay item 14 the action is to adopt a resolution approving the lease of approximately 4,700 Square ft of city-owned property at 1600 East 4th Street to government restaurant LLC for the operation of a restaurant and authorize the manager to execute the documents appropriately do I have a motion so move we have a motion and a second any discussion have a question all right we'll start with Miss Brown and then we'll go to Miss Johnson I just want to know um so Show Mars is to be leaving yes let's see we need to get our real estate people up and so that we can have this conversation and questions can be asked and answered good evening Phil rer General Services okay I thought you was getting ready to say something else okay no problem yeah so I'm just asking Show Mars is in place now are they still there they are still there yes okay they still there do they have a time that they're going to be out uh their lease has expired they are uh month to month and so the way this current lease is set up is there'll be would be a transition starting on December 25th and so they their last day will be the 25th of December 2024 technically the 24th still be in and uh and then the city would be closed the 25th through the 28th the following Monday and the transition would happen over that weekend so we're going to be looking for someone else to come in we're taking bids how's this working now this is uh this item it recommends to um enter into a lease with uh what's called PAB boy uh it's also called costus kitchen um and costus kitchen has developed a specific limited liability Corporation um in order to uh enter into this lease with us so um costus kitchen would be the new uh restaurant in that space Peter boy KAS kitchen okay and we we used an RFP to uh to make that selection okay is there going to be a gap in providing Services no ma'am okay so they're going to come right in and start there so there's no Gap so folks in the building that need to eat on the outside that are used to coming here for lunch we'll still be able to do that yes ma'am that was my concern thank you so much I yeld to my colleague all right Miss Johnson thank you Madame mayor um is this rent amount considered market rate yes ma'am we did an appraisal and uh negotiated this amount with the restaurant it's a market rate and there was an RFP yes ma'am okay and is PETA what's it called Peter boy Peter boy Incorporated Peter boy and Shar is there any business relationship uh yes ma'am um so the relationship is simply that the owner of the current Show Mars um is the owner of pet boy or costus kitchen the difference is the show Mars that's currently our restaurant is franchised costus kitchen is an independent establishment and that that comes with great advantages because it allows uh the owner to create a much more flexible menu and um they don't have to follow all the rules that the franchise the show mar franchise requires of their restaurants okay and I can't remember I believe shar's the rent was under market value is that correct yes ma'am so it's it uh has a long history um back in 2019 uh the Show Mars restaurant was paying a $33,000 a month uh lease payment uh Council uh in 2019 authorized a reduction uh because the the restaurant was was losing money um and then we went into a period of pandemic which really through sort of that restaurant space into an uncertain period they stuck with us Shar stuck with us uh and uh but the But the lease has expired uh there was no option to uh renew and so so we felt it was important to put this back out for RFP so there was no option for shars to renew no the 2019 Amendment uh when the when the lease was reduced um ex only allowed that uh period of time to the end of their first five years and so the lease expired so I will in is there anywhere in the background or in this expl explanation that it's the same owners is there any disclosure about that I didn't read it I just felt like it they were related just based on type of restaurant and the name um I do not believe that we uh named the owner in in this that wouldn't be something that we traditionally do traditionally call out names this also States this is a real estate leasing contract and it's exempt under the CBI program the fact that it's exempt under the CBI program um the fact that it's the same owner um that just happened to win the RFP I won't be supporting this um okay this contract it just this you know we we talk about Equity we talk about opportunity inclusivity and this contract just does not appear to to support that in my opinion thank you thank you all right we have a motion on the floor Flor and and a second all in favor of the motion please raise your hand two three four anyone oppose all right thank you all right our next item very very important is item we do not have a closed session but we do have item 16 Rec 15 15 yes Shelton null Apartments naturally occurring affordable housing preservation and rental subsidy support to approve 1.1 million h of the Housing Trust Fund allocation Arro Hawk Noah and affiliate of asent housing um for the acquisition Rehabilitation of Shelton null Apartments approved the annual reimbursement to the housing collaborative in an amount not to exceed the development city tax bill for naturally occurring affordable housing rental subsidy program over a 20-year period for seven new long-term rental subsidies at Shelton null apartments for households earning 30% and below the median area income authorize the manager to negotiate and make the proc to complete the transaction do we have a motion so move motion and a second any discussion yes absolutely m brown brown yeah so I I I support it um I do have uh several points that I like to make this property is an older property similar to um Southside Hol similar to um Delah courts was built and developed in the in the early 1980s which was Charlotte housing authority and now it's in living into 1996 my only concern and I hope would be the concern of the council and everyone else the population that's there now is a population that goes to work every day and cannot afford an expensive income so I'm curious as to how many residents that live over there now will still have the opportunity to live over there once it's done anybody want to speak in detail about is going to speak to you about that good evening Rebecca Hefner with housing and Neighborhood Services uh the short answer to your question is all of them so the residents that are currently living in Shelton null will remain um those residents are all at at are around 60% Ami based on the uh current rent structure and as those uh units turn over they will be converted to the 30 60 or 80% units um but the residents that are currently there um will be able to stay according to their lease agreements so the uh Noah guidelines that you all have in place as a council are an anti-displacement play to ensure that as these kind of properties turn over that residents will not be displaced so thank you so much Rebecca I know that you do amazing work you work really hard and thank you for um bringing that information just for the public hearing so everybody can hear it I got a phone call early I said I would support it but I did want to get some information the information that you're giving to me is very it's it's appreciated and I just want to um ask a question so they're going to stay doing a renovation they're not going to move out and have the opportunity to come out come back because a lot of times when they move out we know that they're not coming back they get comfortable where their new home is and so that's my question and my concern sure so the the renovations that are planned are essentially you uh things like uh Roofing hbac some electrical um some things like that uh and so most of them will not require that residents move out completely um if there is a a a unit that might need more extensive repairs that will be handled on an individual basis um but if residents need to leave for any time they will be able to return according to their existing lease agreement so there's no there's no displacement of the residents so hearing that there's no displacement of the residents I support thank you Miss e all right Miss Johnson thank you Rebecca you do do a great job but I heard you say the residents will stay according to their lease agreements will they have the option to renew their leases so yes I mean um the the goal of the Noah program is to allow residents to stay and a as as the lots of turnover in lots of apartment communities as that natural turnover occurs if people choose to leave and then the depart the apartments are vacated it's that point at which they will be uh transitioned from the current 60% Ami into either 30% or 80% according to the number uh number of commitments per unit that are listed in the action maybe we can talk offline because I'm thinking if they if they renew their lease then when is that unit renovated and how long are they able to stay or have a first right of refusal or or something so I want to understand the transition I'll be supporting it I support Ascent housing they do a great job but I would like more information as far as that transition sure we can follow up thank you go ahead sash yes uh thank you Madame mayor this is a great Noah model because you are competing with the private sector where we have seen hedge funds buying up a lot of the older apartments and doing an upgrade and jacking up rents so this is a great model to preserve affordable housing in our city and this is a great way to protect families from displacement uh and really create housing options for people uh with modest income households so I really appre appreciate the work that Mark arridge and his team is doing to preserve affordable housing in our community so I'll be supporting thank you may Madam mayor m brown my district so one one last thing um Rebecca again I do appreciate you and all the work that you did earlier today as well my concern is I do support it but I'm very concerned because it's um a community that that's very near and dear to me and it's a historic community and we're losing our historic communities and I just want to make sure that I'm signing on to the right thing and listening to you and what you said and your transparency I think and I know that I can vote moving forward to say yes and I just want you to know that that's where I'm coming from okay I get it to you mayor all right any other comments we have a motion on the floor all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed no one's opposed so that item is um um we move on to item 16 recommended uses for American Rescue plan funds approved 25,4 1,000 and most a little bit more from the Corona virus state and local fiscal Recovery Fund for government services to offset the revenue lost as a result of covid-19 Public Health Emergency and adopt a budget on its appropriating said amount from the general operating fund to the American Rescue plan act fund do I have a motion move second we have a second and a motion are there any questions or comments heing no questions and comments all in favor of the item please raise your hand anyone oppose to it favor thank you all right so we are now we do not have a closed session to those of you who have taken the ability and the time to watch us on television I want to say have a Happy Thanksgiving to all of our community residents and we hope that we will see you safely and enjoy your family however you describe it just make sure that you keep yourselves well and safe thank you very much this meeting's adjourned [Music] e