Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Oh my god. >> Okay, it's important. Now that all of you have laughed at me, all of you have laughed with Ed. I want to just say Okay. Okay, y'all. Let's settle down. Settle down. >> Okay. Thank you everybody. Um I just wanted to say thank you to everyone. I thought yesterday was absolutely phenomenal for what we've been trying to achieve. And last night, I want to say thank you again for all of the hard work, especially I think those with the staff that made that possible. It was really, really what we needed to have and do. We have a lot more to do today, but hopefully we'll get the same kind of activity and trust together and making it possible for us to continue this journey that we're on. So, I'm going to turn it over to Deborah. Thank you, Deborah. You're doing a fantastic job. Thank you. Appreciate it. back to the table. Good morning everyone. I hope you all had a good night's rest. Uh I know after a long day one um when you exert the kind of energy that you all exerted yesterday having some really really tough conversations and then we had a lot of information that was presented to you all in discussion. It's kind of hard to wind down cuz I don't know about you guys but I kind of replay the day in my head and then I it's the wish I could have would have should have done kinds of things. But um you know I like to start off with uh checking the energy level in the room. So for council we're going to >> Yeah, I know. I know the mayor got a lot of energy, but uh I'm going to do the thumb thermometer again. How's how's your energy? How you feeling today? >> Holy c. Yes. All right, go on record. Four, five, six. Just about all of them are we're we're there. So, um, thank you all. And I just want to take just a few minutes. The mayor did a little bit of this just to kind of recap. Um, what we accomplished, um, yesterday. You all had us a lot of time, your whole morning for the most part was spent on team building and improving how you work together more effectively. For example, you all made some decisions and you gave us some assignments or at least staff some assignments. You established a committee to work on rules of decorum and these are just examples of some things. I took a lot of notes. You all will get a document that will have all of the kind of the summation of the conversations as well as action items. And a lot of those action items definitely will be geared toward staff, but some of them will be some things that you collectively or individually um will have to address. Uh you identified opportunities to meet um where you can have more open and kind of personal and probably tougher conversations than you had yesterday about how you work together. And we decided that staff will provide um agenda packets earlier for you for your committee meetings. Instead of Fridays, you may get them on Wednesdays or as um soon as possible. and you received a lot of information related to initiatives between the city, county, and nonprofits to address public safety. Uh you heard a bold goal of providing a thousand career job experiences or opportunities. Also, there was a challenge to council, to employers throughout the community to sign up for partnerships to provide and help the city provide some of these employment, internships, and uh other opportunities. You're also partnering with the uh the county to provide uh additional recreation um opportunities for youth this summer. And I think that some of these things that you talked about were kind of breaking news. So, um I have a motto. Don't overpromise and underdel because that's that's how we uh in the local government uh area we lose credibility. So, um that's that's my challenge to you all. Um you all also with the uh safety thing you requested uh some additional data uh related to a number of items but one um that stuck in my mind was um 911 calls and and response times. Uh and again as I said there were several other requests. Then you had an update on transition of cats um from your current city department to an independent authority. You have a major deadline of July 1, 2026. That's when the master agreement has to be done, which is an outline of this entire transfer process. It doesn't have to be completed, but you got to have a game plan by um July 1. And uh Miss City attorney, if I'm wrong, right? >> You're right. Okay, cool. All right. Uh and then last night uh you had a meeting. I wasn't there at the government center, but I watched it uh about I77 Express Lane. Um, you all were amazing from the perspective of there were lots of different opinions that were expressed, but you did it in a way that I hope um residents, citizens of Charlotte, uh, would be proud of you because again, um, you took that team building exercise that we had and you put put it into practice and and thank you um so much. You should be u proud of yourselves. Now, I didn't say that to pat you on the head, pat you on the back, to say add a girl, add a boy. Um I did it because um I think you you grew. I mean, I think there was some growth. Uh and I think you all are committed to continuing um that journey. And then the good news out of that uh event um or that discussion or that meeting is that you had good news to share with the community about NC DOT agreeing to delay. Now I'm going tell you all you got some heavy lifting on that item. Well, you got heavy lifting on a lot of these items, but on this one uh you got a lot of work to be done. Um and I hope that you will carry the theme of relationship building not only amongst each other but with the community and with the state. It is very very important that we you all continue to be partners uh with all of these entities. Even though you may um disagree on on some things, you can you can work it out. Now, um, if our panelists are here, Ed. Okay. Uh, we may start a little bit early. Yes, sir. >> Miss Cam, I thought we had an action item to >> Good good morning everyone. Uh, Miss Campbell, I thought we had an action item as well as coming up the rules of decorum. >> Yes. And that was your committee that you all have have >> okay >> formed. I said that earlier and there are you got a lot of action items quite frankly and we'll we'll be summarizing that providing you with a document and um Julia who cracks the whip on me says I got to have this by the end of the week. So she will she will have that and hopefully you all will uh have that information uh certainly by by Monday of next week. All right. So now for today again we got a lot uh to get done and in particular on this day toward the end of the day you all are going to be taking this bold step of identifying your um strategic initiatives going into um the year. So, you're going to get a lot of information uh today again and we've had to modify the agenda a little bit so that we could pick up some things that we didn't do on yesterday. Um so, you may have Julia, do they all have a revised agenda? Okay. So, you have a revised agenda of today. You will see that we're going to have a pretty intense morning. There is no break. So, I encourage you to take breaks whenever you need um to take one. Um and um we are going to start this morning's um discussion uh around um mobility and things. And I I I need to add one additional thing about today. We're going to have a working lunch as well. So, we're going to break a little early um to about 11:45 going pick up our food and then we're going to have the capital strategy uh budget discussion from um noon until 1. So, there's a a lot of lot of moving parts, but hopefully we'll we'll keep you um keep you informed. Um so now to uh this morning's uh discussion I want to um have Ed McKenna come up and introduce the uh panel around implementing generational mobility uh investments and um we are deeply appreciative for our outer town guests and for our who needs no introduction Mr. Harvey Gette. Um, so I'll hand it off to you and take it away. >> Thank you. Ed McKini, uh, special assistant for mobility. The panel can come up. And, uh, I'm just going to say a few things to set up, uh, the discussion. I want to reintroduce Adam Fipps, who's been with us for a little bit. He's going to facilitate this conversation. For those obviously who know, Adam's been with us for the last couple of retreats, helping us think through the mobility efforts. What you haven't seen is he's been working us with us behind the scenes as well. So, he's been uh deeply ingrained in our staff and our organization helping us think through as part of uh Adam's help in terms of making sure that's been a a successful program. Adam um again, as a quick introduction, he's currently a CEO of Infrastructure Strategies. what they do is advising cities just like us across the country and how to implement successfully big capital improvement programs. So that's uh we're really lucky to have them. He's working in cities across the country doing that today. He is former CEO of the Denver uh Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. You'll see some some friends he has from that past history in that role. Uh he he led an organization that was over a thousand people. the successful uh delivery of a capital program that was over a billion dollars. So, all that to say, Adam knows what he's doing. You'll see that conversation. He's got some great partners uh that you'll hear hear a little bit more about that success. What I do want to say as we go into this day of mobility and particularly the opportunity to use the panel to kind of uh set the tone for that. I the the purpose of it for me is to have a conversation with this panel about what does this look like to get it right in Charlotte. So we have a great opportunity and honor to have uh Mayor Gant with us. We have some great uh um experts and some experience that you'll see across the country. It's but it's about getting it right for Charlotte. Um what does that look like for us? Get your uh sort of excitement and discussion as we lead into the day. It's both about organizationally what we need to do, but also really more importantly in the community. So, you'll hear that in this conversation. We'll tease that out. Uh, but it's about getting it right for Charlotte in our community, in our organization. We're excited we can be successful and this will be a great way to start our day. So, with that, I'll throw it over to Adam Fipps. It's in manager Jones mode right now. So I I I told my wife I would not do that. I couldn't resist. Manager, I love you. Um good morning everybody. Mayor, thank you for having us. City Council, thank you for having us. For those members that I've had the opportunity to engage with before, looking forward to this uh session today, this is going to be a great session. To city leadership manager, thank you. Uh we're we're excited for this conversation. Um all right, so let me do a little bit of ground rules here for everybody just so you know what to expect. Uh similar to what Sean did with his panel yesterday, I have a hundred different questions. I'm going to throw all of them out and put them in my pocket. I'm going to lead off with some intros of each of the panelists. I'm going to ask one question to each panelist, but then I really just want to turn it over uh to the room, excuse me, to to council here for you guys to engage, ask the questions that you have on your mind. If you run out of questions, which I know you will not, I will go to my trusted pocket of questions, but I want to give you guys as many opportunities as possible uh to to uh to to to learn uh from these. So, Manager Jones asked me to put together a panel of leaders in mobility, and I knew that that wouldn't be too difficult to do because I've had the honor of working with some incredible leaders in my past. I didn't realize I'd be able to do this great of a panel. And so, I feel privileged to have the opportunity to introduce these folks. Um, and I'm going to start um I'm going to start with Mayor Hancock. In fact, um, >> Mayor Hancock, it's good to see you. >> Thank you. Um, Mayor Hancock is the founder and CEO of Hancock Global. He has 20 years of experience in elected office. That's two terms of city council and then the full maximum of Denver of three terms of mayor. Um, he's a champion for infrastructure. He's a champion for mobility and I got to see that firsthand and really built a reputation uh of that within the mayoral community uh throughout his tenure. He's my favorite strong mayor born qualifier. >> Um and he also had the pleasure of serving on the executive committee for multiple years with the US Congress of Mayors. Again, very well respected of that infrastructure leader across the US. So, Mayor Hancock, thank you for being with us. >> Thank you. Glad to be here. >> Next, I'll go with Director Kley. uh currently the CEO of the underline and the fun fact here it is a 10mi 120 acre urban redevelopment of parks trails and transit pretty impressive achievement in fact I think a few of you have had the opportunity to go down to Miami Dade uh and witness that firsthand so Mr. Mr. Clley is at the helm of that currently. Prior to that, he was the, uh, CEO of transportation and public works for Miami Dade County. Prior to that, uh, executive director of Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure under Mayor Hancock. Prior to that, uh, deputy director of the MO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Houston, Galveston, and prior to that at the district department of transportation in DC, where he helped with one very high-profile inauguration, above many other things. And yes, that experience, he's a lot older than he looks. Quite quite the resume. Um, >> that's good. >> Oh, and fun fact, NC State alumni. >> Uh, get his >> Oh, well, everybody can't be perfect. >> Awesome. >> And then De Deborah stole my intro a little bit, but Mayor Gant, a man that needs no introduction. In fact, I think I might be the only person in this room that hasn't had the honor to meet uh Mayor Gant before. of course, former Charlotte mayor, a very distinguished uh educational accomplishments as I looked at his resume, uh founded his own architecture firm, and has had quite the impact uh on the city of Charlotte. And so, Mayor Gant, thank you for making the time to join us today. All right, with that, I'm going to jump right into uh the first question I have for everybody. And Mayor Gant, with your unprecedented perspective on the city of Charlotte, I've got to start with you. So, your perspective is unrivaled. You've been mayor. You've been involved in the community. You've been a leader for decades. Why is mobility important? And what should this council be considering as we look at this generational investment, a big investment, an unparalleled investment in mobility as a city? >> I could take the entire time of the panel, but I won't. But let me a point of personal privilege here. Um I used to go to these retreats so many times back in the day. That's almost what 40 some odd 50 some years ago and I knew everybody in the room staff as well as the elected officials. This is the first time I've walked into this room. I don't know this wonderful staff that's behind most of you >> and I really don't know all the council members. So, if you don't mind, just as a point of personal privilege. >> Certainly. >> Uh, I would like the council. I mean, I know the mayor and I know the manager, but I'd like to I some of these council members I don't know. So, please stand. Edriggs, I know you >> Anderson, can you can you just raise your hands? Those who are members of the council, even though give me your names. I know your names, but do it anyway. >> Smudgy. Okay. >> Mayor, glad to have you. Jay Smudger Mitchell. Thank you, mayor. >> Mayor, thank you for being here. JD Masa Aras, District 5. >> Ah, it's going to take me a while to pronounce your name, but heard a lot about you. >> Good morning, Mayor. Lana Mayfield, one of your at large members. >> Good morning, Mayor Gant. Victoria Watlington, one of your members at large. >> Good morning, Mayor Kimberly Owens, representing District 6. Good morning, mayor and everyone else. Dante Anderson, District 1. >> Mayor, it's good to see you. Ed Driggs, District 7. >> Joy Mayo, District 3. Nice to see you again. >> Nice to see you. >> Good morning, everyone. Malcolm Graham, District 2. >> Good morning, Mayor Gan Dimple Mira, one of your at large members. >> Thank you. Thank you for doing that. Now, I forgot what the question was, but I'm going to answer. >> Why is mobility important? >> Let let me tell you something. Why is mobility important? Thank you, mayor. Um I I think all of you in this room know how excited I am about where we're going with mobility. Uh it is it is a major and principal opportunity for the city to withstand and overcome the growth that it is going to experience. Um we're still a relatively young city. That's the way I I've always looked at it, even from the days that I served as mayor, which were decades ago. But uh but being a relatively young city has tremendous advantages because we get to study cities like Denver uh which are which are not quite that we are older than you are you think about it. uh we get to study the major metropolitan areas of the northeast and the west and we see some of the issues that they come up with and here we find ourselves with a tremendous opportunity one that I've not seen around Charlotte in a long time and sometimes I don't think we grasp the gravity of what this is all about let me just start with some numbers play with some numbers numbers a minute. The 1 cent tax that we just passed will bring about close to 20 billion dollar in expenditures over the next upcoming decades. And if you multiply the multiply effect of dropping that into the economy may be as much as two and a half to three and a half times that. So the impact on the economy of Charlotte is going to be substantial. I haven't even said a word about mobility yet but it is going to be in my opinion uh substantial. 55,000 people a year. That's what you folks have been bragging on. I mean, I've heard folks talk 155. I've heard up as high as 175 people coming here every day. But what that represents is about 55 to 60,000 people. When I was mayor of Charlotte, we only had we had less than 300,000. So we're talking about in five years matching what the city was when when I was mayor. So this growth is substantial. For the first time, we've got money to deal with and build as best we can, as much as we can learn from those older cities and taking advantage of the technologies. We have the talent in this community. We really do. I've been reading some of those mobility plans and man, I get lost every 10 or 12 pages, but I I keep trying to absorb it. We got the talent. We got the money. I said that. And we should have the perspective to understand that there's going to be a lot of unrest and uh well it's like I'm not a obviously not a woman but I am so giving birth to a new baby might be the best that I we're going to go through some things. Are we going through some things now Mr. manager cuz I can't get out of my street with all the construction going on with water and other kinds of lines. Can you imagine over the next 20 years the infrastructure that we're going to put in place to in fact make our city better. And as leaders of the city, you have got to keep reminding the public that all that red dirt, all those trucks, all those machines, all those people out there are in the process of making the city even better. Now there's a lot of work we have to do and I have a lot of confidence unlike this current situation that you all are dealing with uh the I77 Carter and what you I don't know what you decided to do last night but um this is a situation upcoming for you that in fact you totally control the governmental structures that you put in place. uh your ability to project to the community uh and build trust, trust, trust, transparency, transparency, transparency, and a willingness to listen early on, midway, and getting to the end are going to make all the difference in the world. Uh there are going to be some people hurt, >> but we have to find ways to make them whole. Anybody who shares that we're going to be able to build 20 billion dollars worth of infrastructure and not cause some people some discomfort, you're not realist. You're not being realistic. You can't put that much. You can't move that much dirt. put that much rail down, widen that many streets without some of our citizens feeling some of that. >> And what your responsibility, if you go back to this thing called trust. Trust. What we're responsible for doing is finding a way to gain the trust of the community by being as open as possible and by being as honest as possible and not trying to smooth everything over. But I have confident at the end of the day that there's some And you got to be like this. I'm I'm gonna quit. I have confident at the end of the day that Cindy and I as we get deeper into u senior citizenship will be able to ring up a metro uh microtransit facility. Get a ride to the Silver Line because we're going to see our children in New York. Get a ride to the Silver Line and get on the Silver Line, get to the airport. microransit or something else will take me in. They'll get a wheelchair for me by then and get me over there, but I will get there. And I have confident that that will work. That's a plus. That's a plus that we have to trump it to our community. I have confidence that someone who just arrived from Dylan, South Carolina, looking for a job, finding the job, the new job that we brag about, but it's located out on the edge of town. They don't take three hours from where they have to live to get to that job on time. And that's because we will have built a system that works for that new family coming in from South Carolina. I just have confident that we confidence that we will beat some of our northern cities in terms of mobility because we've got the talent, the trust, the will of the community. So, finally, I just want to say I hope some of y'all will get as enthusiastic as I am about seeing the good and then embracing what's not so good and take making sure we can make people whole. Mayor Gant, thank you. And I have that enthusiasm and I know we're going to see it across the room uh here as well. Uh you had mentioned uh we have the money, we have the plans. Uh you all have seen three years of iterations of mobility planning uh by Mr. McKenna over the last few uh planning sessions for council. It's right. You have the congestion. Does everybody agree we have the congestion? >> Yep. So, we got we have the challenges to solve. Mayor Hancock, let me go to you. Um, in your 12 years as mayor, I did my research. The city's budget went from 800 million your first year, increased by two billion to 2.8 billion your 12th year in office. A huge increase. Denver was in a prime growing season. You weren't just spendy. Prime growing season in that uh 12 years. Um Charlotte is in that same season today. Given that context and the parallel of a growing city, what should this council be thinking about as they look at transitioning from we have the money, we have the plans, it's time to implement. >> Thank you, Adam. First of all, it's good to see you all. Good morning to you. Um and it is good to see this legend sitting to my left. um as mayor as you grow come along in your careers and you are hearing about the legends of this nation as mayors and Harvey Gan was one of those great legends that I studied and watched and he just did a dissertation on mobility. So it's no it is no uh is not a myth that this man has not has earned his legendary status in this nation. So once again, I bow to you, man, and thank you. >> Uh to Charlotte for bringing such great leadership to our nation, to my good friend, my dear friend, Mayor Vi, who I've admired over the years and have enjoyed serving with before I left office in 2011 and continue to see around the mayor's uh conferences. Uh I am glad to be here with you this morning. I got to tell you, I don't know, I thought it'd be a lot warmer down here. When I got here, I came off the plane. And I for I would not know it was Charlotte if I didn't see the butter grits on the panel out there. Uh I don't know what y'all got going on, but please turn the heat up. Um just while I'm here. I leave this afternoon. Um but it's good to be with my friends as well to see Adam and to see Ulus Kley and and I wasn't spending money but I had to raise more money because Kley's salary from Houston when I went to recruit him. Uh but your question is is one and I want to congratulate Charlotte on this major infrastructure investment. I think Mayor Vayu told me about it during the conference uh sitting around the the transportation committee um that I was honored to chair uh for two years as as part of the conference of mayors in 2011 when I came into office. Denver was like all other like the rest of the nation beginning to emerge out of the great recession. Um but it was it was you could feel the pulse of the city. It was ready. it was ready to to to take off. It was brimming with that kind of energy, kind of like what's happening here in Charlotte. Um, by 2013, Denver was one of the top three fastest growing cities in the country. To give you a scale and scope of what we were dealing with, we were send seeing a net new uh resident uh population coming into our city, 1,000 per month, net new. And that was going on that went on for about uh almost 10 years right before COVID uh hit or at during CO we started to see the plateauing of the city. What used to take and being a pretty much native of Denver, I was not born there but raised in Denver from from infancy. Um what used to be a situation where it took 20 minutes no matter where you were going in the city to get from point A to point B was now taking anywhere we saw it begin to steadily increase uh 30 minutes 45 minutes and if you were going from one end to the other it would take you well in excess of an hour if you didn't know when to leave to get to somewhere and that was just unacceptable growing population and congestion occurring and by the way beginning to see the degradation of our our infrastructure uh our streets our bridge bridges, um our highways, um declining significantly. At that point, Denver was a 73% single occupied vehicle city. >> We are talking about a culture shift, folks. Does any of this sound familiar here in Charlotte? >> Is that where the 1% came from? >> And one of the things that I understood was that we cannot allow this to become our normal. Just as fast as we have grown and became productive and companies were moving in and investments were occurring, congestion will choke this city to death. I'm talking about Denver now. >> And I think you pretty much sense that same sense of mortality for Charlotte. You work too hard to advance your city. You work too hard to make it a destination, a desirable destination for visitors, tourists, and for people to come work, play, and to live. For congestion to kill you. We did not, and with all due respect to some cities around this country want to be Los Angeles. We didn't want to be the DC metro area. We didn't want to be Houston or the Houston metro area. Uh we want to be competitive, but we didn't want the congestion. And so it occurred to me, and I'm going to not spend time on the economic side of it, but what I accept talk about what we challenged the city to do in 2017 was to make a $2 billion commitment. I just threw that out there. $2 billion over the next uh I think it was 13 years to invest in our infrastructure. The city was going to put some skin in the game. But as I looked back on some headlines, I I didn't realize I was doing this. But some of the headlines read, "You, Mayor Hancock, calls out the state and federal government to make investments in our city." And I did that intentionally, saying, "If we put skin in the game, then you ought to join us in this effort. And we're going to make a commitment that by 2030, we're going to invest over $2 billion on our roads, our bridges, and we're going to improve the city the city uh the city and our mobility. We're going to get more out of our streets and stop worrying about moving cars and move people. We're going to move them to jobs and housing. We're going to move them to their medical uh appointments. We're going to move them to the important places of like education and healthy foods in our lives. And as Mayor Gant talked about the economics, I'm going to focus on this very briefly, the civic side of this. We must not forget we're not talking about just pavement and curbs and bridges and transit and rail. We're talking about people. And as your former great mayor, Mayor Fox, used to say as secretary of transportation, we're talking about creating ladders of opportunity for the people in your city. There is no greater determinant of one's well-being in life than their access to mobility. As mayor, I used to say, you want to know where the greatest challenges exist in our city? where people are struggling every day to make ends meet, where they're economically challenged, then show me where the least amount of mobility options exist. When people are locked in a situation where they can't get to buses or they have to walk extraordinary long ways to get to the bus or there's no transit or their roads are not completed or in disrepair, sidewalks don't exist. We don't worry about, we don't address the ADA accessibility of our sidewalks, which some of us bypass without thinking, but realize that we're shutting people off when I can't take my wheelchair on a out of off the safety off of the road into the safety of a sidewalk. Those are the things we're talking about here. Transportation mobility is a foundation of economic opportunity and equity in every metropolitan area. >> Period. If you invest in that, get people access to education, to affordable housing, you build affordable housing around dense transit areas. Now, we're talking about, and I'll finish on this, and this is the economic side of this. Today, most people pay in excess of 30%. Most Americans spend excess of 30% for housing. If you add mobility needs to that in cars, the insurance, the fuel, the maintenance, you take that cost to 45% or more just for housing and mobility. Now imagine, take a journey with me where you are building affordable housing near transit options, transit corridors. Imagine the economic impact on a mother of three where she comes out of the back of that unit, jumps on a train and takes her kids to school, gets back on that train and goes to work. In the afternoon, she gets back on a train to go pick her kids up and then go home. We are now beginning to eliminate a massive disparity, economic disparity in our communities. This is the opportunity that we have in our cities around the nation. And this is the opportunity that you and as Charlotte have put a stake in the ground and said this city is going to be for everybody. Not just those who can afford a car and housing, but for those who can live around transit, those who are we can help live around transit and other options. Biking, walking, transit, and yes, cars if necessary. We're going to get more of our streets and we're going to move people to greater ladders of opportunity. I'm looking forward to the conversation. Thank you, Mayor Hancock. Uh, Director Cleley, my apologies. It's a tough I I appreciate that, Adam. >> That is a tough crowd. I'm just >> This is the guy who did it for me. >> I'm just glad I'm not sitting to your right right now and having to follow you as well. Um, you've been a transformational leader um across the US from Houston to Denver to Miami to DC. uh you've been the one to Mayor Hancock's point that has gotten it done. I've seen that firsthand and I know that you have a unique skill set to do that. You've also seen the city of Charlotte's journey over the last couple of years. You've opined on it. You've um you've advised on it. Uh and and it's it's near home to you. Help us connect the dots. How does this city go from talking about what needs to get done to actually getting it done? All right. Well, thank you, Adam, and it's a pleasure to be back with you again. Uh, I think this is time number three, right? I believe so. It's good to see you all. Um, truly am honored to be with legendary mayors here, uh, Mayor Gant, Mayor Hancock. Um, I went to North Carolina Anti. So, so I I I'm origining from the DC area and let me tell you, um, we studied you, Mayor Gad. So, it's very appreciative of being in your presence and and Mayor Hancock hired me from Houston and if you noticed all the cities that Mayor Hancock mentioned that were terrible around mobility, I like worked at all of them. So, I don't know what that's about, but we we'll talk about that later. uh uh but the uh way in which this group is working together is admirable and I've said this before this what you're doing having retreats sitting down bringing in experts to help you identify the issue gain consensus and gain which is the most important word alignment of how to resolve some of the challenges is something that's not common place in a lot of metropolitan areas so I want to congratulate you for taking time out and working together as elected officials and the administration to figure out ways to make the city of Charlotte better. So I I want to give you a round of applause. So, so and what I've seen uh that is important to continue on in terms of how you implement large capital programs is to ensure that the vision that gets set from a strategic standpoint is the one that you always follow. Now, I'm going to speak more technical because I'm in my past have been the person that's been brought in to figure out ways to develop the structures to be able to implement. But it always starts with a vision and an aspirational vision that you need to have and and that's been set here in Charlotte. Mayor Hancock made mention of the fact that in Denver when I was there, one of the issues around congestion was the fact that 73% of individuals commuting were doing it by a single occupancy vehicle. He had the aspirational vision to say, well, we want to reduce that amount down to 50%. And then the balance of that is split between transit and walking and biking. And he gave an edict during one of his state of the city addresses which we still talk about today. But he at that address said that he was going to commit in three years to build 150 miles actually 125 miles worth of bike lanes. And he pointed at me and said that's your job to do. Three years later, what ended up happening Mayor? >> We had it. >> We had actually exceeded it. >> Yep. Yep. >> So, my my point to you is that when you have alignment from elected officials, the administration that is structured in a department that's set up to implement and you have a committed funding source, which you have now, you can do amazing things. the what I've seen that has been a challenge in a lot of metropolitan areas is that if you start to deviate from the vision that you have set out because every single change in a project or every single change about a certain project decision especially when it comes to transit adds time and money. And so when we mention about the ability to ensure that the public has entrusted you all as elected officials as well as the implementing agencies in their tax dollars to implement projects that have been identified in a plan that you have, it's the collective responsibility to deliver on that. And so the second that you deviate from that, that's where trust erodess and that's where it makes things much more difficult moving forward. Uh it was mentioned about transparency as well, setting things up in a manner where you're being upfront with how you deliver your projects, but ultimately the responsibility is that you have to develop results. >> That is key and that's critical and it and it's and it takes everybody to step in and to lean in to ensure that you're setting yourselves up for success moving forward. And the last piece I would say that Mayor Hancock made mention of the fact that mobility and having the ability to be able to move around in a metropolitan area is really about freedom. Having the ability to choose your pathway and your mode of transportation is what we do from a planning perspective as well as implementation perspective and the ability to provide services. If you're not looking at a variety of different ways for people to be able to get around, you're restricting people's ability to move and their freedom to move and and having the ability to have access to opportunities for them to have a better life. So transportation is more to your point more than just concrete. Your ability to have access is generational. And you have an opportunity now over the next two decades to not only change a fabric and how people get around in the county, but to make everybody's life much better that is here currently and then to attract more people to come in and be able to sustain that growth from an infrastructure standpoint. So as you move forward, my suggestion and my recommendation is that you've started off very well. You have a very solid plan. It's time to move into execution and implementation. Stay a course. Things will get difficult. There will be pressures and headwinds, but you have a fantastic strategy to implement. And so, it's critical that you figure out the best ways to message that and stick to it and you have the talent and you have everything set up and you have the consensus from the general public, the electives and administration to make things happen. And then you'll be surprised of what you can exceed in terms of the goals that you've set. So congratulations at this point. But now I think it's time to get to work. Right. >> All right. Thank you. >> Great. >> Thank you, Ulus. Um, all right. I am going to channel my inner Deborah and try to facilitate one half as well as she does. Uh, but council, this is your opportunity. This is your planning session. I saw a couple hands go up. Uh, Councilwoman, I'll start with you. A question for the panel. >> Thank you. Thank you. First of all, thank y'all for being here today and for your perspectives. I've got some questions about transportation as a catalyst um for mobility, not physical mobility, but economic mobility because as we think about some of the things we're dealing with, as Mayor Gant mentioned before, um there are going to be people who are impacted and not always positively, right? And so when we think about how do we how do we do this differently than some of the other cities that were named, I'm curious as to your thoughts um in terms of like who got it right, who actually saw declining commute times as they grew. How did they work with the private sector? Because what we tend to see as we think about our blue line is that we definitely got the economic growth. Looking back, we would have liked to maybe be a little bit more proactive about preserving land along the line for affordable housing. When we think about the types of jobs that are accessible um off of transit, we saw at least on along the blue line a change from manufacturing or blue collar jobs to more white collar jobs which obviously then creates a bit of a a gap as it relates to mobility moving through. Right. Um, so I I'd like to understand how you all thought about how you managed growth and the building ind or I don't want to say the industry, the building of the city with the infrastructure because we often hear that um additional lanes doesn't actually alleviate congestion because we're not managing the growth on the other side of it. So I just want to hear your holistic thoughts about how infrastructure in particular uh plays into those other spaces. Does that make sense? >> Yeah, it does. Yeah. Well, I'll I'll set stage for for the this conversation again back to the com the thought don't forget it's about the people. >> Um and you know when you ask who did it right and in the United States as I survey my mind and all the studies and examples I've seen I've seen areas that have done well. >> Um but we are so far behind in this country. Think about it right now. I have a client in LA, the California high, excuse me, the California, the California highspeed rail authority trying to build the nation's first highspeed rail from LA to San Francisco. Today, we go to Tokyo, we go to, you know, China, we go, I mean, it's it's the culture. We are shifting a culture in this nation right now to become more multimodal. But when you keep it on a human focus level where you're saying we're going to build transit, but we better have a plan to build housing around that transit around those corridors. If we're going to build we're going to improve artios and collectors, then let's make sure we're building we have an affordable housing plan along that those uh corridors as well. So those are the question for you. The question that you're asking is who's at the table making these decisions? Whose voices are we hearing? And more importantly, who are we missing? who's not at this table that we need to hear to help us plan better. >> Uh so so I'll add to that. Uh transportation and land use are intertwined. And so as you start to identify especially from a transit perspective and and regardless if you're building rail lines, street car lines, um busing lanes and the like, the nexus between the land you surround, especially those major hubs is extremely important. uh there's there there's there's ways and cities have done a good job in providing incentives from a development standpoint uh to make sure that development is occurring around transit hubs. So whether it be density uh uh incent incentives and the like um whether it be height, whether it be more floor area ratio, all of those land use policies, which I'm I'm sure probably exists here, if they need to be amended to encourage a development community to actually build closer towards transit and then invest in the transit system, that's that's the way that you can integrate the p private sector into helping build out the infrastructure. So, uh, to to Mayor Hancock's point, there's there's no perfect city in this. I, you know, we we that America has gone through iterations of change, right? So, so urban areas, uh, 50, 60 years ago, of course, were more condensed and travel patterns were different. Then you had flight and so everybody had a vehicle and then they would come into to the urban core. Now you have more of a mix where people are trying to balance and have access and be able to walk around and more mixeduse development. You want to encourage and have a healthy mix uh as you move throughout the city and making sure that you have solid land use policies is how you get there. uh the private sector um and industry should understand the importance of making sure that their transportation system that moves their employees >> is something that they help support. >> And there's multiple ways that you can do that. There's everything from transportation demand management programs to other incentives and the like and again these small things add up to a more comprehensive way to move people around. And then the last thing I'll just mention is that you asked about well reduction in commute times and accessibility. Um it's critical that as you move forward and you understand what the results of the projects are that you you analyze those projects as you implement them. Um and the one thing I would say in Denver we did a really good job is we we we actually did a a at at the direction of the mayor. We took a look at at equity analysis in Denver. And what you notice is that the I70 >> corridor >> the corridor you you which uh had a certain demographic as compared to the to the western side of the corridor and you saw the commute times were were much different. Yep. >> And and and then we took it a step further where we did additional analysis where we had about 13 different factors to say, okay, what what is the equity index in all these specific neighborhoods that we had and compare them to each other and we started to see a pattern. And so then we we made a conscious decision to invest into those areas that needed the most help. And it was like a statement in our department where we said equity was about ensuring that the resources and attention are going to the areas that need it the most because you're trying to create justice at the end of the day. And so so there's ways from an analytical standpoint that you can track that progress and make sure that the projects that you're implementing are actually having the the impact that you're trying to seek. >> Thank you. >> Perfect. Council, >> let me ask let me >> Yeah, mayor. >> I've got a clarification on what you're saying Victoria. >> Um, >> you said you noticed that the the people riding the transit were going to jobs on the upper end of the economic spectrum, >> right? >> Is that what you're saying? And the jobs on the by definition and the lower end are not >> well let me let me say a little bit more more um accurately. What I mean is if you look along South Boulevard for example with the manufacturing that used to be there I would call a blue collar job, right? A means of someone to um to rise socioeconomically. Now what I see there is a bent towards corporate headquarters if you will or office spaces. and you see white collar jobs and the folks who live in the along the line are um are the employees of those jobs, but we we've traded, if you will, the manufacturing jobs. Certainly, we've got no collar jobs showing up there because there are some uh restaurants, things like that. But of course, those people can't always afford to live along the line. So, they're less likely to actually use the line. Um so, yes, what I'm saying is I see a a change in the stratification of who would be in the corridor from an employment standpoint. So, I'm thinking about how do we ensure that these transit lines don't just become luxury neighborhoods, if you will. >> Well said. >> Okay, that's good. Um, I mean, I I'm I'm clear on the question. So, when we are buying the right of way to u to build the silver line, are there lessons to be learned there? Uh do you in fact uh uh get involved in land development or land purchasing? Does the city is that appropri appropriate? You think it is? >> Well, we then not not as deliberately as what we're trying to do now. >> Okay. >> In terms of binding a path of progress. >> Well, there are two things I wanted to say about that. the the the blue line and the housing going up around it and the cost of that housing attracts on both ends. South End has got corporate offices and other kinds of things and you might find a different situation a little further away. I'm cautious about whether or not you as a as a as a public entity want to get involved in the vagaries the the various kinds of things that go in to decision making to start buying land for any purpose. Now you have some leverage that might say we we we help we help developers when they have housing that includes affordable housing in it because we do have funds maybe for that kind of thing or we use some of the penny to address affordable housing issues that might be along those corridors. Uh, I would hesitate about getting involved in purchasing land because that's an area that quite frankly the public doesn't have the expertise in uh to deal with. But you do have zoning powers. Uh you do have incentives you can offer to developers to get affordable housing in and I'm seeing some early examples of that happening right now. But the other end of the the spectrum is all the all the folks who are starting off at the lower end of the economic ladder and my expectation is that we won't have those people at the end the lower end of the economic ladder with training and other kinds of things that are going on. Uh I I think that that there are other elements. I don't make the assumption, for example, and I I use this because I see it often, uh, that all black people are at the lower end of the economic ladder. Uh, in fact, I know folks who are now living in some of those units along the blue line that are striving, hardworking ENT graduates that are working in Lowe's. And so, don't don't make that assumption. But if you're looking for leverage to in fact include more housing that covers a broader income spectrum, then look at the powers you do have. They come through zoning and they come through dollars that you can offer as incentives to developers to build that housing. Can I add to that? I know there's another question councilman because I think what the mayor has just said is is again textbook and I'll just say this housing is infrastructure >> and as you are investing your dollars I have seen where cities have set up with these new tax opportunities um authorities where they do go and use part of those dollars to buy land but they've engaged the private sector to help them do that through the authorities and those they're not trying to develop those lands by as a city, but what they're doing is attracting developers in and putting that land under them with covenants. >> It's affordable for 99 years. You can only build affordable housing here. So, you're driving it. The other thing they do is to attract in 1999, Denver did a comprehensive plan. One of the smartest things they've done, this is before I got on council, was identify areas of opportunity and areas of change or excuse me, areas of stability and areas of change or opportunity. And those areas of stability we they're thriving. That's where you're more middle class, higherend people live. Jobs are plentiful. Um people are more educated in those areas. Blah blah blah. Areas of change exist. People companies tend to avoid those areas of change become those areas where we're going to drive our incentives where we're going to try to attract companies and employment opportunities and training and housing around these corridors. When we look back on it, while I was mayor, I asked the director of plan to go back and do an analysis. How well did we do under this plan? We found out that 90% of all of our development occurred in areas of change because we were very intentional about it. And the last thing I'll say is the Ulis alluded to the equity study that came because we noticed that gentrification had occurred in some areas, right? and it's almost too late by the time you realize it's been gentrified and you know you know it's too late. You can't reverse those trends. And so we're like, well, how do we get ahead of this? And here's what we learned in our job as permitting and land development authorities in the city. We're the first to know when a development's coming in, when a company's moving in. Permitting tells us what's happening. That's our opportunity to begin to eclipse and to begin to move in with measures to protect residents and keep them in place and and to help them stay in place and to inform what's about to happen or when we're going in with this new dollars. We're building bus stops and we're building bike, you know, bringing transit through. We know those things. So, what's the civic what are the tools that come in to protect the people who live in those areas? >> Thank you, >> council member. I know it was a good question because I saw staff in the back taking notes. I saw Danielle taking notes. I saw Shaw taking notes. I saw Ed. That connection between land use and transportation is critically important. Um I'll keep us moving here. Council member, uh you've got the floor and then we'll go back over here after that. >> Thank you. Thank you. And thank great comments from all three of you. Um I just have two questions. One is you mentioned that, you know, throughout your effort with these projects to ensure that the public um understands and continues to keep that northstar top of mind with with so many of of these projects having such a long runway, how did you do that in the city um to continue to remind residents this is our north star, this is our our joint goal and we're not going to pivot or have scope creep in or out of that. That's my first question. And the second question I I have is we're going to have a a conversation later on about safety um our vision zero goals as you um as you stood up your multimodal plans. Did you communicate your your vision zero goals, your reduction in say your your reduction in accidents etc. Did you use that as a part of your marketing and communications plan? >> Yeah. And I and again uh because these two were the answer the tools that I used to get that information out and I think what I'll say will set the stage for them to respond appropriately, Mr. Mayor. And that is leadership matters. You know, I was amazed at how at times as mayor, I would say something and people would take that to heart. I wish today's leaders would realize that. By the way, not Charlotte, but nationwide. Uh, your voice, what you say matters to people. And so, if you say this is a priority, this is our vision. Your team city, the team follows, but also the people in the city begin to get it right. And and and then two, transparency. I heard it mentioned by Mayor Gant. Uliss said it a couple times. You got to say the same thing. We've all run for office and you get tired of saying your same stump speech a thousand times and your campaign staff says stay on message. Stay there. Stay there. Stay there. You're like I'm tired. I'm bored myself. They're like stay on it. Well, that's what you have to do with this situation, right? There will always be detractors. Uh people say, "I didn't know. Why didn't you communicate this?" Well, we said it a thousand times, but you weren't tuned in. You weren't listening. But say it again and keep saying it. Um thirdly, you got to let the people make the people or help the people believe this is their idea. And you do that from the offset. We used to do little clickers. We would bring community meetings. We say, "We want to do we want to fix this road. What what are your ideas? Here are some of the options." Don't let them come up their own, but here are four or five options we have. These are standard. These are federal guidelines. Blah blah blah. Give us a clicker. And they lean in and go, "Oh, 70% said put bike lanes. We got it." And they walk out and this is becomes your kind of your plan. But now it's their idea. You came in already thinking this is what we got to do is put bike lanes in there. But you gave them the idea. And so leadership, lay out the vision. Repeat yourself a thousand times, 100,000 times. Thirdly, include your community as much as you can in the reality. And then lastly, I'll say this. Um, leadership matters and that you find people who can get it done. Um, these were some badass dudes. And I mean that with all sincerity. We looked for this guy across the nation. Transportation was embedded in public works. It was called public works, department of public works. Transportation was in there. It was a subpriority. And as mayor, I said, if we're going to commit $2 billion, we're going to make it the department of transportation and put public works underneath it, right? Or is it as a subcategory? Trash collection, road, you know, sweeping and snow removal. Those things would be sub priority. Still important, but transportation will be the north star. Who is the person that comes in and leads that transformation? This going to be a charter change. It's a whole new attitude, new way of thinking. I'm setting the stage for him to come in and show you his brilliance. Did a national search. This guy's rose to the top. And I said, "This is your job." Denver was run not by the police. I'm talking historically, not by the police, not by the sheriffs, but by public works. The longest serving mayor came out of public works. The deputy mayor was always the director of public works. He would he or she was a heartbeat away from being the mayor, the executive of the city historically. And so we knew we were dealing with a holy grail. We knew we're about to touch something that were going to upset everybody and upset the history. But new attitudes were on our side. He came in and brilliantly out. So I introduced to you. You collected. Tell them how you did it. >> Well, well, leadership does matter, man. But um uh again I I would say uh to answer the question real quick. So the mayor had a very condensed straight to the point vision about mobility and expectation of mobility in Denver which helped right so we started off with with the mobility action plan. I believe that's what it was called >> action plan. Um, and so we went through a whole process and the messaging behind it is that it's it's a new way and a new method to deliver projects that everybody wants. And being that drum and having uh having the consensus again from all the electives and the mayor helped us to get the charter change which ended up being on the ballot and passed with 73% of the vote. >> Oh wow. So, so messaging and consistency within is extremely important and it's going to be important in terms of how you deliver projects as well. I with with respect to the vision zero question and this is also buttressed by the the need to make sure that the public feels like they own what is being built and and the the plan that you all have I think does a good job because you start off with kind of the citywide effort and then you break it down by district and so when you start breaking it about down by district you you end up creating a way to have these smaller efforts where you can involve the community and and the community is important and and transportation is really about connecting communities. So, it's always about community and that people within those communities and provide those opportunities. So, making sure that they feel like they own it which makes it easier when difficult tradeoff decisions happen because that's what infrastructure is about. You're changing something and so people naturally aren't going to be comfortable with that. But if you're open and you have that conversation, you're transparent, they feel like they have a part in how those decisions are made at the end of the day, they'll be much more comfortable in terms of what you uh build and implement. For Vision Zero, this was when when I was the director, we we did have a couple of flare-ups when it came to safety. We had some, I would say, pretty significant fatalities um on some of our major roadways. And we we changed our mindset about what Vision Zero was. There was a vision zero uh program and plan, but it wasn't supported by proactive messaging and intentional design and pushing the envelope. Uh which sometimes you have to do uh if you're going to make change. And I I I give credit. Adam was our the the deputy city engineer. We had a long-term city engineer. We had a good planning group. And we had everybody needed to get on the same page. And for about 2 months straight, we met every day at 8:00 to talk about our vision zero plan. And through that, we identified, I would say maybe about 30 or 45 projects. We gave ourselves a certain period of time and we're going to go get it done. And when you have talented people, once once you set set that standard and that goal, they go out and execute. But it but we had to have a focus on it and the leadership had to be involved and from all the planners and all the engineers they needed to get in line and figure out a way to design quick build projects and get things done. So you show the community that you're serious about safety. You track the progress and you report out on it. And so what ended up happening is that by having that intentionality behind it, we saw a reduction in fatalities and a reduction in serious bodily injuries and we're able to report the success of that program. So that's an example of how to handle it. >> Mayor Gant, would you like to expand on the project kind of vision dur uh durability part of the question? How do you >> want to go? >> Go. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Council member Anderson's >> point. Well, he's I think he's the mayor's responding to >> if you look at the book that's going to bring about all the hundreds of projects you've got uh and you've you put in place a process that engages the engineers and designers and the >> folks who are going to implement the project. and you're engaging the community like you want them engaged. >> Uh the northstar is getting buy in to whether the priorities were safety uh cutting down on time etc etc. do the projects that you can do in a timely manner and then say hooray, we got it done. What I mean by that is don't make this thing we got to wait until we get the whole system done. That's 20 some odd years. If you do something successful that you've been working with the community on you complete it, don't have the cutting of the ribbon or whatever you do and not invite the whole group of people who were involved. People need to see the success >> of what you're doing. And there should be four or 500 of these. >> Yeah. >> All over town that if they see it and they then they buy into the process that these guys are speaking about and and and they will say, "Hey, it worked over here. Tell your neighbors in the other neighborhoods that it will work here, too." Uh we just have to see some things done. I I I I'm really hoping I keep hearing this thing about the next five. It'll take us 5 to 10 years to get this really going. It shouldn't. There are small enough projects that we can show success now. Well, not now, but sure they come and see Tai Road and what it did with bike lanes and whatever. Just uh I just want to make sure that we're timely in encouraging that. And if it's a vision zero thing to show to show the numbers on what's going to likely happen as >> Thank you, mayor. All right, we've got about 15 minutes. I want to get at least two more questions in. Uh Council, we're going to go to you. >> Thank you. >> Perfect. >> Okay. Um, I know Mayor Grant spoke briefly about the 77 South expansion kind of in his opening remarks and former mayor Hancock. I know you also were you involved in this 170 central project with a cap and cover. So, just um as we're kind of talking and thinking through the 77 South expansion, just wondering um are there any recommendations that you have for us as we are working with NC DOT to explore how to minimize impact to historically black residents, potentially reconnect um communities that have been disconnected as a result of highway expansion in 1960s. So, just would be interested um and I hope this would be additional conversations that our team and NC do are willing to have with you to think through how do we um think through past harm um to black and brown communities and how do we build back trust um with them as a result of that and how could we use this as an opportunity uh to think outside the box. So excited to hear a little bit more about what y'all were able to do with that project, particularly putting public parks overside with a with a cap and cover. So, thank you. >> Yeah, I I I appreciate the question because it was um one of the very first transportation or mobility challenges I had when I came in in 2011 as mayor of Denver. The I70 corridor, for those of you who are not familiar with it, it runs east west in Denver. It's our east west uh highway. And there are two neighborhoods or actually threearia swansia uh globial area swansia is what we call them but it's g um that had been divided by this highway forcibly divided by this highway similar to what you're talking about with I7 poverty reigned uh challenges mobility restrictions or constrictions u were very apparent um and it they were environmental physical uh economic injustices that had occurred in this area for decades. So, I come in as mayor and one of the first community meetings I held as mayor, uh, again, you got to remember I lived in this city all of my life, was unfamiliar with this conversation. Um, but coming as mayor, first town hall meeting we held was in the Larry Swanson community. And I'll never forget a gentleman standing up and he says, "Mayor," he says, "you're going to be forced to try to pause the efforts around the I70 corridor. These communities are devastated by what happened for decades. Generations have been challenged. But I will challenge you to be courageous enough to move forward. We have been poked, prodded, and studied for over 30 years. Someone's going to call for you to study it again. That will delay this for another 10, maybe 15 years." And and so what we did was went back and we studied the history of this project and of these communities. Our knowledge was in of this what of the situation was very important to understand. Why is it important? Because we wanted to empathize and understand what would really happen here. Uh so empathy matters. So study the history and then we understood what the environmental, physical and economic injustices that occurred that was important. Thirdly, what was the the outreach? We came went all the way to DC and met with FHWA and we thought they were about to brutalize us and I'll never forget I walked in the room there was a table round table and we sat there and there were probably seven FA FHWA administrators there mayor and there was this one African-American woman sitting in the room her race doesn't matter but all I can tell you is that she kind of intimidated me and uh she didn't say a word the entire time except to sit there and just look at me like this. She and and the whole questioning was going on around what had been done. I'm giving them the history blah blah blah. And then probably about 30 40 minutes into the meeting, she says, "Mary Hancock, let me tell you something." Kind of like my ex-wife used to before I got in trouble. She said, "I have studied the outreach program for this I7 corridor for 30 years, and I got to tell you something. It is the best I've ever seen in my 40-year career at FHWA. I didn't do it. It had been done by my predecessors and other community leaders." She said, "It has been studied enough. The community outreach was what I use today as a model across the nation." She said, "So if you go forward, I will give you the background of this community outreach and you should know that this was done and done well." So we came back, we looked at the plan, we said we would we want to the only overriding value we had was let's reconnect these communities. And that's what the captain u cover was. Uh the cover and sliver captain what we call it covers captains and covered whatever. Um so we built a park. Yeah. We have a public park now that connects them. We we fought for improvements of the housing and and uh by the state and the schools around there and we engaged the community on those plans and that's where it came from. And so again being people centric >> give you an example I'll close on this for example the state did not look at what kind of repairs need to be done to houses as we did this HVAC system windows uh environmental controls the park connected communities. How do we invest in the small mom and pop businesses around there? How do we help kids cross railroads? Very basic, being scared to death, watching kids walk between railroad cars, to cross tracks to get to school. Those are things we came in and remedied as a city. But it took our history, studying the history, injustices, and working to find out what the community outreach plan was and stay keeping them involved. There was not, it was not without push back. >> Yeah. >> Because some advocates stepped up. No, you couldn't do this. This is economic injustice. Today, it's a thriving corridor. or the park is beautiful and people are enjoying it. >> That's great. Great story. >> Great uh great question. Fairly timely question as well. >> Absolutely. >> Uh Councilman, >> uh thank you. So, uh I am the chairman of the Transportation Planning and Development Committee. Puts me in kind of a hot seat. Um >> it does. No, look, look, as far as I'm concerned, mobility is the bloodstream of the city, and no part of the city can thrive or be healthy without a fresh blood supply. So, uh, I get that. I think the council is in substantial agreement on our goals for Charlotte, namely vibrant, safe, and just. Um, the question is then, you know, that we have to answer, okay, how do we go about that? And Mayor Gant, I appreciate the wisdom from one old guy to an even older guy uh of of your advice on this. We need to recognize the environment we're in. We need to recognize the limits of the power of the city and the magnitude of the market and the market is going to drive a lot of what happens. So we need to understand the market and we need to figure out how can we be most impactful in terms of affecting where the market chooses to go. And that's what goes through my mind. I talk a lot to developers and say, "What if we did this? What if we did that? What if we relax the uh the approval requirements for a plan and we give you a break on some of the things that we demand elsewhere if you give us this affordability?" Something we can do within the scope of our authority and without spending money. Um, one thing that does concern me in my engagement uh outside the community is the emphasis on uh on justice and opportunity of this council leaves a lot of people in Charlotte thinking, don't they care about me? I have a job. I'm doing fine. You know, what about me? And my answer to them is uh not just shorter commutes, you know, which is easy. uh and not even just business development which some people may care about or not but you cannot enjoy living in a city that doesn't achieve a degree of social harmony and they should care about that they should recognize that we do not want a situation where there is an undercurrent of anger that erupts the way it did after Keith Lamont Scott so how do we move ahead and I think what we're faced with now is the reality you're going to have to choose this project and not that project and what does that mean, you know, are you going to go where the housing is or are you going to go where you want the housing? How are you going to do it? So, it's not simple. Uh I think not overpromising was very good advice. Uh but we're all essentially striving towards the same goal. Um, I just wonder and and maybe this is a question actually for Denver when you did your public referendum because you had to introduce a new tax and you had to get it approved in order for that very ambitious plan to be realized. Uh, what was your messaging to the public and and did you address like everybody did you send out a message that everyone in the community could recognize as being important to them? >> You want to start there? I'm still trying to figure out, Ed, what question you're asking, but I hear the point you're making. Uh, first of all, the plan that we looked at that we put a number around, it's probably not going to be the plan that's going to be in the 18th year of the development. We we we hope it will be adjusted if it needs to depending on lots of things that will happen that will give it a different kind of focus including social development and social harmony in our community. I hope we a long way I don't want to say it that way. I hope we are a long way from some of the kinds of things I see today, 20 years from now. I'll just put it that way. That because we do some things today very well, it might cause us cause citizens to see that, yep, they care about me. They care about me on the west side. They care about me in southeast. they care about wherever. Um, if if if if we can engender the kind of trust that I expect from this city council, then all citizens should start to feel a little bit better. And we got this big old plan that's 20 year down the road. And if adjustments need to be made to build a park where it's prudent to do so to bring people together, for example, or to cap a road and allow the kind of thing that the mayor was talking about, we will have the honesty and the guts to make those changes as we need to make them. >> Um, one final thing I want to say about this, I'm very sensitive. I was involved in the transportation tax thing and it passed 5248. It did not pass 7030. >> So, and even if it had passed 7030, what I'm about to say is important. Citizens have to be involved in this process >> more so at the 5248. They have to end up trusting you, >> trusting you. You need to think about how do you engender trust? >> Yes. >> Without But you need to be together, too. >> Mhm. >> I've watched your meetings. You know, you know, I'm one of these nerds that will sit down and plug into government channel just to see how you are reacting to things. Some of you in this room know that I do because I've called you out and suggested that I didn't particularly like that. But my point is there is a citizenry out there that needs to learn how to trust you. No. >> And I'm not sure that you get that trust if we are >> particularly with regard to this doing the infighting that ultimately gets projected out as the policy for the city >> when you come together just like those old Charlotte Hornets. I love it because their guys are loving each other in the locker room and then reflecting it out on the floor. I can remember a few years back when they were losing all the time and everybody was on their own little horse doing what they wanted to do. >> I mayor, would you agree that teamwork makes the dream work? >> Is that teamwork does make >> uh Mayor Hancock in 30 seconds I want to get to the latter part of Councilman Drake's question of how did you you had broad constituent support for your mobility plan. How did you do that? >> Doesn't mean it stays broad. Um, but it's important that you meet the residents where they are, the constituency where they are. You must communicate with them in multiple mediums of communication. Internet, yes. Yes. Survey monkey, yes. Do town hall meetings, do virtual town hall meetings. Just talk about it. Again, you're repeating yourself a thousand times. Uh, but transparency, engagement, and then continue to check in. The real work doesn't end when you get it passed. And I'm not talking about the construction work. I'm talking about, you know, communication with with constituency, reminding them what you voted for and that remind them that part of the message was economic restraints. We're not going to be able to do everything, but we're going to try to do as much as we can to meet the objective that you voted on and and and get it done. >> Thank you, mayor. Uh we've got about two minutes left. We'll go to Councilwoman for the last question. >> Well, I have three questions. >> Three questions. >> And I'm going to ask all three. Um the panel, thank you so much for your insight. Uh certainly appreciate it. I certainly appreciated how you shared how mobility is not just about moving cars or trains. It's about moving people into opportunity. Um so let me ask my first question. Now that we now that the referendum has been approved, what does success look like in 10 years uh in terms of commute times, air quality, um household transportation cost and also what what would fail failure look like so that if there are early warning signs that the council should be paying attention to >> and then I'll ask my last question later. >> Okay. like to hear this one. I'll start with what failure looks like. Failure would look like failure will be in 10 years. We didn't get very much done in 10 years. We haven't figured out what we want to present to the public. in 10 years the council isn't together. You mentioned that that highway that uh highspeed train between San Francisco >> in LA. >> In LA and you compared it to a highspeed train in Asia, one of the Asian countries, Japan, I believe. >> Yes. Yeah. >> They've been talking about that highspeed rail between San Francisco and LA for how many years? Yes. >> Exactly. Almost 40 years. Yeah, that's right. >> And they've they built the highspeed rail >> in Japan, I believe, in that these guys might know better. Something in less than a decade they had it done. >> People were riding on it. What was the reason that we didn't do it in San Francisco to LA? >> Politics. >> Politics. >> Politics. >> Y'all y'all didn't figure out a way to gain the trust of everybody all the way up the political ladder and then engage the people to cause it to happen. So, we're still talking about that high-speed rail. I think the worst thing that could happen is that as I go to my grave and ask my granddaughter, "How we doing on the transportation plan that was passed in 2024 or 2025?" She says, "Well, they got a couple of roads built, but they still got plenty of money to spend. They haven't done." That's what I want you to think of. That's what failure looks like. success looks like we're on target. We are getting some things done. People are in fact using those things. Economic development might occur. Uh somebody who ran a print shop uh got the benefit of all the printing that might be done. Uh diversity and employment. Uh, and we don't have to use you can use diversity, equity, and inclusion in Charlotte to make sure that we spread the work around. And there's plenty of work to spread around. So, building on all phases economically mobility that's success. But that starts with you guys. It really does start with the city council. >> I'm going to pause us there. Um the what does success looks like is going to be a great transitional question for what Mr. McKenna is going to walk you through here and I'll add one thing to that which is there will be metrics. >> Oh, did you have another question? Apologies. Keep going. >> Okay. >> Well, Mayor Gan, thank you for addressing that. Certainly, our job now is to ensure that every dollar that was approved by the electorate is going towards our safer streets, safer neighborhoods, and stronger commute commute times cuz that's what residents want. They want to see results not 10 years, 3 years, 5 years down the road. >> And so with that, I have a funding question. um in this political climate that we are in, how do you best leverage or how do you get access to federal infrastructure dollars? Um so this current um administration uh I would suggest to not rely on them. Uh when it comes to certain types of projects, right? So so they put out guidance. Um I think there's been a transition as the infrastructure bill kind of comes to an end. some of those programs that were uh available for a lot of communities are not going to exist moving forward. And I think there's a shift in the mindset about how to pay for projects and using uh uh taxpayers dollars from a federal standpoint. So I I I would encourage you just kind of pay attention to those headwinds, but not fully expect that the federal government is going to contribute as much as what's happened before. Um the and then the last thing I I'll go back to the last question in terms of you know success and failure and and mayor again is right failure is not showing progress. Uh but success comes in a variety of different uh ways. One uh all of the list of projects that you have there going to be some projects that might take 10 12 years. >> There's some that might get done in 18 months to two years. So figure out what that timeline is and then celebrate it. Uh one of the good things in Denver we did with our um bond program is that the mayor is very focused on making sure that we're telling the stories of the projects that were implemented and uh there are about five or seven different infrastructure categories and mobility was the largest one. But every I think it was every quarter, every quarter we had actual document that came out and talked about the progress in those different uh funding categories for that bond program. And that helped to show progress and that's what people want. They they want to make sure that if you're being entrusted with the 1 cent sales tax that have been that's been passed that you're actually implementing those projects. So you have to tell your own story and celebrate your successes. Councilwoman, I'm jumping here because I know we're tied on schedule on timing and we have a question here. >> Excuse me, mayor, but actually I think council wants to continue this conversation. It would be sad for us to have invited you all >> right >> with this esteemed panel and not give you the appropriate time. >> That's all right. I got to anyway, but uh >> I'm 56 years old. It goes every 30 minutes now. But but I announced the $2 billion commitment saying federal government, state government step up in 2017. Who was president? >> Was it 2017? >> In 2017, who was president? 45. >> Yeah, >> he was president. It wasn't banking on this administration or that administration at the time. This is a journey. And I understood that by time we got up and going, got it passed our got our referendum passed, began to implement, we more than likely will be on to a new administration. And so this was the long run. And I think this important that we remember this. Rome was not built overnight. Uh you're not going to build x number miles of roads overnight. We're going to take the lowhanging fruit that you talked about. We can build 125 uh miles of bike lanes on our own. Let's get to work and let's celebrate those milestones. And as the next administration came in, um President Biden comes in and what does he do? He passes the largest what? >> Infrastructure bill in the nation's history. And guess what? We are already midair, mid construction, ready to go. We can show the federal government. We we we are make put our skin in the game. We need your money. They said, "More than happy to help you, Mr. Mayor. Let's go." And boom, boom, boom, boom. So, kick take the long political game. Don't worry about who's in office. Keep going. Ultimately, there's going to be a partner there who will help fund what you got to do. State as well as federal. >> Perfect. Councilwoman, did that capture everything? >> Yeah, that was very Thank you. >> Great. All right, Councilwoman. Thank you for being here and for sharing. But I just told you you weren't going nowhere. So, >> she pointed me out. She said, >> "Right, I'm going." So, I'm Lana Mayfield. I serve as chair of our housing committee as well as I am leading our faith and housing initiative where we're working directly with religious institutions thanks to um Mayor La's vision two years ago. Now, I want us to level set cuz mayor, you were mayor of you were strong mayor >> with four-year terms. We live under Dylan Law with some people in the general assembly that did not even pass a budget last year. We have faced certain financial shortfalls with not getting funding that should have come back to Charlotte Meckllinburgg when we're looking at and mayor Gant you know I love you we're going to disagree and I don't believe in agreeing to disagreeing we're going to disagree because I do think government has a place in that land banking conversation because what we saw along our blue line was that that investment was not made and you saw major displacement and it's not just in South End. It has bled five, six blocks beyond where you have four, five $600,000 town homes, glorified apartments where you have people that were long-term renters and or who owned and those homes were purchased at 30, 40, $50,000 that now worth 200 and some change. when we're talking about our policy language, we have limitations because of our general assembly. So when we think long term, we're not looking like China and planning 100 years out. We're looking at 30 to 50 years, but this body isn't going to be the one that starts and ends that development. So every other year you have the potential of new council members, new priorities, staff being directed under the manager with a new direction versus that 20 plus year commitment. So when and I grew up in Miami in day county in Opaaka. So we had catwalks, we had jneys, we had a number of different things. It will be helpful for me to hear because we've had conversations multiple times for our form of government with the limitations that we have, but also the desire to want to do more. Some recommendations now that the community has supported this 1% sales tax along with continued communication. How do we have a different conversation around how we protect? mayor, you've seen it, you've done it, you've talked to other mayors, you've made suggestions. It will be helpful for me to understand if you were in Charlotte looking at where we are today at the precipice of good and great how what suggestion would you make as we're looking at growing the suggestions based on where you have seen success in your development recommendations for us to consider as this body is majority out of 11 members six plus of us have to agree to move this forward that's what would be helpful for me to not only understand as I'm advocating but when it's time to talk to the community for help to help them understand here's what we actually can do so we don't have to keep saying well Raleigh is not gonna let us do x y and z after this this evening by 11:30 we might know something different >> for Raleigh But for this conversation, it will be a little more helpful for me to understand just some ideas and or suggestions on how we can maneuver this cuz I wish we was a strong mayor but we not. So what you did was amazing. I want to do what you did. I want to do what our mayor in Atlanta did. We as far as I'm concerned 365 black even though now we at March yet help me get to how I can take this to help us. >> Wow. Counciloman Mayfield. >> Did I say I had to go to the bathroom? No. >> Yeah. You know what? Listen, it it is actually I I don't think there's a simple answer to it, but I used to do um before I be got into politics, I used to do strategic planning for with municipalities all over the country. And there was one word we used all the time. It's collaboration. And it's still true whether you're a strong mayor or whether you are a council manager, former government. I think the word collaboration matters. And let me tell you what I mean by that and why it be powerful here. What state legislators and any politician on the state level knows who are recognized and appreciates and respects as they are forcing policies down to the municipal government is that if we stick together we are greater and more powerful and threat more threatening to you than you are to us the state. What I mean by that if it takes six to move um and I I'm gonna say this because I want to put in right context what what Mayor Gance said in terms of you all being together. No, you are meant to have spirited dissension. >> But when we agree six or more, then we must move. >> Yes. >> And if you collaborate, then let's move. And and what I don't like about politics today, and I'm now I'm stepped back, I'm looking at I have no idea how I survived for um really 30 years of politics is disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. >> I don't like you and I'm going to just be loud because I don't agree with you. Well, grown-ups get in the room, and I'm from a family of 10. I'm the youngest of 10. And if I don't learn how to build alliances, move along with the majority, then I'm left in the room at home alone. Right? So, the reality is that that being a kid growing up like that taught me everything. Okay. Seven. I came from council 13. Seven was the number. Seven said go. I didn't agree, but we're going. That's the policy of the day. That's what grown-ups do, right? and you don't get destructive because it it didn't go your way. That's what that's what childish immature people do. And so I think what we have here is if you're going to collaborate, then damn it, collaborate. >> Okay, we didn't agree, but I'm going to accept the decision of the body and we're going to go forward. That's the kind of leadership we need today. And quite frankly, that's the message that Rawlings will understand. Charlotte's together. We're moving. Okay. and what they hold you know any just like anyone any you know one who pushes down or tries to force their will they try to separate you we're looking for that one voice that we know can be destructive or create that that's that's you know we got to be move beyond that so that the only thing I'll give you is collaborate we have we have accepted decision of the body let's move forward and make it the best decision whether you agree with it or not I didn't ask you to fully agree I ask you to accept it Yeah, >> I think I'm going to applaud after that. >> So, so the I want to make sure I answer your second half of the question, right? So, um it's uh the because the political consensus is important. >> Um and Miami date is a prime example, right? So, it's a it's a supposed to be a strong mayoral form of government on the county level. you have 34 municipalities with their own government structure and then you have the commission. Uh and so uh to your point consent, not full consensus but collaboration and getting to the votes that you need to get something passed is extremely important and difficult. What what I've seen however is when there is transition that happens term limits and the like and people kind of get off their square a little bit that the ability to communicate making change to what has been agreed to in the past. Uh oh. But to >> times up >> m making change to what's been agreed to in the past has a has a significant impact to the community. If you to the mayor's point, if you have agreed, it's time to go implement and do. So what I've seen and this has happened in a lot of different jurisdictions is that there might be a turnover commission seats, council seats or an administration may not have agreed with the decision that's made in a previous body. And the second that you make that change, especially for large capital projects, you're going to add five years, 10 years, 12 years to that project. and the cost of our project is going to uh increase significantly and then at some point you can't catch up. >> So I I I think part of it is the succession that takes place from a political standpoint is extremely important. But when there's agreement and consensus consensus and things get approved, you got to go because if you don't go when you keep delaying, you're providing that window for change to happen and that's where things uh kind of get offkilter. So, so hopefully that answered answered your question there a little bit. Yeah, >> all right. Good. >> Thank you, >> Councilman. Thank you so much for being here. I'm JD. Uh, I represent District 5, so it's East Charlotte. Um, I like to say we're the most diverse district uh in the city. Um, so I really appreciate what you said because I think um, one of the things I've I've kind of been sounding the alarm is that healthy disscent is good, right? Um, whether it plays out on the 15th floor or on the dis as long as we're respectful and understanding, I think it demonstrates to the public that there's a willingness um, and and an appetite for this council to do what's right. you know, even if it's uncomfortable for some of us to have that disagreement. I I think oftent times we might get stuck in the quote unquote Charlotte way where we want to make sure we're all getting along and agreeing on everything. But sometimes I think that can reflect, yeah, it comes at an expense where the community thinks, well, they're all agreeing on everything. Uh what what are they not agreeing on that we don't know about? So, I appreciate those comments. Um while I have an appreciation that we are a young city um where we learn from different uh peer cities as well, I want to talk about and and pick your brains a little bit about innovation and creativity because as a young city, yes, we do have the opportunity to learn from other cities, but we also have the opportunity to do things that we haven't done before um and that other cities haven't done before. And so, you know, um while it's not unique, uh to other cities, you know, we're working on this big development um in East Charlotte called Eastland Yards where we're sublisting um retail space to small businesses across the Charlotte region, right? The city has never done it. There's other cities that done it as well. Um, you know, previous councils have worked on uh uh development historic West Endon um Five Points where you know they're bringing a co-op grocery store there as well in partnership with the city and private developers. My question is those things are replications of other models, but I want to know what we can do very brand new so we become the model for other cities. So I I would like to pick your brains on what does that look like? I know uh Mayor Gant you did things that have never done be been done before that set the model across the country and likewise Mayor Hancock you know I would like to know how you cultivated that that energy to to become the next innovative city >> go first >> it's attributed to Elanor Roosevelt who said uh some people see things as they are and ask why I see things that never were and ask why not uh that was shared with me when I was in seventh grade and I lived by it. Um but as mayor, one of the things that I challenged the city and all of our collaborative partners, our tourism industry, our business attraction uh industry, our city council, my administration was let's not skate where the puck is. Let's go skate where the puck is going. And and and and that means you have to have a big view and a big vision of the world. Um I traveled extensively as mayor. I saw the highspeed rail in Tokyo, China, you know, went to, you know, even some third world countries had innovations that we didn't have. So the question becomes, what's happening in the world or where is the world trending that we want to get in front of? For example, that mobility action plan had a lot of EV stations, building out EV stations in it. Um electric vehicles. It was unheard of at the time that we talked about it. People were like, "That's for rich people." Um, no. Electric vehicles are coming. Let's go. Um, street lights that can detect snow events or slippery roads or construction zones or or hazards up, you know, car accidents up ahead and alert people. We all have our the our our our dashboards now in the car to tell us where GPS tell you where you're going. Well, we were, you know, and it was Mayor Fox who invented this transportation challenge, right? as Secretary Fox and and we all competed. Well, we all came up with these ideas. What if you're driving down the street and tell you take this detour now because up ahead is a major accident. Um there's snow that's coming. You may not want to go this direction because it's it's pretty heavy over there. Those are things that you have now we take for granted, but they weren't at the time. We were all competing with it. We were trying to skate where the puck is. So the that it really is about unleashing not to tell you what's coming, but to unleash your vision. stop thinking myopically or parochially about Charlotte. Where's the world going and say, "How do we go there now? Let's move. Let's go and let's start building it now." >> I I know you're grabbing that mic, Mr. CL. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, so I I I think also it's a a culture that has to be developed and starts at at the leadership level and there's a sense of competitiveness. >> Yeah. >> So if there's a decision that Charlotte wants to be the best, you start with that and you figure out ways to innovate so you can be the best city possible and the best city in the country. And this is this is something that uh uh I would encourage you to take a look at how you can figure out ways to integrate and have the private sector assist >> absolutely >> in that competitiveness because as great as we are as public officials and working for the government, you know, there's there restraints. The private industry though uh they're there to innovate because they have to innovate in order to survive. >> Exactly. So create so creating that environment where you're encouraging that uh collaboration I think it's a it's a fantastic opportunity and then also make sure that you're also focused on the problems that people have and encourage a solution that includes the private industry and and public sector. Sometimes you know on the government side we we think we know a lot and what the solution is and it's not really addressing the problem from the community. So, so you know, it's it it always starts with making sure that you're encouraging innovation and you're evolving both public and private in those problem solving solutions that you can identify. >> Can I ask a follow-up question? >> Let me let me reinforce that though. Uh innovation just to innovate is is is a fruitless exercise. There's got to be a problem you're trying to solve. I gave you a couple of these today. What do you do about infrastructure that the public is placing and you got to buy land to do it? How much land do you buy? That's an area for innovation. But I don't want you to leave at least hearing at least from me that you know doing something different for the sake of doing something different is the answer because sometimes what you've been doing for 20 30 40 years is working. >> Don't screw around with it. But if you need to solve a problem, I would hope your colleagues and others around you would be looking for innovation. We look other places and if we don't see it there, you you come up with the idea. Let me just give you some examples of what I think we ought to we ought to figure out a way as to whether or not we're going to get into purchasing just the right away or purchasing some of the additional land around it. We ought to deal with this issue of gentrification. And we are looking at what happens with displacement and are there innovative ways to deal with that. Study what other cities are doing, but you come up with an idea that you can get others to buy into. But I don't at least want you to hear me saying that we just need to innovate and and do some things different to be doing some things different. That which works, do it over and over and over until it doesn't work. That which does not work and you can't find examples any other place. All the innovation skills you can bring would be helpful. I come from a design background and we innovated when we had to innovate to solve problems. >> Mayor, I'm going to give an applause to that as well. Thank you. Uh I had a quick followup. I'm sorry. Um the the partnership between the private and the public sector, right? I I think sometimes I'm sensitive to that. Um particularly be because we are public servants, right? Our business is serving the public. Um and oftent times the business of the business is business, right? Um, and so for me, what what does that healthy balance look like? Um, and quite honestly and transparently, I'm asking how do I become better as a public official who's sensitive to private the private sector and private interests, right? I want to make sure that it's always driven for the purpose of good and advancing public service. um rather than sometimes incentivizing and saying, "Well, you know, if you have just 10% AMI, we're going to give you our housing trust fund dollars or 20% AMI, right?" You know, how can we push the envelope a little bit more to negotiate in good faith with our private sector partners? >> Yeah. So the the the benefit of being on the public sector side is that you can set what those goals are. It's so this is something that we we did in Denver and and uh in my previous experience in DC and Houston and everything else where well what the partnership works well when the public sector or an entity comes out and says okay here's a problem statement but the goal we're trying to achieve is X. you're asking a private sector to solve that problem. Where I've seen it go the opposite way is when you're being solicited by the private industry say we have this fantastic shiny tool here that can solve your problem and then you're being pulled into that solution instead of setting the direction of what you want to try to achieve as a result. And so you have control over it and and you'll be surprised that the private industry will step up. they will help support you. Uh especially in the mobility space. Um uh so so don't don't be afraid in doing that and and and and really pushing that pushing the envelope and leveraging uh the private sector to help you achieve achieve th those uh accomplishments. >> I got two examples on that. One is, you know, Denver was the first city in the nation to uh implement recreational legal recreational marijuana. Um, and I'll never forget the private sector, the folks who were investing to set up those retail shops came to me and said, "Mayor, we don't want this experiment to go wrong any more than you do. So, let us lean in and help you write rules, regulations to regulate us and to tax us." Um, and they did. And they to their word sat down and they were they were spirit. They were engaged and they helped us to write probably one of the most restrictive. it was most now today it's seen as one of the most restrictive at that time we were we were new but the private sector leaned in so that's that's important two just go back to basic economics people in the private sector to benefit and profit from consumerism >> which means there's a demand for something there and if they can use your city and invite them to do this use us as a laboratory in other words if you're trying to test and do something innovative use my city for free. It ain't going to cost us nothing. And and and uh what we we were able to attract the North American headquarters for Panasonic doing just that. They wanted to test technology throughout the world that didn't exist yet and we said come to Denver, use the city as a laboratory and they're there today doing that. And so whether it's in mobility, space, other innovation, they're doing it today. So there is a way that you position your city to be a partner and to and to to just underscore what Ula said, have your values in place. You come to build dividends for your investors. We come to build a city. How do we bring the two together and build our Reese's buttercup? Peanut butter and chocolate. It's going to work, right? Make it work so it's a good product for the consumers that we both serve. >> Yeah. I I was going to tell a story real quick >> about Panasonic. >> No, about about scooters. >> Oh yeah. Another example. >> Okay. So So do we have time? >> It's a good story. Go for it. >> Oh, it's a good story. So, so and when it comes to a mobility solution that's driven by uh private sector, um several several years ago, there's a period of time where scooters and as a opportunity for people to be able to get around became hot. So, Denver became one of those top five cities with scooters. And I remember getting a call on a Wednesday from a old colleague of mine telling me that on a Friday they were going to drop 500 scooters in Denver. And I said, "Okay." We had some um intense fellowship and some good words. They ended up doing it now. Okay, that's great. Uh then the next week there was another company that came in to just just drop scooters. So we had this new mobility option that basically was unpermitted in the city. Uh it was supported however by the community. So what did we do? We ended up calling all these scooter companies in and say listen first of all it's not like we don't like the scooter but you need to follow the rules here in this city. So we're going to work together and create a pilot program to get you permit so at least you're legal so we can test this out. We did that in 30 days. and and and so the reason why I bring this up is that the speed in which we can pivot from a government to be able to meet what the demand from what the people wants and a service that the the private sector provides. That was an example of how you can have some friction, but you can figure out a way to work together and actually deliver a a a good program. We ended up having I think one of the more innovative scooter programs that was controlled. >> He's telling the story so halfhearted. The true story is he called me. It's around Christmas. Ulus collected almost 300 scooters. >> I So, so every scooter I was in the city, I picked them up. >> I said, "You have two days to get your blankety blank blank out in the city and they didn't do it. >> Put them in the warehouse, city warehouse." And I remember we held a press event saying, "We've got 300 scooters for kids. >> Come on down. We You give them to your kids." And that's what got the company's attention saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We were joking, but we weren't joking." But but that was a story. He collected their scooters and held them ransom to discuss consumer >> and and and there was there was somebody who was pictured on one of these scooters and I was riding around the park. I'm not going to say who, but but yeah, we figured it out. We figured it out at the end of the day. And and just to add to that, um if you ask one of the scooter companies today, Denver is one of their most profitable markets, the per capita scooter revenue generation, um as a result of those rules. So, it's a great oppos opportunity um example of where the public and private sector have partnered. Um Councilwoman, >> thank you, Mr. Manager. You know, I'm all over this conversation. >> Um I appreciate your question. Um, you know, my background is in innovation and continuous improvement. So, I love that you said we've got to know our consumer and I think that's an opportunity for us and I know we started it with mobility really going down our customer journey maps and understanding who would be using what kinds of transit and why. I think we have an opportunity to do that in all of our spaces so that we can government exists to correct market failures. I firmly believe that >> we also need to understand how to monetize the offering, right? Because to your point, that's what brings the the private sector along. So, thank you for putting that in the room, JD. Um, to that end, innovation as a whole, I have a broader question. Um, when I think about uh Miami, I think about Denver, I think about Houston, some a lot of the cities you all hail from or have spent time in, they have an identity. If I think about Houston, I'm immediately thinking brunch. If I'm thinking about Denver, I'm thinking about >> Think about what? Houston >> brunch. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> If I think about Denver, of course, I'm thinking about the outside amenities and those kinds of things. We often hear that Charlotte has an opportunity as our consumers have changed, our residents have changed to really brand ourselves with an identity external. As we think about tourism and really becoming a Thursday through Sunday city, right? I think about places like Atlanta where go with me on this right wrong or indifferent when you think about Atlanta you often think about entertainment and there is a natural connection between adult entertainment and music right and it's it's organic um and because of that they've been able to attract a lot of A-list stars film Tyler uh Tyler Perry Studios and they've got a lot of investment in that space right when you think about Nashville and their production suppliers and how that drives liv and connects very organically with their live performing arts. Can you talk a little bit about how in each of your cities that you have thought about how do we create momentum because I we are large supporters of the arts but I don't think we've made the pivot yet to where we really see art as an economic engine versus a philanthropic cause. Um so I I would just like to hear your thoughts on how you innovated to to ski where the puck is going in the space of tourism. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think it's knowing your industries. Obviously, tourism is our number one industry and and what brings people to your point, outdoor lifestyle, active lifestyle. 300 days of sunshine a year. Um, youthful energy, foodie scene, you know, entertainment. Not that I practiced this over 12 years, but you get a sense of But here's a question. Have you ever asked people, "How do you see us?" And that's a hard question to ask. How do you see me? I mean, what do you think of me? That's a hard question to ask because you afraid of the answer. But if you ask me today, how do you see Charlotte? I see Charlotte as a youthful community. I see Charlotte as an innovative community. And I mean that because that's the hub you all created, right? The innovation hub, um, technology hub, I think, is is what you created. But that resonates across the country. It resonates. We came here uh, one also because your history, the fact you're in the south, your history. I went to the Gant Center last summer. I brought 12 students from across from Denver to the center to see the civil rights center. Um it's those things that people resonate and so how do you capitalize that and take it to the mark? Take your strengths to the market. You know, for example, I I shouldn't even say this, but it's an interesting story. You said the adult entertainment scene in Atlanta. Well, what adult entertainment scene you talking about in Atlanta? Think about it for a minute, right? You think about Tyler Perry and Studios. Well, someone else who's been around Atlanta, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about Magic City. >> I'm talking about Magic City. >> Magic City, right? So, it's kind of like, oh, but that's what they're known for, right now. They may not want Yeah. What's it? They may not want to be known for Magic City. They may want to be known as Tyler Perry in the R&B or hip-hop recording studios. So, they've got work to do to to shift that image and take it to the market. >> I live close by, but what is Magic City? >> What is that? sneaking suspicion. You might know more than I do. >> It's a magic city. >> No, but I think you get my point. >> I mean, I ain't been there before, but I heard it's a magic. >> No, but for real, all jokes in the trash, pal. I just mean that there is a demand there. There is a there's a performer who wants to hear a particular record. If I'm up and coming, I want my record played by these DJs. So, that talent exists, right? The government didn't have to create it. They just had to get out of the way uh in terms of enabling that business to develop. >> Exactly. Well said, >> Mayor Project. >> This has been really great and fantastic. We really appreciate y'all time and and sharing your wisdom. So, uh this question is about messaging and I want each of each of you to give us from a different perspective. Um >> can I let them start while I >> Yes. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Mayor. Yes, sir. Mayor, so let me give kudos to I call him Professor Eric McKenna cuz he has worked hard to produce the vision. So Mayor Gant messaging Charlotte's way, what what wisdom would you give us in messaging as relates to our mobility plan Charlotte's way? What would be your wisdom to us? It's a good question. What's the How will they message it? >> Yes. >> Well, you know usable place to be because you're part of the family. Um, quite frankly, you you can see I've I've not thought about messaging, but if I were trying to convey why you come here, what would you why would you want to come to a city like Charlotte? We're progressive, but we are family oriented. >> Now, maybe that doesn't work with what we all talking about, Magic City. It doesn't work. It sounds a little bit stodgy. Um um but I can't I can't go beyond that. We >> I'm here raised my family here know hundreds of people who've raised their family successful here and there is a kind of warm atmosphere. We care about your growth. We care about our school system. We care about healthcare. We got a we got a governing body of people that know each other. >> That's that's real good. >> Okay. >> That's real good. Um that's as that's as good as I can do. They don't have the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains and uh we're not near a great big river. So from a geographic standpoint, we don't have a lot to message from that. It's the people that make the difference in this town, >> right? >> And people who stayed here, they said, I just like the folks that are here >> and a lot of them have to do with family. >> Thanks, mayor. So my HBCU alum um from your perspective, messaging as relates to mobility, what what would be your wisdom to us? Uh, so I in some of my comments before talking about mobility when it comes to connecting communities and access to opportunity, I think that sets it at a level, >> okay, >> that doesn't get tied up into individual projects or services. Mhm. >> So, so a lot of times we especially in the in the transit space, a lot of times we mention mobility and transit as a great equalizer, >> right? >> As an example, >> okay, >> that's because if you provide a good strong transit service, everybody benefits, >> you know, uh commuters, people get into places of recreation and enjoyment, >> the employers and their employees, everybody benefits and it's equal, >> right? So, I think in terms of developing the right message, having it at a level that's not overly detailed, but it provides this sense of reverence around why you're working so hard to fix the infrastructure, >> okay? >> That you're you're trying to make everybody's life that lives here and works here much better. Okay? >> And the way to do that is that you have a strong transportation infrastructure to help support it. So, so I and spend some time me, you know, sitting down and coming up with that proper message um at a high level. And then I and then the last thing I would say is that for major projects, >> there might be some uh sub texts that you would have set up for those individual projects of why you're doing such a huge investment in the specific corridor. >> Okay. So, so that's that's kind of my my feedback and some of my some my wisdom there. >> Mayor Hancock, you said it best. You said words matter. And so from your perspective, can you share the wisdom as we talk about mobility? What what what will be your wisdom to us as we message why mobility is important? >> Uh sure. I follow the example of my redeemer that is the greatest story storyteller and recognize that people tell stories. tell stories that meet people where they are. >> And that's what I tried to do as mayor when we talked about mobility. Otherwise, it's a nebulous thing that doesn't matter to me because all I'm doing is trying to survive every day. >> Um, and when you come talk about mobility and bike lanes, most people are like, "What are you talking about? Why I'm just trying to take care of this." But I would talk about stories. I would use stories like these are the ladders of opportunity. I'm going to unleash you and create great opportunities for you and your children to access the the important parts things in your life. school, health care, healthier options, uh things of that nature. And and then and then finally, um I always start with recognizing, someone said it to me when I was first elected, and I used it as a theme for 12 years. All great cities are connected cities. >> Think about it. >> Tokyo, Paris, London. >> Um think about the great cities that you know, you may have been to and they'll they have a tremendous dynamic connect a network of of ways to be mobile. Gotcha. >> Thank you. >> I wanted to just um raise this book that we had. Um this is really something that was very important and I hope all of the council members have it and Ed, thank you so much for making it possible. But when we were out talking about will you vote for this? This was the book that we always used to say and I think the one thing when we talk about trust, we committed to people that they would get this opportunity. The projects that you're talking about, we would have those projects ready to go. And it it's kind of like I guess what I would say, I really worry sometimes that we're not moving as fast as we have to do as we continue to talk with people to say, "Well, yes, we said that we were going to get a possibility. you're going to get roadway capacity. You're going to get these things done. So, I I really have appreciated this discussion because I believe that we have no other requirement than this if we must have this done and it has to be something where people will trust us and we talked about trust a lot yesterday. But there is an opportunity for us to begin this. It's the messaging that I think I'm more worried about. um it's a project delivery outlook book and that sounds to me like it's too much of a um project versus a place that we're going to do something different for you. So, I'm hoping that we will have some kind of messaging or whether or not we have to hire the right kind of people to look at these things to say what does this mean for our citizens and our residents. >> And if we can get this done in 2026, I think that we will survive. I guess we will always survive maybe, but you know, I just really believe that the people in this community that voted for this, they understand it, but we've got to deliver it. So, thanks very much for all of the conversation that you've given us because Ulysus, I think you were like, I got these projects and they're going to get happen. And I really appreciate that. Thanks so much for you being here. And of course, Mr. Gant, thank you always. And Hancock I thought that you had gotten married. >> Not yet. >> Okay. >> I didn't mean it that way. >> Right. That's right. >> Wait a minute. >> I know what you're talking about. >> I know what you're talking about. >> Wait a minute. I saw the fiance. So, he has a wonderful fiance and um probably >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's already taken, guys. So, go ahead. Don't even think about it. >> Mayor Hancock, I did not set you up on that one. >> Um, all right. That uh I I think that largely concludes us for the panel today. Uh, council join me in saying thank you and expressing our gratitude. >> And mayor, council, thank you for giving us the opportunity to uh discuss with you today. >> Thank you. >> You did a good job. >> Thank you so much. >> Oh, you want a sticker? >> Yeah. >> All right. So, as they are transitioning, I know you guys probably, as I said earlier, we don't really have a break this morning. If you need a break, please take it. And um we're going to transition to the mobility and zero project uh part of the presentation. Since we have some time, I've asked them to really, really go fast. But a couple of housekeeping items as they're coming up. Please silence your cell phones. Parking validation. Amanda, would you explain that very, very quickly? >> Yep. Everyone, if you parked across the street, um, if you pulled a ticket, you will not need the ticket when you leave. believe you'll just use this to scan out. So, please stop by and see me if you don't have a ticket. >> Thank you, Deborah. >> Oh, no. No. I just >> All right. Just a couple more housekeeping things. >> The Wi-Fi connection. Uh, Ed, if you could could you put that >> I need to wondering. I didn't mean to. And lastly, there will be a group a group photograph at 3:00 for all council members. 3:00 dressed appropriately >> for everybody dressed appropriately. >> Okay. >> Oh, for those of you who didn't wear your hat, you still can be in the picture. Okay. All right. So, we're going to give folks maybe one more minute to transition. Yeah, get them to transition. Ask the mayor, though. >> All right. So, we have Ed McKenna and uh Debbie Smith that is going to provide us with an update on the mobility project and outlook delivery. You're going to go first right? And we we will be concluding at 11:45. >> Okay. >> 11:45. No, don't leave. We're going to have a presentation. >> No, no, no, no. >> You got 35 minutes. >> Say what? >> No. 3:00 is the picture. 3:00 is the picture time. >> All right. No, we're not breaking. We are beginning to do a presentation on mobility. Come on in. Let's >> settle down. Right. Okay. Let's go. Hey, I think you're on this. >> You ain't said nothing all morning. >> Okay, here we go, y'all. I know transition is hard. I know it's hard. And you've been sitting a long time. Oh my >> got to get more walking around. >> You're ready? You got Okay, let's do it. Let's do it. So, we only have a very short time that was almost impossible to follow. Uh so, Debbie and I will go through some really some things really quickly. Uh I think it builds upon uh everything we said or everything that was discussed just now with the panel. What I want to do if I got the folks if if all I had was three minutes, I would show this video. And that's what I'm going to do. Um what what what you what you will see here is a uh sort of a uh the year in life of the strategic investment area work. But think of it this way and um I'm relieved because I didn't know what was going to be said in the panel, but I think so many dots of what you heard you'll see in this video. You might even think that we produced it in the last two hours, but it will I think tie some connect some dots uh for us. It's about the strategic the success of the strategic investment area work but but leave that behind and and view this video as what it looks like in the future for the work that we're about to do. So think about everything you're going to see here, how it will scale up, the engagement, all the things that you're going to see. Think about how that's going to uh be in informed by all the things we're going to do over the next years, 10 years, decades. I think I've got someone who will tee up that video and um take a look. >> 2025 has been 2025 has been a year of major success for Charlotte's strategic investment area program. a new way of investing in transportation that aligns our mobility priorities with the community's mobility needs. Using a datadriven process and listening to the needs of the community, the city identified 22 strategic investment areas or seas in neighborhoods and corridors across the city with improvements designed to address needs quickly for community benefits while being measurable and adaptable. In 2024, voters approved a $55 million capital bond, piloting this strategic approach in two areas, Far East Harrisburg and Arowwood. These funds are already at work implementing coordinated improvements with all projects scheduled to be complete or under construction by the end of 2026. A goal of the program is to engage and partner with local and small businesses to construct these projects, train our local workforce, and build long-term business readiness and capacity. This delivers projects faster and keeps dollars right here in our community. Local Business Daily View Pools has already benefited from this initiative. After attending a training hosted through the SEA program, the company secured a contract with the city. The pool installers hold significant specialized expertise with concrete and they're using their techniques to diversify their business with sidewalk installations. TS opened new doors for the future of this small locallyowned company and trains. Community involvement is integral to everything we do. This year, we hit the ground running, hosting successful kickoff events in both the Far East Harrisburg and Arowwood strategic investment areas to build awareness, engage the public, and get valuable input. These and other family-friendly events were attended by hundreds of community members throughout the year. We've already seen tremendous success and delivered improvements in the community. In 2025, we completed seven projects and celebrated these milestones with the community through groundbreaking and ribbon cutting ceremonies. The community can keep up with our progress with our CIA dashboard with accounts for the schedule and budget of every project. >> Things are being done and and and we're being contacted more. I appreciate that. We really appreciate that. But we look forward to a more of a joint cohesive uh venture. We also have 42 projects underway which include new sidewalk and bus enhancement projects we broke ground for on Harrisburg Road that will allow residents to travel more safely. >> We want to commend the city for listening. We want to commend the city for putting in a plan of action on how to address the citizens um desires. >> And we're just getting started. With the success of these pilot areas and the passes of the recent transportation referendum, we've unlocked the next stage of a program. The plan is to scale these strategic investments across all 22 identified strategic investment areas. This program will ensure Charlotte is more mobile for everyone. Thank you to the community for your support and partnership. We look forward to delivering on our promise. So that that that was the success of the CIA team, the success of Charlotte's team. Uh almost every department was part of that team to get things done. Procurement, our field inspectors from construction, police and fire, almost every department you can think of was part of that process. It all were was about getting things done quickly, doing them in the community, connecting all those dots. I don't think I need to say more about that. you I think you see everything that was talked about in the panel in that video. Maybe we're getting better in the in the uh the messaging of this. This was a produced by uh Charlotte Communications, etc. So, it's a first step for how we're going to think about um moving this forward and again take CIA out of that video and think about that what that video looks like a year or two years from now as we're delivering the big project. So, that's that's where we're going. I will run through some things really quickly. uh short on time. Message this year is delivery. If the if the message last year was we have a plan, this was the book that we walked around with all last year. The projects, this book that you have now is about delivery. It's taking the 30 years worth of things that are in that that purple book. Does everybody have a copy? >> Uh there's a box. If you don't, there's a there's a box there that has some extra if you want to pass those around. So, this is this is taking essentially the next 30 years and breaking it down. So, you'll see uh our plan for how we're going to do projects in the next five years, the next 10 years, what that looks like. I'll touch upon it really, really quick just so you get a sense of what's in here. Lots of detail, I think. >> I was going to tell it. >> This is too important. There >> you can slow down. You can slow down. Okay. >> Got it. >> We have copies of your >> We have Yeah, I got a whole bunch. >> Well, good. So, uh, so relax. We're just gonna talk about >> Yeah, there you go. >> You guys already told me to go fast. Um, >> we had a style barber. >> Yeah. >> So, let's let me walk I'll walk you through. Again, lots of detail in here. And I think it's it's set up that our next uh the capital uh budget workshop will be a good opportunity to go into a lot more detail on some of this. This is just I want to hit a couple of these things just to give you the themes of what was successful about the strategic investment area work and what essentially becomes the foundation for how we're going to do this work moving forward. So, we heard it this morning. You got to get projects out there quickly. You got to show success accelerating delivery. I've told you already before. We're going to put the 55 million that you gave us on the ground. It's it's on it's starting to be on the ground now. We're going to have all of that either under construction or complete by the end of 2026. What do we got? Nine more months left. Um there's a lot you're going to see a lot. It's going to be a lot of dirt dirt churning. There's going to be some things in front of you as council in terms of easement and property acquisition things like that. So you're going to see some of that. There's going to be some decisions you'll make on some of those projects. Uh but we're um really excited and again that's 55 million on a as a as a drop in the bucket of the big things. That's a big challenge. We'll talk about uh some resource and kind of organizational things we're going to have to think about differently. So, some things we're going to have to do uh to scale that up, but that that's part of our conversation moving forward. Expanding opportunities. So, again, you've heard this this morning that this is more than concrete and asphalt, right? This is the the scale of investment is too big, too important to not think about it in a broader way. That a lot of that will be discussed this afternoon uh in the work that Shaw and Danielle and others are doing. I just want to highlight we've had a really great partnership with CBI over the last year really engaging the small business and workforce community in these projects. So you saw some of that in your video. We've been uh the business connection nights, lunch and learns, social media newsletters, every community meeting we had, all the community meetings we had, we had CBI team there. There were actually some business connections that were being made at community meetings. So we're we're integrating that approach in essentially everything we do. You I think we've mentioned it before. We created these cheat sheet commodity codes. So if you're a small business, you're wondering what the projects are. We get down to the details. These are the these are literally this the qualifications that we need for the types of projects that we're doing. So we make it that through line really easy to understand. We're doing training. We've we did the solar lighting. Think about innovation. We did the solar lighting training. the the company you saw in that video uh was the the successful bidder. They're doing that project. We've got a back to Mayor Gant. We got a ribbon cutting coming up on the I'm going to get the date wrong, but in a couple weeks you'll all be invited. We're going to have a ribbon cutting for that uh the solar lighting project. So, more training in the coming. We did the ADA sidewalk one uh in December. I think you heard again another great example, I think, from Mayor Hancock. Those little details matter and we've got thousands of those details to implement and we did a training session uh just this past December to show businesses how to do that. That work is really precise. You got to get it right and our our uh the value of doing that training is getting businesses to know what we need to do, getting them trained on what we need them to do. That that benefits us. The projects can get done right the first time. can done quicker. Uh that's that's the way we're going to implement this in partnership uh with the kinds of needs that we have, connecting it uh to the skills that we have out in the community. You saw this uh fully in the in the video. Engagement, engagement, engagement, transparency, uh bringing everybody to the table. The you know, again, I didn't we didn't I didn't tell Mayor Gant to say what he said. It's all in here. The the the neighborhood, the communities that are part of these projects, they're invited to the parties, right? They were there at the at the groundbreings. They were there at the ribbon cutting. And what's happening in between is making sure those projects are right. Right. It's not just uh it's not just doing the projects. It's making sure that we're we're we're really engaging making sure that the priorities, the focus that we have is embedded in the culture of the relationships that we're making the community. We've just started that. We're building upon that. Um I will say it's not new. We're not doing anything different. Uh corridors of opportunity, the community area plan process. I mean, we do that very very well. Uh, housing neighborhood services are out there every single day. So, we're we had a team that was building upon that experience and we just we're just going to continue to do that. Amp it up to the scale that we're doing. But I don't I don't want you I don't want you to look like we're doing something new or different. We're really just strengthening what we've been doing at the city for a long time. You saw the dashboard. We've talked about the dashboard. is just one uh small technically complicated but small example of what we will be doing what we will be expanding to again Mayor Gant transparency transparency transparency right we want to make sure that everyone knows uh what we're doing when it's going to be done when it's where it is on the schedule what's the purpose back to the mission that that Ulis talked about embedded in there is why are we doing it what's the value of it when is it going to be done how much it's going to cost how do you keep We've got that for the two pilots. We're going to thinking about longer term. This is again a resource question as we scale up. We're going to expand that to all the capital, all the road projects we do, all the programmatic projects that we do. So, we're going to it's going to take a little bit of time to get the infrastructure of that set up, but we're going to scale that to all the work that we're doing. >> Quick question. This is awesome. Um, can you Oh, thank you. >> Can you hear? Okay. This is awesome. Um, and I just like the way that the presentation matches up with the booklet. So, whoever did all of the branding and stuff, that's really cute. But anyway, you did a good job. Um, I just want to get a sense of some of the data that's on the dashboard. I can see what's here. If because we get a lot of questions from our small businesses in regards to um, uh, procurement, awarding, and that kind of thing. Is it possible to see who the design teams are on these or not just design but the the project teams are on this or filter by that? Just curious. >> It it can and will be what you see what we have here is sort of our external version. So that has gives you the high level uh and you want to get really in the weeds. We are building the internal version which is about project management. So our team needs to know the details. So all the details you described are there certainly they're all public. So, as we evolve and and transform that, we can shape it based on the information that you want us to put out there. But absolutely, we're tracking all of that work. >> And can I follow up to Dr. Wallin uh Dr. Wallin's point under construction? I think we need to lead by example. So, be able to show small business participation. What are we getting on each project? I think helps us when we out here selling and we telling the private sector follow our lead. So, I don't know if it's a drop down under construction, but if we can show the participation, I think that'll go a long way. Just us leading by example. >> I'm just going to quickly add, Eddie, you know how much I love dashboards and this is such an excellent dashboard. I mean, like, it really is. And I've told uh I I think I referred like all city staff teams to look at this dashboard. Housing trust fund, vision zero. like this is the model of how transparent accessible data information to the community looks like. And so I just want to applaud you and all of the team for this dashboard. I think um you know I'm not always one to always be like, "Oh, this is great. This is great." So uh I I really appreciate all the work because it it I've been asked so many questions by the community. Where are the dollars going to? How are our taxpayer dollars being used? are we good stewards of our taxpayer dollars? Right? And I can point them to this. You know, um a few months ago, we council unanimously voted to invest $50,000 more into um approving $50,000 into the Far East Harrisburg uh CIA. And so, you know, I can now direct to a constituents, this is where your $50,000 are are going to. This is where our $55 million U investment is going to. So, thank you. Thank you so much. >> Yeah, >> it's great to hear. Um, this is the beta version. All the input that you're giving is great. I'm the guy that's told folks, I just want a dashboard and I want it quick. >> That there's a lot of work that went into that. There's going to be a lot of work to do this. Some of the things you're describing. So, you you'll have to give us some patience. Uh, but yes, we will get there and it's a great a great tool and it's obviously an important way that we're going to have to communicate moving forward. Um, let me put a book end on the C because I want to transition to some other things. So great success on the two. We've got the 22 across the city with the new funding. We're going to scale that up. So I want to make the point that we're ready. We're going to we from the things that we've learned on the two. We can scale that across the 22. Back to some of the points that were made on the panel. We need to be doing things quick and we can be doing things across the city. So, our plan is and we need to get ourselves in gear some resources and things that we'll need to focus on, but we're going to expand that across the 22 small projects, quick projects, uh, with the funding. We'll have to we're going to be ready when we get the funding. Talk about a little bit about the bonds uh, moving forward. But I just wanted to give you a sense of the next step uh, for the sea is not just one by one, two by two. we're going to we're going to work to transforming uh the approach we had to that so we can do that across the city. Um so let me transition to what uh again the hope is some of what I'll share now will just inform uh the conversations you'll be having around the CIP budget and we'll tell you certainly we'll be talking about that in a few minutes at lunch you'll be talking about that as you move into the budget season the next few months. This is a framework really is the value of it is hopefully just to help you think through the investment. Uh so what you see here all the all the programs that you have today are on there. They're aligned with some bigger themes. I'll talk through those themes. There's a few new programs things that you'll be talking about uh as as you go into the budget cycle. there's a structure for this and ultimately it's a question of what resources how do we uh really in the short term what what are we putting into what's the prioritization we have for funding moving into the 2026 bond. So there's some big decisions and deliberation you'll be having literally in the next couple of months about what that looks like uh in your CIP budget for the next uh bond cycle. These themes are important and again it's hopefully it gives you ability to think through where and and communicate where your priorities are to the community. So safety is on top that's informing everything we do. Every program, every project, every investment we make starts with safety. We're looking at the data. Every investment we make is making an improvement to safety. We certainly have a vision zero program. Debbie will talk about that in a minute, but I just wanted to safety is the message, right? That's the that's the first uh that's the first and primary goal we have around our investment. Did you >> Yeah, just a quick quick question. Could you elaborate on the new state participation? >> Sure. Uh yeah, let me talk about the new programs and I'll come back. So there are several new programs we put on here. These are just for your consideration. Uh you'll see the obvious ones I think is Orphan Roads. We all know that that's a commitment. So that's a program. Debbie and her team are getting that program in gear. So, we're going to put some funding behind it and start uh investing in that. You mentioned the state participation. That's something we actually had done in the past. And what that is is when there are state projects uh separate from some of the big ones we've been talking about. There's a lot more than just that uh that we have the ability to partner with the state if we have the money planned for. We know we we work with them every day. We know when their projects are coming along so we can align our funding to that. uh there's opportunities for us to make those projects better uh to add things to them to get them constructed while they're constructed. So really an opportunity to expand and and um strengthen the investment that the state's making aligned with our goals. Uh but we need sort of thinking about it from a program standpoint. Can you can we work to advance participation if a project for example in Mount Na Lake is due to be done seven years from now and we're getting ready to work on that intersection between a city road and the state road now. Can we advance some of that work? >> Uh we're getting into the weeds and I'm going to say a few things that either uh Liz or others will kick me. Um the answer to that I would say is and I'm very familiar with Mountain Island Lake. We've been out there several times. Um the projects the state projects out there are big, very big, very expensive. So we have to we'll have to think about where does it make sense to leverage our dollars. Like we we don't have I'll just be frank. We wouldn't have enough money. I don't think you at all want to allocate the amount of money in one location that would move a state project that big. But I will say and these are improvements we've already planned. We talked about this in our last town hall. right >> up in Mount Island Lake. There are small things. We have a sea a strategic investment area up there. There are small things that we can do on those state corridors. Two of them uh are new intersections on uh Mount Holland Mount Holly Huntersville Road and uh these are access safe crossings for the community. They're safe ways for um people to get out of their neighborhoods. It's not a state route. We coordinate with the state. We make sure that that investment is anticipating the bigger project. So um that was maybe a long winding answer to your question but the opportunities are there but some to move some of the big state projects we're talking about big big dollars. Um I'll come back to the programs and again just to highlight again the themes. mode choice. That's again primary in our our uh vision. You heard a lot about that this morning. That's obviously clear. Partnership and leverage. We touch touched upon that uh with the state participation, asset management, uh maintenance, operations, innovation, those are all core things that Debbie and her team do. We have existing programs around that. We've continued to fund those. Innovation is one of the new ones. You heard we talked about that this morning. uh we don't fully have the answer, but now that we have funding, we can dedicate dollars to that, dedicate some attention to that and be ready. We would be one of having the funding that we talk about and if you allocate and set up a program around innovation, we could probably be one of the city, one of the few cities in the country that have that level of focus and actually have put dollars behind it, right? To say we have a mission around innovation, we put some dollars to it and we're going to do uh some of the most uh advanced things that we can. We don't know what all those things are, what they look like five or 10 years from now will be completely different, but the only way to take advantage of is is to have dedicated funding to those things. >> Mr. Esme has a question and great presentation as always for the new orphan roads. Did we agree to only ETJ areas or also within the city? >> The and this is again where I'm going to get kicked if I say the wrong answer. the um the commitment I believe, correct me Debbie and and Liz, is in our in the city of Charlotte's ETJ, >> right? >> That's the commitment we made and that that's the program that we're we're standing up today. >> Okay. Because I just want to make sure that we are not overpromising to our constituents who reach out. They are not in ETJ area. They are in Charlotte and they are asking for the maintenance. So, thank you for that clarification. And it's only in ETJ areas in the city of Charlotte. >> Correct. >> We've got one other question. >> The Charlotte City in Meckllinmber. >> Yeah. One more question. >> Yeah. Thank you. Um this question is actually both for Ed and for our city attorney. And I just want to be very clear that I'm I'm bringing in some of the conversation from last night because of the way you started where you said you're going to be bringing some taking some imminent domain to us as we look at some of these corridors. And last night from the dis and someone called me on it afterwards and so I just want to clarify. I spoke of some efforts that I saw in a booklet by the South Carolina Department of Transportation. It was some things that they had available to them to mitigate some of the takings that they did as they expanded I26 and they spoke of the potential for additional mitigation for those who had been impaired by previous public acquisitions. And so it was very much an effort I felt from what I read appropriate to the situation at hand with I77 where we're trying to make up for an economic harm generations ago by a second taking right now. So that's a lot of the fairness, a lot of the passion is there. How do we and again this is where it gets into the city attorney. I don't know that I and I'm a real estate attorney and I don't know that I fully appreciate the nature of our remedies. Where do we have limitations? I know your process for example that I see on the takings for rights away and it will say you know we've made you an offer and you have an opportunity to go out on your dime and get a second appraisal. I noticed in the mitigation book for I26 they were paying for those. So there's all sorts of gradations of things and I don't know what that looks like as we try to as the mayor said engage the community in feeling like we're solving problems for them. That amount of outreach seems really important and that we are adequately compensating people in ways that that they can trust. And so I know that's a really loaded question, but I just I think it's so ripe for this moment because we've got this confluence of energy around I77 South and the the improprieties that were done for communities there and how do we get past that into a good place? But then we've also got the dynamic projects that you've got everywhere that may be small or mid or even large takings in some places. And we want to get that right from the beginning. So, I just I just want to understand more what that looks like. >> I don't want to speak before our attorney speech. >> We'll tag team this one. >> Thanks, Ed. Um, and council member Owens, thanks for the for the question. The I77 project obviously is is being managed by the state of North Carolina with respect to the the takings or the the imminent domain components. when the city of Charlotte engages in the imminent domain process, it it is statutory. And so we are working through those steps both with the appraisals, the offerings, and and all of that. Even even negotiating upfront with the property owners about what that uh that valuation would look like if we are able to reach an agreement before the court process takes takes hold. We we do that often. um after if we get to a point where we can't negotiate, then what we do is we move forward with the filings and and we continue to negotiate. We continue to have those conversations with the property owners. And I'll tell you, I was just talking with our condemnation attorney um a couple of weeks ago and the vast majority of those resolutions do turn out pretty well in terms of being able to resolve it ahead of litigation. uh don't hold me to the statistic quite quite firmly, but somewhere in the neighborhood of north of of 90% of those are resolved and I want to say close to 95% of them are resolved before any litigation or trial takes place. And so that's very telling about the type of engagement that city staff has with property owners with respect to prior prior harms and and certainly the community can appreciate this. There is the evidentiary burden of showing the nexus between what happened in the past and what happened in the present. Of course, stat statutes of limitation take limitations take hold as well. But what I would encourage um communities to do is have robust conversations with staff because they they are available and willing and I think they do have a really good finger on the pulse of what some of the best practices are in other jurisdictions in terms of communicating about um about what the process looks like and how they can benefit and from a public purpose standpoint certainly um from these these exchanges. And I'll I'll give you one quick anecdotal version of that that ties to the engagement that we were doing. So, uh you saw Veretta, one of the projects, sidewalk projects was at Turtle Rock neighborhood. Uh I had a picture in one of our past presentations of after the groundbreaking for that project. There was a meeting between their neighborhood association and our real estate attorneys and they're out there in the field talking about what we need and having that conversation. That conversation is a partnership and it's it's so much easier when you're there understanding the purpose and vision of that project and absolutely it's it's a fair negotiation for the value of that property. It's I wouldn't use the word taking it's a purchase of the property or an easement when it's needed uh for the the ability to build the project. We want to you know use our engagement to build those relationships so some of those conversations can be easier and really in partnership not all for sure. Uh but that that's the the you know the kind of philosophy we will have around engagement to to to address what you're saying is we are not uh we're not the government coming in to do the project to you right we're doing this in partnership and we need to be sensitive about those conversations >> council decides >> correct I77 which is a state project any road project that council feels is unacceptable uh we can decide not to do it >> correct Correct. Correct. >> Right. I mean, a key difference. We just >> And you heard, hopefully we're not going too off topic, but this is a good conversation to have. You you heard I think Mayor Gant say this is that you can't spend billions of dollars and not have some tension about the needs that we're going to have, physical, etc. Uh so we have you all have to be prepared. We need to make you prepared. we need to do all the things that we can do to make those decisions uh align with your goals and your policies and make sure that you understand why we're doing that. But ultimately is your decision. You I think you're already starting to see a lot of them from the strategic investment area. So you're seeing those on Monday nights now uh where when there's when we're not fully yet have found and negotiate the value of that property. There's there's decisions that you make that allow us to continue the conversation for that. But you have full control over that and it follows our uh the statutes for how we do that and it's ultimately your decision even small projects you're seeing lots of those I think from the strategic investment areas the sidewalk project you know takes more of that than you would imagine right easements and in rightway so you're going to see a lot of it and when these projects get bigger you're going to see bigger more and bigger versions of that and that's that's again where you'll have a lot of purview about the the intent of these projects Sorry. Um, I have a question. I'm not sure if maybe it fits in innovation and operations or you can tell me where it lands, but I think about the connection between this plan and the SEAP. um especially as we think about as we're building roads um what the impact of those cars traveling on those roads will be to our environment and how do we really accelerate some of our SEAP goals by enabling through our transportation system some of the electrification and those kinds of things. Um, can you talk to me if if you're able to if the answer is we don't know, we don't know. But can you talk to me a little bit about how we're thinking about how we invest in in infrastructure that like um uh like electric charging or like battery storage, that kind of thing, and how that ties to our Cap goals, as well as if we've thought through how we might um uh generate revenue through through um distributed energy resources. I've asked this question once before about like virtual power plants and just given the size of our fleet and and what we may be able to do from a volume standpoint. I just want to know how that's baked into the the way we go about delivering the projects. >> It so I'll say I sort of know and don't know. I'll say a couple things and certainly Sarah and her team we've been working in partnership on a lot of those things already is sort of pilots. So there's we absolutely are doing that now and can expand that with the investment that we're talking about. we need to follow the and and be true to the policy that you put in place. Uh so yes, more to come. I think there's a whole discussion that we could have around us your direction for us about how we should spend those dollars. Probably innovation is probably the bucket to put that. But again, just like safety, everything we do follows those things. So sustainability and energy is around everything we do. I'll touch upon it before I end hopefully that think about the datadriven decisions that we'll make about the prioritization of these big projects. We need to be thinking about and have that we do have the technical tools to understand if we do this kind of project, build this kind of road, what does that do to travel patterns? What does that do uh to vehicle miles traveled to the emissions that come from that? So we can make sure that we can show you the decisions on these big projects and quant we can quantify uh the broader impacts from a you know you're talking about you know the small things we should absolutely can do but there's also bigger things we need to do and we're building this system this process for us so that we can give you the data to to show you how your decisions are impacting those policies >> and yes JD >> sorry um I think this is also a perfect opportunity to uh practice a common motif that we've been talking about which is um communication right and our messaging I think this is where our community engagement and our messaging meet and need to align um to Mr. to Drake's point, to Mayor Pro Tim's point, you know, I mean, and to your point, Ed, these projects are going to cause some type of discomfort as we continue to grow. It's going to require us to take a more proactive messaging approach about the easements, the condemnations, you know, what is required to make sure that these projects are delivered on time. Um, and that's going to require work on behalf of council as well to make sure that we're in front of the press of media of our constituents saying, "Listen, this is something we vote you, the voters voted on, right? $55 million, and we are just making sure that everybody's included, that the process is inclusive, transparent, and rigorous. uh and ensuring that it's communicated very eloquently to community that this is all part of a process and showing them the proof in the pudding right like all the work that you all have done already with uh the far east uh neighborhood finco neighborhood coalition as well as airwood constituents and then making sure we're translating that in a more in lamest terms to to the media and the and the press. So, um, it is now 11:57 and I think we're we're going to continue to have this conversation go on, but if you all don't mind, let's try to get this done by at least 10 after so that we can allow folks an opportunity to have lunch. And this supposed to be a working lunch as well. So, um, that's that's >> Yep. So I'll I'll run through the last few things quick and get over to to Debbie to talk about vision zero. So those that framework I described was sort of systematic programs. There's also things that were talking about our placebased which are really important because they they drive to the needs in specific locations and making sure that the projects that we're doing are changing the needs in in different parts of the city of Charlotte. Strategic investment areas was part of that. But the other one I want to just briefly touch on are this thing sort of a maybe a new terminology. it was in some of our past work, but something we're called big moves. And so there's big ambitious things that we need to do and should do with the dollars that we're talking about. Those are big projects. Uh we have a process that I'll share with you a little bit. We'll talk more about what that looks like for identifying, defining, uh designing, and ultimately delivering those projects. At the risk of getting into danger of putting too much out there, you've got this in your book. There's dots on this map. There are projects. We know what they are, but they haven't been defined. uh they have there's a lot of engagement that needs to happen. So, we've got a pool of those, but there's a process that we're going to have to go through to to refine those engagement, etc. So, don't uh don't look too closely, but the point of that graphic is to say type. You can see the different types. So, we're approaching this as a as a broad uh program that's trying to move the needle on everything. Safety, congestion, uh transportation disadvantaged populations, all the things we talked about this morning. that's driving the priorization of these projects. And you also can see geograph geographic diversity, right? We have to invest across our cities. What you do in certain parts of Charlotte are going to be completely different. You can't prior and that's a challenge. You can't prioritize these projects apples to apples, right? The kinds of projects that you're going to do in different uh parts of our neighborhoods are just different. And so the way we think about prioritization has to have a geographic uh diversity approach to that. Again, more detail, but I just want to describe quickly and touch upon the process how we get to defining those big projects. Try to break it down to simple things. We need to ultimately define that pool. Everything you see here is a part of engagement. So, we're going to do that with the community. We got to define what those projects are, what the potential is, get their input. There's a really important thing that Mayor Hancock said that I want to re-emphasize, which is there's work that we need to do before we go to that process with the community. We need to be able to say what is possible and what's not possible. What are the things that they have choices about? The worst thing you can do is go out there and ask what do you want and we don't have the ability to deliver it, to pay for it, uh technically, you know, make it happen. So, we I I ask for you in terms of patience. We're going to be out there in the community, but we need to spend some time internally understanding what is the things what what are the things that we can go out to the community for. So there's work to be done. You're going to have give give us hold back on your uh your your desire to for us to be out there in the community the community too early because we need to make sure that we have a really clear way to describe and give them the choices but realistic choices design. Then that goes into feasibility. We have to continue to to flesh out what those projects are. It's think about that like the advanced planning program that you we've been doing over the last several years. Once those projects become clear, we need to get into the details, understand the schedule, uh the risk, how much they're going to cost, and then ultimately it goes to delivery. And those are the the decisions you would make on a CIP budget, identifying those are the projects now that will get funded uh by a bond program. These are all places where you will have input and direction, choices to be made. Those are these are all places where the community will have input and direction. We will prioritize technically you see the list of all the technical things safety being on top but we also will have qu u qualitative right all the things I described geographic diversity the community engagement technical things like feasibility etc. So just give you a sense of that in the meantime. So that that's looking at what what would be the big projects we're going to do over the next 10 years. We go from that pool want to be ensure for you that there are things we're going to do quickly. So we have a set of projects what I'm we're calling the big news 2030. These are the projects that we can do in the next five years. Our team have been taking all the lessons from the strategic investment area work. How do we accelerate and advance projects? These are projects you're many of them you're familiar with. They've been in the works, but they don't all have fully full aren't fully funded. Some of them are are been behind the scenes because we've been designing them, but didn't have full funding. They all have partnerships, some federal dollars, etc. They're ready to go, right? They're shovel ready. With these dollars, we can advance and accelerate them. That's the that's our commitment now is we're going to take those five project or uh seven projects, advance them, get them done in the next five years because we have the funding available. The decisions you'll make around the capital bonds will give us the ability to accelerate them quickly. There'll be engagement with all of those. Again, message we need to be out there talking about the purpose of all these things. Even though they've been in the works for a while, we need to refresh that, be out in the community, and build excitement about those projects. Uh moving forward, we got lots more opportunity to talk to you. We'll be back at the uh certainly the CIP workshop. Um lots of decisions that we'll be making over time. And really the big things you'll be thinking about is the things I described in that delivery book. How do you make decisions now on the capital improvement budget uh moving forward? Last thing I will say though is um you know been do we've been out there uh over the last year with the community talking about the transit plan, talking about the road plan, what we can do longterm, short term. Um connected to some of the things we said the the transit work think about the things that going to happen quickly. microransit, the bus frequency, the improvements at the bus stops, coupling that with everything I've described, all the things that we're going to do across the city, all of those things are we're working hand inand on those things. Think about what that will look like in five years. We're going to do those seven projects in five years. We're going to be doing all these strategic investment improvements while microransit is coming on board, while the frequency of the bus system is being added, while these bus stops are being improved. That is going to be a tremendous amount of of investment across all the ways we move in the next five ten years. I I say that just to ensure for you that we've got big things we're going to do, lots of engagement to happen, but there's going to be a lot we're going to put on the ground in the next five years completely coordinated with a vision around multimmodal transportation access and choice. You will have uh certainly ways to shape and direct us as we do that work. Lots of possibilities, great opportunity. We're going to need some resource. First, we're going to have to think about our organization. More to come on that, but we're ready and it's it's going to be a really exciting time. So, I will stop >> and then Okay. Yes, you then JD then. >> Okay. Thank you, Ed. Thank you. Of course, you always have uh great insight and great presentations. I really love the big moves 2030. do something quickly within a fiveyear stage gate to to put some moose heads up on the wall effectively. Um my question is really though around slide eight where you have the the myriad of um projects there. >> I don't know if somebody can help me go back. >> So as we're getting there um my question is twofold question. The first one is around capacity. So, as you just mentioned, within five years, you're going to execute on these seven projects. Do we have the capacity to do that? We'll have the dollars, but do we have the capacity to deliver? >> We will with your help. >> Okay. >> Um, we've got the manager will be talking about that. We're going to need some think differently about our organization. That's why Adam has been with us for the last two years helping us think through organizations. These are things we just need to do differently. Don't need more money necessarily resource to do that. We learn a lot of things for the CIA. >> Yeah. >> So that we will do but there's no way we can implement the scale of investment we're talking about without additional resources. I don't that's probably all I should say. >> Well you mean staff at some level. >> Y right that right. >> Yeah. The reason that I asked is because we'll get really excited about about this uh big moves 2030 and begin to socialize that in community and if we don't have that priority in the budget process then that could potentially create some disappointment within our residents. So we'll we'll talk about the prioritization of that adding that capacity in the budget process. Um the second question though is um on slide eight where you have defining the next 10 years of projects. Um how many how many projects are are listed here? I tried to quickly add them up while a lot. Yeah. >> You know, so I was very careful how we numbered those. So it' be hard. >> I was trying to do some quick math. I was like here. You're trying to mix me up. >> There's about 80 on there. 80. >> I I will caveat >> 74 is what I'm hearing. >> Okay. Yeah. About 80. Um, I will caveat there's more than that. I again I want to emphasize that's an illustration of the pool. Those are real projects. Those are in the blue in the purple book, >> right? >> But they all need to be defined. There's enga, you know, a lot of those things aren't even really figured out. There's probably more. So there's engagement that will happen that will uncover others. So I want to caveat that looks probably more definitive than it is because there's so much work engagement that we need to do. >> Sure. So the question really is around okay this is 74 let's call it 80 for even numbers um over the next 10 years will we will you and your staff begin to release list of projects similar to the big moves 2030 um that will have um a composite of a variety of these different projects that you're bringing forth to council you know over the next year plus. Absolutely. So, and make sure I want to say clarify something. Uh, we're not going to do those 74 projects in the next 10 years. We're going to have to go through a process. We pick it down to seven or eight, right? We're talking about big projects just like the 2030 ones. So, we're going to have a it's going to be a challenge, right, engagement, etc. to get that pool down to the right projects. We'll go through priorization data etc. >> Um, but yes, what we're what our team is doing now is starting with that pool, starting to do all the technical work. We anticipate coming back to you later this year with more clarity about where that process is with as soon as we can identifying those, get your direction on which those should be and then allows us to communicate uh to the business community to the opportunities that are out there to the to the neighborhoods and community about what what those projects will look like. That's a it's going to be a process though because we've got to do technical work. >> We've got to be out in the community. We got to do more technical work. We got to be very careful about the promises we make. So, you're going to have to again give us some space to do that. But we know we got to be we got to do it urgently because if we're going to do those seven projects in five years, those are all projects that are pretty much designed. >> Uh so that's primarily why we can do them quickly. These are projects that aren't even defined yet and we're committed to do them in 10 years, but we got a lot of work to do to do that and we're going to be doing it with urgency. But uh there's there's prep, analysis, etc. that need to need to happen before we can be too public about which ones those are. >> Okay, last question. Do are there a um is there a library of projects that are already designed um that could potentially go into the the next big moves phase? The simple answer is sort of maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I would say no because the seven that you saw that we're going to do are the ones that we've been designing. And if it wouldn't make sense to design any more than that because even those we didn't have full funding for. So we've been we've been doing design and planning. But that's the big hurdle we have to get over is we got to get this machine going from that pool. >> And so then we'll have a 2030. We have the 2030 what I call big moves 2030. That pool will create the big moves 2035. Then we're going to create the big news 20 240. Like we'll have this system by which >> we'll have 10 year >> Yeah. Exactly. >> It's like but we got to build that machine. That machine doesn't exist today. Not because we we're doing something wrong. It's just because we didn't it didn't make sense given the resources that were available to us. >> And and I don't want to be the Debbie Downer, but we've got JD and then we've got Miss Asa and then we're going we're going to break for lunch y'all. Okay. >> I'll make it very quick. it's more so so of thoughts and ideiating and partnership uh right now. But, you know, I I think as we look forward to these projects and and kind of honing down on the big moves, um it would be crucial for us to look at developments that are happening alongside these corridors um such as resonings, right? I I I'm receiving and and Debbie knows this and Ed knows this, a lot of emails about Plaza Road Extension, right? and all the development that's happening there, whether it's more single family neighborhoods, whether it's mixeduse developments that are coming down the pipeline for our resoning petitions, etc. It is a road that needs a lot of attention, right? But it's also complex and there's a lot of nuance like Plaza Extension and Hood Road. U three out of the four quadrants in that intersection are state and only one is a CDOT. So looking at those nuances, those increased developments, the increased congestion, our high injury network, I saw that's one of the um factors in there as well is I think very crucial to honing down on this and expanding this model of CIA to other sectors. The other thing is more coordination with NC DOT, right? Um and just making sure we're very intentional and getting ahead of the curve, right? and and understanding that when we do get an email from a constituent, we can easily say, you know, this is what's happening. This is what's going on and we're all working collaboration. So, in sake of not working in silos, working more deliberatively together. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Edge. Mayor, and then council member Owens. >> Thank you. Well, my council member, thank you for bringing up plaza or extension because you're right. We have received multiple requests about Plaza Road extension especially as new development is coming. There have been influx of town homes after town homes after town homes along that Plaza road extension and it's not stopping. And I even saw a few more reasonzonings there. And that is a rural kind of one lane eachway road that certainly can use some help in terms of sidewalks because I see uh children walking from the communities especially around Boulder Creek community that absolutely on unpaved and every time I pass by that I pray that they don't get hit. So certainly we need to prioritize even though it may not be part of the strategic investment area. We need to make sure that our children are safe walking to schools. So I know that you have high injury network as one of the high priority list and um I a couple of years ago Debbie did a great job with compiling a comprehensive list of all the high injury networks in the city and I understand it makes up what 13% of the total network but that's where the major fatalities or crashes are happening. And how do we make sure that we are not only prioritizing major thorough affairs because that's what was happening under vision zero but we are also prioritizing connector streets because we want to make sure we are being very intentional um to JD's point is about intentional about how we prioritize some of this based on the growth and the development but also where we can save the most lives. Um, so even with all these projects, how far are are we going to get to in terms of our high injury network list? >> That's a great segue to Debbie. So, next presentation. >> Yeah. Okay. That question will go next. Um, but I'm very much interested in seeing because often times we'd get a response that we just didn't have enough funding to even make a meaningful difference in our high injury networks. What I would really like to see, well, can we get through our list now with this influx of funding and we got to have clear timeline and it might be that some of the projects require more funding, but can we have something temporarily uh that can save more lives now, right? So because every passing day, every passing year, it is claiming more and more lives when it comes to pedestrians. And we have had at least three recent incidents just in one geographic area. >> Thank you. >> And and Debbie, hopefully you can address a little bit of that uh after we we get lunch. >> Council. >> Yeah. Thank you. So I just um Is this on? This is just um the um I know I sound like such an old lady when I say it. My kids are laughing somewhere. Um so so I just I want to commend you for making more public the amount of diligence that has gone into why you've chosen these areas. I I like that for a number of reasons and I really want to speak to the rest of council and I want to make myself do this as well. I think it's incumbent on us from the dis when we do take our votes to really articulate the rationale as though you're saying it through us and and and arm us with that sort of language so that we are effective in these spaces because I think it does a number of things. It makes people feel more confident in the pain points that they may need to experience attendant to all of this growth. It also though gives them confidence in their government and it makes them understand that their tax dollars are working in the ways that we promise them that they are and I think it it is that much harder to then convince somebody perhaps on a national level that government is all corrupt. You know, I think we start locally with instilling a sense of trust in us. And the more transparency that we can all communicate around the the why this is good for Charlotte, the better we all are in in getting that buy in for the future. So I really I really want to commend you for this level of transparency, this level of accessibility. I mean I'm not an engineer, but I can follow a lot of this and when I am in community, people do seem to really understand what is coming and I just that you're to be commended for that. So, thank you. Good job. >> All right. Okay, y'all. >> We'll have Debbie come. >> We'll have Debbie come up after lunch and she's going to present on Vision Zero. And now go get your meal and come back >> cuz we're going to keep going. We're going to keep going. >> All righty then. Don't rush. You can. >> All right. Okay. >> Thank you. Heat. Heat. N. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey, hey hey. Do Donkey. and I appreciate you all's patience. We've uh done a lot of adjusting on the agenda. Uh but hopefully after this session we will be excuse me back on schedule for a 1:00 uh presentation. So if we can get the presentation pulled up, we will begin. All right, good afternoon. While the presentation is getting pulled up, I wanted to just say how amazing I thought the morning panel was. And I also wanted to just share it was as if we had our three course dessert before we had our vegetables. So, I kind of feel like I'm coming up here to talk to you about broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and some fried okra. I don't know because even as I'm thinking about what Ed was doing and performing for everybody, this was just it's it's fantastic. He was like the meat and potatoes. And once again, I just want to say that this is so important to highlight the sense of urgency that we have as staff around this, but I absolutely know the sense of urgency, council, that you have around safety. And it's really this opportunity, and I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about underscoring this conversation and why it's so important. Now, and I'll really say a lot of the conversation council at your level was around the vision zero report uh that we uh published. We we actually published it last year, but I think it it made its way to a couple of you, you know, more recently from that. What I want to say is that Mayor Lyles, you proclaimed Charlotte a vision zero city in 2019. City Council affirmed that proclamation through the adoption of the strategic mobility plan. And really, what does that mean? What that means is that a vision zero city designation reflects a higher commitment to a higher standard. And that's what you all have done with that. And that commitment to that higher standard is one where traffic deaths and serious injuries are not accepted as the hazards of a growing city. There are only about 50 Vision Zero cities nationwide. So when you think about the thousands of cities that there are, we Charlotte are a standout. And I just think that's really important for you all to understand and to know that. So really around the the policy and the framework. So as I said, council adopted the strategic mobility plan in 2022 and that plan is really straightforward. That plan has two components to it. We can boil it down to these two components. The plan says we're going to be safe and the plan says we're going to be equitable. And when you define safety, it means vision zero. And we have a lot of qualitative and quantitative tools to be able to describe that. But safety is vision zero. And I love what the panel said earlier today when we define the equitable part of that. The equitable mobility is how do you get around other than using a car. So just think about the strategic mobility plan says those two very things. Safety is vision zero and equitable mobility means choice to move around. So I want to also highlight that vision zero builds on this collaboration. Mayor Hancock I I feel like Mayor Hancock had a copy of my notes over here. I was just jotting down everything as as he was saying it that collaboration is so imperative and it's collaboration across the departments, the community and and partner agencies. And let me give this huge shout out. Chief Patterson and her CMPD team are phenomenal. They are the best of the best. Those deputy chiefs, every single one of them speed dial on the phone. Okay, I'm aging myself a little bit. Um because Yeah, exactly. Um every single one of them know when they have a situation that they're dealing with, they call me and we deal right away. They're the first people that I call when I need something. Councilwoman Owens, when we needed some work on Providence Road, they were on it. Within three days, they were on it. So impressive. That team is just so impressive. But I also want to share with you all that safety is a shared responsibility and it's not just that of the Charlotte Department of Transportation. And I also want to share that vision zero is an aspirational goal but it is absolutely grounded in reality and it is a measurable action. The other thing I want to share is you're not alone. You heard really some some broad challenges that that the nation's experiencing, but let me be really specific what that means for you. For more than 50 years, 60 years, roads across the entire country were built for the automobile. And they were built for that automobile to go really fast and not have any conflict. So we say that was built for speed and capacity. And so undoing that legacy of 50 or 60 years doesn't happen overnight. But I promise you that we have that as our commitment. Now I also want to share that individual decisionmaking continues to be a real challenge uh to address those safety efforts. So what do I mean by that when I say individual decision making? Examples include speeding, impaired driving, red light running. Mhm. distracted driving. >> And let me tell you that that is not that Debbie Smith is passing the book to anybody else. What that means is that vision zero because we are a vision zero city. We acknowledge that reality and we focus on creating the systems that reduce the severity of those outcomes when those mistakes occur. People People are going to make mistakes and we need to work on how do we create a system to make those not fatal. And I want to congratulate you, city council Charlotte. We have been a leader in this in this space creating complete streets and continuing that design. We've done that since the mid 2000s and that is such a standout. We were asked in 2006 2007 to come and talk about the council adopted complete streets policies. We were invited to Denver. We were invited to Boston to talk about that. And what I absolutely loved at what Mayor Hancock said, it is for the people. We are designing streets. We will design streets and we will build the streets for the people and how they use those streets. That's it. It's not for the cars to go fast. So vision zero is both an overarching program or or policy that we have, but I also want to talk to you about how it means to be a named program and your commitment. So Ed shared with you the importance of vision zero in the data and strategy albeit he went through it a little quickly but it's in there it's foundational. I love that you all talk about the high injury network and what that means. I have a slide coming up but I want to highlight that council commitment to that vision zero program that started with the 2018 bond at $2 million. And I can tell you, I would have never thought within that short a period of time, you are now at $20 million. That is impressive. And that is thanks to so many of you in this room right now. So, the program itself, if you did not know, focuses on upgraded street lights, new street lights, neighborhood traffic calming, school zones, spot safety projects, pedestrian crossings, and technology improvements. And I want to tell you that not all of those are solely wholly based on the high injury network. School zones, for example, we go to where the schools are. We don't need a safety problem on the school before we're putting in the necessary uh enhancements in those locations. And so we use that data from the high injury network to inform much of that action plan. Um but like I said, it's not wholly and solely from that. So I do not intend for you all to zoom in and read this map. It is merely a snapshot of the active projects that we have on the high injury network today. So what this map shows you is if you can see the black lines are the high injury network and counciloman thank you for your statistic. You you are reading it. 13% of our streets in Charlotte represent the high injury network, which is the place where more fatal, more serious injury crashes are happening. What this shows you, or what you you can't really see on this screen, but is inherent in that is the gray lines that represent the over 5,000 lane miles of roads that are not the high injury network. But this really is 187 active projects across the high injury network. And that represents multiple programs, not just the vision zero program. And like I said, we use data to prioritize this. Some things that we don't show on the map because then it would just be covered up completely is that we are working on about 25 miles of remarking the lane lines and putting in crosswalks along high injury network streets. We're putting in multi-way stops in locations. So, we are doing projects that are beyond just what we're showing here today. And last, you know, mobility sales tax really uh gives that opportunity for commitment and more safety projects. As EZ showed, there is a growing opportunity to advance this safety citywide. So, we're going to move from reactive responses to more strategy, planned investment. We're going to be holistic in corridor level solutions rather than isolated spot treatments. So, Councilwoman Asher, I think that really gets at your question about the plaza. When we can look at corridorwide treatments, that's where we really are are moving the needle on that. I also want to say this in um it really enables us to prove um scale delivery and fast delivery. So, we're not going to wait for the perfect. We are not going to let perfect be the enemy of the good because we know there are temporary things that we can go out and do today. And I want you to recognize this is a long-term commitment that we aren't going to get in there and be one and done. Sustained leadership. My goodness. Um, Mayor Gant was fantastic. He said trust, transparency, and listening all along the way. And so with that, I'm going to pause because I want to listen to you all with these questions. So, thank you, >> Council Member Mans. >> Thank you, Debbie. Great great presentation. >> Thank you so much. I really do appreciate the the focus on vision zero, it really is something that, you know, when I saw it published and and I was quite disappointed that we hadn't seemingly made much progress. And so it is good to hear all of the focus on this and really understanding that the progress is just perhaps not as publicized as as we would all appreciate. I will um I will speak selfishly of district 6 right now though. Um the things I hear from district 6 follow a couple of of easy thematics that I think will probably be resonant with the other districts as well. Um turning cars failing to yield to pedestrians in the rightway. I I jokingly say that I I this is probably how I will meet my demise is big going from the the government building to my law firm crossing on Caldwell. Someone almost hits me every single time. And I notice around the city that there are some places where there's more signage around the state law being that turning cars yield to pedestrians. I notice in some places there are more signals and there could and this is the question I guess I'm getting to is can you help me understand how those determinations are made so that I can be more articulate when people ask me hey why don't we have this and so that's I'm going to park that question and then the other one is the lack of time to cross streets that those crosswalks don't seemingly all lot for a norm a normal human amount of time to cross the street and there may not be an island where you can seek refuge while you're heart um partway across. So those two things understanding the differences between how we treat intersections, how those decisions are made. Can you give me a little bit of clarity so I can be smarter? >> Yeah, absolutely. Councilwoman Owens, those are are really great questions and I I think they speak to a lot of the the questions that we answer almost every day. So, as it relates to crossing at an intersection, there are some places that we have focused uh something called a leading pedestrian interval, which just means that you get the walking light sooner than the traffic than allows you to make that right turn. And in some cases, uh, district 6, we actually piloted some, um, innovative improvements where we hold the right turn under a red light while the pedestrian can make its way nearly across the street. So, District 6 was a a good opportunity for us to pilot that and do that work. We realize that we still have some work to do around the city to expand that in more places. uh signage is only as good as the person that's willing to observe it. So a right turn and so um right turn yield to pedestrians, we recognize that's not a physical barrier, but that is an ask or that is a a communication of of to the driver what they're legally supposed to do. And so we think that there are some tools that we can put out there uh that help reinforce that like leading pedestrian interval. But to your point about lack of time to cross the street, uh I really want to say I want to know exactly what those locations are because I think we have tools to solve those. And so as we're proactively going out and looking at the intersections, you tell me those locations and we'll go take a look at them. Um because we shouldn't be designing it for the fastest person that can sprint across the street. I can tell you as I have turned 52, I walk a lot slower than I did and my kids, you know, they take off and I go, "Wait for mom. Wait for mom. Come on. We're coming." So, don't hesitate. Let me know those locations and we will absolutely take a look at them and make improvements. >> Yes, JD. >> Oh, sorry, Mr. Ed. Thank you. >> Yeah, >> great presentation as always, Debbie. I will have a few uh streets for you afterwards. >> Wonderful. You know, you have my number. I welcome them. >> Okay. uh because one is where people are trying to get to the greenway and uh I see families crossing the street and there is no barrier stopping either way but I I won't get into the details now. I I'll have that um after the presentation. What I wanted to get to is if you can go back to the slide where you had 179 projects. >> 187 >> 187 >> and I might phone a friend. Thank you. I think >> thank you friend. >> Yeah. So I think this goes back to Mayor Gan's point as well as other panelists that we need to celebrate >> victories and I think we haven't done that when it comes to our high injury networks. There have been a lot of work done. Uh I can tell you one right off of Albar where people were crossing the shopping strip. This was like 6 years ago and I remember I reached out to you and then 3 years later we had um those beacon lights >> and guess what that saved a lot of lives because a lot of families would cross um to go to shopping strip there but certainly no celebration there. I think we need to celebrate those small victories that lets community know we've successfully completed XYZ projects. Uh and when it comes to vision zero in light of this audit report, I think it's more important than ever before. Um how many how many current projects that are not that are in the high injury networks that are not funded yet? >> So, Councilwoman Ashmeir, I think that would be a hard number for me to to to pinpoint right now. don't want to get too far out over my skis. Would love to follow up, but what I would say is that many of our projects that are currently on the capital improvement program list um have prioritized the high injury network. So, we use that today in the the prioritization of the projects that we have. >> Right. So, Ed did mention high injury network is one of the priorities. Correct. >> Right. It's it's a factor. But what I would like to see how many high injury networks or we should get to 100%. Right? So it may not be that in two years 3 years we can but we should have a timeline. So this is a budget ask um Mr. manager where if we can dedicate a set of funding just for the high injury networks cuz some of these projects may not be shovel ready but we got to make sure that they are in the design phase so that it is ready for the next cycle and the cycle after. So if you can get a list because this is a dynamic list because you are going to see some projects move up, some projects move down or maybe some stay the same. So we need to have that list. I had that list. I think a couple of years ago you did walk us through that list during the budget cycle. We need to have that updated list and somewhere we can have speaking of transparency we need to make sure that list is sub somewhere on a dashboard so people can see here is the high here are the high injury networks here is here are the projects that are in the next bond cycle here are in the next uh 27 bond cycle 29 bond cycle and so on. I think we need to have a clear timeline in getting to 100% completion of high injury networks. We know that 13% contributes to the most fatalities. Why can't we just get them done? Uh it may not be tomorrow, but we have to prioritize them because we know this is the way we can save the most lives with our infrastructure investment and this should be our number one priority. Councilwoman Ashmeir, thank you for for um recognizing uh that we don't do enough celebration to uh you know and it's not to pat ourselves on the back. It is to highlight that awareness to the community that we are doing those types of projects. So, thank you for that. Um I think for us it's it's typically been the sense of urgency to get to the next ones and the next ones, but you are absolutely correct to pause and highlight that. And maybe what I'd ask for is just a little bit of grace on the we're we're probably never going to get to 100%. And what I would commit to tell you is that um some of these streets are not wholly and solely ours to maintain and decide on. Um we we share that or the state has that responsibility on many of these streets that are high injury networks. And so what I would ask for you and and the council too is that commitment that we are taking action and we're moving um in exactly those places where we can control and we can influence and we can decide. I think that's great because to Deborah's point always not overpromise. So I think then we need to be transparent to our constituents who reach out to us for infrastructure requests that's in the high injury network. Then we need to be very clear about the expectations that this is in our high injury network. We need to specify what are the streets that are within the city's purview that it is our responsibility and here here is the list that is under NC DOT's purview. I think that is that shows the ownership and it directs constituents so that they can reach out to the right folks. >> All right. Did I Did I miss anybody? Cuz my my back's been turned a little bit. Council >> J I got Jay if if you don't mind. I'm going let J D go and then Council Member Driggs. I appreciate it. >> Yeah. I thank you so much Debbie for the presentation and thanks for all the work that you're doing on it. Um I I do want to recognize some of the stories we've heard in the past months of folks passing away in our high injury networks and in our in our roads. I mean in District 1 we had Lance Satello who I went to college with who was killed by a hidden drug hit and run driver passing a red light. Um, last August and September, we had Loose, uh, Loose and her son Diego in District 6. Uh, Diego was a bicyclist and he was hit and now he is paralyzed um, all over. Um, then we had two young ladies, Lorine and Gloria Man Manley on Argel Road uh, get killed by a driver that was going on 100 on a 45. Um, and then in my district, 24year-old uh Brian Alexander Golin Ramirez, who was also killed because of speeding. Um, and so it it is a growing epidemic in our city as we continue to grow, right? as we see more congestion, as we see more traffic, more impatient drivers, more distracted drivers in our street, um the the possibility of these crashes to happen. And and I'm very >> uh specific in the terminology I use, right? Crashes versus accidents, >> because, you know, these are crashes and we can prevent them from happening. Um I I really want to learn more about what what's in the works uh and the work that we're doing for Vision Zero and updating our Vision Zero dashboard. Right now it's not accessible. A lot of the data seems very um not reliable, right? I there there is some confusion at least from the public that you know we have Meccurr County numbers versus city of Charlotte numbers. Uh how do we segregate that data? how do we make it accessible and sorry to add more work to your plan but you know love that vision zero uh dashboard to look like the the CIA dashboard and so um would love that the other thing I had a question on so that's my first question my second question is um really concentrated coordination and effort with our vision zero goals and our corridors of opportunity and our strategic investment areas I think as we grow as a city we need to start working more deliberately together within departments. Not that we don't already, but very with just a narrow focus of intentionality. Um, second, and then my third question is we know where our high high injury networks are. What are we doing to improve to council member's point to improve those high injury networks? Um, how are we incorporating the work that our planning department is doing through the resoning process? If we know there's a high injury network, why are we going to build a high density development in the high injury network? And regardless of how many deaths are in there, one death is too many uh for for a high density development to happen in that corridor. And then my last question, I know I'm throwing a lot. I'm sorry. I just want to, you know, make sure that you have enough time to answer, is I know that Vision Zero committed to doing reports every six months on the crashes that happened. Um, I I want to have an update of that or at least I I'm new to council, so at least an understanding of what that looks like. Um, can we commit, and maybe this is to manager Jones, that when the crash happens, we have within 30 days an investigation rolling out to see what we can do to improve that road, that intersection. Um, so where we are on that. >> Awesome. >> And I think they wrote it down. So, >> no. Thank Thank you so much, Councilman. If it's okay, I'm actually going to take those questions in the reverse order. Um, I I want to let you know that as a as every fatal crash in the city happens, C DOT goes and investigates that crash within two weeks of us receiving the report from the police department. And so what we're looking at when we go out to do that crash investigation is um what what were the circumstances that led to that situation happening and are there some short midl long-term solutions to be able to address that. So I do want to reassure you that we um perform that today. >> And do we make those public? >> We haven't historically but let us take a look at at what that could possibly look like. Sure. Sure. >> Maybe a compilation of of of it every 6 months that we can report on just to see to give that progress report to our constituents of like this is what we're doing to achieve our vision zero goal. Thank you. >> Got it. Yeah, absolutely. The highendrew network and resonings. Um I'll use uh a more recent example that that you experienced which was at the intersection of Wawa Lake and Sharon Amity. The reason that that intersection was on the high injury network was because of a fatal crash that happened. The city then came in, we signalized that intersection. We expect that to roll off of the high injury network. So we track data for 5 years on particular things. So in that specific circumstance, we mitigated for um the fatal crash that occurred. And so that's to me, you know, we're we're doing that that that thing there. So resoning wouldn't necessarily, you know, have an outcome to it. Love what you're saying about lifting up quarters of opportunity. Uh, and the strategic investment areas. We have great collaboration. We can do more. Do more, be better. I think I've heard you say that multiple times. Do more, be better. Um, and and I really like what what that means. and we sit on the corridors of opportunity team, several directors and I, uh, talking about this, lifting this up as a priority, which we do, but let's do more of that. Uh, and then last, I appreciate the comments around the vision zero dashboard. Just want to share with everyone the vision zero dashboard is really about the data itself. We built it pretty quickly. um it's only been out there for a year and what I can you know definitely tell you is trust transparency and we're listening all the way so give us some time to make some remedies there and improve that and we know we have a good model to look after for project uh in the way of CAS so thank you >> thank you so much Debbie Council >> Mrs. Uh thank you. Um for for one a comment. Um the uh the situation of crime in Charlotte is such that CMPD is focused on violent crime and that's where the officers are allocated. So district 7 is in the fortunate position of not having a single homicide last year. But what that means is that the officers are concentrated away. Therefore the coverage is very thin. The incidental effect is the traffic enforcement suffers. So, a lot of people down in the district get the feeling that they can just do whatever they want. And I can hear the street racing going on from my house. Uh, so I think what that points to is the conversation we've already had about CMPD and the need to kind of expand the force so that they have more capacity to address things below that level of violent crime. I have a question though and that is 13% of the roads are on the uh hazardous road network. What percentage of injuries occurs on those out of all of the injuries? >> Uh it's about 80% sir. >> Okay. So there is a high concentration and I bring that up because a lot of people perceive uh you have a zoning or something it's dangerous right and they all they always say people are going to get killed because of what you're doing. So I've on occasion brought back the data and said there's no evidence of that. But uh what what we got have to guard against is the idea that we are focused on the 13% and we're not worried about safety on other roads uh because it's on the minds of people whether or not the numbers bear it out. So it's just a comment. Thank you. >> Wonderful. >> Great. Good deal. All right. We unless there's a really burning question. Uh we're going to transition to another subject matter. Debbie, let's give her a hand. >> Great as usual. >> Lot of homework. >> Yeah, a lot of homework. All of my stars are things that staff needs to follow up and provide you all with um additional information. So, we're going to move to the next item. And by the way, um just for your information, we did have a presentation and a discussion around the capital budget. And uh this manager has said that he would want to defer that until the 23rd. So, you it's it's not gone away. uh it's just you know unable to schedule it for uh for this time that we have together. So our >> I'm sorry for your budget workshop. Yes ma'am. Okay. So we're going to u transition to talk about mobility approaches to maximize workforce development and small business impact. and we have a panel and I'm okay now we know who's going to who's going to lead that discussion and I appreciate um the transition and as I said if you all need a break please take it independently um all right >> you Okay. All right. Good afternoon. >> All right. This one's going to be a little different. So, it's it's quasi panel presentation, Q&A. Um, so we're trying to figure out how to navigate the screen and things like that, but I'll assist as needed. So, um, so today we have with us uh, Sha Ra who's economic development director. We have Danielle Frasier who's the office of workforce development uh, director. And then our one of our newest team members to team Charlotte is Cheryl Wright and she's our new contracting and procurement director. And just as a reminder for everybody, um July 1 was when we formed the new contract and procurement department. Um we stood that up. It used to be within procurement used to be within general services and of course the CBI team was a standalone. We merged the two um to help streamline some of the work that we needed to do around uh business small business engagement MWSBE specifically engagement and the contractor procurement processes. Um just uh to add to that a little bit um it is a best practice across the US to actually have um those small businesses and minority women businesses um in the same place as contract and procurement efforts. And so, uh, welcome Cheryl. Uh, this is your formal introduction to people here at the strategy session. So, earlier today, thank you for the So, earlier today, um, Mayor Hancock mentioned the word collaboration. And so, I think that is a great word to kind of round out um, what we're going to be sharing with you today to talk about how internally as team Charlotte, we are um, really intentionally focused on collaboration. Um there's a lot of alignment uh with economic development, workforce development, as well as contractual procurement. Um and before I turn it over to Shaw to kick us off, the one thing that I just want to say also is let me see if I can get this going. Is it up? Down. There we go. Okay. So, as you think about um what was shared with you earlier around mobility and all of the project work that we have to do, one of the things we've been really intentional um in and focusing on is not just collaboration and how we're all going to come together to support that work, but what is really needed to get the work done, right? So, we know that it's big infrastructure projects. It's going to be over multiple years, but then do we have the right investments that we need to make in preparing small businesses? Do we also have the talent and the skills within our community to be able to take on that work? And then do we have streamlined contracting procurement processes to move the money? One of the things I say around contracting procurement is that most people think it's just a transactional um effort to get money out into the community, but it really is a key economic development strategy because it moves money throughout the city and community as well as it helps our businesses and our individuals. So what this slide shows you is just the alignment across all three of those those spaces. Of course we have our friends in general services and se dot but we are really focusing on creating an integrated strategy so that we can make sure we have a welloiled machine as we support the businesses and the individuals and the money that's needed to support the work. And so if you start from left to right you think about the big ecosystem of businesses that's out there. We want to engage those businesses. um Shaw will talk about in a second. The goal would then be to prepare those businesses to do the work. Uh Danielle will talk about the investments um in the in uh individuals uh talents and skills. So we want to make sure when we have the businesses, we also have the individuals to support those businesses to do the work. The thinking there would be okay so now what right? Well get registered as a vendor with the city of Charlotte, get certified um as a CBI firm. Hopefully you compete for well you're made aware of the work you compete for the work you get the work and then we execute the work. So not just these three entities here but we also again as I mentioned have our friends in general services and C dot. So at this time I'm going to turn it over to Shaw and he's going to talk about the work that he's doing in business preparedness space. Went backwards. >> All right you >> want to navigate? >> Yeah I can navigate for you. >> Well thank you Dr. Allen. Uh good afternoon. Uh >> thank you. Uh one of the things we wanted to emphasize as a group here is that you've heard of a lot of different programs, policies, and projects. But when you really boil down the work that we're doing here as a collective for this particular initiative, it comes down to two common denominators. Awareness and preparedness. How are we communicating the information externally and internally? And how are we preparing our business community? and also how we are preparing internally as well. This really speaks to some of the concerns that Mayor Pro Tim brought up with all of the complicated information jargon and and technical aspects of this work. How do we make sure that the work that we're doing is also accessible not only to our constituents but also internally as well. So really uh one of the ways that we we try to make this information more accessible and to help coordinate our efforts is through a branded uh strategy called skill to build with economic development, workforce development and procurement helping to lead the way. Now we've often heard of our uh manager talk about the teams of teams approach but every team has a really good playbook. So this is our playbook in order to execute a lot of the initiatives and programs as a part of this mobility strategy. Now you have small business readiness which is a key component of making sure that our small business community are aware and prepared for the opportunities you have workforce readiness as well. So as businesses are scaling up and they're looking to add more employees and essentially grow because we want to see business growth as a key metrics as progress. How do we make sure that our our businesses have the resources to increase the workforce that will also be a part of the growth that's happening in our community? And then last but not least, how do we make sure from the contracting side that internally we have the right programs, processes, and essentially people? Uh congratulations with Cheryl being six months in here on this job. But that really speaks to the manager's vision about this team of team approach and making sure that we're properly equipped for the amazing opportunity that we have in our community. So, I'm going to dive a little bit deeper uh into the small business side and it this is a freebie for Jason here. Um every once in a while I like to throw on my uh my marketing hat, but when we talk about small business readiness, we're talking about being allin for small business, right? So that that's something that as we're operationalizing this initiative, as we're going out into the community, as we're starting various outreach events, how can we let the small business community know that we're all in for you, that we hear you, we see you, we're we're making the opportunities readily accessible for you and we're sharing that in ways that typically may not have happened before, especially with a new type of program when it comes to transportation and transit. Now on the small business readiness side, we have three phases. And although the graphic communicates this as a very linear approach, what I want to emphasize is that a lot of the work that we're doing in regards to awareness and preparedness is already happening. We're building upon the successes that we've had years before I've even gotten here. And then you're seeing some of that new initiative pop up even with some of the outreach events that have happened recently uh at Bojangles when we're talking about uh what uh procurement and CBI is doing with business engagement as well. We're not doing anything different. We're not making stark pivots but what we're doing is building upon the success what what already uh works especially building upon that trust that we've established in the community with our uh business owners. Now phase one was a curriculum development. We've mentioned this before, but one of the things that we uh thought was a a unique opportunity for us as we're training uh providing technical support for small businesses. Historically, we've gone out to bid to work with third-party organizations and there's a vulnerability with that sometimes because if the organization uh ramps down or there's a change in their business model, we lose that training program and intellectual property. And with us owning the curriculum, we're trying to think forward thinking. Hey, 30 years out. Does it make sense to keep going out to bid every every year for 30 years? I don't think so. I when we talk about the work we have, we have an amazing staff at the city of Charlotte. Some of the best and brightest minds are here right here in this city. And we often go out to other cities to look at precedents, which I think is good because you always want to benchmark yourself. You want to have a sounding board. But what we're realizing, especially in this space, that many cities are looking at Charlotte now. How are we becoming an example? A lot of the policies that this council put in place, u the programs that you've supported are precedent setting. They're the ones that other communities are starting to look at us at what the manager is doing in this transit uh bill as well. So, what we want to do is own the curriculum. And in phase two, we're going to engage with the nonprofit and organizational communities. So once we own the training curriculum, we'll go back out through a grant and this is our opportunity for training providers to actually facilitate our intellectual property. One of the things and lessons learned that we've had before is sometimes with various training programs for small business readiness, an organization may receive training and education from one organization and it's totally different from the next organization. And what we want to make sure we're doing, especially when it comes to contracting, procurement, and things of this magnitude, that everyone's getting the same information. So that provides quality control and assurance. That way, it eliminates discrepancies on how to bid on projects and what projects may exist. And it's a way for us to uh share this information with a lens of equity that everyone's getting the same information. Now phase three is more of a technical support where if a business they're already equipped, they're very competent. They've already been bidding on projects. That business may not have to go through a training program. They just may need to know when's the bid happening. How can I just show up to to learn the information? What's the next strategic investment area that's going to be a focus and a priority for the city? That's the information I need to know. That will be happening uh simultaneously throughout the year. So you'll have a training program that's being facilitated by organizations within our city and they will help the businesses that really need to make a pivot to scale up to ramp up to take on these opportunities. But the technical assistance approach that's not necessarily linear. It's happening already. So, I just wanted to emphasize that um with the curriculum development, we're at the tail end in grading um a lot of the proposals and within the next few weeks, we should have an actual award for an organization who's going to help craft that curriculum handinhand with us, understand our entire process to make sure that we're taking best practices not only from the industry, but as we're scaling up as an organization in the city, as we're implementing best practices, as we're getting feedback from this council on ways that we can engage with the business community that's incorporated into the intellectual property that we have. Now, when you talk about uh other small business strategies, hey, what's involved? What what's included in this technical support? Well, there's several different things that we've been considering uh especially with a recent study that we've uh facilitated through TPMA, the Thomas P. Miller and Associates uh small business ecosystem assessment. So there's a lot of words here, but essentially over the past year, uh, the amazing team in uh, here at the city of Charlotte engaged with a consultant to really understand what does small business support look like after CO because the programs, the funding, and even the organizations capacities have changed since then. But with the funding changing uh administrative changes happening, what are some of the core things that this business community still needs and what are the areas that we can support them? So whether it's small uh business and anti-displacement resources that could be anywhere from understanding your lease to make sure that you're not uh subjected to predatory leasing or uh just unfair business practices. uh partnership with climb uh which helps provide other legal services as well which we've had mentor protege programs um financial literacy and capital readiness just to name a few what we want to make sure that all of these programs fit within those two buckets of awareness and then also preparedness. So, as we're going through this and as we're building this skill to build program, also want to let you know that many of the programs and projects that we've already had that work really well, Mayor Gant said it, hey, if something's working well, continue to use it, right? We want to uh emphasize that the decisions that you made in the past to support the programs that we're already implementing, we're going to continue upon that support because they work really well. Now, I'mma hand this off to Danielle Frasier to talk about what does workforce readiness look like um when we're engaging with our small business community. >> Thank you, Shaw. Uh good afternoon, Mayor and Council. And may I say that y'all look so good in this green team Charlotte. >> Um Mayor Pro, you look great in this green team Charlotte and Mayor Prom, I wear a size medium. Thank you so much. Um, so I'm going to I'm going to keep the conversation going with the skill to build um conversation um by sharing a quick review and update on our workforce development mobility readiness efforts. It feels like it was just yesterday when I was with you in January sharing this update, but we've got some updated information that I want to share with you. You all are aware that we released two workforce development grants back in December to support talent development as well as uh business engagement and training. And our talent development grant is to support uh upskilling and skilling and training programs that focus on construction and skilled trades. And our business uh let me go back. We um that will be a total of $1.2 million that we will issue to four to six organizations up to $250,000 each. We did receive 21 applications for uh for this particular grant. And so uh we are in the process now of reviewing those. We have two scoring committees that are re-evaluating these proposals over the next couple of weeks. Uh for our business engagement and training grant again that was to support business our business community specifically our small businesses uh with talent sourcing internships and when work uh training grants and we will issue they are both in uh both of these are in review and we hope to identify our awardees by uh April. So we'll keep you posted on that. Um the next slide what I really want to talk about is that our as we think about our approach to workforce development mobility this is not just about funding programs right this is about how we're establishing an ecosystem around how we're preparing talent for the job and the opportunities and you'll see on this slide when we think about our ecosystem it's a collaboration I think that's the theme that we continue to hear throughout yesterday today and and for for a long time we've heard and I think we're going to continue to hear that and it's not just about our internal ecosystem as Shaw and Monica have already mentioned and Cheryl's going to share more about it's our external ecosystem and so you'll see on the slide that our workforce development ecosystem is about collaboration and we are the city of Charlotte is just one entity uh in this space of how we're preparing talent for the opportunities to come and so it's partnerships with our with our industry partners with our workforce development board and our workforce providers it's with our economic development partners Meckllinmberg County uh our community- based organizations ations as well as our education and training programs. And so this is really how we're building an effective ecosystem that is is really doing some of these things on on this slide. And that's engaging individuals early. So that's our K through 12, those are our our students. So partnering with the Charlotte Meckllinmberg schools to make sure that our young people understand what are these careers, what's available, how do they access the resources and the training programs to be able to get that career. And not to forget our adult population as well. So those individuals that also need to understand where these opportunities are and those that may want to change careers, we want to make sure that we're participating in helping to make our community aware of the opportunities. It's one that aligns training and connects people with jobs. And so we continue to say, "Hey, we no longer want to train and pray, right? We want to make sure that uh those that we prepare for employment, there is a job." And so that's the that's the uh big piece of this business engagement entity that we are going to work with is that they are going to be the ones that are actually identifying those actual jobs with the projects that are going to be needed for this mobility work. It also strengthens employer rel leadership and partnership and so having strong partners and employers at the table to help lead some of this to identify the needs that they have and commit to the jobs and the positions that they need to hire for. That's what we're also trying to cultivate and create in this an ecosystem that is that is a strong one. It reduces barriers uh and improves access to education and employment opportunities. So whether that's uh challenges with child care, whether it's challenges with transportation and other uh barriers that we we need to assist with with helping them in employment as well as in education opportunities. It accelerates job placement and career advancement. And lastly, it demonstrates measurable outcomes in employment uh retention and career advancement. And so again, the funding is the mechanism, right? It's the mechanism that we use to help create and cultivate this this ecosystem that uh is needed to help again get our talent from skills training to that employment opportunity. And it's about how we're all doing it internally as well as how we're partnering externally. And so, uh, excited to share that update, continue to share with you where we are with our grants that is helping to create this whole ecosystem of work again of how we're preparing our talent for these opportunities as well as our small businesses to access that talent that they'll need for the projects. So, with that, I think I'm passing it to Cheryl. >> All right. Well, thank you, Danielle. So, this is my first time having an opportunity really to speak and thank everyone, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tim, city man, city manager Jones, uh, leadership, council, just thank you for the opportunity to be here, work for the city of Charlotte and serve our residents. So, I want to say that first. Um, and this is a great team. When I came on board, uh, I just want to share this real quick. When I came on board, I think it was my first day in the office and Kathleen, our city engineer, we're on the 12th floor and she showed up to welcome me and she said, "We're going to be working together." And I said, "Okay, we'll be working with a lot of people." But then I soon understood exactly what she meant and it's been such a great relationship, not just with Kathleen, but the camaraderie throughout the organization, throughout the departments. I've worked a lot of places, but it's strong here in the city of Charlotte. So, I just want you all to know we've got a great team. And so, with that, the common theme has been collaboration, right? It's that that structured collaboration and the informal collaboration and the two working together can help this type initiative move forward the way we needed to move forward. between Shaw, Danielle, myself, our fearless leader, Monica Allison um all of the deputies, we're always working together, right? Sitting around the table talking about mobility, uh uh how can we create opportunities for small businesses, all businesses. This is a huge initiative. So, another example, and I think Ed may have spoken about this earlier, is the CIA initiative. Well, I've again I've seen a lot of initiative but the deliberate approach with this CIA I call it the round table concept because back in the day it was a round table and now this concept they're at a table is it once a week or twice a week meaning they the subject matter experts representatives from procurement engineering um legal CBI everybody's at the table with list of projects objects going around the table. So if an action needs to happen, it happens at that table. If it does not, then somebody needs to speak up as to when it will take place. That's how things move. So these models for those two CIA uh areas, we're taking those models and we plan to apply that across the other mobility initiatives. So that's awesome. So I wanted to share that piece. Um, in regards to streamlining processes, well, in procurement there are a lot of processes, right? So, so and the thing is if we skip a process, somebody's got something to say. So, we're looking always at how to streamline our forms, processes, and let technology be our friend. Right? And so, there are tools in the market, and one is called a e-rocurement tool. I won't go too deep, but we're all excited about it because it can take maybe three systems or four that we're using today and help us merge it into one system. So, we'll be able to take information when we prepare bids and it moves to a contract. Then it needs to be signed instead of being in two or three different places, it'll be in one place. So, we're excited about that opportunity and wanted to just share that with you. Project unbundling. So we know that's very important and so with the project unbundling of course that happened uh in CIA and it happens in other areas in the organization as well but when we're doing project unbundling we re really are relying heavily on our subject matter experts because they understand the construction and all of the deals and can recommend where a deal needs to be unbundled. on the CIA initiative. As you're aware, there were a number of projects that were unbundled to create opportunities for small businesses because we need our small businesses. We need our large businesses. When we unbundle these projects, at least the smaller businesses truly have an opportunity to compete and hopefully win. And so just know that we're all consistently strategically looking at opportunities to unbundle solicitations, forecasting, forecasting procurements. So one of the great things of many here at the city of Charlotte, we've got what we call an early bird tool. And so the early bird forecasting tool allows departments to post upcoming solicitation information so that the public can get a feel for what is the city of Charlotte planning to bid out. It could be over the next 6 months, 12 months, and I think Charlotte Water might even do 18 months. Right? That gives a business an opportunity at a minimum minimum to form some teams to go identify some subcontractors hopefully to meet some of the goals and things like that that we have on our deals when we're putting projects out you know for the first time and it's it's on the street 30 40 days. A lot of companies have already built their team. >> So working this early bird along with our current strategy is is a great approach. There's always room to enhance that and we're always looking to see how to do that, but just know this early bird tool is a great tool. Um, and Charlotte does it well. Okay. Then I wanted to share with you as as you know Charlotte, the CBI team, procurement, all of us, we work hard to make sure that we outreach do outreach initiatives to explain to our small business community businesses how to do business with the city of Charlotte. And so recently, as you're aware, in December, the CEA group and the CBI team did a nice outreach, a great outreach uh around the holiday. I think we had over >> 200 companies come out. Um the CIA team explained the concept and the approach on how to bid on upcoming CIA projects. The CBI team talked a bit about SBE programs. It was just a well attended event and and good information shared about how to do business with the city of Charlotte. as well as we recently in February, Mayor Pro Tim with your guidance and suggestions along with the CBI team hosted the prosper policy to prosperity event which is which was another great event. We had more than 250 companies come out and information was shared about upcoming uh mobility projects, right? As well as I think Bank of America was there and talked about some of their upcoming initiatives. We had the fireside chat that was there. Is it Eggert Perry? Mr. Eggbert Perry was highlighted. Awesome. Economic development, workforce development. A great model again of collaboration. This is happening all the time. We are all ready to make sure as best we can that our business community is ready. And I'll give you an example in a few minutes of some capacity building things that have been going on to help fill those gaps. When we identify that there are not not enough small businesses in certain areas, the team is working strategically trying to figure out how to encourage small businesses to think about keep your regular business but also look over here for another opportunity so that these companies can get ready for all of this work that's about to come down the pipe. We're trying to help our get businesses get ready. And then when we look at the initiatives in development, our initiatives in development are constant. It's constant collaboration, workforce development, economic development, all departments, right? And so when when uh Shaw was speaking about the training that's going to start happening with these new uh groups that will come out, the procurement and CBI team will be right there partnering with them. We'll be guest presenters and speakers. So we could truly share information about how to do business with the Charlotte like real time and then blend in with the training that these consultants will provide. We're also looking at launching a rebranding concept and this is a collective rebranding concept similar to what I'm told is the open for business concept when COVID happened and the city of Charlotte open opened for business and it was this big push to let everybody know we're open. where now we're talking about let's rebrand with mobility and let everybody know yeah we're open we're ready and we need you to support all businesses but our small businesses as well and then as I move into this last area is all areas are important >> but small business is important right and and so with the CBI team they have been doing a great job and collectively all of us looking at the market exploring ways on how to enhance our SVE program and we're doing a great job and we've got some great ideas and sharing them with leadership. So just know the team is we're working behind the scenes scenes all the time getting ready. And if we go to the next slide and so the next slide is an example of the capacity building concept. Right? So the first group you see the solar lighting training that took place in July 2025 and a company by the name of Fawn Roach, they sponsored a training to try to get companies interested in going into solar lighting business. Not just the actual solar lighting, but they were showing them the various disciplines around that like pouring concrete and other things. again encouraging capacity building because that's an area where there are not a lot of small businesses and that was heavily attended. That's what I I was informed because I started in August and so and I believe them. So that's an example of capacity building. Then another event took place in December 2025 and so and Kathleen correct me if I'm wrong. the city inspectors and our construction team. The city inspectors construction team hosted a training for small businesses about sidewalk repair and with a focus on the ADA component. Again, there's a shortage of small businesses in that arena. So, we were the team was deliberate about trying to encourage companies to come. If I'm not mistaken, at the December CIA event, it was pushed out about this training because it was going to happen a few days later. As a result, what we get over, you got over 40, 45 companies that came out and when the companies finished the training, they received a certificate. So, that's just two examples of the capacity building concept, but we have to be deliberate in that and continuous with that. And this team knows that. So, I just wanted to share that with you. And with that said, we do need to celebrate our successes. And Shaw is going to give you an example of that. >> I just wanted to share one business success story, which is um Miguel Aila of Daily View uh pools. Um he was a product of one of our small business amp up program. He's an alumni. He was also featured in our 31 days of small business campaign twice. He was an Nex CLT participant. He was also part of scale up uh Charlotte business and then also learned to take the discipline of actually building pools and understanding that when you're making pools and concrete, you actually have an opportunity to be a concrete finisher. This would not have happened if it wasn't for the coordination with uh Debbie's team and Kathleen's team. And when we're looking at these bid opportunities and how small businesses can be a part of the change um in the bids that are happening in our city. You got it. Here we go. Um this also engages with CCNM as well because marketing and communication is a a critical part about mobility although you wouldn't necessarily think of them as a technical office. Um it talks to economic development as well. So this is just one example of how a business owner learned about the opportunities various departments within the city of Charlotte thought creatively, thought innovatively. How can we have smaller bid opportunities for uh the small businesses to be a part of and then also all of us wrapping our arms around. So the work has has been done before. We have precedents for it. We're working together. This is just one of many highlights that we're taking this type of concept and building upon with skill to build uh to do more initiatives in the future. So with that in mind um a lot of the work that we're doing is layered uh you have economic development with the programs the small business readiness you have workforce development with this various initiatives and also procurement as well taking an inward looking uh approach to how we do businesses uh as a city and all of these things are layered. So they're happening at the same time and I wanted to highlight a few themes uh that we have here for moving forward as uh council member JD brought up how do we collaborate better right so collaborate a collaborative approach is very key the photos that you see there is a a snapshot of one of the many meetings that we've had with Meckllinburgg county's economic development in their procurement team in addition to the city's uh workforce development economic development procurement team. We've met city and county multiple times to talk about our various initiatives, how we're going to work together, how we're going to support one another, and how do we message that information, right? Marketing and communications, as Mayor Pro Tim mentioned, how do we share this information in a meaningful way when we talk about celebrating successes? Uh, council member Mayo talked about what does failure look like, right? But what what does the success look like? How do we share those successes of daily view pools? How do we show those successes of what we're doing in our strategic investment areas in the multiple ribbon cutings that uh uh Mayor Gant uh highlighted? How do we celebrate the wins along the way and then setting precedents? Some of the work that we're doing is really innovative work, but it may not seem innovative because it it may not have a fancy government acronym behind it, right? We all love fancy government acronyms and a nice uh look and feel, but what you see here is also innovative. how are we connecting procurement, workforce development um and also economic uh development along with our other departments of having a team of teams approach. So when we talk about innovation and council member JD and Dr. Wallington mentioned how do we think about this differently these are the major themes that we plan to move forward with with skill to build and also understanding we're building upon a success. So like we're setting precedents now. We test and verify. And if it doesn't work, we pivot. But we're going to have to pivot together. We will do that with data. We'll have data informed decisions. We'll work with our stakeholders. We'll have uh transparency within dashboards. But most importantly, you should be able to see and feel the the difference in your community. when you see the road, when you see the safety happen, when you see the engagement numbers increasing with some of our small business engagement, when you have another daily uh view pools, when we come to you next year at the retreat and we have seven or eight businesses that we want to highlight, that's how we know we're trending in the right direction. So metrics tell you what happened, but they don't tell you how it happens. And what we're sharing with you is how we do work. So if there was a a a ending point of the the late not late great but the great Montto uh William Jordan, right? This is how we do it. >> Montel Jordan. >> This is how we do it. >> Which one was it? >> Say my tail. >> Jordan. >> Jordan. >> This is how we do it. >> So this is how we do it. So this Thank you. >> Yeah. >> We'll get it right. Sorry, Montel. Jordan. >> All right. So, I think we'll open it up for some questions at this time. >> Sort of. Mr. Driggs hit me early on. Okay. And then we'll go to Miss Owens and then to you. Okay. Mr. DS. >> Uh, thank you. I'm very encouraged by what you're saying because we have uh addressed this subject in a way that in my mind wasn't comprehensive enough. and and if you don't push all those buttons then you know there's something missing still and and right now from what you're describing I think you're pushing all the buttons. I mean uh and I wanted to mention I volunteered at Packard Place for a while and I talked to uh people who wanted to start a business or people who had a small business and one thing uh not to mention having been in finance myself. Um a a person can be really good at a product delivery or a service delivery and they can build a business through word of mouth and they can hire people. at some point they they get to where they really need to have some management skills and and just like a doctor is not the right person to run a hospital that's a different skill set from what they had before. So I think that's kind of what you're talking about. I wanted to zero in in particular on the access to capital point because a lot of the people I talked to said I go to the bank and they won't lend me any money. Uh and and that's that's a barrier for them. So, uh, in my mind, one of the focus areas has got to be on budgeting and developing a business plan. People I talked to didn't know how to develop a business plan. And the bank wants to see that. So, I imagine myself sitting in the seat of the bank lender and talking to the would-be borrower and and I want to tell that would be borrower, this is what you're going to have to do, right? When you go and see that guy, think about how you dress. Think about the materials that you show him. And I think there is a potential role for the city in that. So we have had some engagement with the with the capital process in the past through a couple of programs. But what if we had a an office that partnered with a bank and we said bank we want to partner with you. It's not going to cost you anything, but we need you to participate with us in an exercise that says you will look at potential borrowers that you probably wouldn't have talked to before, and we will work to make that borrower acceptable to you. It might even involve credit enhancement or immediation or whatever, but just find a bank that is prepared to make a commitment uh to our priorities and put some money around it. And then we will see to it that that's not just a a loss proposition for them. But I think bridging that gap for many companies could be the most critical thing in ter and to allow them to grow. And small business I'm told accounts for about 60% of the growth of the economy. This is huge, right? And it's not just social. Uh this is a major important investment in our economic future. Thank you. >> Great. >> Thank you, Council Member Owens. I I couldn't agree more and I appreciate the opportunity to follow uh Council Member Driggs's question. I've got one impossible question for Danielle and a much easier question for Shaw. I'm not sure which direction to take them in. >> Um the hard one. >> We're going to take the hard one. We're going to take the hard one. So leveraging what uh Council Member Driggs just talked about and and really trying to bring access to capital and and some management skills and things. I'm trying to anticipate a number of the small businesses that you raised up are businesses in construction and and are attendant to a lot of the things that we've got going on with our mobility plan. But I look at and try to and this is where the impossible part comes from because I don't know any of us know what to anticipate with disruption of AI. And I look at our white collar jobs. I look at us being a banking community. I look at how people may need to pivot. You know, and I say this because I'm a mom of three 20somes who thought they had it all figured out and are consistently realizing that they oh so don't have it figured out because you can't predict what those opportunities are going to be. So could you speak a little bit on that and then I'll have my easy one for Shaw. >> Sure. Um and it may be all over the place so so bear with me. Um Monica has me down this this AI road and we we have many many conversations about the impact that is has on talent and even the impact on our organization and how we'll we'll pivot and and move forward with what that looks like. But um one of the things that I am looking at is what are those jobs? Um what are the skill sets? Uh, I was watching a podcast not too long ago and they were talking to the AI godfathers and they said, "Hey, what are the jobs that we should really be focused on?" And they said, "Plumbers, >> electricians." >> Um, those jobs that can't be easily physically manipulated yet by AI and robotics. And so I feel like that is a a good uh point for us as we're focused on construction skill trades one but then I think also looking at what AI will bring to the industry um around some robotics some um technology even drones right I think so we have to look at this two ways right so I think it's a plus to where we're looking at hey these jobs will be around for a long long time absolutely um council member Mayo said it forever but I think We also need to look at what skill sets are going to be needed that AI is going to offer to enhance these roles in these jobs. Um, you know, I I think in in the jobs that are hightouch that you need hands, those are going to be jobs that will be around. But I do think again AI is going to bring opportunity to enhance those jobs. Um, and those are what we're those skill sets and looking at and we're talking to businesses now. How are you using AI? not just from a generative, you know, content standpoint, but how are you using it in automation and in robotics and other ways so that it can help inform us and how we're investing in programs that are developing and training individuals in skilled trades, but then then in other areas as well. Um, but again looking at where AI will impact some of those jobs, but then also what will AI create? And so it's a work in progress. Is it impossible? Um, I don't think so, but is but it's some work that we're we're doing right now. So we we'll keep you posted. >> Thank you for taking the hard one. So the easy one for Shaw. So um I believe it was Mayor Hancock who was addressing a comment by Dr. Watlington around how others see us and and how how we how we brand in this new growing age that we have. I'm wondering if you can speak to us a bit from your experience with economic development when we do get opportunities. What are you hearing most most uh dominant in that decision tree? And then when we are not getting opportunities, what is it that you're hearing we just we just don't have? Can you give us some clarity on how we're seen by others who think about coming here? >> Oh, absolutely. I could I could brag on Charlotte all day and it starts with the leadership in this room. uh when you talk about uh a political body who's willing and stand behind principles and actually execute upon those principles, there's an alignment with corporate mission and how cities are also driven as well and corporations want to align with cities that align with their values as well. So that's number one when it comes to mission and vision alignment. Number two is the talent aspect of um I tell people all the time you will not find many cities in this world that have an H.B.CU, PCU, a medical school, an R1 institution, a regional airport hub, a community college system within 20 minutes of every person in Charlotte, Meckllinburgg, the only community out of a 100red counties in the number one state for business, three out of the four years that has rail. In addition to the amount of diversity that we have in our community at a city basically encroaching upon a million people, you will not find it. And we often talk about communities that have mountains and lakes and rivers. Well, the entire western border of our county is repairarian. When you think about Lake Wy and Mountain Island Lake and in and Lake Norman, we don't think about that as well. And when you talk about the business community and its collaboration with the public sector, that's rare. So those are just a few. But more than anything, Charlotte is not a boomer city. A lot of our growth is very strategic and methodical. And sometimes we look to the left and the right because someone's doing something faster than us and better than us. But guess what? A lot of cities have a lot of vulnerability and volatility depending on industry shifts and economic changes when Charlotte's growth has been very steady and methodical. And that's a that that goes with the vision that you have with the mayor, the city manager, this council, and also being very strategic about the staff. When you talk about a 2040 comp plan, when you talk about strategic investment areas, when you talk about laying out a vision and also being very methodical about that approach and having agreement, uh I like what was said uh earlier, you don't necessarily have to agree with everything, but can we have consensus to collaborate and move forward in the right direction? That doesn't happen in every community. And I was just in DC yesterday uh for the annual economic development council leadership summit at Capitol Hill and people are looking at Charlotte because of what we're doing and it really starts with the public private partnership of your elected body working and hearing the priorities of the people and also engaging with the private community. >> All right, I think we Yes. So Shaw, you got the job, bro. I I love it. like I am convinced that you made the right choice. If anybody should be selling Charlotte, it's you. I love it. Um, a couple things. First of all, I love the skill to build brand and I love the way you guys have brought that together over the last several months. And um, I love also Sha that we are going to keep our IP. I think I mentioned that to you around all the training programs. uh that allows us to manage and pivot as quickly or as slowly as we need to. So that's fantastic. Do you see us ever being in the position where we could source that out to smaller cities and towns who might need that same training for their municipalities? >> I'm a hustler at heart. What does legal say? >> But we will have to check with our legal team. >> That sounds like what does legal say >> about the usage of our intellectual property. >> Yes. >> But what I will say is when we have the opportunity to go to other communities like I just referenced to really tout the work that we're doing, that's an amazing opportunity. uh previously before the city would still do it go on these chamber trips they were called inner city visits and what I've noticed over the last two years that more cities are actually coming to Charlotte >> and they're they're visiting they're trying to understand now we may not be able to license and share but what we can do is continue to open up our doors to say how can we share our common experiences together and I'm also going to uh give a big Shout out to Jason and the CCM team of skill to build and working hearing what we wanted to do, seeing the vision and make sure that ties into everything with our brand. We have one of the best teams in in the nation. I mean, you you give them a hand sketch and they have a logo and a flyer and and a brand behind it in in a matter of days. Um, but also with that, how do we take Charlotte to the next level when it comes to being um, one of the leaders in thought leadership? How do we how do people start flying into Charlotte for a conference about public private uh, partnerships with our government, right? We we go all over the world, but we have something special at home. So, >> yeah, I I'm just a huge proponent of beginning with the end in mind. And as soon as I heard you say that a couple about a week a month ago or so, I thought this could be a potential opportunity for us. And if you are thinking that way >> in the beginning stages, you should think about where that IP is being housed and you know how how that information will flow from the beginning. That's why I throw that out there. Last question I have is around our contract readiness. Um, and I also love all the work that we're doing around being open for business to to to ramp up capacity. Do we have So, I love that we're we're ramping up capacity. Do we have any notion of what the size of the actual requirement is? Right. So, we can have throughput of of lots of individuals going through programs, getting trained, etc. Is it will it hit the mark or will it just be you know a pebble in the ocean? You have any idea of the size of the requirement? So thank you for that question. Size of requirements meaning um projects and companies having an opportunity to compete the actual work that you would need these companies to be doing. The magnitude We don't have an exact >> Kathleen, you have a number um region. >> Okay. >> Yeah. You want me to do? >> Yeah. Yeah. So, we we've started those conversations with um Kathleen's team to get an idea of what the projects are, right? So, if you zoom out, it's the work that has to be done and then we need to rightsize our structure to be able to support that work. I always say structure follows strategy, right? So, we have to lead with the projects, what those projects are going to be, the size and scope and scale. And then we need to align. And so I think some of those conversations have started between Kathleen and Cheryl where Kathleen saying these are the projects we anticipate needing to do. And then Cheryl said this is probably how many people I'm going to need to support the work or these are the systems or the processes that we need to modify and change to support the work. >> So can I a little bit I think what she's asking is the gap analysis you do have. So we have worked on yeah a gap analysis with all of the small business opportunities that are out there over the next 30 years as well as okay all of the jobs that will be needed and what workforce we have and what's the gap in between. I think that's yes where you likes to go. >> Yeah. Okay. So okay that's that's that's clear. Yeah. So it it is both and though. I mean we have to also make sure we have what we need to support the work. But I think to his point it's where are we currently and where do we need to be and what is that gap in between. Um so we're just wrapping that up and hopefully we'll be able to share that. Okay. >> Very very soon. Yeah. Thank you. >> Next time. Yes ma'am. >> Um following up a little bit on that question and I'm glad Mr. Manager that you added that context because I was about to raise an eyebrow. Um um but I'm thinking about Mr. Driggs's earlier question in regards to capital um beyond or as a part of needing that capital and some of the uh barrier to get the capital is this idea that you need to have a book of business. I' I need this money because I need to deliver this work and I I heard us talk about having RFPs or forecast so that people will see what the work is. But the design work is before the RFP. It's in the RFQ. And if you don't have a resume that demonstrates you've done that type of work, you're not going to get picked up for a team. So, I'm curious as to how we're leveraging or how we're thinking about the formal versus informal projects and how we're using the informal projects in order to help um these businesses build capacity so that they are in a position to to be on a on a team that is competitive. >> I can try to answer some of that. Kathleen might be able to help me a little bit. And I said that because under the CIA model CIA model um when the unbundling was occurring it it was intentional to try to ident identify projects that were in that informal range. and in doing that hopefully creating opportunities for those small businesses to be able to compete. And so some elements of that um I think we may have used some existing uh architects, engineers or whatever to do the designs early but to that point I'm pretty sure some of those projects no not the informal formal projects were on the forecast calendar type thing. >> Yeah. So that's one that I will lift up. Then um the county probably Shaw as you know does a great job of leveraging their informal design work so that uh smaller uh businesses can build that that resume and be in position of team for the larger work. Um I did have a question on the back end. So after you've gotten the project, you've executed some of the work, it's time for your progress payment. Um I wanted to know how we are thinking about again on the design side design payment um speed. I know we've got quick pay um but how does that work outside of construction if you are not the prime? I think about um for the for general contracting you've got to provide that notice of payment so that all the subs know that you've been paid etc etc. on the design side. Um I haven't seen that um I haven't seen that be required yet from a regulatory standpoint. So how are we thinking about that? >> Good question is to put it reach to Kathleen but on a design side to get the payments made a department needs to uh uh check off that they've received the service. So when the department signs off and say says you know we've received the designs everything's complete you can be paid or if there's a pro progress payment schedule that may have been developed early on with a designer then that can set the number of payments that they may be available for but at the end of the day the department would sign off when the design is complete and then the company is paid. So, I'd like to suggest maybe it's a it's a a double click down into it. Um, how do we make sure that for those that are say you've got the project is with the architect or it's with a lead uh engineering firm and you've got subs under that. >> There is a way on the on the construction contractor side to know because they're required to notify that they have been paid. That doesn't exist on the design side. So, I'm I'd like us to dig into how we can make sure that those subs on the design side are aware that payments have occurred and they know what to expect as they're forecasting their payments. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. And I think that's something we just need to look into a little further. I know we've had conversations with Mayor Proim about quick pay >> and we hadn't explored necessarily the the design element, but that is something we're we're having discussions about intentionally about. And we also have to engage legal because there's c certain things with state statute that we can and cannot do. So that's great feedback and we can definitely take that back as a team and and see what's possible. >> Awesome. Um and just a couple of more. Um so again back to this idea of sequencing and enabling folks to uh staff up. Um do we have an idea of our current time between the award and the project start? If not, you can bring it back to me. But that's another place where we can look in terms of how do we enable businesses to scale up because they've got to have time to go get the talent once it's won. Um, and then lastly, um, oftentimes, >> oh, no, no, I'm not mad. I wanted to hear what he had to say. Well, he threw you under the bus quick. Anyway, >> I say you're on the ED committee. Um uh my last thing is I'm curious because we know that public dollars alone cannot float to business, right? Um so how are we thinking about our connecting some of the larger firms that do public and private work with some of these businesses that um are going to want to perform and um have their capability built through public work but also want to sustain by adding private work to the portfolio. I would say that's the next iteration of what we're doing in public private partnership and we've have precedents uh of that throughout like tax increment grants where we partner with a a private developer to provide a public benefit such as roads, parking garages, parks, and other infrastructure. But what we're going to see now within the layering of our strategic investment areas and the mobility plan is that how do we engage uh private capital and into our work and partner together. So that's that's kind of the next level of maturation of how our P3s work. We're sometimes limited on how we quantify classify uh public benefit as a Dylan rule state and the uh opportunities we have as a city municipality and then some of the projects being in county but then some of the roads being state. So that's a little bit of a a dance that we're doing but is 100% top of mind and where we see things going with when it comes to infrastructure and P3 work. >> Thank you. So, we're going to give this session maybe about five more minutes and then move to the to the next session. Miss Mayfield and then JD and then Mayor Pro. >> Thank you. Thank you for everything that you all have been doing. I've definitely seen a difference over the years with a focus on how we support and grow our small businesses. Monica and I have had this conversation for the last year or so. I want to better understand as you all move forward. So the partnership and relationship was created with Klein to help with our small businesses with a certain level of legal. But we also learned over the last year or so, one of the challenges is when we have that new business, specifically that small minority business that's a sub, that's a separate contract with that pond there. We don't oversee that particular language. So, as I want to get an understanding if you all are already having conversations with the attorney's office to make sure that there's clear and clarifying language for that sub who is coming in looking at good faith on the backing of the city promoting this. But when it gets to the contract with the sub, they might have a line in there stating you cannot reach out to the city if I don't pay you or if we have challenges to once it's been identified to clarify that to make sure that there's clear communication so that our subs who we are trying to get to scale know that they have the support that they need. >> That's a great question. um we're limited in our involvement when it comes to contractual obligations between a prime and a subcontractor. And to your point, but one of the things that we're being very intentional on uh with small businesses is that when they are engaging, what are some of the things to consider on the front end? So that way we're not getting calls nine months into the project, hey, I did not get my payment. Can you help me out? and providing legal consultation which is beyond our purview what we do. But how can we take those lessons learned and throughout our training and small business readiness program highlight some of those potential concerns that a small business may have on the front end and and addressing it in that way. But in regards to the contractual language with a a prime and a subcontractor, we're we're very limited in that involvement. But to your point, it does happen. And how do we make sure that we're not branding, marketing, a program, a small business engages, and then they have a a potential dispute with a a prime? That's something that we're aware of and that we're considering how we operationalize that uh throughout our programming to the best of our ability within the legal constraints that we have. So Monica, before you tap in because hopefully you do have a piece on this. I'm going to encourage for our legal team to look at when we are creating opportunities of good business practices with these potential crimes that in our language it is very clear what the expectations are to help to eliminate and or reduce until we get to the point where we feel comfortable where our legal team would say yes, I could defend this to protect these businesses that we're putting so much energy in because it is small businesses that are the backbone. It is really a lot of these subs working towards scale that are the ones that are doing the additional hiring. When they don't get paid, their people don't get paid. There's a problem with that. But if that pond didn't receive payment, there's a tracking mechanism that's already in place for them. So if we're going to have a program where we're looking at the focus of skill to build, we must also be courageous enough to put the protections in place to ensure that that business also has a clear mechanism of tracking to ensure that their payment isn't being disrupted and or they have a process to adjust it and not having to use climb as a bill collector. and we should be tracking with that relationship with climb. If this is the third time that a particular vendor has had to utilize them as in essence air quotes as a bill collector, there's clearly a disconnect. So we should be able to step in to direct in a better way offering more than mediation to ensure that we don't have bad partners coming into our community taking advantage of whatever incentives we have knowing that they can get away with not taking care of our local businesses. Monica, >> yeah, I was just going to say that that is something we are starting to talk about is what goes into the the contracts. Of course, like you said, we would have to engage legal. We're also thinking about some things around workforce development. Is there some responsibility or or goodwill of the prime to help develop that small business, right, through workforce efforts and so on and so forth. So, I would say yes. The answer is yes. But I also think we need to continue to let the small business know that they should engage in legal counsel, right, when they're entering into contracts as well. So, there is some responsibility on their side in addition to what we can do. But that is some of the conversation that we're starting to have. >> Great JD. >> Thank you. Uh thanks for the discussion. I wanted to talk a little bit about our foreignb born population. Um as you all know we have over 330,000 folks um that are foreign born. Uh that's roughly 17% of our population as well as a 43% increase since 2010. So my question is more so how can we do better as a as a city to understand these highskilled degree holder foreignb born individuals into careers or how can we work to get them into careers that we have gaps in such as teachers, nurses, engineers etc. um as well as thinking of different poss different partnerships to create pathways to get those degree holders into careers where we are seeing deficits deficits in. >> Yeah, I'll take that. Um so that's an area council member Mensas that I'm passionate about and uh that we've noticed over time. you have a lot of folks that are coming into the US and they've got their doctorate degrees, their accountants, they're CPAs, um but yet they're Uber and Lift drivers. And so um it's how do we help to um convert their their credentials and help that um crosswalk into the jobs that are here. And so is that is one that um I've I've been passionate about over time. Uh, I think one of the ways that we do it is one identifying those roles, seeing what the crosswalk is, right? Are there jobs and opportunities that directly relate to the work that they've done before, their background experiences? If not, how do we look at those transitional roles where those skill sets equate to other jobs within uh our our community and with industries? working with partners like the Camino Group and others that are serving uh our our refugee as well as our foreignb born um and uh immigrant populations. And so I think it's one it's collaboration, right? It's partners getting with those trust partners that have the relationships with the communities, but then also it's around our our awareness and our preparedness. So it goes back to how do we get that information to our community, to our talent, to our workforce. What are the careers? What are the opportunities? Um, we have been talking about uh a career awareness campaign starting with construction and skil trades, but that can expand to other industries. And so I think it's collaborating with our education workforce partners on what careers are here. How do we be intentional about the partners that we know are trusted by those communities so that we can make sure they get that information, they have those resources, and we can crosswalk where those opportunities are for them. >> Thank you. um manager and and and staff, I would love to have a more in-depth conversation so we can have some guiding principles that can help us achieve exactly the vision that you're setting out for. Thank you. >> All right. Uh so, I'm just going to give a praise report to the leadership that's in front of us uh this evening uh because I think uh I'm gonna speak for myself. Uh I make a lot of phone calls, call you all on the weekend and push you all to do things and uh then go beg the city manager when uh uh when we don't have in the budget. Um mayor say, "Yeah, you always ask for money." Um so to DCM Allan, thank you for doing a gap analysis very early on the mobility. So we talking about $25 billion over the next 30 years. And I remember even last summer you said, "Man, Pro Tim, how do we how do we get ahead of this and start assessing what business we need uh or to stand up so we can be successful?" Uh Shaw, thank you for coming in and bring a whole different lens to the whole economic development. The c collaboration has been very important and successful. I remember seeing you on the front cover of the business journal and it was talking though about our success was built on collaboration. So thank you. And I agree with with Dante. Keep selling Charlotte. You did a good job uh selling Charlotte. Um Danielle, I'm always brag on you. Um that many many years at UNC Charlotte, we knew you was the right person to lead our workforce development. So I'm going ask you one question cuz I think you need to update update us. Where are we now on um where do we rank of Upward Mobility? We were 50 then you joined us. You moved us to 38. >> Well, I'm not going to say that. >> Okay. I I can't take take credibility for that. Um we are now at 38 out of 50, but we may have moved up a notch even on the last report, but yes, 38 out of 50 for up for economic mobility and the top third fastest growing city for upward and economic mobility. >> So, so once again, thank you. Yes. Um Cheryl, uh let me say thank you for the CBI series, your support. And what was interesting, you didn't sit at the round table with your leadership team. you said way back in the back uh in almost the middle row because you said I wanted to observe what the small business are seeing. So thank you for coming in being very supportive of CBI and and continue to move it staff. What I would say this and let me thank to my council members that CBI series was successful because you because you're present so many small business we never had eight council members in one spot out in the community. So, Kimberly, Dimple, and what the rest of them. Okay. Lana, Dante, and Victoria, uh, thank for you all cuz I think it sent a strong message how the city council feel about small businesses. So, keep doing a great job. And to the man who hired all of you all, thank you. >> Good job. All right, we've got one more question on this series and then we're going to move to we're going to move to the next one. Okay. All right, Mor. >> Thank you. Well, first let me just say thank you. I echo everything that's been said by my colleague, Councilman Mitchell. Uh this is the first time we have amplified our support for small businesses to a level that is more visible because we always talk about how do we recruit large companies here bring jobs and opportunities but really a lot of the property base comes from small businesses who have helped build this city. So to see more support for small businesses is very satisfying. And I have seen small businesses where they have gotten more opportunities working with the city. So keep up the great work and it's great to see more increased investment in our workforce development, not just for the jobs that are exist today, but also the jobs of tomorrow, especially in sustainability and resiliency. And I know Sarah's team did a great job a couple of years ago when they rolled out workforce development for renewable energy. I'd like to see more of that. So, we are preparing our workforce for the works for the jobs of tomorrow, especially for students that are graduating high schools that may not want to go traditional four-year path. We want to make sure there are opportunities for those that want that alternative path. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Thank you all. Great presentations. Appreciate you. Now, we're going to transition to this next item. And as I said, we are going to break at 3:00. And at 3:00, you've got pictures scheduled. And so, come on up, ladies. And um >> we're breaking at 3:00. So modify your presentations >> accordingly uh so that we also have time for council to ask questions. >> Are you up front first? I'm ready. Okay, >> go for it. >> Yeah. No, it ain't. >> All right. Well, those of you who are still in the room, I'm going to just get >> Let's get going. Let's get going. >> Okay. So, here here's the thing. Yesterday, I kicked off my remarks with a musical reference, and as council member Anderson kindly stated to me, you fell flat on your face. I looked it up, that song was recorded in 1966. >> Oh my god. >> Okay, so I'm going to go back my pro time. I'm going back to what what works for me, and that's baseball analogies, right? All right. So yesterday I struck out with that musical reference, but today I'm following the Detroit Tigers. Forget yesterday, win today. All right, let's let's do this. Um, what I don't know how to do is move this forward. There you go. >> All right. So, the the esteemed group that you saw up here just before Monica and I came up, um, plus me and a couple of others, we did a road show last year over and over and over again sharing with residents and neighborhoods the plans that you have for investment in mobility plus. So this is mobility and affordable housing and anti-displacement workforce and small minority business. I I I was I like to call myself the third leg of that stool because I always took up the took up the last segment of the presentation. But Marilio said earlier something really important about trust and that's what was committed to and in the space around housing and anti-displacement. What was committed to were two important things. The transportation and transit plans that are in front of voters at that time and now approved um will connect affordable places to live with jobs, services, and amenities and will help residents stay in place as the transit system expands. Now, I'm going to echo Shaw's comments and talking about the comments earlier about innovation and best practices. Uh, when it comes to housing and affordable housing, people across the country look to you. They look at the investments that you have made through your housing bond and they look at initiatives like the faith and housing work. uh and they look at the anti-displacement strategies and investments that you have made. Um talking about getting people engaged, you had a whole commission that worked for three years to put together a uh a set of policies, tools, and programmatic re recommendations. My team and I were looking through the list uh just this week. I think we have activated all but one of the recommendations from the Nest Commission report and that one last one will be done um by the end of this fiscal year because that's that's the charge on recommendations. One of one of the things the panel talked about this morning was, you know, how do you set how do you set up a structure that lets people know what you're looking for? Well, you've already done that and you done that through your affordable housing funding policy. So, in 2024, you proposed and the voters approved a $100 million bond for affordable housing. And in that bond, you were very clear, we are not going to just do twice as much of what we've always done. It was an opportunity that you took to reset and rethink and transform your investments in a way that would achieve three highlevel outcomes that you're looking for. This holistic focus on resident stability, neighborhood affordability, and economic mobility. And then within those investment priorities, that's where you flesh out what it is that you're looking for from your partners and from developers and people who are working with you in in our city. So this is really setting the direction that you want to achieve as as you were talking about this morning. Now in 2024, you were you were already talking about and preparing for the mobility investment. The funding mechanism wasn't secured yet, but you were very thoughtful in terms of setting up your affordable housing funding policy. The as it exists today, it already prioritizes anti-displacement and integrates with your mobility investments. So, as you look through it, almost half of the bond is dedicated to anti-displacement. You've already identified in your population priorities a focus on households at risk for displacement. And in your location priorities, areas vulnerable to displacement and transit development areas. You have an entire category dedicated to current and planned transit areas. And then as you think about dedicated funding where we are today and as you'll be thinking about in this budget process going forward, your housing trust fund is not your only funding source. Across all of your funding sources, you're currently investing over $148 million in affordable housing. 90 million of that is specifically dedicated to anti-displacement initiatives. you're out in front of this even though it's a really difficult thing to tackle. Uh I want to want to remind you also not just in the affordable housing the housing bond that 49 million you also have another funding source uh the TOD funding fee and LU funds that are specifically dedicated to um uh investment in in land acquisition around affordable house uh transit lines. So >> can we ask questions or we will wait for the end? If it's a quick question. Yeah. Is it quick or is it >> okay? Yeah. That there'll be there'll be time at time at the end for sure. Okay. So So the other thing I want to want to uh kind of plant the seed for is that um Council Member Mayfield says this all the time, right? When when we say who needs affordable housing, Council Member Mayfield says everybody needs affordable housing. It's just that depending on who you are and the situation you're in, affordable might mean something different to you. And this is the same thing when it comes to housing stability and anti-displacement is that everyone's in a different situation. They need different things. Homeowners need different things than renters. Uh families need different things than than seniors on a fixed income. Uh so so it really just depends. And so we think about, and again, this is this is just an illustration. I did promise Mayfield when when we were um going through this uh presentation, I said, I promise I'm not going to talk about every single one of these things. And good good thing, too, because I don't have a lot of time, but I but I wanted to put them up here. You have a lot of programs. You have a lot of tools. You have a lot of strategies. And the work that we do every day is to apply those tools and strategies um in the right the right tool in the right place at the right time. And when we think about the right place and the right time, first of all, the time is now, right? You talked about that with the blue line. You have to get ahead of this when it comes to transit. And so you want to be thoughtful about how you are um uh investing in housing and anti-displacement along the transit lines, that mobility and infrastructure investment. But and uh displacement didn't start when the sales tax passed, >> right? This is a product of our incredible growth of that amazing community that Shaw sells to other people, right? And so we also have to make sure that we're balancing those investments and anti-displacement along transit with the with the anti-displacement work um that's just happening in our neighborhoods that are experiencing growth that are getting more dense and are going through change. All right. Oh, what's next? Well, this already started. Y'all were supposed to do this, you know, I don't know, a month or so ago, right? So um so the mayor actually already made a referral to the housing committee and council member Mayfield and housing committee members have already gotten started. So the two things that are happening in committee right now um one uh you you are exploring new models to deliver more affordable housing especially along transit and those models are um are things about activating the private market. Um you know uh council council member Driggs mentioned that this morning and he was a strong proponent of including that in the affordable housing funding policy. Um they are things about public our public development model. How how do we as council member Mayfield says turn this thing on its head. If we want if we want the outcomes that we're looking for there are ways that we can have more control in that process. Um and then and then the committee is also looking at the affordable housing funding policy to think through things like how does our how do how does our partnerships work? Uh are we aligned or do we need to make adjustments? Um they'll make some recommendations to you all around that to make sure that the policy is aligned with the mobility plan and anti-displacement initiatives. And then also to think through the allocation goals, the categories in which you're investing your funds and thinking about are is there a need for um targeting some of those funds to specific geographies uh as we move forward. So you will have a chance for questions, but I'm actually going to have Monica run quickly through her piece. It it uh combines with this and then we'll go to panel mode. And actually before Monica comes up, we're gonna take just a few questions Rebecca before you come up. >> Yeah, let's do. >> So first, Council Member Mayo, your question and then Council Member Age and then Miss Medfield. >> Um, so I was going to go back to slide seven. Can we go to that about the TOD lane acquisition? I think council member Mayfield does a great point of always asking like how much money do we currently have in the budget uh for that? So that would be my question for this fee in Lou. I know for district three, you know, we're getting a hit by a lot of to because we had the blue line and now we're having the silver line potentially come through. So even as I'm seeing resonings, it's talking about this. So I'm wondering like what is our current um what currently do we have in there? Is that the $21 million or is that what do we anticipate? So you currently available after the most recent land acquisition. So currently available in cash is around $2.5 million. That's a combination of the funds for to fe that have already been collected plus the dollars that were in your housing bond specifically for land acquisition. The balance of that 21 million, which when you take out the things you've already invested, I think is around 16 million, has been committed, but not yet collected. Those funds are collected when the developments go to pull a um building permit. And at that time, they become available for investment. And uh so right now um there's there is still a balance left. That's the balance in your housing trust fund. Uh and then it'll replenish as the TOD dollars are collected. Okay. Uh my other question was how are we partnering with like CMS for some of their underutilized spaces like Wilmore School that's still near transit south end. We know so many people have been priced out of that location. Mayfield, where what is that like school with professional development CMS has in camp north or camp green? Like they don't use it for school like school anymore, but it's like professional development. >> Build right off the >> Yes. started out across from school but now they've actually identifies if we're thinking if I'm thinking of the right building is the Ailia Garmin Brown building that's across from the movement school right off of Freedom because that was supposed to be a school and it's now being re-imagined. So, you're thinking in >> Camp Green, like further in. >> Um, no, it's not Amy James. It's um >> It used to be like a high school. >> No, it's right off of Camp Green Street because that's a um voting location and I have absolutely no idea. >> But just in case >> because that's also CMS. So, yeah. >> Well, I know CMS asked us for money to help with like teaching teacher like housing. So, how were they contributing? I mean, like Wilmore School, that would be a great opportunity for teachers. They could potentially walk to the light rail 3G. Davis, >> Davis, >> the original one, >> the >> they keep moving and changing names. Yeah. So, I can I can answer that question. So, um it when we think about um CMS, we're actually thinking bigger, which is what does it look like to activate public land? So, on on the one hand, you do have an open referral around this. Um, it came from the manager last fall. Um, and and and actually we just haven't gotten to it yet because we have a lot of referrals in housing committee right now. Um, but you'll be seeing it um in in the next month or so. And we think about how do we work together, city, county, and the school system to leverage our uh our assets. So, city-owned land, city underutilized properties um to advance, you know, to advance our objectives as a whole. One of them collectively is affordable housing. And so, uh we we have a number of strategies for city-owned land. Um you that where you have uh put out um requests for proposals to developers. We also have a strategy where we actually work with the urban design team and planning to to bring concepts forward. And then when we think about the partnerships with the county and then with CMS, CMS is really where where you where the where the um unlocking the magic is, right? Because of the the amount of land across the city. And so they're starting with this uh teacher village which the city um council supported with an investment in in um the FY25 budget. They're starting there, but that's not the end point. That's just testing the concept. And so the idea is how do we work together over time to not just build teacher villages, but to build uh housing that supports all of our workforces and then how do we support broadly affordable housing with those assets. So that will be coming forward for deeper dive into committee in the coming months. >> Okay, Miss Mayfield, >> thank you Rebecca. Thank you for listening to what this committee and previous committees have asked for as we move forward. One of our challenges is the fact that for all the committees, we meet once a month and we have two and a half hours. Mayor, I would like to ask if we can get a referral to a hat ad hoc committee much similar to what we did in 24 when we first when it was then myself, Dr. Wington and Council Madriggs and we submitted the proposal of the affordable housing funding allocation to full counsel. We do need to review that. But I also have been reaching out to our attorney's office because I I think everyone saw the article about a week or so ago where it identified housing that was considered a affordable workforce housing that was built 2017. We've lost. One of those challenges is because of that escalation clause. So, I would love to work with the attorney's office to look at whether or not we have the ability of an escalation cap that's tied directly to fixed incomes. So, what is how does that play out, colleagues? We have elders that are being priced out of multif family units that we have funded. So yeah, we might have a 15, 30 year, even 99 year affordability level on this development, but for that elder that's only on social security that say receive $1,000 a month, if they have received a reduction in their social security and they've been in a unit for six, seven years, they are now priced out because it's not based off of their 30%. is based off of the area media income which is based off of the MSA so the municipal service areas that says 30% can be up to 26,000 and some change but this individual earns about 12,000 so when we think about the earlier conversation and when I mentioned there are ways for us to flip this whole housing conversation on its head thanks to the manager thanks to Rebecca's leadership Warren and the team conversations have been happening with the county for a while, but now we're having some different type of conversation. So, if we look at city, county, as well as school land by law, they cannot give us land. We have to buy at market rate. But what would it look like if we have land that's adjacent if we build together? And what would it look like if we had a escalation cap with a focus being to tied to fixed incomes, not for those that have the ability and will grow their income. We want you to get to self- sustainability, but if you're on a fixed income, my greatest concern is that if we don't pivot quickly, we are going to see a large number of elders in our community that will be unhoused and who are not able to get into the workforce. That is not the city we want to be. And because we have an amazing philanthropic community and a community that recognizes the value of housing affordability and they supported the 100 million. When the time comes, I'm pretty sure we're going to ask them for another 100 million for them to support that bond because we can actually show them that we were good stewards of that initial dollars. But I think once a month, two and a half hours in committee would not be enough time for us to really address it. So, which is why I'm asking mayor for us to get a referral for ad hoc committee because then we get to dig deep and we get to work directly with the attorney's office to find out what language can we put in our contracts to protect our residents long term because the reality is we're living longer. God rest his soul. We just lost Representative Danley. He was 101 and we just lost him last Friday. So the idea of people only living to their early 70s, late 60s, that's not a reality today. So how do we make sure we protect? So, I wanted to while we had this opportunity to put that out there as well as to let committee members know that we do have a number of conversations coming, but more importantly to me, we have experts coming in that are in the development community that's going to help share with us some of the challenges they're facing. Cuz it's not 25 $30,000 a door anymore. is more like 185 200,000 plus a door to build and construct. So I also met with Kim Barnes with Greater Charlotte Apartment Association. We're only at a 4 and a.5% vacancy rate. So all of this impact. So when we ride around and we say, "Oh, that must be why aren't prices going down?" First thing I love to say, there's actually only a 4 and a.5% vacancy rate out there. So, it's also going to be beneficial for us to have representatives from our apartment association to come and give us a update. So, that while we're looking at this funding policy and seeing if we need to reallocate, this gives us an opportunity to have a real conversation regarding what's on the market right now, what's proposed to come out, and how we fit into that whole conversation. Thank you. >> Sure. One more question and then we're going to move to to Monica. Miss as mayor. >> Yes. >> And I asked her to keep it brief. >> Well, first Rebecca, thank you for your leadership in implementing our innovative ideas. On slide number eight, you talked about all the innovative ideas that we have implemented in past couple of years. And one of the ideas here is Quin City ADUs. And I know that you rolled out a pilot last year and there have been number of applications for that financing. Uh what I would like to see and I think I'm going to amplify this again. I think I've said this couple of times. We need to expedite the pre-approved design templates for ADUs because this is going to save homeowners thousands of dollars. Who wants to build ADUs? might be for young adults in their families or for seniors in their family. I think this is a very innovative way for us to build affordable housing with the 100% private uh sector. So, if you could provide us an update on where we are. I know this is something we've been talking for almost a year uh that we would like to see a pre-approved design template sooner rather than later. Uh that would be great. And also I know that Monica is gonna go next. Uh so this is something you can keep in your pocket so you can address it. Uh I hear from small businesses as well as developers, not just affordable housing developers, but even developers that do not do affordable housing. They have shared that our process to build homes, the permitting process, the UDO process has been it has added not just the cost but time and how do we help contribute in terms of cost savings because ultimately time is money. So how can we help with streamlining because our goal with the UDO was to have some consistency but if it's adding more time to that process how can we make sure that we can eliminate what I have heard from um developers as well as businesses talk about and I shared this with um Mr. Rana uh before he left and he has heard similar feedback from small businesses where now there are there is the county permitting process and the city it has added layer. It used to be just the county and and that has added a level of complexity and the time to sometimes 4 months 6 months and that really adds fr to the frustration and it adds to the housing cost at the end of the day. If you're trying to tackle affordability, we got to make sure that we help reduce the cost of building. So, if you could address those two, that would be great. Thank you. >> Okay, Monica, you're up. >> Yeah. Do you want to answer the question or wait for >> if Yeah, go ahead. >> Okay. >> Just real quick on the permitting while I'm coming up. So, we are actually about uh two months into an assessment of per our permitting process. Um we hired a consultant to help us understand like what's breaking down where and what especially on the side that we can control on the the process that the city um controls which on a single family lot is storm water, urban forestry and zoning. So those three categories to your point are something new to our single family housing developers. And so more to come on that. Uh we actually just are getting preliminary results in the next week or two around what are the points in the system where we can be more efficient. Um we're hyperfocused on it and understand that it it needs improvement and probably additional collaboration between the city and the county. So more to come. Uh but we're very aware and working on it. >> So what's the timeline on that? >> So it's we're working it's a very quick turnaround with our consultant. They kicked off in January and we'll have uh we have a phase one that should be in the next couple of months and then a phase two. So by the end of the summer we'll have public results and uh we'll have some results along the way that we can share. I'll work with the manager's office on what's the best way to make sure that that information is shared. But uh they we did interviews they did interviews with the development community um in January. They did interviews with our staff, with county staff to understand all the different points in the process. So, um, it should be fairly soon. Um, but but we were trying to get ahead of it knowing what we were seeing. Yeah, I think that's great because there is a lot of red tape from what I hear and UDO was supposed to actually streamline all of it and trying to um provide some consistency or to developers and it hasn't done that. So it has only added more red tab and bureaucracy. So I'm glad that the consultant is working on it and we will have some uh implementation recommendations in coming months. Uh it's great to hear if you can also comment on the pre-approved ADU design template and where we are with that. >> Sure. So uh we we are in the process of working those through um the approval. Uh the way I like to think about it is yes, it's taking a long time, but that's time that you multiply that by all the people who don't have to take that time um once it gets approved. So we'll get you an update on exactly when we expect that to happen, but it's moving through the process. >> Yeah. And just >> go ahead. >> Okay. So, uh we are going to pivot. So, I'm the closer. So, closer on mobility, uh and really what I like to call the top of the stool. So, as Rebecca said, uh you have the leg of housing, you have the leg of transportation and jobs. And the top of that stool is our communities and where all of those three come together to build our community. And what is that place? Where do the intersections lie and what do our community members experience as the space that they live, work, and take transportation? So, we have to plan for that, right? We have all the tools in the toolbox, but we have to figure out what tool are we putting in what place and how are we deploying it. And so that's really how we plan for transit. Uh very excited. We have new transit lines that will be built over the next 10 to 15 years. Where are uh where are investments around those transit projects going to occur and how are we going to use all of our tools? So, uh, this slide here is just to say we've we've done this before. So, uh, we start with a big vision. So, it's really great to have Deborah here because she was a part of the that vision last time of how we integrated our transit and land use planning um, in the '9s to create the 2025 integrated vision. Uh, then we moved on to station area principles uh, and station area plans. We did that. We've learned a lot and we're ready to kind of do it again, right? So we have the 2040 plan. Uh that's our umbrella. That's our framework. We have the policy map. We have our area plans we're working on. Now what we need is an a refresh and an update on what are the principles and the guiding policy around those transit station areas. And then what are all the tools that we need to deploy? That's the station area plans. How are we deploying those tools in each transit station area? Oh, oops. Wrong way. How do you do the Is it the Wait, this one. Hello. Okay. So, uh we when when we did this 25, 30, 35 years ago, the conversation was all around transitoriented development, the private investment. What we have learned is we are in a major pivot from just talking about what does it mean to have new private investment and transit oriented development. So key word development, new development. And now what does it mean to have transitoriented communities where we are aligning the transit investment to the existing communities priorities and that we're showing equitable growth and reducing displacement. So we want the transit to benefit the community that is there today. So uh pivoting from transit oriented development transit oriented communities. So what you are going to see is when we talk about this policy, when we talk about the principles, we are going to be intentional to talk about transit oriented communities. So let me go through a couple more of the differences. Uh when you're talking about just kind of traditional TOD, you're really focused on the density, the numbers, how many people are riding the train, what is the private market going to do, uh what are the all the specific projects, development project here, development project there. When we're talking about transit oriented communities, we're talking about what are the outcomes the community wants to see. What are the proactive prevention measures we can put in place? How do we make it about the community with their priorities at the forefront? And how do people have the ability to stay where the transit is located? So, what are transitoriented communities? They have some of the same design principles that we talked about 25 years ago with transit oriented development. You want them to be walkable. You want them to have a mixture of uses. You want them to be accessible where you can get there through a variety of modes. So you can walk there, bike there, um take a scooter there. You want them to have public spaces that benefit everyone. And then now what we're adding is that that development is centered on equity. So, it's not just the physical features, it's also how do we put equity at the center of that so everybody benefits from those principles. So, we're already getting started on this work. Uh we received a couple years ago $400,000 uh through a federal and FTA grant. Um and it was called a TOD grant, but it is to uh look at Silverline transit oriented communities. And with that grant, we uh were very intentional to form a TOC, a transit oriented communities coalition first before deciding the full framework of the project. So they started meeting in 2024. It's a partnership with cats, the city um planning department. We have members from economic development, housing, etc. And it's really to set what are the goals of the development around the silver line and to draft a policy and an implementation strategy around the silver line specifically um for how we want to execute. How do we want development to occur? What are the types of investment we want to see? The coalition actually worked on a vision statement together. So this was co-created with members of the West Boulevard neighborhood coalition. We had partners such as Lisk, Knight Foundation, some East Charlotte stakeholders there too. So it is how do we prepare for a future where every neighborhood benefits from transit investment and we uplift the community. So we want to preserve their stories. We want to celebrate the cultural vibrancy and create equitable pathways to opportunity. So this is the vision statement of the transit oriented communities coalition and something for us to build on for both the silver line and our future lines. So some of the things these are just ideas uh but what we want to continue talking about in this transit oriented community work is how we set goals for our future transit projects. So what are as we move a policy forward what are the anti-displacement strategies? How do we include character and identity of communities in the work? Uh what are how do we make a you know uh council member Mazera Arius talking about the public facing transit oriented community scorecard. How do we have a dashboard that is very deliberate to the community that shows these are the type of investments happening in our transit station area. These are the city investments. These are also private investments and these are programs that are helping the community in each transit station area. And then so we can measure the success. Are we being successful? And then how do we again continue that communitydriven policy? So what's next? And this is just where we're headed. So, lots of great discussion about all the mobility work today, but from a policy standpoint, we really want to use the policy to frame the how and the why and what tool goes where. So, all the work that uh Shaw's doing, Rebecca's doing, the work we're doing around procurement, all those are great tools, projects, programs, ways we can implement. We want this transit oriented community policy to help us frame where we use which tools on all the things that happen around them. Right? And then the next work after that is after we have the principles and the policy in place is we do a specific plan that really dives into the details for each transit station. So every single transit station including the blue line ones is we will go in and do a focus uh deep dive plan as to what are the infrastructure needs, what are the community needs, what are the housing needs and how do we want to deploy all those tools. So hopefully oh we have a couple minutes. This is the end of mine. We had this set up so that you could ask Rebecca and I questions too. So you'll see her kind of next steps on the top and then the transit oriented community's next step here on the bottom. But I think I think we got through it quick enough. >> You did exceptional. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So we can take just a few more few questions. We got about seven minutes. Yes ma'am. >> Thank you. I I really do appreciate um the work that you've put into making all of this accessible to us. Um, an area where I frequently do get inquiry and just don't feel as though I've got enough knowledge to respond intelligently is around um the the support of the airline and particularly American around helping us with some of our mobility challenges particularly visav their employees. I often hear about their employees not having the wherewithal to to get to work and where the silver line would really be be helpful to that. I also see though the advantages and the ways that we can look at creativity from other countries who really nail that traveler experience. I was talking to a gentleman the other day in my office who came up and was speaking I believe coming out of Hong Kong and saying that you know when you get on the rail line you check your bags and those get checked through to I mean it is just a seamless experience and so I appreciate that there are a couple different visions of how that silver line can be most useful both to our workers as well as to people traveling. Can you speak a bit about how we're prioritizing some of of those baby steps and where we may have some milestones that are first and foremost perhaps addressing work needs and then secondarily perhaps building an experience that's better for all travelers. >> Yeah. Uh I mean with the silver lines specifically it's an interesting inflection point because you have the new established MPTA and kind of the work happening with them to finalize like what does the uh where are the specific stations located what does the final design look like? So as the city's role and the work that we'll be doing as part of the policy is really setting up like what are the priority needs. So is it getting to work? Is it uh making sure we're preserving the existing uh character of the community and then making sure our policies align? So taking your example, it is to understand like what which stations is that a bigger issue and so that then when we go to implement policies and programs, we're doing that in alignment to where the need is because we have finite resources, right? So if we need to improve like first mile last mile which is like getting to the station then we understand that and we can prioritize in the station area plan process transportation investments that close that gap. Does that make sense? So, it's really understanding first like where specifically that is a major issue and then trickling that down to inform our funding choices. Council, >> well, we're working in parallel because the silver lines in design right now. >> Council member Mayo, >> quick question. Um, when we I know we talk a lot about the silver line and kind of how that's going to work. C can you talk a little bit about the red line because I know that's kind of happened before the silver line. How are we being thoughtful of um you know how that could impact displacement and things like that? >> Yes. So I I gave the Silverline example, but I want to be really explicit that we just have we got the Silverline grant first. So we got it about 3 years ago before knowing the order in which they were going to be developed. And so we're using now that we know more about the order of the lines, we are using the Silverline TOC um model and project as a way to lay the foundation very much in sync with the rest of the city. So you'll see on my timeline is that we are going um from uh the we're going from the silverline TOC strategy basically almost in parallel into a citywide principle and and policy because we know that the silver line will not be the first line and we want to have principles and policy for for every station in the city and we have an existing blue line. So, we also need to be able to have updated principles and policy that guide our existing transit stations, blue line, gold line, you know, in parallel with the rest. So, we can start putting these this framework in place before the new line opens. the red line specifically. Um we will be working to understand more the dynamics of the red line and the land use around the land the red line in parallel because um it it's skipped line right it's gone from from you know having a little bit of work done on it to now being what we will build next so there's a lot of work to be done on that mayor >> I want to say thank you um for this um review I really hope that as a council that what we will do is be a policy council and that these things that are on this board today, I hope that they will come to the council for a whole and that we're able to have a policy discussion and to actually put something on the shelf that works. And I think that will be a a way to make sure that we continuously look at what's necessary, the silver lining and all of those things. So, I just want to say thank you guys for what you've been doing. But I think really one of the things that I hope that we will do is that we will have a discussion and we'll decide that this is a policy that we want to have and make it in certain for people to come in especially when we talk about the trust area. We don't I mean you know they're going to you're going to do great work but we want to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to participate in it and so that means that we have to do it as a policy I would hope so I hope that's what we will be able to do and I hope my gosh policy fall winter it sounds pretty cool to me so thank you Monica quick >> thank you Monica >> all right JD >> thank you Rebecca and Monica you all said all the buzzwords I like um And I I really appreciate the work that you're doing and especially as we spoke about like how we unite as a council. You know, I might have had my disagreements with uh some of the transportation plan, but it, you know, we the voters voted for it and we got to make it the best we can. Um one of the uh questions I had in terms as the mayor said policy is, you know, how can we focus on the other modes of transportation such as buses, right? and how can we upscale our transit station and buses and you know align these developments in these planning where bus stops are as well ju not just our rail right because as district 5 awaits TBD the Silverline extension right we're going to rely a lot on buses and microtransit right and so I would love to see how we incorporate that >> well I will just put a plug in here is that um other cities around the country are moving to a mode neutral uh decision around uh land use. So for example um Chicago has you know if you're on a high frequency bus uh line that they're considering that equal as if you're on a transit line. So they're applying policy uh you know a transit oriented community policy that is citywide mode neutral. So one of the decisions to the mayor's point one of the decisions that we could make council could make in a policy is to take that approach to have a mode neutral approach meaning that whether it is bus rapid transit or bus or uh commuter rail or light rail you're making this you're making policy that could apply and it could be based on a frequency. So, does it come does the service come every 20 minutes? And that's your definition. So, you can in a policy that gives us that that framework to be able to to set that stage. So, you're really clear about how the decisions are being made and where they impact. >> Yeah. Thank you so much. >> Talking about just that very thing on Thursday in the housing committee. So, tune in. >> I love this. Uh God, you're so good. Um but yeah, so I mean I guess my call to action to my council members, my colleagues at transportation committee and the committee members is you know let's look into m uh mode neutral policy to help frame our um our guiding framework and policies around transit oriented communities. Thank you. >> Period. You're standing between you know that right? >> All right. Well, I'll make a break. Okay. Go ahead. Um Monica, thank you for this vision and thank you for planning ahead. Right. I think often times we think about with blue line extension and some of the lessons that we have learned from blue line is that we don't make the same mistakes as we build out red line or silver line. So especially minimizing displacement. So and and also being intentional about the type of development that we want especially along the transit corridors and transit line. So thank you for planning ahead and thank you for that vision. Actually Allison helped me really think about how this would translate into right because at the end of the day the transit authority will decide where the stations are but at the end of the day we will still have to make decisions on our land use and that's where we can we have where we can make a lot of difference is the land use and how we the type of policies that we put in place today will inherit results maybe in a decade down the road or maybe two decades. So, thank you for that. You >> we did it. All right. Good job. Y'all did a great great great job. So, we're going to take about a 20 minute >> spoil >> and we're going to take a 20-minut break. But the first thing you got to do is take your picture. We we have to memorialize this. You follow the photographer >> and he's gonna show you where the pictures will be taken. >> Follow follow the tall guy. >> Now, gear up cuz I think y'all might go outside. So, it may be a little chilly. >> You didn't bring your jacket. Okay. >> We were moving >> outside. Yep. >> It'll be close. Heat. Heat. La. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Hey, hey hey. Hey everybody, hey Daddy. Heat. Hey, hey hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. All right, I think we got everybody. So, we're going to start on the economic development projects update. And Allison, I think I'm turn it over to you. And they're going to sit, by the way. >> We're gonna sit because we're going to go bounce back and forth a little bit throughout the presentation. So, um, first I want to say thank you. I have some friends in the back over there. Um, so Charlotte Center City Partners, the Knights, Mora Van Allen, um, CRVA. So, just wanted to say thanks. Um, thanks for for joining us today and and supporting us. Um, so a lot has happened. >> Alison, yes. Mic a little closer. >> Sure. any is that any better? Okay. Uh, a lot has happened since um since the retreat last year. Um, I don't even think he's in here. Um, Shaw, is he not in here? Okay, fine. So, okay, we have we have a new hire. We talked about him earlier. Um but you know this is significant also in that um now there is a dedicated resource in the city manager's office and there's a dedicated director for the economic development department um which is great but what it's also done Shaw coming in from over from the county has really um strengthened the collaboration um between the city and the county on um delivering economic development projects. Staff has always been great but it really has been quite renewed having um Shaw in the seat that he's in. Um, so we spent the last year thinking about what does economic development mean for the city. Um, it's really bigger than just one department. Um, and you heard about that a little bit earlier when we were talking about small business um, and a thriving workforce. These are two really big areas um, for the city and you could see that there were a lot of different departments involved in this from economic development to general services, procurement, CBI, workforce development. So, you know, the these are two really important focus areas for the city's economic development. Also, something that we didn't really talk too much about today is really business growth and innovation. Um, I think it's really great that the last year was the strongest um in business recruitment that we've had in decades. And so, which is amazing. Um, and then the last priority is really what we're going to focus on in this presentation today. It's about public private partnerships and how the city works with our partners to deliver great um great projects. Okay. So, um just to go over the agenda, we're going to spend a few minutes celebrating our accomplishments. Um I think we've talked a little bit about how that's important to not always just talk about the work, but also talk about the great things that have happened. I'm going to turn it over to Matt and he's going to give um an overview of the fund. So before we start talking about projects, it's good to know um about the funding, where it comes from, and how it can be used. And then we're going to start talking about actual projects. And I want to uh talk about that for a minute. So we've grouped these projects intentionally. First is we're going to cover city-owned projects. And so I think it's important to recognize when we are the property owner of an asset, we have a certain level of responsibility. Then I'm going to talk about projects in which um there are collaboration with the county because when we can work with the county on advancing mutual goals um I think this is beneficial to all all the residents and then we're going to talk about some general other projects. Um what I want to emphasize is the level of detail in the presentations for each of these projects is not necessarily indicative of the level of priority. It's just where it is in the evaluation process. And so there are going to be some slides or some projects that have multiple slides and there are going to be some projects that are just a bullet point. But what we think is really important is that you're in your strategy session here and we think it's important to be very transparent about all of the conversations that are going on with all these different projects so that you see everything as you start to identify priorities that you have and priorities in different projects. Thank you. Okay, so a couple recent wins. Um, actually, let me start first by saying, um, hospitality and tourism in FY25 had a 1.2 billion dollar annual economic impact on our region. Um, we saw 33 million visitors. Um, one in nine residents are employed in hospitality and over $9 million in direct visitor spending, which is tremendous. So, we had the Spectrum Center um completed some renovations there last fall and uh had a grand reopening of the Spectrum Center in October with 20 events over 30 30 days and more than 325,000 um people visiting Bank of America Stadium. Um last year, um it had $1.1 billion impact um um and the renovations began in 2026. Um but really the impact of those investments that you've made there will further some of the the great advances you've seen like you see the Savannah Bananas in the um upper uh right hand corner. Two soldout games um in June drawing almost 150,000 people. Um we had three concerts with over 175,000 people um attending and so um really excited about that work starting. The convention center um has an annual economic impact of $87 million and has major events like the NCAA um convention. You can see Mayor Lyles there. Um the Mary Kay annual seminar and the American Football Coaches Association. Um I want to mention too that um we also have um some major events. we continue to attract some major sporting events like the PGA Championship um world military games and uh possible bid to host the NBA um all-star weekend. Thank you. Um want to highlight some recent public private partnerships. Of course um we have to talk about the Pearl. It opened in June 2025 as our first innovation district and really made history last fall being the first four-year medical school that Charlotte has. We've got the river district, a huge master plan community. Um, celebrated a major milestone in September with a grand opening. Um, it's a huge public private partnership with the city and the county. And then you have Valentine where we of course are right now. Um, it's a huge destination for business and also residents. Um, the bowl opened in 2024, which is a really cool place to to visit and hang out. Um, and it's really been instrumental these investments in attracting some major high-profile employers like SoFi, Cityroup, DMR, and others. And then, um, I want to talk about some smaller investments that are small in size but huge in impact. Um, of course, the Excelsier. Um in November you approved a plan to fund a historic and transformative and catalytic investment um on Betty's Ford Road. Um do greater a coalition of Charlottebased u corporations and foundations joining forces to complete and activate an innovation lab um uptown. And then Eastland Yards. Um I think we spent a lot of time talking about how important Eastland Yards is for sports and entertainment, for local businesses, um public space and diverse housing. And um we will have a grand opening on Friday for the sports side um which is really exciting. And now um before we get into the projects, as I mentioned, Matt's going to give you an overview of of the different funding buckets, um and considerations, and then we'll start talking about projects. >> Thank you, Alison. Uh, so Matt Hasset, city CFO. Um, appreciate mayor and council for allowing me be here today. I've already been warned once by Deborah to make sure we keep this as quick as possible. So this is a lot of information. So happy to sort of follow up as necessary, but really wanted to try to frame some of the discussion today. So, one of the I think this slide was actually a part of the budget presentation last week and really want to frame here that while we may be talking about a hospitality project or projects we're talking about the city of Charlotte and you know if we're issuing you know capital dollars for anything for debt or anything this is city of Charlotte debt that's funding things like the convention center hall of fame spectrum center so really important to make sure we're we're taking our management AAA practices down to our hospitality investments as well um you know when we're looking at um financing considerations s we we have a couple different times where we we look at our we have uh debt affordability or debt capacity models for all of our funds including our hospitality funds that I'll hit on in just a second. Um but we have a couple of times a year that we update those. So every time we have our financial audit, we update for actuals. Through the budget process, we update for actuals. As market conditions occur throughout the year with raising interest rates or lowering interest rates, we're adopting or adapting the the model to make sure we're reflective of that. And then really when it comes to actually looking at a project itself, we start looking at a couple of these key factors. So what are the actual project cash flows? Um what are the fund balance requirements that that our funds have to make sure that we're maintaining that today and projecting that out to the future? Are there other policy requirements we have? And I'll get to a couple of those in a second. And making sure we're doing this in a way that never jeopardize our rating criteria. That's always one of our our hallmarks that we always want to manage too. So, one of the other things want to sort of highlight, you know, we're talking about sort of the management AAA. We also have the capital hospitality revenue um investment policy. So, this is a council adopted policy back in 2001 and it really set some of the guard rails for how we evaluate these projects going forward. So, we established some of the um financial metrics and policies like fund balance. We always have to maintain at least 100% of the next year's fund balance in those funds because some of these are funded by the hospitality dollars that are more vulnerable to economic shocks than say property tax. So we always want to make sure we always have that. On top of that, we actually have a recession mitigation reserve. So over the last 5 years, we average basically 25% of that and keep that above and beyond our fund balance policy. Again, to make sure that we're never in a position where we have to to have a, you know, momentary call back of of what our capability is. Um, you know, debt structure. We're doing 20-year financings for most of these assets for level uh principal and interest that we're make sure that we're advertising these over the life of the useful asset. So, we're never paying for debt service for something past it useful life. um when we're looking at you know the actual projects we're looking at economic development impact social economic impact all of those types of things are a critical part of when we're evaluating these and then one of the things we also committed to was things like today giving you a projection out from some of the horizon projects. So that's what we're we're doing a part today. And as Allison said, some of these are further along in evaluation, but these are all things to make sure that we're, you know, things pop up that we don't always know about, but we're doing the best we can to kind of lay out what we know dollars that have been asked for the city as best we can. Um, so we do have I'll say, you know, depending how we look at things, three to four buckets for hospitality fund. So, convention center fund is and I do have the the budget amounts and the fund balance amounts and I get to those in a second, but wanted to sort of show the the scale and scope of some of these funds because these are pretty big dollars that are coming in with the prepared food and beverage tax and the hotel motel tax for occupancy. So, the convention center fund can be used on the convention center for operations and capital improvements, amateur sports, and stadiums over 60,000 seats, which is essentially Bank of America Stadium. um tourism one and tourism 2. So those are actually combined within the budget book, our financial statements and actually within the council's policy for the hospitality investment policy and that is just based on how some of those revenues work. Sometimes some of those are transfer so we have to sort of combine those. We're looking at those but the tourism one is where we've traditionally done things like the spectrum center and some of our special events. Tourism 2 is where we've done primarily the cultural arts campus like the Begler, the mint, the Harvey BG gant center. So, some of those historical projects and then the hall of fame is a dedicated fund for just the hall of fame improvements, the parking deck and the crown ballroom. Um, so we did I did have the fund balance numbers there just to to show a scale of sort of where those funds sit. I I do think it's always important to to make sure we we talk about we talk about fund balance does not equal capacity. It does not equal affordability. Most of these funds are sort of built up over a period of time and then they're programmed to be spent out over a period of time. So, you know, convention center is a great example of that. We have 166 million. We also have a $650 million commitment to Bank of America stadium improvements. So, this is making sure that this is where it is today. We anticipate revenues going up over a period of time and debt service coming on over a period of time. And that's all factored into how we have the plan of finance. Um and then I did want to give a little bit of a historic use since we have some new council members and just sort of uh an idea of sort of some of the the projects we've done within these funds. So you know um obviously within the convent center we have the convention center the Eastland Yard amateur sports as a part of that. And one of the things I think is also interesting here is you can actually see that many projects can sometimes fit in two buckets. So Eastland Yard's a great example of that is we have amateur sports component and a general CIP component. So you often have some of those. Uh the Bow Plex is an example of that. We've made historic investments into the Bojangles Coliseum and Ovens. That's a city-owned facility. We also had some identified funding um back when we did the connector facility that addressing the ADA and other issues that we had there that was a part of the general CIP. Um you can sort of see that and one thing I think is also kind of indicative here is that the tourism one and tourism 2 bucket are probably the most uh available sources of funding and it's also the most used source of funding for a lot of these projects. So that that tends to be a recurring pattern because convention center of Hall of Fame have much more narrowly defined uses that it sort of sometimes isolates those from some some of the asks there. And then when we're looking at specific projects, you know, when we're looking at, you know, we always want to make sure we're staying with statutory compliance and, you know, appreciation to our hospitality and uh tourism partners that help us extends um say the prepared food and beverage tax a couple years ago. That's what allowed us to to go after some of the improvements at Bank of America Stadium. So, always making sure we stay statutory compliant. We're making sure we're staying within the city council adopted um investment policies. And then a couple of the the really big things are project eligibility. So what fund can it be used whether it's a hospitality fund or the general CIP potentially but I say two of the absolute most important things when we're looking at capacity affordability or what's the timing of the cash flow the how much and when drives really everything um and then how are the funds going to be used in ownership so I'll say for example when we're looking at some of the bigger projects like spectrum center or bank America stadium improvements us uh finance economic development the attorney's office general service all worked very closely identify how much funding can go out the door in any given year and how that fits into our plan of finance and it was also critical on how is our money being used. You know, if we're looking at, you know, capital investments, we if we're going to finance something over a period of time, we have to own an asset to capitalize over a period of time. If we're using cash for something that is a completely different thing than if it's going to be an owned asset by the city and that maybe may be leased back to a third party to use but we still maintain ownership rights and a security interest in it. So those are some of the biggest things because it can be anywhere from you know X dollars in year one to 10fold if we can wait 5 years for affordability. So, it really matters on when and how our money is going to be used to really even start looking at affordability or capacity with any of these these models. And I'll turn it over to Allison to talk about some of the the projects that we know. Do you want me to flip or >> Yeah, sure. Yeah, that' be great. Thank you. Okay. Um, so we're going into the cityowned bucket first. Um, so I'm going to start with um BLEX. So, um, this past year they had, uh, record impact, almost 61 million dollars, um, hosting 311 events this year. Um, some of these have been the checkers, music and comedy performances. Um, the H.B.CU postseason college basketball tournament, high school graduations, um, this spring, the Crown will debut. Um, and then it was funny. I was reviewing the slides this morning and sometimes you think your phone's listening to you and like right as I got to the slide it popped up and be like battle of the bands is coming to 20 coming here in 2026. So that's another one. Um, so since 2015 we have invested um $34 million um in two different phases. These included um new seating, improved hospitality space and public art. Um and so there's just been a lot going on there. Next one. So, um, bringing this to you, uh, today, um, we've we've seen some critical needs, um, at BLEX. So, we've got outdated mechanical systems that are as much as 70 years old. Um, and it's raising the risk of a disruption in operations and as I mentioned, all the number of activities that are planned, um, that can be quite disruptable disruptible. Um so um really what's needed um fairly immediately is HVAC upgrades um about $23 million. Um I think it's important to do an MEP assessment um about $2 million for a total estimated um of 25 million. So that includes um two chillers at ovens, six air handlers at Bojangles um and others. So um this is moving a little bit um on an accelerated time timeline um because these needs are so critical. The installation is is critical to manage that around all of the different events that um that that's planned at BLEX. There's also equipment demand. Um so um data centers are are um are competing for this type of equipment too. And so really wanting to make sure that we're maintaining this July 2026 installation schedule. Um we would need to order the stuff by the end of March. Um and if we don't, then we're really running the risk of not being able to do an install until July 2027. And so what staff is proposing um to maintain this schedule um is to bring this item to um ED committee on Thursday. Um, so we'll have a detailed discussion and vote um to um about whether or not to move this forward to full counsel and if so then it would move to the March 23rd um meeting for for full counsel's vote. Um there would be at a later date an approval of de debt issuance, but that is not a factor in actually getting things moving and being able to to um order the equipment. >> Uh excuse me. Can I interrupt for just one minute? We have a request from council member as mayor. >> Can you go back to a previous slide on BLAS? >> Yes. So this was in the news recently. I saw that they had to cancel or because of disruption where water was leaking and the roof had to be replaced. So would any of this capital improvement would address that? >> So general services at the same time they're evaluating this work with CRBA. They're also looking at some of the roof repairs that may be needed. So that is an active investigation ongoing. >> Got it. I I I think we need to address that. I it's embarrassing where >> Yeah. And we can take a deeper dive um in committee as well on on Thursday to talk about that. >> Yeah. And this this is from what bucket is this from? >> Uh we'll be looking at the tourism bucket for this one. >> Tourism one or two? >> Tourism one. >> One. But you know from from a policy perspective it is a one fund but would be primarily looking at the tourism one bucket >> but it could be funded from tourism 2. >> Yes. >> Okay. So tourism 2 is just based on the city policy where tourism one is based on the state law. >> So is it may you go >> yeah go back to the slide where is tourism one and two. I was just looking at the capacity to see I know there are critical needs that will come not just for this facility there would be something else but I just think that when you have a game that is being interrupted where literally people are having to move to watch the game somewhere else or the team cannot play I mean that is a critical repair. >> Yeah. So tourism one has more which a traditional hospitality revenue being the the occupancy tax and the rental car tax and the tourism 2 is has a stig a tax increment grant from um the cultural arts campus and then um a po transfer. So from a capacity point of view when we look at affordability or capacity on one of these types of projects especially a city-owned project we're we're going to sort of look at the entire tourism bucket. So we'd be looking at both tourism one and tourism 2 to make sure we're addressing the city needs from a city facility first before it' be going to anything else. So it is a city council policy for the how the tourism 2 is funded. Um and that goes back to an interlocal agreement that we had with the county when we originally did the cultural arts campus. >> So to follow up on that this $94.8 $8 million. Obviously that it's going to evolve based on the collection tax collection and based on how we are doing in terms of our debt projections. Um but this 94.8 million is current capacity where we can issue that on >> that is the current fund balance that is not capacity now. >> Okay. So that's >> I was going to maybe save this towards the end, but just from from maybe setting some expectation as far as what some of our capacity numbers are. This are outside of Pacific projects, outside of timing because if we look at say starting in FY27, if we and then sort of if we did nothing over the next couple of years like and today for the tourism combined capacity with T1 and T2, we'd probably be looking at about 45 to 50 million of affordability. If we were to wait out until 2032 before we did anything, it would jump up to 130 plus million dollars because some of the old arena debt starts to roll off at that time. So that's where sort of the timing has a critical time function of what our affordability is and where the cash flows of a specific project would need. But if we're looking at sort of today probably in that and this is sort of a capital finance not cash contribution. So that's where all we have to really understand exactly what our money is sort of going into whether it's a the Bojangles ovens project or any of the other demands that we may have on the tourism project. >> Okay. So obviously we always look at the capacity when we're doing the capital planning right just like we do with our general fund. So in this case when you have 94.8 8 million currently in fund balance, but the capacity is only 40 million >> cuz we still have uh for example that past the spectrum center debt hasn't fully been brought on because we're just finishing the sort of ribbon cutting for that and sort of the timing of that. So it is so that's a you know a really big part of this is where we have had commitments that we have already made or factored in and as those come in over time we want to make sure that those are always prioritized first to maintain our our bond rating those >> that that's helpful. Thank you ma >> city manager. >> Yeah and and so we apologize to Matt. Um we got had a tough go at go at it last year because we didn't put that number in. So Matt put the number in, but as you said last year, it's extremely complicated and it's not the number. >> Exactly. >> I think we need to look at the capacity. We need to look always look at the capacity cuz that's the correct number for us to plan off of just like we do with our general funds capital plan because that just looks like a lot of money but it's not. And when you have new debt, I mean we have to pay debt >> and with the the the challenging part is with capacity. Until we know what a specific timeline of a project is, capacity is almost impossible to project. Um, so that that becomes kind of it's the chicken or the egg type of a thing where you know we really dive into with economic development and general service to see exactly how the timing of the funds are needed cuz that you know when we're looking at Spectrum Center it could have been anything from 100 million to 500 million if you know Horus and Sports Entertainment may have waited an extra four years for but you know it's it's that balance between sort of those things that really drives how much we can do and also how the money itself is going to be used. >> So are these teams not providing a project schedule for each one of this uh project that's been approved by the council >> before it go and before it gets approved by council we always have that. So that's a lot of what myself and Kathleen for example have been doing with you know Steve Bland is really trying to iron out exactly what the cash flow needs are of this project and and for some of the other projects that we're talking about. That's why they're only to hear now is that but until we actually get that specific timeline, we we won't bring it to you because we have to make sure we could afford something before we bring it to you. >> Got it. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um just very quickly, I wanted to say Miss Amir, it wasn't just one event. It was actually two events um that had that was affected by water leaking through the roof. it was a checkers game as well as the US curling event um that was impacted and this is compounded for bowlex as well because the HVAC MEP work is really the most pressing um issue that they have and it and it is potentially hurting them from attracting other events. Last year there was a a new MMA event that has said they want to come back this year, but the HVAC issues were uh critical in them making that decision. It just so happened that the roof was something that happened due to extreme weather. So this is a compounded issue with the Bowlex. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And I just want to add to it and I know we're stuck with time but you know um client who wanted to move uh move an event to Charlotte uh the the building gets used uh as you saw the numbers um constantly right uh and it's a great class B plus building for the city uh and joining to spectrum center and so the work that they're are requesting is really really needed u because it's it's a the building is literally used weekly uh for a wide variety of events. Literally used weekly uh for a wide variety of events. It hosts our our minor league soccer team uh and only has one bay for for deliveries, right, Steve? Uh it only has one bay. So, >> yeah. So, it it it really does deserve the attention of the council. And again, uh, Council Member Mitchell now is leading the ED committee, but we've been talking about this behind the scenes, the economic development committee for the last two years. Uh, and so it's now advanced to this point. So, it's just not like it's a new item. It's something that we've been researching and studying and understanding the needs of the building um, for a while now. And obviously the the leakage is just yet another example of why we should pay extra attention to this asset because it's a it's a valuable asset that the city really really needs u to be online all the time and and certainly we don't want to be on the news for a leaking roof. So I think I I think this is really something that is a a priority uh for the council and I'm glad to see the accelerated um timeline for consideration. >> Move to approve. I agree with that, Mr. Triggs. >> Um, >> I I you know, I just want to echo what all my council members are saying. I I I think it's great that we're, you know, uh, fast-pacing this. I think it's very critical, especially at in May. We're going to put online the crown uh the new um, um, minor uh, WNBA team. And so, it's going to be home to them. And so we want to make sure that it is up to date and is attracting the visitors that need to be attracted uh to the city and to the coliseum. And also to point out that this lives um in East Charlotte on in District 1 um where it is one of the very few venues, community spaces available to black and brown communities, right? and the need to have this space open um in in that side of town is and operational and and functioning is very crucial. And I also want to take a point of personal privilege to just congratulate and applaud Steve Bagwell and Sean Heath from the Checkers for you know they had that leak and then the next day on President's Day they were able to you know pack the house again um with a quick turnaround time and limited resources and supplies. So, thank you Sean and the whole team for doing what you're doing. I mean, Steve, >> back to presentation. >> All right. Thank you. Um, it looks like we'll have a lively discussion and a great one on Thursday. So, thank you. Got a little little uh preview there. >> Good for >> um Yeah. Okay. So, Charlotte Gateway Station. So, this of course is um a multimodal um facility with private development. It's pretty exciting because you're talking about local bus, Amtrak Greyhound um the gold line, the red line, and the silver line. So, having all of that um all together with private development is a pretty um important and transformative project um for Charlotte. There's a lot of partners involved and I think this one is particularly important. We talked a little bit about the transition yesterday that we've got a new partner at the table and so um really wanting to to work through that new partnership as part of um as part of this project. So um we've been um looking at this staff has been working on it. We've been um looking at different um site um site development options with really leaning forward that there's a priority in delivering the Amtrak station by 2030. We've also been um talking about real estate trends. things are really improving um in that space particularly with office and so what does that look like with the private developer for um for phasing and what could come online first. So still not ready for council to come yet. We're still working through this but it will come before you um soon. Um Discovery Place. So um of course this is a city asset. Um it is showing its age. Um the flagship is the facility that's uptown but there's four different spaces. Um, the Uptown location opened in, uh, 1981. The last major renovations occurred in 2011, and it really just doesn't have the ability to adapt and morph that science museums um, built today have. It is one of the most visited um, hands-on science museums in the country and also serves as an important extension of our STEM education. Um so it's really um a facility that's not about looking forward. It's about like what's happening today? What can we teach about technologies in the future? And it's really because of its space is not able to um sort of flex and be able to be um innovative with with trends. And so wanting to talk through what that looks like. So not just so at at the retreat last year we talked about three different options about the future of Discovery Place. you continue at the current location and maybe potentially put an aquarium um out at another location. There was another option to um to to move Discovery Place to a new location and use the Uptown um site for something else or it um there is an option to redevelop Discovery Place with mixeduse um development opportunities. So since so since since then we are now we've hired a consultant um a local consultant as well as a cultural resource consultant to work with the city to do some preliminary work on benchmarking evaluating our options and starting to look at cost analysis and considerations. Um again we're still in the early phases of this. Um uh the next slide I'll show you a little bit of key sort of benchmarking from the assessment but this is scheduled to go to ED committee um later this spring. So some of just a highlight of some of the initial um benchmarking results from the consultant is that of course the urban location limits um traditional growth. I mean it we've done the assessment you can't go up of course you can't go down and then really going horizontally is not really possible either. So expansion is is quite limited. Um maintaining economic accessibility um places demands on revenue replacement. One of the great things about Discovery Place is that they offer programs um and reduce ticket prices for those that are in need um which is a tremendous thing and attracts a lot of of visitors for that reason. But we've also found in looking at some of the other similar museums that the ticket prices are higher than than what Discovery Place charges and so trying to balance being competitive while also being accessible to everyone is is important. Um, sorry. No, keep um so the multi-sight idea um is a great opportunity because you could start to um have a greater footprint, have different um options for different um ideas and different experiences for the visitors. However, it does um provide a higher maintenance to revenue ratio than just the efficiency of a single site. So really um wanting to recognize that um the aquatics exhibit are are exciting. There's a lot of demand for aquarium facilities and there's a lot of interest but it is a a big commitment. It's a 247 commitment because this requires um you can't really adapt this building because of of load requirements. There are some additional needs in terms of the the chemistry and creating the seawater for um the health of the animals. And so it's a a pretty big commitment that is um is not an insignificant operational cost. And finally, I mean, unlike or like many cultural facilities and other uh projects, it financial stability requires corporate philanthropic um and civic support to really be successful. >> Okay, before we transition, we've got some questions. >> Are you through with discovery, please? >> Let me have one more real quick. Um so again, this is coming to committee in the spring. Um, we will talk through where we are with the consultant and really one of the most important things is to start to really test what these different considerations look like of options and even more importantly how much they're going to cost and what type of partnership would be necessary to make them successful. Though >> just a quick question one, we just invested last year in some maintenance at Discovery Place. Correct. >> We did. >> Okay. And secondly, they still have an outstanding obligation to the county for a project they hadn't delivered on as of yet. Is that correct? >> I believe so. I'm may I need to phone a friend with that one. >> Okay. Just just checking. >> Okay. Yes, ma'am. >> I'm sorry. Just to follow up on his question. >> How much was the last investment we made? >> I don't have those numbers on hand. Do you have them? >> We can get that back. we can give that information as a followup. So, this was another one um that I actually visited um uptown and and you're right that their operations is uh very very intricate um and they're running out of space, but they also feel like they're being left behind um in that uptown Tryion corridor because so many other buildings have been touched with the new library and the Carolina Theater. And you know, it's it's a highly utilized building, but the facade and and in and a variety of of challenges they have that they need investment. And so this is really one that I'm looking forward to discussing in committee um because they have some specific ask um but at the same time it is something that drives traffic especially for the youth uptown in an equitable manner. So look forward to the comm the committee discussion. >> Miss Mayfield and then Miss Mayo. >> Thank you. I'm also looking forward to us having this discussion in committee. I would love to get a little bit what you're going to bring it towards a little bit more detail on these considerations. I personally would love to see Discovery Place stay up town. that is a major asset when you look at what has been invested in the Carolina Theater which is skyrocketing with events and programming but to have it where it's located is a major asset in Uptown. So if there's consideration of moving then also looking at transportation what will parking look like how far out we're talking about is it feasible to have the two separate pieces. So you think about that what is it the bloom that was created in the old site how that I don't know what the update on that is I don't know if that falls under any of our categories of hospitality and tourism the last thing that I remember is when we had the exhibit for the space exhibit that we had and that's been what two years now but I'm definitely excited to see how we can make the investment, but it'll also be helpful for me to get an understanding and I think for all of council to get an understanding of when we're looking at these assets that we have outside of having consultants coming in, what is our tracking plan? Because we know investments are being made and for some it may feel like other facilities were fasttracked. So, are we looking at year of initial introduction into the city? How are we tracking? And if we're looking at dollars that we've already invested, making sure we're keeping a balance so that it doesn't appear that we're putting other assets before like it has a higher tier as far as attraction. when Discovery Place was able to hold host the Marvel exhib ex exhibit that was a major revenue driver but more importantly that brought a lot of eyes from across the nation into the city. So when you look at Blumenthal, you look at all the things that's bringing people in. I would just love for us to be able to really have a conversation that provides all the answers to the questions so that we're looking at not only the financial commitment but also, for lack of a better word, the legacy commitment to ensure that we maintain the support we need for those pieces of Charlotte that have been here versus uh energy or desire for all things new and shiny. >> Good deal. Uh, Council Member Mayo and then the mayor. >> Thank you. When this comes to committee, can we just make sure that we have like some of the numbers? I I'd really like to go through that. So, seeing like how much how many usage, how many of the schools are going there, Title One verse, you know, like really to see think through like how is this impacting people in Charlotte, how many tourism dollars is it bringing, things like that, I think would help tell the whole story. right now. I've been to the Discovery Place, but it's been a while when I was a teacher. So, just thinking through um kind of that funding model and with the aquarium, would we vote on that? Is that something? Yeah, because I just I'm I'm curious about the appetite of council for something like that. >> Yeah. I mean, this again is just a quick little overview of >> Sorry. So, this is just a quick overview of everything that's out there on the horizon and that everything that would ultimately be council action will go to committee first for a deep dive. It'll go to full counsel and we'll make sure everyone has all the information they need to make really important financial and and community decisions. And so, yes, we will have all that information whenever we bring anything forward. This is just as I was saying earlier there there's a lot of projects on here and they're all at different levels of evaluation and so the information is varied but it's not intended to give you everything to make a decision on it today. >> It's not intended to give you everything but it's also intended to be full disclosure transparent about everything. >> These are things that potentially may be coming and and staff is working on. mayor. And then >> I I just wanted to ask if the um discovery place at the park, is it fun? Is it completed as well? It's under construction right now. The nature museum. >> Yeah, the nature museum. I just wondered about >> Okay. >> Um city manager, did you want to chime in? >> Okay. >> All right. Yes, ma'am. >> Yep. Um, I did just want to lift up Discovery Place in terms of its role as being one of the top 10 science museums um, in the US. And I know some of you had mentioned being there or not having been in a while, but uh, certainly there's opportunity to go there, whether it's their IMAX programs or whether it's the exhibitions that come through. We get national exhibitions through Discovery Place. And given where it is and the fact that we've got the two blocks, I think this is an incredible opportunity to invest there. um not only from a standpoint of education in um like K12, but as we start to think about how we want to target STEM careers and what does that through line look like from the classroom through our university system and partnering with some of our um private sector institutions here that are that are very STEM focused and STEM forward. Um I think we have an opportunity here especially as one of our universities is now a research one. we have an incredible opportunity to leverage Discovery Place as a u as a think tank, as a lab, and as a partner um as we look to continue to be on the leading edge of uh STEM programming and STEM careers and industries in the region. So, I just wanted to put that in the room that it's not just for me, it's not just about Discovery Place as a as um a field trip destination, but it's about how do we leverage Discovery Place as an incubator for talent and for industry. Good job, Miss Edge Bear. >> You got them. Okay. >> I I agree with Dr. Watlington. You know, when you look at things to do for young children, this is one of the very few facilities that provide programming for young children. I've taken my children couple of times when they especially had dinosaur exhibit. Um and it was really cool and kids got to see um learn about signs because we were there might as well see everything. So it really gives opportunities for young children uh and and I also know I have connected lot of teenagers with their internships there which uh helps them with career readiness as well as four-year college. So um when you look at Discovery Place, we have to look at it from different angle. It's not going to meet the same ROI as Bojangles or or the Bank of America stadiums. This is truly an asset for children young enough to enjoy this facilities and we don't have as many in the city of Charlotte. So when we're talking about spaces like aquarium, you know, we are one of very few cities where we do not have aquarium. So that certainly I think we need to look at it from that angle like Dr. Watlington said from education from career readiness from workforce development perspective and amenities where we can truly provide programming for young children. Ju just sir >> programmatically everybody's correct. Everybody's correct. I served on the board of Discovery Place. I take my kids my grandkids down right to Discovery Place. We go to Discovery Place uh annexation in Huntersville, right? What I'm saying is that there's there's a business case too, right? And I think that so when you when the committee does a deep dive into not only the programmatic aspects of of the delivery of the of the services for sure then there's the business case right in terms of whether or not u they can meet us a third of the way right uh or or half of the way financially right I think that's really important too that's the numbers uh I think is for me is really important how and help me help you. >> Sure. >> Right. I think that that's where I'm at. Help me help you because programmatically and all the things Dr. Wallington said is spot on. Uh it's is just the business case now and and the relationship with others and and and their ability to deliver um as partners. I think that's really important too. Not saying that they can't. I'm just saying that that's something that hopefully council member Mitchell will will do a deep dive on as well. >> Yeah. And it's an investment but also it's our property too. So we we own the asset um and the land and so there is you know we do need to to look at all of those things too but yes just as a reminder. >> Okay. All right. Continue presentation. >> I just wanted follow up. I'm sorry. So this is our facility, right? We can't expect a private partner to go ahead and fund raise for our own facility that we are we are supposed to be responsible for owning and maintening. >> Um that's >> and I agree with council member Edgeir and I your point is taken council member Graham. I think the for me beyond just the programming at Discovery Place, this is a catalytic project in my opinion for what can go on on the north side of our uptown city. Like there there's something that we we have more land than we typically have when we're trying to create a um when we're trying to create a place um that I think can be critical for tourism, critical for business, critical for uh housing. And I think it's it's all of those pieces together. It's not just Discovery Place itself. >> And and I think it's more about having some performance objectives commensurate with the service that is provided. That that should be fair, right? >> And the timelines, >> right? And timelines. Okay. >> Yeah, that was more to come on Discovery Place. >> All right. We're moving on to >> I need some help from the back. My clicker doesn't seem to be going for me at the moment. Could we get some help? Okay, you got it. >> All right, one more. >> Okay, so we're moving from um from projects where the city owns the land to um to projects in which we um are are soon to be or are having conversations with the county. I'll start with um truest field. So um of course this is um the Knights lease land from Menberg County um and DBH purchased the Knights in 2024. I know we've got um Dan in the back here. Um they've already invested u $4 million to upgrade the scorecards and video screens. Um and now looking to upgrade the stadium to attract new events and offer new amenities. So the total request um so this is one in which as I mentioned we have different varying levels of information. At this point what we have in front of us is that the total request is $40 million from the city specifically um is 2.6 6 million each year for five years. Um we are working on this right now. Again, I'm I mentioned that the city and the county meet regularly to talk about um you know evaluating projects um talking about priorities and how we can work together and help one another. And so I'd say this is in that space of staff is still evaluating, but we know that this is an important asset um for the city. There's a lot of things that happen at this field. Um I take my kids to the Light of the Nights Winter Festival um frequently and they're a big fan of course ice hockey. So there's a lot of stuff going on um at Truisfield and again this is one that will come to committee um soon after the city and the county have worked a little bit more. >> All right, Charlotte Ballet. Um excuse me, Alison got got a question. Sorry about that. You thought you were going to get away with it. I know. I know. >> Alison, just prepare to answer after each slot. Staff, can we go back? >> We might be here all night. >> That's what the retreat is for. So, I'm just if staff can go back, I'm trying to just and memory could be not I could be creating it in my own mind. So, I'm looking at this fun proposal. They're >> proposing an amount. They're asking potentially the city for the same amount they're proposing and also asking the county which that will have government giving you double the amount. But I correct me if I'm wrong. We were having a conversation about major league, but we have it will be helpful to know how many requests for to get everybody up to date, how much we have already invested in this minor league and what is the capacity and are we still having conversations about the major league coming here or are we looking at putting the focus on this minor league? These numbers are a little concerning for me. Again, when you look at the totality of government dollars in comparison to their investment, but we once had a conversation about the major leagues. So where we and you don't have to give the answer right now but before this comes before committee and full counsel it will be helpful to know where we are in those conversations major minor how much have we already invested what would this look like if we are able in the next two years to have a serious major league conversation if we have all these commitments out here for the minor >> we will get that get that information to you Okay, keep going. >> Okay, going on to the ballet. So, um, so, uh, looking for they're looking to expand the Charlotte Ballet. This is, uh, really in line with the North Tryan vision plan. Um, and some of the things that they're wanting to do is a $60 million expansion. It includes new dance studios, multi-purpose spaces, artist housing, affordable housing, wellness space. Um and that renovated blackbox theater is really um an important affordable community um asset. So this is one in which um we've had just very preliminary conversations. The ask of the city is $6 million over the course of two years. Um really haven't had a detailed conversation with the county. So city and the county staff um haven't really had um direct conversations about this just yet. But again, this is a part of our regular ongoing cadence with the county where we talk about things that have come across our our plates, what staff is evaluating. And so again, this is one in which um not a lot of information just yet to provide to you, but again, commit to having way more details before this is brought ultimately to committee. But I think it's a really a great opportunity. Um I've met with the ballet, toured the space. Um, and I think one of the things that they are aiming to do here, um, it's pretty transformative and we'll have more information later. >> Okay, we've got, um, council member mail and then >> my question >> about like artist housing, would we be following our traditional like housing trust fund dollar policy for that with the breakdown that we currently have? So, if we were to give them any type of money for housing, are we going to have to align that with housing trust fund? And would it be open to everyone, not just their artists? >> I think that's still a TBD. Um, we have really haven't gotten that far yet with the evaluation of this. So, again, like I know we don't have a lot of details about all the different projects right now. This is again just trying to be really transparent about the things that have crossed our desk. And I I just want to maybe sort of add that, you know, one of the things I think we've heard over time is m making it clear all the things that are coming to the city that the asks are these are asks. These aren't recommendations. These are just trying to make sure we're communicating this is an ask of the city and part of the strategy session here is to get feedback on is that something that you're interested in or that's just a hard pass and then we can focus on all the other ass that's one thing I just wanted to maybe add to to the discussion here. >> Yep. >> I would appreciate. Yeah. >> Yes. Miss Ameara and then Okay. >> Mr. GR. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, they aren't asking for any money for housing and I think Bank of America and again a lot of this stuff is carryover work from from the from the other committee. So, yeah, but not from the funds that they're receing from the city. I think they've already done that independent of the city. And this is for the the the building of the facility itself. The housing portion has already already been >> identified sources forward. So a lot of this is carryover work, right? That's why I'm so engaged because the these conversations that at least with me and others for about a year and a half, two years, right? So but this is a great project and I'll leave it at that. And they're doing the housing separately. There just needs support for for the structure itself. It's a transformative project near the Hal Marshall Center. Uh, and there may be an opportunity if that project goes with the housing to really go across the street also with future development opportunities. Right. So, it's a it's a good project. >> Yeah. I have >> Okay, Miss X Mayor and again, Debbie Downer, time check. Uh we're going to we're going to be close to 4:30 and you all know your major thing in terms of a product and a deliverable is your priorities and I know that's going to take a bit of time to discuss. So I just want to um make you all cognizant of that. >> Yes ma'am. >> Is this funding proposal is is this all dollars that's been committed so far? >> No, this is not >> the city is not committed. No, no, no. I know. Not our commitment, but I'm talking about the individual donations, corporate foundations. It's already been committed. These are committed dollars. >> That's their goal. So, they're in an active fundraising place right now. >> Okay. Okay. And also in Charlotte for Charlotte Ballet, if you could include how they are engaging uh under reppresented communities, if you can include that and what are they doing to uh do outreach in corridors of opportunities as well as um engaging youth >> all right? Yep. >> Okay. >> Keep going. >> Okay. >> Presentation. >> Are we good? >> Yes. Okay. All right. So, now we're to the bulleted section. So, this is where >> all we have um is just I'm going to have a few talking points um about each one of these things that are on the list. But again, this is all um these are preliminary conversations or maybe even some things we've seen in the news and we haven't had active conversations. um with the entity. But again, wanting to make sure that that we are putting on the table anything that you've had conversations about or that we've heard about. Just wanting to put everything out there on the table that could come because as you can see there's a lot of projects. Um there's not as much money to fund all these projects as as we would like. And so at some point, not today, at some point we will be uh needing to make some um needing to address and identify what your priorities are. So the Mint Museum, so um just a brief conversation, there's of course the Uptown campus and the Randolph Road um location. The Randolph Road location, um it's been there for 45 years. It has deed restrictions that um can limit some future expansion. the Uptown campus um has a library that they really just don't have full access to be able to display. And so what is the future of the Mint Museum both uptown and look like um we mentioned the BLEX earlier and just wanted to again flag it here is that there may be some other critical capital investments that are needed and one in and then one other potential that is probably coming nearer that I'm sure Steve will be happy that I'm mentioning is the parking. So, Park Expo, I know that that's been something that you've heard about that the there may be some parking challenges and so staff is currently evaluating that that will come sooner than later to council committee. We've got the convention center. Um, the most recent expansion renovation occurred in 2021. Um, so really thinking about what's needed at the convention center and adjacent to the convention center to make sure that it remains competitive. Um, of course, tennis. I know we've got some tennis fans in the room, um, here. There have been some preliminary conversations about re-engaging that. What does that look like for Charlotte? How can we, um, have a tennis hub here to lure um, amateur and collegiate tournaments, but also be an important um, civic and community use. Um, there's been some talk about a practice facility for the Checkers. um and having a youth ice rink um at Eastland. So, that's something that is something that we have heard of. We um haven't really been um we haven't gotten into the details yet, but again, mentioning it. Last year, there were a couple um mentions of the football stadium and the aquatic center for UNC Charlotte. Um we are in constant communication with our our partners at Charlotte. This is not a um a current ask at this time. Um so um not something that we are working on. There are special events um I think we all uh are aware that the World Military Games um are coming next year. That's um a really big deal for Charlotte. What does that ultimately look like? Is there an ask of the city? And then I have to mention too that there are maintenance uh maintenance of our facilities that come that may not always be expected but but come at times that then you know will need funding. And then lastly um the second category of other just recognizing that uh we've you know you all invested in um the five points mixeduse project in terms of housing but there may be an ask um there you know going forward for um from economic development. There's office conversions um that are are being discussed at times. That's also really important to um to the vitality of of Uptown to invest in those as it seems appropriate and bringing those um as as they see fit. And then last slide is Matt taking it home for us. >> All right. Um so this is um trying to put a little bit of a sort of summary of a lot of the the projects we looked at and I'll sort of say that this is high level some of the bigger major capital asks. Um, I think a couple of the the takeaways here that I want to maybe just highlight are, um, I think you kind of see that the tourism one and tourism two bucket is probably outweighed again and hall of fame's not even up there, you know, just for, you know, you know, context again. And then one of the other things sort of the the how and when our money is used is a critical part of this. For example, you can see I'll use the the practice facility for hockey could fit in maybe all three buckets. If it's amateur sports, that unlocks the convention center fund. it's traditional tourism, maybe it's in tourism, maybe there's roadway improvements or other capital infrastructure that need to go around something. So maybe it ties into some of our street projects that we're already doing that make sense. So the how and when makes such a big difference because it unlocks other buckets. So for example, if we could tap into convent fund, that makes that type of project a lot more available and then also allows us to use the tourism one and tourism 2 bucket for some other things. Um, so you know that's you know I you know the tennis complex I you honestly even ran out of room in the tourism one tourism two I could have put it in that bucket very easily too. So it it really ties into sort of how what money we're using and what bucket we can get it into and maybe spread between multiple buckets to sort of maximize our investment. So this is just a little bit of an attempt to sort of show some of the the different ways these could happen. But until we get the details of the project and we know what our money is going to cuz our city attorney obviously wants to make sure that if we're using money on something, it's within the statute that we're allowed to do it and we're getting something concrete and defendable that this is what we're getting back in return for our investment whether that's activity days or performance measures or all of those types of things. >> Okay, so we got a couple of questions but I got to go to Miss Mayfield. She raised her hand uh first. >> Thank you. Thank you for this presentation and giving us a snapshot of what will be coming. I think it'll definitely be helpful for all of us to know where we are financially. I'm also when I look at the other projects and the breakdown again my memory could be subjective because I believe when we first started the conversation regarding whether or not we were looking at funding the water facility at UNC there was a lot of questions of trying to understand why that will fall into our category but I think it will also be helpful if there's a clear expectation of how much you need to raise. So when you look at the Charlotte Ballet, they are the perfect example for what we've gone over today of how their capital expansion request, how they've already identified individual corporate and foundation dollars. So the amount that they're asking for our investment is minimal in comparison. It will be helpful for these others to know how much money have you already raised because again to the last one that I have concerned about with truis 2third of that you're looking at coming from local government that's concerning if we have a model out here I think it will be helpful to know across the board what information is going out to our partners to make sure that there's consistency cuz It would be difficult for me to say yes on one thing on one proposal when you have another proposal that did the additional steps of identifying solid funding sources before even coming to us. So I think that information will be very helpful and may reduce maybe 3 minutes off of the conversation once it gets to committee to have that ahead of time to understand financially where are we What do we think our capacity could be? Because we overcommitted on some things last year and year before. So, what does that look like? But also, what do they see when they're getting ready to float a possible proposal our way? Do they know that you might have better success when you've identified? So, we know for financial partners, you can't come ask for more than 30% of your budget. I don't know if that's the conversation that goes out to the partners. It would be helpful to know exactly what that language looks like. >> Sure. I think we can definitely do that. And then I think just back to the the UNC Charlotte one. I think just that's also just us making sure that we're being transparent that that was an ask. I think as Allison said that's not an active conversation, but it it's an ask that has been made of the city and we've not I don't think been formally told that it's they don't have an ask. It's just we're not actively engaged in it. So just trying to sort of put everything out there so that way there's an awareness. >> Okay. Uh let's see. I think didn't you have a comment? Okay. And then we'll come to you Mr. >> Um thank you for the for the presentation. It's very insightful. Um one thing I did want to ask though is these are the ask these are asks. These are things that other people have planned for us. what's not here as we think about and maybe this is a discussion that we're about to go into, but I want to make sure that what we are choosing to put our money behind is something that's driving something that we are saying is a priority versus just responding to the requests that have come in. So, I just want to lift that up as we go into this next discussion. Um because it may be that we want to reserve capacity for something that we'd like to go uh chase >> it coming. >> Okay. uh city manager and then with council member Graham. >> So, Dr. Watlington, to that point, uh Steve Bagwell is doing a study right now about what are those um attractions that we should be going after and part of that is amateur sports. So, we should get that early spring, I think. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So, that is >> Okay. Well, thank you for the presentation and I think council member Mayfield uh is spot on. Right. Show us your homework. Right. Again, could you go to the first slide, the very first one? But I think that's why I think I don't want to bury the league, which is um about the revenue that convention and visitors bring to the city. Right. >> Next. >> No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right there. um travel and tourism, amateur sports, arts and entertainment is what's driving our local economy after co it's not a banking town anymore where bankers are coming for bank meetings and conventions and workshops from Monday to Thursday. It's really what's happening from Thursday to to Monday that's really driving a revenue in the economic development space. Um, so arts and entertainment, amateur sports. Um, the numbers speak for themselves. Um, no diminishing discovery place at all. I think we have done really a poor job over the last couple years with the arts. I I I just don't know where we are with it. I I I just don't know. ITE, but I think that's a an opportunity for us to really to kind of figure out um where we are and how we can help um moving forward in terms of really establishing an arts scene in the community. That's a revenue driver itself. And that goes back to a discussion we had with arts and science and everyone knows the history, but I I I just don't know where we're at with that anymore. And so I I just want to leave the council with this and having chaired the ED committee um for the last two years. A lot of these are legacy stuff that we've been talking about for years, for the last two or three years, Council Member Mitchell. So congratulations um in reference to prioritizing what we do and how we do it. But uh I I think the driving factor is sports and entertainment uh arts and culture uh working to those number represents jobs for frontline workers, Uber drivers, you you know this bill, right? Uber drivers, waiters waitresses um, uh, small business owners, the restaurants in Uptown, they all thrive, uh, from this economy. And the more we can invest, I think there's a really, really great return on the investment um, based on us being very intentional, uh, making sure that partners meet us a third or halfway as well. We can't do it all ourselves. even if some of the buildings are city- owned buildings. I mean that there has to be a a true partnership there uh that that represents um Council Member Mitchell because the capacity is limited, >> right? So we we have to be um very intentional about where the investments uh are placed uh and then the impact they will have. Um you're right, Discovery Place is centrally located on uh reimagining North Tryingon Street. the ballet is centrally located in terms of reimagining the North Tryion Street, right? And so I think that >> I I thought I was clapping for revitalization of Tryon Street. >> That deserves a round of applause, too. I think Senator City Partners would love that, right? Um so, so where the investments are and where we place them is extremely important. And so I support Discovery Place reporters in the room um and right uh and the um and the ballet because the revitalization on North Trion Street is really important. And so as Miss Mayfield and Dr. Wallist has said the the location of the investment matters as well. Thank you. Yes. >> So, Mr. Graham is supportive of Discovery Place with a caveat and that's a big caveat there. Um, but speaking of that, I I think we need to have some sort of policy for public private partnership. So, if there is an ask to council member Mayfield's point, there should be um a checklist. here are the things that should be done before it comes up for an approval or not even for an approval just for a discussion right um certainly ROI is important but how it also adds to the amenity that might be missing like I talked about discovery place fills that void for young children um I also want to give a shout out to Steve Bwell his team does a great job of maintaining helping us maintain some of our facilities. And um I want to lastly I want to look at the last slide where you had slide number 26 where you had three buckets and I see nonhospity CIP and I see some projects on here that that's actually should be funded through tourism bucket like tennis complex or BLAX or discovery place. So um I know this is What I'd say to that is that it could be that there could be capital infrastructure like roads or other things leading to a facility where the facility itself may be like hospitality funded, but it could be other infrastructure around it. So, it's a partnership. I think Eastland Yards is kind of an example of that where there is a hospitality investment on the like amateur sports portion, but then the the larger project has other components that are nonhospity funded. So, it's I think that that's what I was trying to highlight there that it could be an a hospitality funded project with other things around it that maybe allow it to be maybe there's a site that needs to be developed, a road to a site to even make it functional. So, that could be kind of what we're I was trying to to show there. >> Got it. I I just want to make sure because you know when you look at this slide it sounds like we are using our CIP dollars and I would not be in favor of it because we have so many capital projects that needs to be done especially with our uh infrastructure that we need to use our CIP dollars for. So um I'm glad you clarified that. Thank you. >> Okay. And I just want to say thank you for your feedback and it um it's really helpful as we start to bring these things forward to committee and to full counsel to know what things you're really looking for and information from staff. And so just wanted to say um we'll take good notes and and and do act accordingly when we bring it forward to committee. >> Okay, let's give him a big round of applause. >> That was pretty interesting. >> Pretty interesting. Okay. Yes. It's I have to take my hat off to you guys. You all are you're doing tremendous work and connecting all the dots. Now, I've got a I've got a quick question. Do you want Yeah, I was going to say why don't we take maybe five How many How How much time do you need? Five 10 minutes. Five minute break. >> She said 10. Five. You got overruled. I'm sorry. 5 minute break. Let's come back about 4:46 for 5 minutes. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Down. Ooh. Hey hey hey. Hey. as a conference call it has to be on and we're missing uh Miss Esmera and two others and um Council Member Owens. But this we're going to transition into hopefully um the um I don't want to this to sound like I'm diminishing all of the information that you all got because you got a lot of really really uh good information and that good information actually feeds into why you even come and have a strategy meeting. >> So use the context of that information that you had to help feed into so what should we be prioritizing? What are the things that we should be working on in the upcoming year? And I can tell you again from experience with my former uh city council, it was always hard because the need is so great, the desire, the want. I want to do this and I want to make a difference, but we have to be realistic. Again, early on I said um resources, both financial and staff are finite. So, I know you want to do everything. I wished every council could do everything. But what you have to keep in context again is what is the community saying sometimes our needs and I know everybody want to do wants but sometimes we have to prioritize what does our community need. then all those other things are kind of like wants and we can try to do once >> and sometimes when I say that sometimes it landed on my council as being you're not visionary enough you're not ambitious enough you you don't think you know broadly enough you need to stretch your thinking that's all well and good but what our community expects of us is to be realistic and to be extremely diligent with the resources that we have. And so, um, looks like I'm preaching to the choir because all of you all are shaking your head saying, "Yep, that's what we want to do, Deborah." So, u, I think we got most everybody. We even got Malcolm back. So, we're going to transition. We are not going to do the performance metrics uh discussion because we think that you all have had two very intensive days and this discussion is extremely important that we need to um to get into and um I'm going to ask help from the back to change the slide for me. Okay. Looks like that I believe since 2024 you all have had these as your strategic priorities. They're broad and they should be they should be broad so that they can include lots of things uh under the umbrella. So well-managed government, great neighborhoods, safe communities, transportation and planning and workforce and business development. I'll be more than happy to read all the details under each one of these strategic parties, but you're saying no, don't do that, Deborah. Okay. So, I won't. So, let's um stick with this for a minute. How's the 2024 things landing on you? I think I believe the city manager has gotten a little bit of read from you all that we have a we've done a lot, but there's a whole lot more that we could do in these categories. They're broad enough to capture a lot of things. Do you all have any appetite to change these priorities? >> Yes. Uh first I want to note um the way this works always has worked is everybody on council says what we want and then it's up to the manager to do it without a tax increase. Um personally I think anything we might want to do is captured by one of these. And if I look back over the agenda for the last two days um I I I think we need to elevate our game but not change our direction would be my comment. >> That was very well said. >> Good job. Very well said. >> Yes, sir. JD, >> I think these are great priorities and I think we should keep them and I think to Council Member Drigg's point, yes, we should elevate them by one adding more at least detailed or illustrative language. For example, for well-managed government, the subsection underneath you know have something about transparency and and rigor right um I think that is something that we or or wellcommunicated government as well um within that subsection of that um to really for example I see um in that subsection consistency and approach with emphasis on effective and efficient services that are accountable customer focused inclusive and then transparent and rigorous. >> Got it. >> Something like that. The other thing is >> I I think for me is as a council and this is I'm I'm just testing the room temperature here, okay? is adding a new priority perhaps something that is our north star that is all-encompassing of all these things whether it is about what type of culture we're trying to set as a city because we spoke about a lot about that how you know we are a leading city how do we become a top destination and then the other thing is we're oftentimes presented as a council with these ad hoc pressing moments whether it's CBP being in our communities or I77 or the airport workers union calling for you know some type of relief like I think having a priority about how we manage those situations would be key for that that is also priorities >> and and and I would I would ask um and we probably should have even started from this uh perspective before we even went down to the strategic priorities level which is a different level is does your vision statement for your community >> exactly >> not encompass that that's your broad this is the community that we want to become >> I know that is somewhere within those >> so those slides >> it it's the first slide on the >> performance metrics piece >> that's the vision from I think 2017 >> 2018 >> 2018 >> 2018 No. >> So that's pretty new of updating a vision statement >> in 2020. >> Yeah, that's pretty old. >> It's okay. And and and I would I would ask just just one question so that we can um kind of get these action items identified as we go along with the conversation. We had JD ask about adding some language about transparency and being rigorous is that do you want could we add that? I think that's where you want it added. But the piece about being rigorous do you want to embellish that a little bit and rigorous transparent and rigorous related to >> to what? Yeah, >> I think related into how we communicate our priorities and policies to the community as well as how we are good stewards of our taxpayer dollars, right? Managing our budgets, making sure those budgets are communicated to the community, how those taxpayer dollars are being used as well. And so we're not going to try to have the actual language explicitly developed today, but I did want to make sure that I got the clarity in terms of what the rigorous portion of your statement meant. So we will, Mr. Jones, staff can come back with those those statements revised. Okay. Um Yes, ma'am. And no, I I just wanted to say um Council Member uh Masa Adius, I think what you just talked about was the how and not the what. So, you know, th these are the priorities, but the way we communicate, the way we execute, that's how. And so I think that's a that's just another layer underneath that underneath our priorities, not necessarily embedded into our actual priorities. >> So So I think that this is a statement a little bit in terms of the the how and the goals. Correct. And I think he's just asking that we just add embellish that in terms of being transparent >> and rigorous in terms of how we communicate to the community about what we are doing up council are doing and if if I slip up and say we y'all know where I'm coming from. Okay. All right. Sorry about that. Uh let's see doctor and then Sure. Um I think this is actually a really good question and maybe because we missed the manager looking at me like I know you about to go. Anyway, um I think this is a really good question because having not seen whatever the metrics presentation was going to be, I do feel like there is an opportunity to really connect the strategy to the work on a daily basis. Even as I read these, this still feels like vision to me, not priority in the sense of we understand what the gaps are versus what we're trying to achieve. And so our priorities then become what are what are the projects or programs required to close those gaps. And so I I don't think we're going to solve it here, but I just think our HOS needs to be built out much further down into the department so that when we start to talk about priorities that ties directly back to the individual value streams, whether it's storm water or sewer, whatever it is. And then what what we see here is vision, but it's also these are the five things that I know that Angela Charles has got on her board. And when we go to her her uh employees, they're going to tell me those same five things and how their work ties back to this overall delivery. Um, and so I know that some of that, well, a lot of that sits below council, but I do think that for this to really get the meat out of it and that it would actually look like it's a living document rather than just broken out vision statement, it has to reflect the gaps in the value stream. Does that make sense? >> Absolutely. and and um we had some of those same concerns in Asheville uh for council because um this again is what right at a council level and then the how >> right and and and even the what and the why because you want to have this kind of an impact. The how comes down to work plans that every department would then develop. Then they would show council this is what we're working on. These are the things that we're prioritizing and this is where the work is getting done based on these things and making those those connections. >> Exactly. So, and one just one additional piece because I think why I know we skipped the metrics for time's sake, >> but when you think about like OSM, the metric then is how you're measuring the goal. So, even and it's still the what, right? Vision zero. That's the metric. How are we going to get there? To your point, falls into the work plans. I don't necessarily know what the metric is for great neighborhoods, right? or what and I know we did some work a few years ago on trying to build out a balanced scorecard and maybe it's time to um really dust that off or maybe that's what was in the metrics presentation but to me that's the that's really where we see the rubber meeting the road and our work then is to set the goal >> and yeah and and and I think it would be good I think there's a you want to speak to that a little bit in terms of the website and all that that relates to some of these metrics >> yeah I'll just I'll keep it brief, but you're exactly right, Dr. Watlington. So, these are the priorities and in the document that was handed out to you, it has the description of those priorities and then it has the plans that connect to those priorities. So like the 2040 plan, the comprehensive plan, the vision zero plan, that's how the work gets done is through those plans and then that there's a subset of metrics that are on those pages that help us measure how well we're doing in executing those plans, right? And so what Deborah's trying to take you through is just setting the top line and making sure that these are still the priorities or you're reaffirming or you're changing the priorities. We're not really digging deep into the how today, but that will come later. Can I can I just do a followup? Um because um what uh Council Member Watlington just said I know we're pressed for time. >> No, you're fine. >> But um No, I know that's why we skipped the metrics, right? >> But we skipped the metrics uh before like I think we've only been through this as a council in a robust manner like one full time. My point is that it it just keeps getting cut because of due to time. So maybe during a manager's report or or doing some other chunk of time, we can actually walk through this where we can have a more robust discussion about our our balance scorecard. >> Absolutely. Can you put that in a star so that asterisk so we can make sure that that's a followup for staff? Um I got >> so and then I will go to to you. >> I'm sorry I took it. Okay, Miss Mayfield, then Miss Azmero, and then >> thank you. What I wanted to just go over with everyone because we might need to have this conversation later as well. >> The current city of Charlotte's vision statement, Charlotte is America's queen city, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses, and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, familyoriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. When I look at this, read this statement and I think about what council member is JD said when we what is our northstar? So adding those additional words under for it to be the umbrella of all of our priorities. Are we looking at development? Are we looking at choices in our policym in an ethical way in a way that highlights this vision statement? Is this still our vision statement in 2026 and moving forward? And if so, how do our strategic priorities align with this vision? As well as for the manager, how does your staff interpret our priorities with that umbrella of who is the city that we want to be? We are not Charlotte of the 80s or the 90s or even the early 2000s. So for the Charlotte that we are today and that we're growing into, these strategic strategic priorities, do we need to add more meat to them? >> Yes. >> In terms of embellishment of your actual goals, right? So, if anyone pulls up, if they're looking at moving to Charlotte and they go in and they read our vision statement, is this still the statement? And if so, when they go to that next slide and see what our strategic priorities are, are our priorities in alignment with this statement? And then is our work in alignment with our priorities in our statement? >> And um Okay, hold on. I I got a got a lot of you. Uh Miss Ame, >> you can go. >> You can go. Okay, Mr. Dicks. She's >> And mayor, you might be able to go next. I think she's still writing. Go ahead. Uh two things quickly and and this is a compliment I think to the manager and the staff. In the past, one of the issues always was this concept of silos and one thing that really struck me during this session was the extent to which different departments and staff members were talking to each other and informed and working towards a an integrated implementation of these priorities. So uh I think that's a really good thing. And um my second point which I didn't write down hold on it was important. Uh oh yes uh I agree with Mr. Masira Aras. >> Okay. Yeah. Uh >> uh and and in particular in the last year or two the issue of community outreach and transparency I think has risen in prominence. Right. So, I don't think it hurts in well-managed government to say something about transparency, community outreach, and and if you look at, for example, our area plans, uh, and not to mention NC DOT's experience, they found out the hard way. Um, but, uh, so why don't we, you know, I think we could say something about that. Absolutely. >> Well managed government to us includes a lot of engagement with the community, taking on board what they say and and and communicating clearly with them. >> Absolutely. Miss Mayor, are you ready or you want me to go to the mayor? Go >> ahead. >> Mayor, >> thanks. I I wanted to just make this comment. Um, when we talk about great neighborhoods and we talk about what Lana just read to us is our our I guess north star, it just reminded me that that's what Harvey Gant said. >> He said there is a reason for who we are and it's because we have neighbors and that we treat people in a different way. And so I think that it's really important to have great neighborhoods um to be there. Now it may be some changes. I can't because I can't see what it says up there. But I think if you look at what we are, we still are what we know that people come here, they come for work, but they stay because it is a great place to live. And so I I think that we ought to think about the great neighborhoods being a part of that. And then I believe that what we've wanted to do was to have some definition of what those might be. And I think that gives us a little bit of um grace because we can have the discussion or have people work towards well what does great neighborhoods mean when we go back into the offices and everything and we decide and we have we put it out there to say this is what we expect and this is what we think. Um, I think that's another part of what we heard from our public and and the many people that have done this work. I mean, I think Mayor Hancock was one that was just saying, you do this, but you define it and then you tell people about it. So, I I would hope that we do take great neighborhoods and that we do something. >> I know safe communities is an absolute must perhaps and so here we go. But I think it's worth it. I think it's just worth the time and effort and a commitment to who we can be and how we can communicate this to our public and and our citizens. >> Yeah. I I think it's kind of like what does great mean? What are those elements of great neighborhoods? So, for example, focusing on comprehensive initiatives to create affordable housing. Well, great neighborhoods are more than affordable housing. They are uh infrastructure. They are opportunities to communicate network. There are lots of of things that go into this definition. So there may be again some embellishment for staff to kind of you know elaborate and be more specific. But I believe what we're trying to get to is we think that these are the priorities for you all going into the next couple of years. Right. I'm I'm sorry, Miss Owens. And then I'll get to you. >> No, actually I think Miss Ash still >> you there. >> Okay. >> Thank you. So, >> thank you. >> I think our current framework is solid. It's very broad, but I I think it needs to be more outcomes driven. So, uh I agree with council member Masera Aras. We do need to add transparency and rigor under well-managed government. Also, I would like us to add sustainability and resilience. >> I know this is an area that we have been doing a lot of work on with CAP, our tree canopy plan. I think we need to highlight that in our strategic priorities. >> Which where where do you think it best? >> We just create a new bullet point. Uh it could be under great neighborhoods or it could be >> or it could be just another bullet point that specifically highlights sustainability specifically, right? That means our seup goals, our tree canopy goals. Um >> put it under here too. They're already under great neighborhoods. Our CAP goals are in here on the dashboard. That's where they sit right now. >> Things like lead certified buildings, solar projects. It links to the CAP dashboard. They've got they've got it linked under great neighborhoods right now >> under see right here >> says great neighborhoods. >> Yeah. I I think >> I think she's wanting it in terms of the the narrative. >> I think we need to >> No, I understand. What I'm saying is the metrics already sit in great neighborhoods. I think m it's good to have that we we are doing the work so the metrics are there. I think we need to highlight that in our strategic priority because it is one of our strategic priorities. It should have its own uh bullet point where it says sustainability and resiliency and that's where we track se goals and tree canopy goals specifically. I I don't think we have done any tracking or any metrics on our tree canopy and I know this is something that we were working on a couple of years ago. Um but >> yeah, we did a study but I don't know what are the implement what's the implementation plan to get to the goal that we have. So certainly I think we need to have a bullet point specifically on sustainability and resiliency to highlight SEAP and our tree canopy our natural resources. Uh and this also ties with our water management as we are seeing data um I'm sorry data what is it data warehouses no I'm sorry >> data data data center popping up everywhere and consuming so much electricity and water our natural resources so that will all fall under sustainability and resiliency that I think we definitely need to highlight as its own bullet point and I know there needs to be more work done I see Alice is right here. Uh as we are discussing just the data centers and more requests are coming in residents are concerned increasingly because ultimately we are subsidizing >> their utilities. I mean we are paying the price. So at some point we will need to have a policy on that. So I think if we have its own bullet point we can work on that. >> Okay. Um Council member Owens. >> Yeah, thank you. So, um, >> we'll go over in this table. >> This this possibly goes without needing to be mentioned, but it's just something that's sticking with me as I'm looking at this. There's a sentence that precedes on transportation and planning that says anticipating and planning for the growth of the community. For me, that could preede any one of these, but we seem to only focus on the effects of growth on our transportation needs. And I think embracing our growth, embracing the fact that we want to be a destination where people and just really adding that overlay of this is how the new south is addressing the desiraability of of so many elements of our city and and we are we are welcoming and we are all the things that you used to associate with the old south, but we are vibrant and we are really reaching in around growth and addressing it in multiaceted ways. But that's the only place that we address growth there is transportation and planning. And I think that that's I think that that's wrong. I think every one of these is affected by that. >> You know, it um I I've had tremendous mentors and one of my mentors used to say for Charlotte, it's not if we grow, it's how we grow. And I think that that is what's you know this is why you all have these kind of strategic priorities is that you're going to grow. I mean you've positioned uh yourself to grow. It's how you grow with these values. We're going to grow in a way that we have well-managed government. We have great neighborhoods with lessening those kinds of impacts. We're going to have safe communities. We're going to have the infrastructure, transportation and planning and workforce development because we want this to be an equitable community and it provides opportunities for all people. And and just as a follow on to that, what I what I really want to see us double down on is is how we communicate that excitement and that that exuberance that we all feel towards growth that we are not anti-growth that we are speaking from from one himnil with respect to the benefits that come to all of us when we lift up these these communities who want to live here. And and I just I think you know, Council Member Mazar Arius and I were speaking about, you know, how we em embrace the the talents of our immigrant neighborhoods and really looking at arts and culture and all these things that come with the amazing diversity that comes from being a city that's a city of growth. I just I'd like to see us do more of that and and share that story. >> Absolutely. I and and I want to emphasize kind of the great neighborhoods because um I think one of the defining things about Charlotte is you literally are a city of neighborhoods. You go to other communities and they say I say, "Well, what community do you live in?" West Side. The hell? >> Yeah. >> Really? West Side. >> And and not derogatory toward the West Side, but they >> Yeah. What neighborhood do you live in? >> They'll tell you Clinton Park. They'll tell you Revolution Park. They'll tell you West Over Hill. They >> Exactly. here. But not in most communities. They won't say like what? >> No. No. Hey, girl. Hey, I know about how neighborhoods claim here. That's what I'm saying. >> I got I don't want to fight. I'm sorry. So, just I was going to say have another comment, but based on uh what um council member Owens just said, we could potentially just pull out that that sentence anticipating at the beginning of transportation and planning, anticipating and planning for growth of the committee through and and put it up at the top and it's through well-managed manage well-managed government, through great neighborhoods, through dot dot dot. That's right. Right. A if we do that, and I totally agree that we should, I think there could be an opportunity to um embed a a couple of words around the existing U Charlotte because there's so much fear and trepidation of existing communities. >> Yeah. In our communities around um you know, being pushed out, losing the the charm and aesthetic. So if we pull that up at the top, we might um want to add a a word or two. >> But my original comment that I was that I raised my hand for is so we have we have these u balance scorecards for each of these areas and what we're measuring here. It should show up in the description, right? at least some of the most critical ones that you know for I'm looking at u safe communities and there's six um there's six metrics that we're tracking but there should have some language that tie immediately you know back to these six things that we're tracking and then my last point is we >> I can't remember was the last >> retreat or the the retreat before that but we spent a lot of time going through um a a whiteboard exercise coming up with priorities. We had the buckets and then we sort of called them down to to these. But there's a whole lot more behind this, right? Uh these are just like the the key areas of focus that we wanted to have on a one-pager dashboard. Absolutely. And again going back to um resources and the ability to how much can you can you do and you want to honestly portray that to the community that for this year the next two years whatever we're going to focus on these things but this can be your north star right and these categories are your priority of work over the next year or whenever you reconvene. Yes sir Mr. manager and then I'm sorry >> I yield to the manager. >> Okay, >> so thank you. Uh couple things. So um my fault I am pulled us into a novel starting with chapter 14 instead of uh the preamble. Okay. So if we go back zoom out there is the vision statement. The vision statement 2018 maybe that's pretty old but the point being there's some key words. diverse, inclusive, safe, work together, thrive. Then um if we had the the metrics discussion, Monica would have gone over the community level indicators, which there's 80 of those. The um our organizational level indicators, which is about 30, which rolls up to me. Um there in the budget book there's 120 indicators and then this performance dashboard there's 110. What um council member Anderson was referring to was I think three years ago we put a bunch of things on the wall for two days. Okay. And you basically said these are the the what I want to measure. >> We then went to each committee for 90 days. Okay. So, what you have in front of you is is your work. Okay. If we um go a little bit further to where we are today, it's kind of interesting. What typically happens is council has a discussion about the priorities. And then if we go to the next slide, it is actually the strategic initiatives that you >> Oops. >> There you go. >> Right. o over the course of the last decade these are some of the strategic initiatives that you've had some of them we may say we have fulfilled others we you may say well I want to double down on this so we start to think about great neighborhoods our corridors of opportunity can be in these great neighborhoods right so at some point the strategic initiatives are some of the things that we come back to you annually and we say this is where we are with arts and culture. I I'll end with this. So, Council Member Graham, you mentioned where are we with arts and culture? I I would say that it's a great success story because we went from $3.4 million to $21 million city county together pumping money into the ecosystem. So there's a lot of things that you have done over the course of the last five, six years that there are some outcomes that are consistent with what we're trying to achieve with the strategic priorities. So that's kind of like the book. We just started on chapter 13. >> Yeah. and and and I think what might be also important is u a cadence of communication just updating you and and and trying to let you all know here's here's where we are on these kinds of initiatives. What else do you want to hear about Mr. Graham? >> Yeah, thank you. Uh two points. One, um it's not the money, right? Because we are making the investment. It's not being able to shape the outcomes >> because I want to finish. >> Right. Right. Art should be a travel destination for coming to the city of Charlotte, the Mint Museum, the Becker. And so we're not we're not shaping outcomes. we're investing uh and then we have a hands-off approach which I think we should if we're really serious about and this is a topic I was going to ask don't even know if it fits right but uh visit Charlotte right that we should be very intentional about outreaching for conventions and visitors to come to the city of Charlotte because it it fuels our our economics right and so I think we should be laser focused on that because the culture for our city has changed changed as I said earlier going back to co now it's a different type of economic driver based on visitation to the city and so I don't know can be added somewhere visit Charlotte and making Charlotte a travel destination and highlighting all those reasons why people should come to Charlotte arts and culture is one of them right the investment that we're making but then now we need to shape what that looks like and I I don't know what that looks like right and and we don't we're just so we're dist from it. Now, >> Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Mitchell's like, Deborah, please. I didn't have my hand up for >> No, no, Deborah. Much love. But I want to make sure Coun Did we Council McGra, will you finish? I want to make sure he was making a statement. >> No, I just again, I don't know where it fits, if it fits at all. I I support all the priorities, right? But right just sharing that maybe we we think a little >> differently about >> if we're going to add anything um how we add that language about Charlotte that's the travel destination >> because I think it business development has to be it it's broad >> and it I think you're talking about the type of business development which is more tourist arts culture that kind of detailed growth I mean in this sector in in terms of business development. >> Okay. >> Yes, ma'am. So, one thing I would like for us to to really think about in this tracker, um, progress tracker, I think, and the mayor did this before about maybe two two years ago, she referred it to each committee and for the committee to weigh in because when I look at the workforce business development, uh, I think we need to update or have some new tracker added. And so you said it earlier, Deborah, make sure we're doing things after we hear our citizens. And so this need to be updated. Uh Dr. Watton, I mean, we were looking at spending with MWSBE by 2024. Well, now we 2026, right? And we move forward. So, mayor and the city manager, I I think this would be a great exercise cuz each one of them we have a committee for and for the committee members to do their homework and say, "Let's make sure the tracker is reflection of our priorities as well as the citizens would like for us to work on." >> Absolutely. Um then I'll get to you. >> Okay. >> I agree. Um thank you for putting that in the room. I I absolutely support that because I think rather for me rather than words smithing what I would consider the overall vision it's really about what are the executable priorities for the fiscal. So I I think that's a great idea to put it in the committee >> and uh let's see yes ma'am just wanted to um connect with what council member Graham said about the arts and tourism. So the the vast majority of our arts institutions, the major ones, they have an economic impact study that they produce on a regular cadence. For example, the Mint Museum of the Mint Museum has one and they can tell you how much traffic they've driven to the city, how many dollars, how many uh the number of hotel stays uh that their visitors have generated. And so it might be an opportunity to just um get gather all of those economic impact studies from our arts institutions and then review those in committee. Um and then think about strategically how do we want to track um and stand up driving um tourism and visitorship through the arts with those metrics. Great. So, what I am I'm hearing these are your priorities going into the next two however many years. Okay. Until you change them, which potentially may be next year, but right now we're going with these. Right. Okay. With some with some modifications, >> right? >> Yes. With some modifications. And I think just re-echoing what everybody has said allowing th those metrics those working group uh through the committees >> guide us with how we measure >> fine-tune those priorities right because I do as Dr. Wallington, uh, Council Member Shmeira, Council Member Mayfield said, and Owens, making sure that they are reflected, um, the the the metrics are reflected in our priorities. And I also think is with our vision statement really another working group to re relook at that and and have us become at least that the vision statement reflects a responsive proactive innovative city. Um we are the 14th largest going on 13th largest city. Um, and I think we should all move forward to wanting to become number one, right? And so, >> absolutely. >> I I think that vision statement will help us guide through the metrics and the metrics will help guide our priorities. >> Great. >> All right. Okay. >> Without an outside consulting. >> All right. Next slide. We We got agreement. We got agreement. Next slide, please. Okay. So, those priorities were at kind of a higher level. Now we're drilling down to some of council's strategic initiatives like things you're working on and these are still kind of broad big categories of things and the ones that I believe are highlighted are getting a lot of attention and focus and and a lot of work. Some of these you've done a lot of work on them and so it's a do we want to take something off like for example we just heard a lot about arts and culture does does that become bolder and bigger in terms of the emphasis over the next year upcoming here or do we kind of stay with these things which essentially these some of these things are kind of becoming your steady state. You it's what it's just what you do right as an organization. You all are just working on these things daily. It's not a special assignment. It's ingrained into the culture of the organization related to some of these bold things. Yes, ma'am. Dr. >> So, just just for my clarity, there there's a couple of these that I'm not entirely certain that I fully appreciate. So, maybe for some context, is Vision Zero part of Safe Charlotte is my first question. Or is Safe Charlotte limited to police, fire, that sort of thing? So, that's one. And then digital divide. I'm not entirely certain. I I appreciate the concept. I'm not certain where it falls within our current prioritization. And then finally, since we have launched the UDO, do we remain with that one as a prominent focus? Because we we always acknowledge that that is going to be a work in progress. It's always going to be tweaked and modified and whatever, but the launch of it feels as though it was quite a milestone, right? and perhaps something that, you know, we could we can pivot a little bit from, but I I I don't know. >> I'm gonna have to defer to the city manager in terms of some of these other initiatives that were identified. >> Yeah, by >> So, that's a great question, Council Member Owens. um in its purest state, safe Charlotte was a report >> that was worked on for a couple of years and um it would be disingenuous to say that vision zero is a part of that. So so so I'll say that uh digital divide came up uh during co and there were some things that the council >> sent funds out. Um I think those are the two that you said. Yes. >> And so it it may be for example vision zero if that's an initiative that you all want laser focus on. We want staff to have laser focus on this. >> I I would say so. But that's you know that's that's me. But I I put it with mobility. you know, having having the trust and confidence of of our voters and the amount of money that will be coming in, you know, that has been my ask since I got on council was can we now, you know, really beef up our approach to vision zero and make sure that we are prioritizing safely interacting in all the multimodal manner of of transit and not just making cars go faster or making more cars go faster. If if you if we looked at the agenda, um there were about five or six things under mobility, right? And so I I think what staff is asking is because there's so many things under that in terms of the the laser focus, we're not going to not do any of those things. But again, finite resources, whatever. At the end of the year, you're going to be most proud of your work with staff because you accomplished these things. And so, is vision zero a strategic initiative? You want laser focus. It's it's to the to the broader broader council. >> Yeah. I think that's more part of that mobility part with our strategic investment area plan. So I think that staff has already started to identify those high network um areas that are having the high injuries. So I feel like that's already in there with mobility and in vision zero, but I do agree. I think sometimes we have to tell that storytelling that we've talked about before um about why people should care about the strategic investment area plans. I mean, we have two case studies that we finished with Arowwood and Harrisburg Road. So, doing a better job of not just telling talking to those neighborhoods, but why should everybody care? Because now it's going to be uh countywide or or citywide because of the investment with the 1 cent sales tax. Good deal. All right. What what what else? Any anything related to these initiatives? stick with these or do you want to do you want to take something off? You want to do a different something? Again, this is >> this is what the resources limited resources staff is going to be devoted to. >> Can we just let her and then I'll get to you. >> Is digital divide still on there? I heard that their money was kind of running out. >> The money I think I don't think it was necessarily the money but I do think that the ability for the whole work and after co it was helping seniors it was helping people that were in you know s living spaces and I don't think that I think everybody in the world has a phone right now so that's the way I would say take that >> yeah and I think it is we we we were saying you know some of these initiatives what's the need do we need to have staff really laser focused on these things on this thing in particular I would suggest that that come off but if I don't if there's unless someone else has another position on it >> all right digital divide >> remove >> we're and and and what just for the community we're not you're not saying you don't care about these things and that resources and coordination and collaboration with the entities that probably have more of a direct responsibility for delivering those things. You're going to coordinate with them, >> but you're not going to be, you know, laser focused and having a ton of staff resources devoted to that in effort. Okay. Digital divide. >> Uh, Miss Esmeir, >> thank you. >> Yes, I I agree with what the mayor said on digital divide. We did that work during the co. So that was only for that time period where we were measuring the outcomes right and that that and we successfully delivered on that. >> So I think not that we do not care about digital divide so I'm glad you said that. Um but what I would like to see is two things because we are so laser focused on CMPD vacancy that it needs its own bold um strategic initiatives. That's just a CMPD capacity which which includes retaining and recruiting the talent to meet the needs of our growing city >> and it's not under safe. Charlotte is a report that we did >> uh like manager manager Jones mentioned earlier. I think that was back in 2018 or 19. That was a report we did after the um >> where was it? Oh yeah after uh George Floyd. Yes. So that was respond responding to the community and we took number of actions for accountability. So that's really what Safe Charlotte is about. But I think we need a strategic initiative just on CMPD capacity. >> Miss Miss Hashmir, if I I think that you're right. Exactly. This is absolutely what we save Charlotte. I think is something that we've been working with the communities and we've been working with the business communities. So I think that the real question is not I hope it would be just that the words of Safe Charlotte can be there but the identification of what's important is what I think we have to put under that metric. Um we're talking about um making sure that we have enough officers to um work in a city the size of ours. Um we want to make sure that officers have the opportunity to be well. There are a lot of things that we're trying to address with that. So I I think that and and Dante, help me. If Safe Charlotte is what most people would probably say or address it as and and and I if that's just what we can do and keep it, then we ought to keep moving it on because I think a lot of people already included are already >> it can evolve. It's a broader concept of safe community. I think we can discuss that as as the committee discusses the tracker, they can put performance measures underneath it that includes the vacancy and the recruitment and retention goals. But I just when manager Jones mentioned about the report and I was like okay let's make sure that it is more than just a report that we did. And also I would in the political climate that we are in uh I think intergovernmental uh response and collaboration is crucial as we are getting requests. So I would also like us to highlight that I was talking with the chair of BGIR about intergovernmental uh uh collaboration as one of the strategic initiatives as we are getting uh requests from all levels. Okay, I agree. I think I got Mr. Driggs and then M Mr. Manager if you would indulge me. Yes sir. >> Just briefly, we've talked a lot at this session about initiatives for safety that go beyond what were contemplated by Safe Charlotte. So, it needs to be understood. That's generic. So, that includes everything that we discussed here, growth of CMPD, safety is critical. >> Absolutely. Yes, sir. Mr. Manager. So, just a little refresher on Safe Charlotte. That was one of those initiatives that went to every committee. That's right. >> So, it it wasn't just policing, it was housing, it was workforce development, it was youth, and a lot of great things. So, I don't want us to act like it's just a report and nothing's happening with it. Oh, >> absolutely. Maybe it's time to send the report back to the committees also to see if there's some things that we'd like to improve on. >> Absolutely. >> We can embellish it. Yes, ma'am. Miss Mayfield. >> So, what Dr. Wington and I was over here thinking about is one the metrics would be helpful because I think that would have helped to lead this discussion a bit cuz for me under safe Charlotte vision zero goes under safe Charlotte along with law enforcement because it's tied together under safe Charlotte. I agree that we can remove digital divide for what the question is, but that means workforce development needs to be bold. So when we think about small and minority business, corridors of opportunity mobility affordable housing, for me also mobility could go under safe Charlotte because if we put the vision zero in when we break down what is safe Charlotte, it is not just the impression and or impact of crime. It is our mobility. It is the vision zero regarding our traffic signals and how we identify those that choose to look at that red light as a suggestion versus what it is. But also another part that we never really talk about is how many individuals we have riding around the city on expired tags from out of state when they've moved here that anywhere from 6 months to a year they're riding around on expired tax. But that also contributes to taxes not being paid if you haven't registered. That can be going towards our lights and vision zero. So what is that deeper conversation look like? The UDO could be as small as the digital divide for me because it's an ongoing living document. So that's the what should be the bold. So, if we go back, if we had the ability where the links were sent back out to us and we did another bubble vote, then would these all pop up? I think workforce development would be in the big boulder letters. And if we look at what is safe Charlotte, what falls under that would be a mobility would be vision zero. >> Um, should we So, I think unified development ordinance again. Can >> I think you're saying maybe because it was a project and we've you've adopted it and now maybe the focus is dim. You don't need that major laser focus on it. But what I did hear though in terms of either workforce development or small and minority business, we heard some issues about permitting and yada yada yada. I think that those kinds of things need to kind of be incorporated into some of these other uh other efforts um and initiatives. So, SAP >> C app >> C app. >> Okay. >> C app. Is that something? >> That is a priority. >> That's a priority. >> Do we want it? We want it. >> We want it bold. >> Yeah. I I would like us to continue because at the end of the day we have a very bold goal when it comes to our strategic energy action plan and we want to make sure we continue to measure that and we have a public facing dashboard and we have an annual report that Sarah and her team well her now her successors team that continues to produce and that is strategic that is one of our strategic initiatives. So I want to make sure it continues to get highlighted and it it is interconnected with mobility goals. Um but yeah I think we need to have that continued >> uh continue to be included in in here >> but as a separate >> that's how we've always done it. >> Okay. All right. We all agree >> keep it as a separate effort. I mean really highlighted. So again laser focus. >> I I would like us to add one more item well-managed government because we talked a lot about accountability and public dashboards and all of that. So the way I see this, if we have well-managed government, uh we could have progress tracker underneath it that would have dashboards for what uh council member Owens was requesting like vision zero. Um now that it's not so much about the plan, it's about the delivery when it comes to mobility. So pretty much public dashboards will fall under well-managed government. >> So well-managed government is a strategic priority. Then we could go and determine what initiative should be linked to this concept rather than putting it also as >> data um dashboards. >> Okay. So laser focus on data dashboards and and I'm going to be honest with you throughout this country everybody is focusing on data and you heard the police data driven data data data data. So I I I totally understand the kind of the pivot to we got to update some of the information in the tracking system. JD, >> thank you. Um I I think I'm in agreement or as uh council member Graham and I said earlier uh we're in the same zip code uh but different parts of the zip code when it comes to the UDO. I yes I think that has been a landmark um ordinance that the city was successful in. Um I do think there are some aspects to it though maybe different initiatives and I I'm I'm just spitballing. I'm not making really any recommendation other than brainstorming here, but I think with the insurgence of data centers in our community as well as how we're growing really fast as a city development and resonings, I I'm not sure what initiative might fall under that, but I think either keep the UDO font color size the same or we can shrink it and and put another initiative that has to do with How do we do smart development in the city? Right? I think oftentimes we just see all these reasonzoning petitions come through and the assumption is we're going to vote yes on it um without providing a lot of context or information or data, right, as we just were speaking about. And so I I don't know if the term is smart development um not sure what initiative that might look like. But again, I think there because it is a living and breathing document, it is something we're going to constantly revisit and talk about as well as how do we become better planners and and conscious about the growth of our city to our existing families, our existing neighborhoods newcomers etc. And I think we just need to have a little bit more of a narrow focus on an initiative that encompasses smart development. I said a whole lot of words and I might just have said nothing at all. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Oh, was it time to go? Oh, um, yeah, I agree with Council Member Mazer Aras. So, just thinking about like affordable housing, even almost calling it like resilient housing because I know some people in affordable housing aren't calling it affordable housing. It's like attainable housing. Like I'm I've I've gotten some slack about that last couple weeks saying that term. So, not sure um if there are better lingo for us to use instead of that. Um but also just thinking about that. I like the idea when you're thinking about like smart growth. So, like how are we creating neighborhoods and regions where people can live, work, and play so they're not having to cross town uh to, you know, go to the grocery store, do all these things. So, how are we creating resilient communities so that people can get around where they need to um and access um amenities um and jobs. So, I do like that. That's a great point. AB >> Absolutely. And and again what we've got to distinguish between you know the strategic priorities and then the initiatives. What initiatives and I want to refocus this. What initiatives over the next year or two do you all want to focus on? Again finite resources. What are your needs? >> Everything can >> Yes. So let me try to do it a different way. Let's call it the black box, right? Because everybody has something that's very important to them up there. >> Absolutely. >> So let's just say the black box over the course of one year you asked us to focus on blackbox and at the end of black the year the blackbox became a part of the fabric of our organization. Would blackbox come off the list because it's embedded in everything that we do? Or would blackbox come off of the list because we actually accomplished it? I don't think in all the years I've been here anything's come off the list. >> It won't. Bye. >> Well, I mean, but I guess I guess I guess where where I'm going is um if something comes off the list, as Deborah said earlier, it doesn't mean that it's not it's not being done. >> It's just a year from now, there are going to be three, four, five things that you're going to judge us on about how far did we go down that path to get the results that you want. And I think that's what we've annually tried to do with the strategic initiatives which separates them from the priorities. >> Water is pretty important. It's not up there. >> Water. >> Water. I'm just saying to to the manager's point, there are things that are critical. Trash, whatever that we do, they're not up there. So this this is supposed to be about uh a new a new uh initiative like a push >> and again the you as a city we have a ton of services >> that you deliver that are steady state got to do it got to have it. These may be what are some things that we really really got to kind of separate and up Yeah. uplift and give extra extra attention to. >> Yes, ma'am. So, I like what the city manager said. I' I'd propose that um I believe Safe Charlotte has all of the elements um that's needed to move forward with public safety. So I advocate that it stayed there and at its size. I also would advocate that uh the UDEO come off because it was a major initiative uh a herculean effort. We rolled it out and now it is a part of our way of working >> and yes it's a living document but it's a part of our way of working. um it's not one of our um major boulders as um I refer to you know um boulders rock sand right and so I would I'd advocate for removing the the UDO off um I'd advocate for uh removing digital divide off but underneath workforce development there is a metric for um highspeed internet connection uh from a household whole percentage. I'd advocate that we keep that there and we have so many good partners in the community working on a digital divide. So I believe that could come off the question around what um uh council member Graham said around arts and culture. I I believe we have done the work to establish uh a framework to moni to flow money so there's monetary flow to the right organizations to then distribute to both our you know blue blue chip um organizations as well as our um grassroots organizations. I think what um council member Graham was talking about is how does that fit into our overall um economic development lens? And so perhaps maybe we add a metric um within the ED uh the ED uh priority that is connected to arts, arts and culture. um the ecosystem of that, the the the economics of that, the economic driver, economic vitality. Um I also believe that we have some other really big initiatives that we're working on in collaboration, but I I think they would um lend itself to individual specific emphasis. So for me, I think our unhoused challenge um should have some space up here. Not not necessarily focused on affordable housing and the downstream housing. Really talking about that major challenge that we have in the community today around the unhoused. And we really we we talk about home for all. We are partnering with the county, but I I feel like it needs more inertia behind it. And perhaps if if we elevate it to a strategic initiative, I'll just put it in the room to to uh get feedback on that. But I I believe that is a specific initiative that needs individual emphasis. But the small business corridors, mobility, affordable housing, safe Charlotte, I think all of those things are good as well as workforce and SEAP. But the rest of those things Mr. Driggs mentioned water and some of our other um public works. I think those are study state. Um that's just, you know, our ways of working. Of course, quality of life is critically important, but I think those are study state items that need to just maintain. >> Okay, good deal. JD, >> thank you. Um, so I think if if council's appetite is to remove UDO, I think we should put in smart growth as as an initiative, you know, um to Thank you for your support, Council Member Mayo. um ju just so we can I think a challenge I see with the city is the follow through, right? So we have all these initiatives and I I want to make sure that the follow through is there, right? Such as with Safe Charlotte or corridors of opportunity or our workforce development. Uh, I want to make sure that if if we do do remove a certain initiative that we add it with some type of initiative that allows for us to study the follow-through and implementation, if you will. Um, but it doesn't have to be tied to a specific policy, right? But at least over uh encompassing >> and and and I think that um if if we staff has done one thing, they have tried to provide you all with all the things in terms of execution of things that are getting done. And a as an outsider to the community, it it is amazing the amount of work that is getting done in this community by city employees. Uh it it it is it is totally amazing. So I think where we are, I'm getting ready to kind of kind of wrap up. um your strategic initiatives. A new one that potentially could be maybe two could be added would be smart growth. That's very broad and we would have to have staff to kind of identify what those specific initiatives are. but it would relate to possibly some of the permitting processes and it it'll be the how you are growing kinds of of of efforts. So so it's a big tent. Safe Charlotte is a big tent and it's going to include uh a number of things. What comes off is digital divide and and and UDO comes. >> I think we need to have a conversation about UDO. >> Okay, let's have more conversation about it then. Can I can I address UDO? I'm James Mitchell. Um I and I say that um because I think the unified development ordinance is a process for us more than something that we're creating or whatever. It's a tool. And so I I guess what I'm saying is that when we look at the corridors of opportunity, we know that we are going to do things in that community. I think the unified development ordinance is really a major planning um activity and I think we have a great planning people. All of you, you guys know that. And I would just say that if I if I were to look at that the unified development ordinance we would not be my top one and I think that it's possible that as we're going to talk about this and take it on as committees. I rather the committee really look at unified development so we are really making a good decision on whether or not we do add to it or not. And I think that that might be helpful. If that is, then I would just say take that and maybe it's up there, but it's going to go through the process for the council. >> Okay. Um, arts and culture is going to get incorporated. It comes off. It's >> I'd probably say it comes off. That that's what I was suggesting but >> Oh, I was suggesting that it's it becomes a metric under workforce >> development, economic development that ED workforce development group that's what I yeah okay soap stays >> and workforce development gets amplified so to speak And there was one other thing that we said we possibly wanted to add. Uh unhoused. How is that landing on you all when you have these two efforts that you can incorporate? >> I think it goes under. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> But I don't know where. >> Yeah. So I'm not sure where it goes under because keep in mind what our role is. So affordable when we even though I would love to expand affordable housing I'm just leave that what it is but our target really should be workforce and workforce ties into everything else >> even though the city many years ago stepped into a space to help with those that are chronically unemployed undermployed unhoused that is the county health and human services wraparound services all of that so to add that as a priority for us I think would give a different impression to community versus what we have always done and that is support the county through our financial partners but to make that a priority for us I think will be doing a disservice to ourselves to add something that really does not fall in our wheelhouse versus how workforce development safe Charlotte Everything else also ties into housing affordability >> and a lot of these you guys are lead. You are the lead entity delivering that service. >> No, I I understand that >> and I understand that the county is really the lead if we if we think about a racy perspective and the count and that right that's what I mean through a r as we were talking about racy earlier. I the reason I put it in the room is that it continues to be a challenge. It wasn't specifically really talking about the mental health aspect or the street psychiatry and all those elements that are a part of um the ragu if you will. But it continues to be a challenge for the city uh that we don't have um a direct program to address uh the the unhoused issue that we have. It's not just in one pocket. It is a major challenge and um I believe that it should be a strategic initiative. Fine if if the the majority don't want it to be. I wasn't proposing that it be a priority, but I I was proposing that it be an area of focus with a higher emphasis that than it had been over the last several years. But I think I think we heard presentations yesterday that there is a lot of work particularly related to um your care team I think is what you all call it and some of that may be >> yes >> related to mental health but I think you can make it much more holistic in terms of referrals for assistance and and I think that that can come through uh with just conversations with CMPD about >> yes >> we you know it doesn't have to be laser focused initiative but we want you all to step up your referral and your coordination and collaboration with those entities that are principally responsible for uh providing those services and then your wheelhouse may be under the affordable housing uh aspect of that that issue. Okay. I think we're close to >> we are done. >> All right. >> Yeah. >> So, >> uh thank you for your leadership. >> Um I know three minutes over and um I'm going to just take one opportunity to do one thing just to remind you all. When we started this meeting, we talked about rules of engagement. We said active participation, respectful communication, confidentiality and trust, accountability and collaboration 100%. You all you all nailed it. So, thank you very much. You made the facilitation role very very I won't say easy because I had to go out there and bring y'all in here a number of times. But thank you, thank you, thank you. I am going to turn Whoops. The mayor isn't here or or the city manager to kind of wrap us up. But thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this. This was amazing. You guys, don't you dare. Don't you dare. >> All right, stop it. It's getting dark. Okay, I can't drive. I'm getting old. Um, thank you so much, Vice Mayor. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> So, first of all, Deborah, thank you to the team. Thank you so much. And can we have a motion to close? >> Mot. All those in favor, stand up and go home. >> And And one last thing, I I want to thank staff for your help. Y'all were amazing. Thank you so much. Especially Julia. Especially Julia. >> All righty. We did it. >> That's right.