n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] no [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] la [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] la w [Music] um I'm going to call our meeting to order um this is our studio we ready to go live sorry thank you are we ready now we're ready now so I want to call the um Council um meeting to order this is our May 13th meeting and we're going to begin with introductions we'll start with our City Attorney Patrick Baker City attorney good evening wow it's a sparse crowd tonight Victoria watlington at large good evening Lana Mayfield council member at large cut you off Ed Driggs District s Malcolm Graham District 2 Marcus Jones city manager B mayor Dante Anderson mayor protm district one Temple Ash at large Ariel Smith lead city clerk would you like to introduce yourself DK M6 thank you um so we have um a consent agenda items number 20 9 through 59 and I wondered if there was anyone that would like to have a comment before we go if is there a comment that anyone would like to have on any of the items Miss Mayfield what would be your comment items a very good question because I did not pull it up Miss yes ma'am and if it's the ones you were referring to before the meeting it's number 34 and 46 34 and 46 okay we come back to that and then is there any consent item that anyone would like to have a separate vote all right I don't see anyone 34 would be the is the consent item Madam mayor okay not 46 I thought I thought yeah those those basically comment and separate vote I have 34 and 46 46 do you want 44 too no oh no ma'am just okay I just um when and my apologies I was clarifying cuz you asked for separate vote so I wanted those for comment and separate vote okay comment and separate vote thank you very much all right so do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items 29 through 59 with the exception of 34 and 46 so mov all right we have a motion and a second any discussion all in favor please raise your hands anyone in opposition all right that passes so the next item would be item 34 which is unspecified demolition and environmental services but I believe that we have some comment from the budget office Miss Marie has done some work on it so I'll turn it over to Marie thank you and as Miss Mayfield requested and I believe it's a general comment for both of them um just how do we um specify when we have multiple vendors listed for an action how do we is there any written process for how we determine which vendors to use are to ensure that all the vendors get used and for the specifics on 34 which is demolition housing provided the information that there was nine Awards last year and what happens with those is they get a notification to bid on the jobs when one comes available all right any further comment or question regarding items 34 and 46 Miss Mayfield thank you madam mayor and thank you Marie for the clarification the reason I asked this question is over the weekend at a Economic Development or mid last week Economic Development Community event I ran into two different vendors that have been previously approved through one of our general services and are identified for our opportunity for contracts and they've been registered with the city since 2018 but have yet to receive our actual contract so I wanted to find out what process and this actually the same question for 46 what is the process that we actually have in place and if not manager can we create a process that actually when we as a council approve these I did not know until Miss Harris submitted this that even though we identify these four organizations in a and we have the CBI goals identified I didn't know that there was an additional step that these same companies have to turn around and reapply again and then we go with L's responsive bidder so when we approving say example these four my assumption would have been that out of those four the expectation is at some point all of them would have had the opp opportunity to actually do the work and actually receive contractual funds as well as those that are in our CBI program at some point during the life of this particular approval they are utilized versus knowing that some have gone through the process they registered with the city they were listed but they've never actually been contacted so I wanted to find out if we don't have a actual process in place moving forward manager if your team can actually create a process so that we have an equitable process all right I think the staff has a comment do you have a comment yes ma'am just to add a little flavor so specific to the demolition ones they bid them out um depends on what it is like the one you had a question about 46 they do actually rotate vendors but to miss Mayfield's point there's nothing in writing that requires that but that is the current process that they use they do rotate vendors but for the demolition they bid it out I think I think Miss Mayfield has a good point that we can have a policy in writing I'd also think that we ought to collect the data how many times that we call and perhaps they already had work and they didn't have the ability to do both projects at the same time so I think keeping a record around that would be very helpful so it's like they were contacted at comment even when you you look at the response for 34 and we look at the dollar amounts that are in here there's a considerable difference as far as the contractual ability that they were able to tap into and we have again some cases where it's not that the vendor wasn't able to perform the work that vendor name was submitted and utilized the contract was awarded but then that vendor was never contacted again that's what I'm saying I would like to know we're looking at both as you were saying those that might not have had the capacity while we're growing capacity but also who hasn't been contacted right so that we can make sure that we're creating a opportunity if we have 1,600 vendors in our system knowing that 1480 of them are actually being utilized will be a great win for the city I I I know I do this and think about this because my brothers do this business and this kind of work and so a lot of times it just depends on where they're situated and what they're able to accomplish and do so I think that we need to keep records other because we have to prove that we're doing the work that needs to be able to have good data for it so thank you very much Miss Mayfield and Miss Harris um Mr Jones do you have any further comment no I agree um those are some of the things that we need to um track so that we can report back to council absolutely and excuse me but if any council members ever hear that it'd be great to know the details too I mean that's a addition to what you're mentioning you know if you hear that let us know we can look into the specific cases thank you thank you and Madam mayor it was the same for number 34 and 46 46 was just asking pretty much the same question a different way how do we ensure all the Consultants listed for contracts actually get the work from the city and is there a rotation to ensure that all that are listed are actually utilized so those two can be the combined question okay thank you thank you um so is there any comment any further comment on the consent agenda if not I'm going to turn it over to the manager for the next item so we got to move it so oh that's right we have we have a motion move to approve and a second second second any further discussion hearing none all in favor please raise your hand anyone oppose okay now thank you very much I also got to do for 46 I did I did a a joint motion 34 and 46 together okay okay thank you madam all right um so the next item is for the manager thank you mayor members of council tonight we have two items uh in the action review one is the uh Center City MSD update and we have Michael Smith with us tonight and then tonight we we also have an opportunity for the committee report outs um because the Committees occurred last Monday but we didn't have the report out so we believe we've given enough time for both Michael as well as an opportunity for a committee report out so mayor unless there are any questions of me um Michael it's your show M mayor council pleasure to be back with you thank than you for the opportunity all right um so I thought we would do is we'd take a quick look at the work of FY 24 uh some highlights and then a flash into next year and uh but beginning with who we are so this is our team uh we're organized as a C4 and we activate strategies and actions that ensure that our center city is welcoming and equable economically vibrant culturally riched and beloved place for all we lead with research and urban planning economic and Community Development uh marketing Communications programming and events uh we also manage the ambassador program of deployed uniformed ambassadors uh that that work as First Responders to the homeless but also as a force multiplier for cmpd uh we also have two related entities that are 501 c3s that we do a lot of our work with the city with uh the market at 7th Street and also the Community Trust and you know through uh through the Community Trust we run programs uh like The Innovation fund uh which we did in Partnership both privately and with the city as a partner uh and then through the market uh it's programs like Hive which was a small business uh incubator which uh had incredible uh participation of minority-owned small businesses 19 diverse businesses were in the first cohort uh will'll begin the second in the fall uh but why don't I dive in a little bit into a little bit of our work so uh we're a mission-based organization this is our Credo this is what we believe as an organization acting with Integrity a commitment to Justice and equity and approaching all we do with passion Innovation tenacity and Excellence um where we serve uh these are the four MSD districts there are three within Uptown and then South End and also includes Midtown uh we are governed uh through a board of directors not moving uh really a great group and we're grateful to have uh councilman Malcolm Graham uh Tracy doson Marcus Jones uh just as a few that serve on the board and uh and help lead our organization uh as far as the way that we guide our work we have a a number of ways that we receive input uh from our partners and from our neighborhood goods from you know hosting listening sessions around homelessness and Public Safety which we did in partnership with the city of Charlotte to the Community Development part of our team that attends all of our Center City and Southend neighborhood association meetings um and then from the board and we bring that to the board in the form of a program of work and we're we're pleased to be able to have that governance um as you're aware these have been really hard times for downtowns uh throughout North America uh real headwinds you know from stress testing of the pandemic lockdowns um to altered workplace rhythms uh development costs and so we're at this period where uh it's things are being stress tested and we are going to need to come together with shared vision and Collective action uh to either either take a step ahead of our competitive Set uh or run the risk of falling behind and when you look though to what's occurred during this last development cycle uh I love this image since 2010 what's in blue has been developed in uptown and South End uh really thoughtful good development and if you look at the way that that pattern occurs uh it is in response to public investment and public policy because it stimulates and it shapes private investment and it expands the tax base if you look at every other color that's on there those are things that are either announced under construction or planned this continues to be an important part of our local economy and it's but it but we're at an interesting point because you know while we can share that it's going through a period of transition and our center city is maturing as a destination and we've got great data on the way people are using our Center City this has always been an aspiration of ours the greatest places are complete places they're not just one thing and this allows our Center City to be used by more of our residents there were 320 days of sporting events in 2023 um and if you look at the diversity of other uses from Bank of America Stadium to the Spectrum Center to truest field you add in our cultural venues music venues and then things like Charlotte shout and loving life that was just here you're starting to see the way our center city is evolving and this lists the 10 most vibrant days in uptown and you see how many of them were connected to our stadiums and our Arenas and the way they're beginning to use differently we also as we look kind of beyond the current waves uh there are some things that we're particularly encouraged by things like the Gateway station the new Bain Public Library the momentum of South End and then there's 10 megasites that been assembled and are this is the context for the vibrancy of the coming decades you know from the 55 Acres of the iron District to what's going on in the pearl uh to what's going on around Gateway and North Tron and it uh the the north Trion Tech Hub is one that I shared with you last year we made really good progress this year there'll be some announcements coming out from UNCC Charlotte about the way they'll be using their downtown campus in a really uh evolved way that are very consistent with what we hope the north Tri Tech Hub can become which is this intersection of academics entrepreneurship and corporate Innovation we think those three coming together in this great assemblage by LaVine properties the land that's owned by mecklinburg county that it's an opportunity to create a flywheel for jobs and for ideas so but these results can't be taken for granted uh as we think about it we think we owe the next generation the momentum that has been earned for us by uh and we got a double down on a winning strategy that includes things like uh Public Safety uh thank you for the leadership that you guys provide uh cmpd just can't be a better partner um we we're grateful to Chief Jennings to Da Merryweather um enhanced public infrastructure compelling experiences uh bold Investments and Rapid Transit thank you for everything that you're considering uh what we have enjoyed is a reflection of the leadership that's come from this dis um bold investment um enhancing perception and driving economic Vitality we think these are some of the things that are going to make a difference taking a quick look at our program of work uh we lead with research and Analysis um we are grateful for the partnership that we enjoy with your team uh uh an economic development led by Tracy Tracy thank you for the partnership um kind of moving ahead through Planning and Development uh this is everything we do tries to be based on the input that we get for long-term planning Cycles uh we're operating under the 2040 uh master plan for our Center City which we co-developed with the city and which you guys adopted uh we continue to see great progress on elements that are in that plan um we're proud of the work that was recommended in a home forall strategy and thank you for considering uh the continued partnership as as you do through uh through your planning process uh we're working with the city on the reimagining of Tron Street um from a Mobility standpoint uh we've got incredible partnership there working closely with cats and economic development on things like Gateway station the CTC and then with engineering on the rail trail bridge uh which we hope to make some progress on this summer and selecting Partners in Community Development um great Urban centers are expressed through their neighborhoods and we're fortunate to have incredible Center City neighborhoods uh not just within Uptown but those first couple of rings of urbanity uh our community development team is working closely uh with them our ambassadors are working closely as well we're excited about an evolution of our ambassador program that will begin on June 1st uh where they'll be moving if hospitality and safety were on a Continuum and we were right now more on the hospitality side we're going to move them to the middle uh you'll see a difference in the way they're trained the way they're hired the way they're compensated uh we look forward to that Evolution um on the public safety side um uh Sean Heath from your team is serving on a working group around Public Safety that uh includes your Chief our chief and da Maryweather and some really great partners and this is uh this is work that's been going on monthly for the last three months and uh we're excited about some of the recommendations that are coming out of that working group we formed a similar working group around marketing Communications we found that there's a perception gap between reality and the way uh both Uptown and Midtown are being perceived and we're excited about the corporate CMOS and Senior Marketing Executives that have agreed to be a part of this working team uh We've retained Ray Ward to help us with some thoughts on how best to approach this and you'll see some of that work coming out this summer uh from a programs and events standpoint uh thank you for the partnership that we enjoy we continue to have a team that's very passionate about programming free quality events that bring our community together uh it was a particularly good year uh thank you for the support of Charlotte shout uh there were 642 th000 unique visits to shout activities this year and that money is invested in local arts and we have seen a difference across the three years of the restoring of Charlotte shout of the quality of submissions um it is it is economic development work and it's quality of life for our community uh we're proud to be a part of it just to remind you it is Art food music and ideas and it's across 17 days which is three weekends uh we also produced the Thanksgiving Eve parade Camden Commons New Year's Eve shop small Saturday just to name a few and all of that is done in partnership with you all um I don't know if you want to spend time on budget or if you're good I brought it with me because we've done it in the past um I'm glad to answer questions you have I'm trying to be careful of your time I know you guys have a big night tonight Mr thank you thank you madam mayor and and M thank you and your staff for for all the work you've done on behalf of those who work live and play in in uptown Charlotte um as you mentioned I do serve on the board and uh and uh have enjoyed the service they representing the city council um I just want to kind of point out a couple of bullets that I think is worth uh emphasizing yet again as relates to ensuring that uptown Charlotte is a place where people feel safe and secure and uh the our latest crime stats has demonstrated that crime is down actually in uptown Charlotte by 7% not withstanding the perception is that there's still work to be done in reference to crime and Public Safety and so I can concur that that working group has been working really really hard for the last several months uh doing what is necessary to provide the type of um group thinking necessary to ensure that the community knows that Uptown Charlotte is safe um we continue to work on uh issues related to the unhoused and homelessness in uptown Charlotte uh and we uh not withstanding the fact that we uh place the ordinance in place uh on behalf of of the citizens of Uptown and one of the things that Mike did not mention is uptown's is also a neighborhood people live there uh and um and so we have to take that into consideration in terms of a wide variety of things that we're doing uh and I think that's really important U that we um underscore that uh uptown is also a neighborhood people live live there uh thirdly uh we're still working in reference to the um proliferation of office building that stand empty and trying to problem solve that uh the answer is not all government uh we can't do it all because there are vacant buildings throughout the city uh University City Uptown uh Bal time Etc but it is an issue that we're we're we have accepted that we have to do a lot more work on uh going back to Uptown being also a neighborhood that there's a number of uh large scale events that we invite that we want um but they also bring consequences to those who live live there as well and so there's a equal balance between securing the uh Uptown as a place where people um uh play um but not at dispense of people living there and so I think the organization has stried a a great balance between that and I look forward to uh playing more and not town I was there last night for the Kim Waters uh jazz event at Booth Playhouse and dinner afterwards for Mother's Day and so certainly I I play there as well um North trial Redevelopment um I'm excited about that uh and and what we're doing there uh the Gateway station um uh and you spoke too about uh the stadiums and the events there uh which Drive economic activity both at Bank of America Stadium as well as the arena one question I I get over and over and over again and and maybe you can I cannot answer it is shopping in uptown how can we how can we um uh highlight the the shopping experience in uptown and do you have any news for us how we can really create Uptown as a shopping destination and um I'll leave that as the question but also thank you for your work thank you for um all that you do to support a uptown what people can feel proud of councilman and board member thank you and thanks for highlighting those I was trying to move through so much and I I loved your assessment of that uh your question about retail uh we do aspire to have more destination retail in uptown and I think there's no better example to learn from than the way it matured in south end and it uh single units of retail uh don't work it it has to be a part of an ecosystem and in south end there were a couple breakthroughs it was Eden's Redevelopment of Aon and it was asuna's assemblage of almost 400,000 square feet of older buildings that they adaptively reused which preserved some of our beautiful older buildings and allowed South End to move from neighborhood retail to destination retail and there's opportunities to do that within Uptown uh what held Uptown retail back for the longest time was a lack of space we would hear it over and over again that there there wasn't space created uh that's becoming less of a problem because you're seeing so many new developments responding to planning requirements to create retail space along the ground plane um we need it to act more like a system and we need to have some of those breakthrough uh moments uh a has done a nice job in some of the locations like at the base of the Ally Center uh when you're there you'll notice the way the retail works together the way it's it's curated uh we need more of that and we need it to interplay there'll be more opportunities as Uptown becomes more of a central activity District right now it's it's a central business district but 320 nights of sports activities More arts more culture more dining creates environments that are more uh more apt to be able to support the sales per square foot that's required to have active retail all right thank you mayor protim thank you madam mayor and um Michael thank you for the presentation you know I I share Uptown representation with Mr Graham and so really excited about all of the things that uh you have going on throughout the entire uptown area throughout all four Wards but specifically i' I'd like for you to just if you could just expound a little bit on um the north trian Tech Hub and say a little bit more about what that's about and then how how that could potentially um match up pretty well with the reimagining of trian Street awesome thank you so seriously thank you it's one of my favorite topics to talk about um anytime we get to be Innovative and there is an opportunity that we think the market just has not discovered um in partnership with the city and the county um in 2016 we created a North Trion Vision plan for 50 blocks and this was a partnership between Center City partners and the foundation for the Carolinas really a great group and one of the core recommendations under it was to create a new economic underpinning for that part of Uptown and we need to continually be feeding uh a a field for tomorrow's Industries because Industries get disrupted and if we don't have new crop growing uh we'll be disrupted economically and from a tax standpoint and we have great concentration of ownership we already have have transit system with the blue line with two stops within the district silver lines intended to meet there those two Crossing there I jokingly refer to as the Queen's cross kind of like King's cross in London uh we think it's a big opportunity and we've got our University there we've got cultural districts and we have uh we've got corporate headquarters and so the north Tri Tech Hub has represent ation of the chief technology officers from our major employers uh it has uh Tracy serves on it on behalf of the city the um we've got developers um Chancellor gabber serves on it and we think this is an opportunity to just enhance the University's direct connection to our major employment Hub and just build upon what they have with the debois center and the deis campus and uh we the first move has been by the university that's uh planning on having a thousand additional students at that campus it starting in the fall each day uh they're thinking about their the way they're going to redesign the way that campus is used um and there's a little bit more that I'll allow them to share um but we're we're doing some important work on entrepreneurship uh Juan garzan from the city team uh is serving on that committee on behalf of the city and um it's it's a good group um where ey has been a really good partner uh granting us the wave center with uh curated Innovation districts or in Innovation sessions a group of us went down to visit the tech Square in Atlanta with Georgia Tech and just came away incredibly inspired uh we do not want to repeat what they have we think there's an opportunity for Charlotte to do something different in the Charlotte way and we've got this great entrepreneurial community that we think will benefit from having a a hub and and more support and anyway we're excited to do it and with regard to the North Tri reimagining Trion Street it was one of the recommendations of the 2040 Vision plan uh we are working with the planning department and with economic development at the city on what that would mean um those opportunities the the last time that we reimagined Trion Street was in 1983 and it was implemented in 1984 and the way that we use ground level has changed so much I mean I mean think of uh ride share think of the delivery services that we use now and we want trian Street to continue to be more pedestrian friendly and one of the projects we're beginning this with is Mcall Park and it's been a great partnership with the city 've been very successful in private fundraising and we've gotten a lot of great Community feedback on how to do it we think that will be an important uh early move as we re imagine excellent I I really think that the two really go hand inand because we want um trying to be an inviting place and space for all of our visitors um but connected with the technology Hub and the Millennials that will will be attracted into that space I think it's um it's there's some Synergy there that hopefully we're you all are playing on and thinking about strategically how the those things can enhance each other but looking very I'm very much looking forward to hearing continued progress on on the techhub thank you so much councel thank you thank you Madame mayor thank you for the presentation but I have some actual questions for you so we're thinking about the presentation what I didn't hear of which you may already have the numbers and your team may be working on it it just for time constraint we didn't focus on it here it would be helpful to get an idea of what the plan is for the bacon space the office space the reimagining I get we're doing the reimagining of Tron but the reimagining of the buildings that have not necessarily transitioned back to fulltime occupancy to give if you if you're able to a snapshot of what those conversations are looking like absolutely um so in the fall um we conducted a design competition around vintage office and Charlotte has not been spared from the uh the challenges of our buildings that are really older than 1990 and there's been a number of them that have have gone back to the lender and that's that's a step in the wrong direction m uh what we find right now is new has never been newer and old has never been older as employers are trying to get their employees back to the office when their leases expire they are acting on their option to move into buildings often taking a smaller footprint paying more in rent so they can create environments that are attractive to their Workforce coming back you know they're competing with the commute trying to create commute worthy places um now the challenge with that is buildings are often built in quadrants like they'll be remember in the two in the teens all of a sudden South Tron and uh Brooklyn Village Way was just the hottest Street there was I think3 billion dollars worth of development on that street well the same thing happened four decades ago but it was along uh North Tri and it was a College Street so there's pockets and the concern is that those Pockets can be a challenge to our tax base and to Public Safety and I would tell you that if we think Market forces will take care of this we will not like the results uh we're going to have to be very intentional about the way we respond collectively to those places and I would also say that we we don't need to address it all we need to be strategic about you know where are spots that we know it's it's going to enhance this District it's going to maintain the safety and you're there's there's some belief that if we do that that we're bailing out the owners and when the building goes back to the lenders the owner's out of the picture so now what you're doing is we're trying to to invest we're trying to create an environment that new money comes into our community and invests in us and expands the tax base and protect some of it so in the more expansive conversation I think for me it would be helpful when we look at that tax base and look at the MSD what you're seeing as far as the beginning numbers if there is a decline and to start getting some of those ideas out whether it's creating a different partnership with our banking Partners which a number of those leaders are on a number of our boards within up town so they could possibly see the benefit of public private partnership versus a hard ask from the private sector also I just want to put into the universe a consideration when we're talking about the reimagining of Tron and it being more walkable council member Graham and I had a brief conversation not about this earlier but thinking about parking in uptown somewhere along the line we forget that our workers utilize that parking Uptown so it's not just people that are coming in to spend money it's those servers that are at the restaurants it's the workers that's working Spectrum or Bank of America or whatever they can afford coming in at 5 p paying that dollar tw1 12127 for that one hour cuz parking is free after 6 but when you're when we're looking at trying to push them into parking decks it will get to it could get to a place where it's costing them more to come into Uptown then that 10 12 to $13 an hour they're making for four or five hours Once Upon a Time many years ago and the manager and I have had this conversation multiple times when we approved a lot of these developments there were clear commitments and understanding of community parking as a Community Asset a lot of that parking over the years has either been redesignated for restaurants for their VIP parking or we have red bags over them we have during different events we make it inaccessible and we don't think about not just the residents that live here that want to enjoy Uptown but that potentially can be cause could cause a financial burden but we're not and we're not thinking about those workers that are receiving a less than living wage pay and how much it costs them to have to try to find parking in uptown and the number of people that going to start calling out because it's just not financially feasible so when we talk about reimagining it always seems like a good conversation exciting conversation about walkability and accessibility I just would like for you all to consider the impact of those who don't have the luxury of taking public transportation because it's not convenient for them and making sure that we still have on street parking options that are realistic not just for those who are visiting Uptown whether it's a station or you coming in but also let's not forget that our workers are in there you have on the slide of Mobility slide 14 when you briefly mentioned the Charlotte Gateway station the CDC the CTC nope that's it so again could be a deeper Co conversation later this is a conversation we've been having in the city for many years I actually and Mr manager ran into one of our state representatives at a community event last weekend weekend before last who shared by pulling me aside Quest asking what are we doing with this and the allocation and support that was there from a while ago so it would be great if we can get a clear update of what that looks like cuz that was a very detailed conversation but he was kind of animated when pulling me deide to share with that the ra Trail bridge that and our mainly looking at our bus Train The Collection G Gateway at Gateway that conversation is seems like for some I guess they feel like even though we still have it top of M fingers crossed it for some it feels like it is not at top of mine so I was glad to see this in here so a little bit more detail of which I would gladly schedule a meeting Mora to come in so we can go into more detail but I think that will be helpful so that we know that it is on the radar but amazing work I truly enjoyed the most recent groundbreaking that we had in uptown right on the corner of South Boulevard and west east right there beautiful building that I'm quite sure you're going to fill up very quickly cuz there is no bad view whatever floor you on that space and count Dr Wallington was able to make it out that space is wraparound panoramic views for every floor going all the way up so I'm quite sure that that is not going it's not going to be difficult to sell that I just want to make sure we're also having a real conversation about older buildings and looking at how we can partner to and what real partnership looks like to help reimagine it thank you madam mayor thank you Council thank you mam mayor some of my questions have already been addressed around vacancy and programming um I certainly appreciate collaboration here thanks to your leadership Michael uh in addressing homelessness and safety concerns in uptown um I appreciate how uh there is traction back to Uptown with large events whether it be sporting events or Charlotte sh or Thanksgiving Parade I'd like to continue to see more of that because that supports businesses Uptown as we bring some of these large events um I did not hear any update on how are things coming along with Redevelopment of epicenter yeah so the the epicenter just did some ret tenting they've they've brought new companies in and for the month of May they've brought back a Friday after workor event um that they're really excited about they're putting DJs and bands on on the top level uh working to bring working to restore the vibrancy there it is still controlled by uh Deutsche Bank on behalf of the bond holders so they have not sold it yet that is their longer term plan is to stabilize the asset and be able to sell it uh to restore the value for their bond holders um you know when I when I and remember um Uptown like specifically the episer how it was back in 2017 between 2012 12 to 2017 time frame versus now there is large vacancy uh rate and uh I know there are efforts underway to bring traction but I haven't seen much progress um so are you at all um involved in their overall Vision plan as to stabilize this asset yeah we we can continue to meet with them when their principles are in town representing uh Deutsche Bank and uh we continue to be of council to them you know it's it's owned as a private asset uh I think some of the things that the city is considering like the uh the CTC strategy uh are very ACC creative to what the private owners are trying to do here and I I encourage the continued consider ation of that um and as nightlife restores and as Uptown moves more to a central activity District I think there's more opportunities uh for the U the epicenter which is now referred to as Queen City quarters Queen City quarters yeah yeah okay all right well we'll see more uh quarters getting occupied that's all I have thank you thank you thank you um just a couple of things the first one um well actually let me just frame it I think as I'm listening to this what I'm very much interested in because I know that we keep talking about Southend and kind of thinking about how South End has been able to be vibrant and I think about what's different about South and as a visitor versus Uptown and I'm wondering because we've talked a good BS about vacancies and what do we do with the buildings I'm wondering how you're envisioning what our focus is and not just for you Michael but as we think collectively from the public sector do we really care I don't want to say do we really care should our Focus be on anything above the first 40t because if we're talking about a neighborhood if we're talking about destination retail those are the things that are really public facing versus some of the things that are more market-based in terms of who's in that building uh for very specific purpose so I'm curious to hear about um how we're approaching that or how we're prioritizing that because when we think about some of the things that we struggle with whether it's safety or whether it's visitors those kinds of things it really feels like it's much more about what's happening at the street level versus what's going on in the skies so it's it's really hard to decouple the two because these build buildings are owned as one asset M and if if it is in default and it's owned by a bank if it goes from bank to being municipally owned and that's a worst case scenario and I hope knock on wood that we'll see none of that or very little um then the bottom 40 feet has the same cancer as the the next eight floors or or 40 floors and there's going to be some opportunities for adapting uh there's going to be some that need to be demolished and then there's going to be some that the market can reinvest and restored as office and just modernized um but we have some right now that the demolition cost is more than the value of the land so you have some buildings that get that stuck and we're going to have to find we're going to have to this is going to be an ongoing very complicated very technical uh planning process and discussion uh the more that we can come up though with a policy that is easily understod by the market because what we want is we want private Capital to see Charlotte as a place that cares about this so that it comes here and invests and expands the tax base and really does that public private partnership but I think we're better served if we have like one tool that so that when they come to town they don't think each each project has to be has to negotiate like a new deal every time yeah I I'll be interested in discussing this some more just because certainly there's obviously work to do um when it comes to the market and investment and what we're doing in the buildings I think that is a little bit separate aart though I definitely understand what you're saying that the asset can't be the coupled when it comes to our Focus um and what we're trying to create I don't know how much of what we're doing here and particularly through the MSD really um Can impact that piece so I just I want to dig into that a little bit more um because as I think about what makes South in attractive for visitors and when we really talk about like destination retail and maybe my question is what exactly are you saying is destination retail I whoever is in the building from a tenant standpoint for me doesn't make it any more attractive to come to Uptown if I'm still paying $20 I got to ride around a parking garage forever to find somewhere to park and and what's here is a restaurant when I can go to Southend and go to a restaurant and a skate room and puty or whatever else um on an impromptu kind of basis I think that's the piece that we're still missing when it comes to making Uptown attractive especially given all of the hurdles that you kind of have to go through just to get here um and get settled thank you um thank you Madame mayor I'll I'll be quick uh hello Michael good see thank you for being here with us tonight and thank you for the presentation um I just I got a question about the Hub I heard you say Hub can you give me like Cliff Notes on what the Hub is actually going to be um the north TR the north TR Tech Hub yeah yeah so we went to Atlanta we were really inspired by what Georgia Tech the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia have done they actually run the state's Economic Development Office out of this Hub it's that important to them they think it's that transformative for their economy okay and we had UNCC Charlotte and uh some great Economic Development leaders from our city that were with us and we came back inspired and that began a process that started about 18 months ago and we think this intersection of academics entrepreneurship and corporate Innovation so think our chief technology officers really leaning in think about UNC Charlotte really making this a hub for them yeah exactly um okay and our entrepreneurial Community being able to get to a spot where they can get to uh EAS more easily tap in to the supply chain of our major employers to more easily tap into the talent that's coming out of UNCC Charlotte at both the undergraduate and The Graduate level you know a lot of what we're going to try to pull to the campus with those extra thousand students a day is graduate students in computer science okay so and and that was my next question and it kind of would pig piggyback off of that um who would be I guess the recipients of this of this resource right because I know that we have the corridors of opportunity and each of them have hubs that are specific to um different opportunities throughout the city and and I wonder what would be our appetite to really add this resource into that ecosystem um because I know and and I mean that this is a conversation for another day but I'm really just taking the opportunity to put it out into the atmosphere because as we continue with the corridor's opportunities and trying to connect our residents to resources information and technology is one of the fastest growing Industries in the nation right and so if this is going to be one that's specifically targeting you know that particular um a job with respect to Opportunities I'd love to you know talk to you offline um and and we discuss if if there's opportunities to because I know for an example The Hub that is in Charlotte um it's really being spearheaded by the Latin American Chamber of Commerce right and there's a diverse set of stakeholders um that are financially and you know they have their own uh corporate interest in bringing that Hub to that particular Corridor and we have corridors like that I'm sure you're aware across the city right yes um so what I imagine that ecosystem looking like to some degree is if we have let's say a human walk in and they're not able to get the resources at that particular Hub then we would in you know in effect like refer them to something within our ecosystem where we can properly serve that human and get them on a track to where they can you know start towards economic you know up economic Mobility right um but do you do you think and I mean I don't want to put you on the spot but is that something that has been entertained as a conversation or do you think there would be an appetite and willingness so what I would share is that Atlanta has 22 Innovation districts so as we started to create the second one there was questions of hold on we've got the Pearl what are we doing well I mean Atlanta has an organization that does nothing but pull together those 22 Innovation districts wow and these are creating some of tomorrow's jobs which I think will feed other sub markets like quarters of opportunity um with with as we develop uh entrepreneurial companies and fast growth businesses that are looking to get to some of the talent of our Market no I love that thank you for sharing that and Mr manager I 22 like Innovation districts I'd love to kind of talk about that offline you know how we can broaden our ecosystem I think that's a great a great idea yeah I'm thank Michel for the information and take place um we also need to um have a committee Council committee update now I know that everyone doesn't have to give a report but I wanted to make sure that we had the um report from the transportation and development committee so Mr DRS would you address that for us thank you Madame mayor uh at our committee meeting we got a report from Catz about the outcome of the fda's review RWS of cat's Financial operations you remember we actually agreed with the FTA to move up their review in light of some of the operating difficulties that we had there uh they hired a an accounting firm and I'll just read uh the conclusion of the accounting firm was in our opinion Management's assertion that the city of Charlotte has maintained effective internal control over its compliance with FTA financial management system requirements during the period July 1:21 to June 3023 is fairly stated in all material respects based on the criteria established by the FTA as set forth in section six of the report I it's a clean report they did note some uh significant deficiencies as they were called which were basically documents that were not produced in a timely fashion that was the essence of it administrative s very good job by cats congratulations to them uh the second item at our meeting was a report from uh Alison Craig and planning uh talking about a um I think main thing I want to highlight here talking about the uh modification of the conservation option and you remember we've already been told there are problems about the conservation option that is being used by developers to submit byright plans that don't actually align with the intent of the conservation option and 90% of the plans that are being submitted by right are availing themselves of this feature it's essentially a loophole uh the staff have prepared language changes in order to Clos the loophole again we were told about that I mentioned it last week now the interesting thing here is that the zoning committee took this up and decided to defer any action on it they did not act on it so that leaves us with a question of whether or not we go back to the zoning committee or do we proceed in order to get this done in the time frame that the staff envisions there's a whole long line of big development that's lined up so this is time sensitive the unanimous opinion of the members of the committee who are myself uh Miss Molina as Vice chair Mr Graham Miss Johnson and Dr watlington and our view I think it wasn't a vote but our unanimous view was that we should move ahead with our vote on the 20th uh and go ahead and put those changes into effect in order to close that loophole that will be followed the next month by a compact development option that will offer higher density Solutions in response to the industry's suggestion that our base Udo uh because of all of its requirements points to a higher cost uh housing solution than the one we want I they can't develop lowcost housing meeting all of our requirements because of the utilization So the plan is we vote next Monday now miss Craig is here to answer question she did actually have some slides but in view of the time uh I would suggest that without objection everybody is on notice if you need to know more call me or her but our goal is to get this done next Monday and questions for the chair Miss blon um my question is and I was there so it's really just for the benefit of the public for those who were part of the uh previous meeting before is there any way to just hit the top lines of what the key um issues coming out of the charet were and what the what the mitigation is doesn't have to be in detail but just if people are following along yes in essence to to to boil it down what was going on was plans were being submitted that had very crammed development and they were counting the open space on individual Lots towards the requirement for open space in the conservation option but the conservation option intended was you would have a community area that was open and that would allow smaller Lots around the edge so the language did not expressly prohibit what these plans have been proposing um but that is not what we had in mind it was never intended that 90% of the plans that were submitted would Avail themselves of the conservation option so we need to kind of close that but at the same time uh as I was saying in an earlier meeting close that door open another door and that is the following month we will act on the compact option which does provide through the front door instead of the back door a way to do higher density development aim at the price point that we have in mind and and not abuse the the [Music] Udo all right Miss watlington okay Miss Molina just really quickly Madame mayor Mr chair if you will um I just want to point out for my colleagues that weren't at the meeting um and and the reason why there was such consensus was that Miss Craig pointed out the number of units that we would actually be able to stop with making that decision possibly um next month absent any that would come in before we would make that decision um and that the um the decision would actually be effective immediately right Miss Craig um and there were about 5,000 Mr chair in the pipeline there there were a lot of units even Within that month that would move through before we acted and Miss Molina if you don't mind I want to mention the chair of the zoning committee was actually at our committee meeting and responded to some questions we had as to what their issues were and uh when we heard those I think the feeling of committee members of our committee members was that they didn't constitute a reason and I don't believe Mr Welton even thought they constituted a reason for us to not take this action and they made an observation that they thought the uh staff was kind of over managing the development of these sites we couldn't really relate to that so it was all very friendly and fine and and I got the impression from the chair that it was okay with them if we went ahead okay and that's all I have okay all right is there another committee that would like to provide an update and I'm going to say this with all the sensitivity of like 20 minutes less than 20 minutes to get downstairs we will be having at least two hours of budget comments so I'm going to suggest that we do one hour then come back and maybe do another figure out where we are maybe another hour and a half so that everybody can get a break between we are going to um have two minutes per person to speak and I think that that the clerk or at least they know that there's not that there is the ability to speak at this level um so I think we have over 70 people to speak tonight and um I want to make sure that we all get there so we are supposed to start at 6:30 at 6:18 by the time I'm Sorry Miss ashir did you have a comment on I just wanted to finish once you're finish okay so if we can go downstairs and actually start we still have to do the regular announcements and things like that so this it would be helpful if we move quickly got into our seat and had six people sitting there so that we could begin the meeting all right Miss miror M yes I speaking of the budget I just wanted to give a quick update on City's debt financing because there is referendum action on our agenda tonight uh so there are four upcoming Financial financing transactions that are currently planned uh this was something that was already approved by the committee uh by full Council in the past uh so tonight you will see we are considering water bonds and revenue Bond Bond anticipation um there is General obligation Bond refunding and that's part of the refinancing and then um so as part of the general obligation bond process tonight we will be voting on approving a resolution to apply to LGC which is the local government commission that's the first step in our process to have a $400 million Bond referendum on November 2024 so uh second I can wait uh I just wanted to make sure if anyone had any questions on the city's debt financing that's okay all right so um if we can get downstairs it's 6:20 now so we can get started at 6:30 [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] got I had add [Music] [Music] Lon thank you madam mayor for those that choose please bow your heads Lord we pray that we will govern with wisdom for the common good the welfare of the city and not for personal gain or under pressure of any Lobby groups or for the advantage of the favorite few I pray that our concern be for the well-being of all that our hearts be full of love and let our skin be thick in Jesus name amen amen love IED alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all is that my water yours I want to thank all of you who are in the chamber today and also thank those that are watching us um on the city's YouTube channel or however they choose to watch this opportunity um today we are going to have our budget um meeting that we ask all of you to be able to comment on what the manager's recommended budget is so that council members will have the opportunity to hear from the public before any decisions are made for on this budget or any changes or recommendations and so this is an important time for us because we really want to hear from our community I know that our budget team has had listening sessions and I may I hope several of you have participated in it but it's nothing like coming down and talking to the council members that's a great thing to be able to do in this country um we are going to probably have about two hours of comments the comments that you have when you come down to speak speak will be limited to 2 minutes and I hope that we'll all respect each others so that we can get those two minutes in and everybody can be heard but before we begin we are going to have a few announcements of some things that I think we all recognize as being important so we have two proclamations today and I'd like to recognize first council member Ash Mera who will read a proclamation regarding child care provide our appreciation that thank you Madame mayor as a mother of two young children I certainly appreciate and recognize the hard work childcare providers does and this is very timely for Mother's Day so here we go Child Care aware of America and other organizations Nationwide are recognizing child care providers on this day and whereas childcare has provided a safe nurs in place for the enrichment and development of millions of children Nationwide and is a vital force in our economy and whereas the covid-19 pandemic illuminated how indispensable CH child care providers are for the well-being and economic security of Charlotte young children families and communities and whereas Child Care programs which are mostly small businesses run and staffed pred predominantly by women continue to recover from the health and financial hardships stemming from the pandemic to meet the needs of more families and whereas Charlotte recognizes that child care has been and continues to be a lifetime for families communities and the economy and whereas the future depends on the quality of the Early Childhood experiences provided to young children today support for for high quality Child Care represents a worthy commitment to our children's future now therefore she why Alexander L mayor of Charlotte do hereby Proclaim May 10th 2024 as child care provider appreciation day in Charlotte and urge all citizens to recognize child care providers for their important work thank you very much Miss asir if you have a child care provider treat them kindly this week all right and now I want to recognize council member um this is terrible I was going to say councilman Tia isn't that terrible I was just like oh my gosh so um she would talk about Mental Health Awareness Month hello wonderful people thank you all for coming out tonight my name is Council oh thank you Madame mayor let me remember my manners thank you madam mayor um thank you guys for coming out tonight all you wonderful folks taking your time out tonight to come and be heard mental health is um near and dear to me especially for second chance and people that have spent time in carceration so mental health is a big deal to me so thank you for for doing this city of Charlotte and meinburg County Joint Proclamation whereas one in five adults and one in five youth experience mental health conditions each year 50% of all lifetime mental health conditions Begin by the age of 14 and 75 % by the age 24 and whereas mental health treatment therapy medication and self care have made recovery a reality for most people experiencing a mental health condition people with mental health issues deserve help and whereas together we can realize our shared vision of a Nation where we where anyone affected by mental health no matter their background no matter their background no matter their background culture ethnicity or identity can get the appropriate support quality of care to live healthy fulfilling lives and whereas good mental health is critical to well-being of our families communities schools and businesses of all cultures backgrounds and backgrounds greater public awareness about mental health and can change negative attitudes and behaviors and cultures toward people with mental health conditions and whereas we must do better as a community a culture and a society and join together to increase awareness and understanding of mental health reduce stigma and discrimination and promote appropriate and accessible services for all people no matter their background race or gender who are living with mental health conditions now therefore we that means city council right our mayor V Alexander L mayor of Charlotte and George dlap chair of mecklinburg B County Commissioners do hereby Proclaim May 24th as National Mental Health Awareness Month in Charlotte mecklinburg County and commend its observance to all citizens witness is our hand and it's official seal of the city of Charlotte and meinburg County and it's signed by our mayor VI Alexander LS and our Board of meinberg County Board of Commissioners Mr George jlap thank y'all so much thank you council member Brown [Applause] I have one other um topic um that I think most of us probably remember over the last two weeks the tragic incident that we had for four law enforcement officers who lost their lives as a part of trying to make sure that we had an opportunity to be safe you know in my faith there's this song that um it says um we call the rooll up yonder so I would like to ask you to take a moment of silence as I recognize the members that have been called to be on the rooll Joshua a of the Charlotte meinberg Police Department Thomas Weeks of the US Marshall service William Adin IL Elliott of the North Carolina department of adult correction and Sam pce whose funeral was today of the North Carolina department of adult correction now in the days and weeks following messages and support of condolences have been received at a remarkable rate across this country people have sent notes and letters and comments and Reflections so I want to read just a brief one who came as a part of a statement from a city in Oregon the city of Woodburn will honor those who lost their lives with a moment of silence during our next council meeting to the Friends families and anyone who feels this tremendous loss in and Beyond Charlotte you are in our thoughts and this is signed by the mayor Frank logren U mayor of the town of Woodburn now he sent that note because they had their own tragedy in December of 2008 where two law enforcement officers and others were injured so I want all of us to be thankful today I want to thank particularly our community who stood by and with the families of those who were lost and those who were injured in the coming weeks and months let's not forget them let's make sure that we are still supportive that we do not remember what happened without remembering that they gave the greatest sacrifice this upcoming week is police week and if you know an officer be kind give them some way of acknowledging that they are important to us in our community so thank you everyone for this opportunity to speak about something that I think has really changed the way that we see what we do in this community and knowing that we can do it well so with that um I'm going to now talk about our public hearing tonight um we will have speakers come down and as speakers are coming through down I want you to always always say be careful with those steps they're steep but we're going to call two speakers at a time each speaker will have two minutes to speak to the budget about the budget to the city council so we're going to start with our public hearing on the proposed 2023 capital investment plan our first two speakers are Sandra delos Santos and Harmony Moore followed bym Jud I'm sorry Harmony Harmon Harmony Harmony sorry my believe I will try my very best with the names tonight if I don't get it exactly right no it's because not because of the heart but the head um we will have also have Judy seld and Cohen following as well as Kyle Washington so if you would it would be helpful as we have you if you begin to speak if you would tell us your name first so that we have people there's another Podium over here that someone can the second person can come in harmony is that correct all right Harmony thank you Harmony all right you have two minutes let set a great example for these adults hello everyone my name is harmony Moore I am also the founder of little listeners a youth violence prevention Outreach organization I am also a supporter of the people's budget this creates an opportunity for various organ organizations to work together to service our community our community's needs now let me just say this youth need to participate in the budget process because they will inherit a Charlotte based on decisions made now following up with councilwoman Tiana's Town Hall it's apparent that youth need to take a world and ending June June juvenile gun violence and the youth violence prevention center model allows Nico's to contribute to the proamp process if the city of Charlotte wants the Youth of Charlotte to consider careers with the city they need to make the jobs attractive To Us by paying all city employees a decent wage and have good benefits like being able to retire well remember that the crown is displayed on their uniform treat them like they represent the Queen City today's youth deserve to be able to afford to live in Charlotte and that's both in apartments and our own houses please make sure we have the opportunity to live here that also means different types of housing all of us aren't looking for a house with a pick and fence make many of us want to live where we work we want to walk to the store please consider all of the suggestions in the people's budget because we are are the [Applause] people I do believe your grandmother is very happy all right so now we will hear from Sandra Deo Santos ham for so we did ask for interpretation but we're not sure how that how that works it would I don't know that we had prepared for the interpretation Madam clerk okay here we are we do have interpreters were y'all able to to interpret what she said not our sign language I'm Sor it's important to have a um Madam clerk do we have I'm sorry if you let me Madam clerk do we make arrangements for an interpreter yes ma'am so we will have The Interpreter give us the remarks that were made please come forward thank you we're out of time should we get that off no he she gets because it is an interpreter she will he will be able to give us the remarks two minutes that within actually will have to hear her really um so that what we need to do we get a written translation May it's written okay my name is uh Sandra the Los Santos uh be very hard actually all right I tell you what we're going to do we will have this translated and sent to every member of the council um so that they will be able to read it and we will have an interpretation of it for all of us thank you very much say Mar tell us what she said let's keep let's let's keep going I'm Sorry Miss yeah so as part of the equity committee council member Johnson Winston and I served on we we had specifically en anticipated this kind of situation where we that's why we would have interpreter not afterwards but at the same time so that we can get the remarks um I understand that but that didn't happen and we did not know that so it's something that we did not we were I was not aware of so we'll have to have that interpreted and sent to every one of the council members thank you all right so can you make sure this doesn't happen in the future if we had hope to but I right is the process all right our next speaker is Judy Selden Cohen followed by Cal Washington no I'm not sure what's oh here isore she wants she here she wants to read the remarks she said speak no I'm not reading it I'm just reading it myself no Marie please don't do that because it has to be the whole Cohen you can begin Cen please thank you I am Judy Seldon Cohen part of the Coalition proposing the people's budget thank you city manager for increasing the housing bond to $100 million in the proposed budget this increase is essential to support the lowest paid workers in our growing city including those households earning under 30% of the area median income to Max maximize the impact of this larger housing Bond the people's budget proposes that $25 million be targeted for home ownership in areas at risk of displacement The Nest commission is also requesting $25 million towards anti-displacement like the nest commission the people's budget supports adus accessory dwelling units adus provide a source of income for homeowners at risk RK of displacement while adding lower cost housing into the city's inventory we also propose that the city focus on smaller scale contractors to build these adus contractors who typically do not have access to public funds people's budget also supports the nest commission's focus on repairs essential to keeping aging homeowners in their homes in addition to adus and repairs we we support using the housing bond to acquire land and properties for the Westside Community Land Trust land trusts preserve long-term affordability and enable appreciation to be shared equitably between homeowners and the community that made their home ownership possible thank you all for your support of the100 million housing Bond we look forward to working with the housing and Safety Committee to develop the policy for allocating these proceeds thank you C Washington cal cal Washington all right Kevin Carr and Cass Atley I don't see Kevin I know that Kevin Carr is not here this evening he had it uh thank you so following missley will be Carol Hardison I wanted to to say something just quickly if I can before my time starts I inquest we have to follow the rules I I requested an interpreter and I'm a little upset that one was before provided because we we I am as well so thank you for joining so I'd like to say um you know I'm happy to be here and I'd like to thank the city for for um listening to the city workers in the past and increasing the minimum wage and looking at all of the things that the city workers were talking about but two and a half years ago we were here with a study from Economic Policy Institute which said that a worker that had a family of two needed to be making at least $26 to thrive and live in the city of Charlotte and while we're looking at $23 for a minimum wage we are still pressing for 25 because city workers have been trying to play catchup for years the last two years have been great as far as increases but 10 years before that city workers were not making any money they were not making a living wage we still have city workers that can't afford to live in the city we still have city workers that are struggling these these workers keep the city clean they make the city beautiful they make sure that essential workers can do their job and we're looking at growth in this city of about 120 people that move here da which makes their job even harder because that means that that is generating more trash and more things that they have to deal with but on the other side it's also bringing more Revenue to the city so we're asking for a 6% raise for city workers we're asking for $25 minimum wage we're also asking for a 4% contribution to their 401K because for years city workers have not for I think about 18 years city workers have not had an increase while police and fire do yearly and we want people to be able to afford to retire we have city workers that are retired they can't even retire they still have to work and so we want to make sure that people are taken care of in the city because when we lift up city workers we lift up everyone in the city thank [Applause] you following Carol Hardison is Shan Dar d ranko good evening mayor L mayor P Anderson and city council I'm Carol Hardison I'm the CEO of Crisis assistance Ministry and I'm here tonight to talk about the people's budget we need a city where all can live work and play without the fear of eviction can live work and play safely in crisis assistance Ministry one of the services that we provide is rental and utility assistance so far this year 44 city workers have come to crisis assistance Ministry because they cannot afford to live in the city wow 67% of the income of the average person that comes to crisis assistance for the rental and utility assistance is going to their housing dollars alone won't solve this problem whether the person comes for our one month assistance program or whether they come for our three-month Upstream rental assistance program whether they're one of our 56 partner agencies that we distributed a million dollars to last year the fact is you can't close that Gap with dollars alone and that's why we support the people's budget the people's budget represents coordination not duplication it represents collaboration not competition we need people to be able to live work and play affordably in this community we're advocating for the people's budget and we appreciate your service and your hard work thank you thank [Applause] you good evening Madam mayor City Council Members my name is Sean Dal rmle I work at Atrium Hospital I stand in support of the people's budget I am known as The Forgotten ones I live more most like most people paycheck to paycheck one check away from asking for assistance again I represent the live experience I had to go to crisis assistance Ministry to help in my utilities and my rent which helped quite a lot I stand before you as a single parent with a son and a grandson who I do not want them to look at me less than because all they see is me struggling financially but yet having a job job I support the people's budget because it will bring affordable housing in Charlotte and also help with those who are employed struggling with wages that do not support the household thank you for [Applause] listening our next speakers are Kristen Les prilla and Eric AAR aeri I always do that wrong Eric sorry okay is Eric here oh there I see up top thank you sorry start right okay please go ahead and start thank you Council thank you for your time my name is Kristen lpra and I have been a valentine resident for the past 14 years thank you for your time I'm joined today with my husband and my daughter Alex and Candon they're up and um we wanted to talk to you today about our animal shelter our local animal shelter in meinberg County our family fell into fostering after we heard the call to help many of you may have heard that call recently too that the shelter was overrun and our dogs were at risk we waited a couple of hours in the lobby to meet and choose what we thought would be a weeklong visitor to our home we were very wrong about that that's a long-term visitor that we now have in our home and we absolutely love the dog that we're fostering as much as we love what we do it's clear that the system is broken and the burden Falls heavily on those several of them are here that are working to try and mend it volunteering for an underfunded shelter is a roller coaster of emotions this the highs of finding homes for these animals are eclipsed quickly by the lows of realizing the systemic issues at Play the shelter staff whom I deeply admire are resilient in the face of constant trauma yet the toll that it takes on them is palpable whenever I'm at the shelter I don't miss the opportunity to speak to one of my favorite staff members and he shares how over the his work over the past decade has left him exhausted and disheartened those were his words the cycle of Hope and heartbreak is Relentless but it's a cycle we can't afford to turn away from we are thrilled as a shelter Community to hear that two 10 new animal care and control staff member positions have been proposed for the future yet today the shelter's resources are stretched thin and the bar for responsible pet guardianship remains dismally low thank you very much that your time is up but I'm sure there'll be others to speak to the topic Eric thank you uh good good evening mayor city council um my name is Eric ZL and I am here on behalf of Cain Charlotte I also have uh two other organizations or three organizations with me supporting bicycle funding uh and I hope you were able to see the petition that we sent you recently and we urge you to increase the bicycle program funding from $4 million to $10 million a year this investment will not only enhance our City's infrastructure but also Foster a sense of community and progress making it possible to build1 million or 10 miles of all ages and abilities um bike lanes and Facilities every year to complete the 100 plus miles of the priority bike Network that it was passed with the Strategic Mobility plan uh and we can do it before 2040 and we can do it with certainty and in uh expediency that um other possible solutions or current Solutions we're using will not accomplish we are thrilled to see that the vision zero and the sidewalk program uh restored and we would ask strongly uh to consider increasing the funding for the bike program as an important Mobility option that will benefit residents and help fight the climate crisis now this is the important piece pay attention now please the connected bicycle network uh makes bicycling a viable mode for transportation right but we're not there yet people aren't going to choose to ride a bicycle if it isn't safe and convenient and to truly move us forward to the 50/50 mode share goal outlined in the Strategic Mobility plan we must take bold and comprehensive approach we are making specific requests for dedicated funding to the build the bicycle priority Network and this is not just another program it has the power to transform the city's Mobility future we cannot rely solely on other programs or the private sector or the segmented nature of the Strategic investment area thank you very much very much for having me you all our next our next speakers are Rodney Mcgill and Dana Mariani looks like a I was never that bested I had any Mr Miguel mayor good evening mayor LS um city manager and the council I want to read and first of all I support the people's budget and I wanted to read two quick things from cmpd one from the beginning of this year it says the charlot meinberg police department said the city saw a rise in violent crimes with juvenile suspect in 2023 cmpd says shootings involving a person under the age of 18 as a suspect increased by 33% in 2023 while shootings involving a juvenile victim increased by 18% the second thing I want to read is also from cmpd and it says the juvenile crime continues to be a major concern for the cmpd with a rise in Auto thefts and shootings into occupied property this is from April 15th 2024 thus far in 2024 juvenile suspects have been responsible for 21 total shootings and 17 shooting into occupied property the 17 juvenile related shooting into occupied properties have impacted 74 total victims what I want to say to y'all today is that um the alternatives to violence can't begin at 18 and up we got to get these youth before they get 18 one once they get 18 if any of you got children you know it's pretty much a wrap so if you're not if you're serious about um preventing this youth violence from rising from 2023 33% 2024 already 42% you got to do some proactive things we saw what prevention with The Interpreter did today more prevention an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure you heard it before and um I urge all to y'all support the people's budget and right now um we have 120 children and we got a place for 60 of them if it was any influence y had for us to put those other 60 children to keep them off the street thank [Applause] you Miss har Ry good evening my name is Dana Mariani and I live in District 7 on February 6th my neighborhood Providence Plantation held an HOA meeting at St nectarios Ed you spoke and heard concerns about developers plans the meeting was held in part because a duplex or Triplex may be built which would change the look and feel of our established single family home neighborhood as the meeting unfolded I kept thinking about a book I read called sorting out the new South City by Thomas henet through this book I learned about Brooklyn which was bulldozed between 1960 and 1977 Providence Plantation started to be built in 1966 and our HOA was incorporated in July of 1977 Brooklyn was bulldozed with an adequate redress if any but 50 years later we had the resources connections and the ability to create a game plan to quote unquote protect our established neighborhood the diverging set of political commitments of these decisions illustrate just how complicated our current discourse on housing and land use is all these years later that we live in and alongside such a history is no one's fault in this room today but it is our responsibility to rectify additionally I recently looked at a map that shows Housing Trust Fund developments in the City by district and I want to highlight that district 7 has at least 54 families that use housing Choice vouchers per the 2022 census tract so this issue of affordable housing affects district 7 and all the deserving districts in the city it is important to maintain the Integrity of all neighborhoods in Charlotte and using the 25 million of the recommended $100 million bond issue to create paths to home ownership for vulnerable citizens is one way to achieve this goal thank you very much thank [Applause] you our next speak speakers are Glenn holiday and Angelia James Glenn holiday and Angelia James and if Emily Harter and Anne wood would like to come down closer to the podium that would be great as the next set of speakers Mr [Music] holiday good evening my name is Glenn holiday I'm a retired pediatrician here in Charlotte a 44e resident and I live in district one I'm here tonight as a member of the faith and Justice group at Providence Presbyterian church and as a member of the redress movement I come before you in wholehearted support of the bond package that will include $100 million for that the Housing Trust Fund it is my understanding that 75 million will go towards affordable rental housing money desperately needed we Advocate that 25 million indeed go towards home ownership programs it cannot be overstated how important that would be I encourage you to work with organizations such as Westside Community Land Trust and the mission of increased home ownership there are tremendous disparities of generational wealth in our beloved City disparities between mostly white and mostly black and brown not always but the disparities are often staggering and they almost always started with home ownership or lack thereof many of the reasons can be traced directly back to past government policies federal state and local think about urban renewal think about redlining we convene here tonight in this beautiful Government Center on land that was the Brooklyn neighborhood an entire community that was erased by urban renewal so let us as citizens who surely care for one another put forth good faith efforts to lift up those less fortunate and those who have been wronged and let it start with housing Miss James Miss James hello my name is Angela James greetings mayor and other councilmen councilman Graham I am with the redress movement who empowers people like me to take direct action to repair the harm caused by intentional racial segregation redresses starting point is housing Justice I understand that you have a portioned 100 million for the Housing Trust Fund thank you I like that we are requesting the redress movement um along with with the Westside land TR um trust 25 million of that 100 million to go towards home ownership programs for low wealth people home ownership let that marinate home ownership value Pride selfworth wealth to thrive not just to survive not to be sick from the air pollution and noise of the cars currently the largest portion of Housing Trust Fund developments are clustered near I85 I77 and Independence Boulevard these areas pose the greatest health risk to families a pathway to homeownership developments should have access to a quiet clean neighborhoods with health care offices nearby and grocery stores just like the rest of the City rental opportunities could be a pathway as well but not solely look I see you you see me it is not much of a degree of separation from me and you thank you very much thank you Emily Emily Harter an wood is an here yes all right we'll go ahead and start with Miss Harter yes mayor ly and City Council Members thank you so much for the work that you do on behalf of our city my name is Pastor Emily hartner I'm the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in the plaza Midwood neighborhood in District 1 so thank you than you for your representation um as you are aware affordable housing is a great need in Charlotte the issue has reach the doorsteps of our own congregation where we operate a small food pantry that attracts mostly homeless individuals we also have a homeless person who is currently sleeping on our property and has been sleeping there for about 2 years now we are happy to support him but of course it is not an ideal situation but of but also asking him to leave our property is also not ideal he is not someone who would be suitable for a shelter and there is nowhere for him to go I am in full support of the people's Budget on behalf of the redress movement and Es specifically the $100 million portion for the Housing Trust Fund of course housing for currently homeless individuals is not the only issue in this housing costs have risen everywhere in our city people are con con consistently being priced out of our beautiful city so while I am in favor of things like housing first opportunities I am also in support of the $25 million portion of this Bond supporting Pathways to home ownership Partners like the Westside Community Land Trust would enable the city to encourage generational and Community wealth through home ownership and not and not only rentals raising the Housing Trust Fund bond from 50 million as it was in 2022 to the 100 million in the current budget would only increase the city's debt load by less than 1% and would provide people like our neighbors the one that we are helping right now provide him with stability in his life it would subsidize the rising cost of construction so that we can treat the most vulnerable Among Us with dignity and respect um Janie and Jessica Mor morno if you would like to prepare to come down Miss Wood thank you good evening my name is Anne wood I have lived in Charlotte for 36 years in the same house I'm in district 7 housing has never been a problem for me and my family when I was asked to speak to you tonight on behalf of the redress movement I had no idea how I would begin but on Tuesday May 7th I happened to hear Charlotte talks on wfae mayor lyes and uh city manager Jones were the guests and they were discussing the city budget and the hearings about it so I'm going to quote mayor lyes to begin my statement she said if we're going to continue to grow and people are going to continue to move here we have to have a place for them to live she went on to say that city manager Jones is recommending $100 million for a bond referendum for affordable housing that is what the redress movement is also asking the housing fund of $100 million will help cover the rising cost of construction I would hope that affordable housing can be built in higher opportunity areas such as the area in s the southern part of the county where I live having affordable housing there will give more housing choices and reduce economic and racial segregation in Charlotte $25 million of the bond measure uh should go toward home ownership where generational wealth can begin and economic opportunities for the community will increase we are asking that the whole community of Charlotte have the chance to vote on this Bond referendum in the fall helping to solve the affordable housing problem in this city can Stave off other issues that many face in their lives charot has been a thriving place for me and my family for many who can't afford to live here but want to participate in the educational and occupational opportunities that Charlotte offers the cost of renting or purchasing a home is Out Of Reach thank you very much Miss Wood um Janie Navaro hello my name is Janie Navaro I'm 21 years old and I've lived in Charlotte my entire life and I'm here on behalf of my community Charlotte Hills mobile home park owned by Riverstone communities and out of State corporate landlord I'm here to share consistent issues occurring in my area those being when Latino tenants request their title after finishing pain their mortgage they're being told that they can't they can't have their title because they don't have an NC driver's license and then we're also being finded unreasonably and given violation to which when we can't fulfill are being told to vacate in 5 days even though the North Carolina law says we have 60 for mobile home I'd like for the city of Charlotte to take action and support the people's budget as well as our most vulnerable as as well address the issues corporate landlords cause our most vulnerable communities we need 10 protections and investment in community's own homes so communities like mine can get out of Predator landlord living situations thank [Applause] you all right Jessica Marina give me one second Jessica Moreno hi I'd like to acknowledge the hundreds and thousands of lives that we have lost due to our communities not having a home due to eviction due to displacement due to corporate greed and the Takeover of housing by corporate landlords due to weak protections for renters I'd like to acknowledge that this is not a new issue and it's getting worse it is getting worse and we can tell by Sandra y'all didn't understand her but she's dealing with corporate landlord ISS ises as well High rents predatory practices like Janie and her community I'm a housing Justice organizer with action NC I've been working on housing since my community o Caven mobile home park was displaced in 2017 now I live in Gastonia and I work in Charlotte yay since 2017 I've seen the same cycle of displacement we believe the solution is investment in green social housing like the Community Land Trust so we support the people's budget request and encourage an investment in the west Westside Community Land Trust we also ask that you consider in the future for investment to corporate or collaborative housing which would be a perfect solution for communities like Janie a mobile home park that they can get together and buy their their Community it's been done before in other parts of the state for communities um here in Charlotte we can organize we organize housing that is democratically owned and operated that is the solution that we ask for thank you thank you our next speakers are Megan Mack and Liz clayon Kelly followed by kayen grenell and Rory Pam if you all come down is this Megan I'm Megan thank you if you would go ahead and begin hello council member and City staff my name is Megan Mack and I'm a doctoral student at UNCC today I here to advocate for green social housing or shared Equity housing models that are permanently affordable democratically operated and socially Equitable these nonprofit community-led housing models are a third sector of housing this alternative is needed because the way that we are doing housing is not working in 2024 we are in the middle of a corporate takeover of housing across the state and it's estimated that a Trends continue that publicly traded corporations will own 40% of rental properties in the US by 2030 investing in shared Equity models is a mechanism to push back against this takeover of our housing there are three models of social housing community Land Trust housing cooperatives and deed restricted land covenants these models remove the profit motive out of the equation and have a demonstrated ability to provide sustainable and affordable housing they retain the subsidy dollars invested by embedding them directly into the property and use resale restrictions to ensure that the property remains affordable to households with limited means for perpetuity the main barrier to its development is upfront capital A solution to overcome this barrier is funding a revolving lowest Loan account only available to nonprofit mission-aligned organizations it is revolving because payments on the loan go directly back into the account and are available for the next project in recoverable funding streams can capitalize future projects could be a game Cher I am here to beg you council members to please invest in social housing models like the local Community Land Trust nonprofit Community operated housing is a third way of doing housing that requires Community dollars to take shape by using Common Sense Public Finance Solutions we can make developing affordable housing more affordable and help to increase shared Equity housing in our community thank you for your time Miss Clayson Kelly followed by Miss kayen grenell good evening mayor mayor protm and members of city council I'm Liz clayon Kelly leader of Roff abob one of this community's key Partners in working with people in a housing crisis and working to end homelessness every day I was here just a few months ago when this Council passed the of Rec criminalization of certain city ordinances and I really appreciated during that meeting and throughout the conversation City staff and members of this Council alike spoke of the need for Holistic Solutions and investment in those Holistic Solutions some of that started right away with investments in public restrooms and expanded Street Outreach but we really think this budget is an opportunity to further those Holistic Solutions so we're pleased with so much of what is in the city manager budget so especially the hundred million doll Housing Trust Fund I personally love that I think it was about 15 years ago I stood at this Das first advocating for Housing Trust Fund frankly it's necessary to have it at $100 million based on the expenses of building and preserving housing today but we think there are unique opportunities to expand specialized emergency shelter as well as home ownership opportunities uh to build wealth for families that you've heard about tonight so we're thrilled to see the expansion of the cares team we think that's a critical response uh the social work response to 911 calls and I believe if I understand correctly there's also support for Ur uh rfab bod's day Services Center formerly Urban Ministry Center um so we're thrilled with all of this we believe uh deeply at roof above and we believe our work shows that the whole Community wins when we invest in human potential we think this community does a great job leveraging private and public funding we think during Co and through arpa funds we've seen great new Grassroots groups groups like block love and heel Charlotte so you'll see in the people's budget support for both Grassroots groups and more uh established groups and we are grateful for any investment in human potential that this Council provides thank you hi Mr gr good evening M lies uh and distinguished council members my name is Kon grenell and I'm here today representing Ru as a member of the leadership team overseeing program pramming for the organization each day our day Services Center opens its doors to the most vulnerable members of our community and serves as a Beacon of Hope in our community's fight against homelessness in meinberg County operating 365 days a year our day Services Center is more than just the building it's a critical Lifeline for those that we serve each day we serve upwards of 250 lunches out of our kitchen providing not just nutrition but a moment of normaly and dignity in the last four months 466 neighbors have utilized our laundry services and 594 enjoyed the basic comfort of a shower in that same span our dedicated team of service providers have provided critical assistance and vital document retrieval rental assistance have connected our neighbors to medical and mental health support and transportation assistance for hundreds of our neighbors our mail room sorts through and distributes hundreds of pieces of mail each day giving our neighbors a stable and reliable home address from which to connect employment searches entitlements applications and much more equally importantly 113 neighbors have avoided eviction moved into housing or been connected to housing thanks to the tireless efforts of our staff Community Partners and the volunteers who all play a critical role in our pursuit to end homelessness please reme remember that each number I mention represents a life a person whose circumstances are being transformed through Community effort and compassion we want to thank you for your support and want you to know that your investment is an investment in the health and safety of our community together we can continue these vital Services we can continue to make a tangible difference and we can continue to uphold the Dignity of every neighbor that comes through our doors Mr pigram yes and then um Miss Deborah Phillips as well as Greg derell okay good evening uh Council mayor uh my name is Roy Pegram and I work for uh Solid Waste city of Charlotte and I just want to uh I I just want to speak on behalf of the struggle drill you know I've been on speaking for the last three years on this Podium about the struggle of the paychecks that the the the wages that we're getting you know and we're just hoping that the council that would really look into this $25 an hour because I'm living paycheck the paycheck you know I went from living in a hotel to now I'm living with a roommate I'm trying to get a house I love my job I love working for the city I work Uptown so when you Uptown and you see how clean it looks I'm one of the ones that do that and I get a lot of remarks and compliments from people from out of town saying how beautiful Uptown looks and then they talk to me and and they when they find out what I make they get sad and it saddens me because I come with a lot of energy and they're sad because we should be making more than what we doing for what we do we do a lot for this city and I just ask that y'all really take in consideration this $25 an hour so we can eat I want a steak every now and then know I I want to go on vacation you know but I got to budget my money because of the paycheck Ain ain't ain't ain't what it should be but I'm thankful for what y'all done or giving us the raises that we got I'm appreciative I'm thankful for it and I'm going to work hard each and every day and go to work each and every day but I want to be compensated for what I do for what we do what we do we're the second fastest growing city in in uh in the country so that's going to make more work on me more responsibilities on me I want to be able to go home on Friday looking at my check saying thank you not what am I going to do who's not going to get paid who's Peter pay for Paul I don't want to live like that because I love my job like I said I want to retire from the city and I want the 401K to be incorporated so the long term thank you Miss Phillips so I want to my name is Deborah Phillips I want to thank the people people's budget I think this was a setup because it's no secret that my husband works for the city of Charlotte and even though I came to advocate for myself I tell people all the time we can't afford to live in the city of Charlotte I just started being able to pay myself thank God for those that have advocated so that we can have a budget but you all being out on those city streets during 2020 and it was just us in solid ways at the time that the city was on a lock down and then moving people from Tent City into Motel spaces and seeing city employees I'm talking about everyday city employees Solid Waste people and they didn't pay they ain't paying me y'all to say this listen they're not but send them in that Motel space and I said Motel not hotel and then when I see them show up at our free grocery events I love them and I don't think anything different cuz I count everybody family but it's hard out here and me and my family found ourselves homeless in 2021 living in a motel because as you all know corporate buyers were trying they're buying property sight unseen and we were just trying to buy a house you know hoping to work with dream key partners and the houses we were looking at that were once $250,000 which was about what we could afford are now 400 to $450,000 I cannot afford to live in the city of Charlotte and I work in this city advocating for our houses neighbors every single day and it's exhausting and we try our best to help those that we can and I could can sit up here and spew numbers all day long but these are lives at stake you all these are lives that need to eat these are families that live overdraft to overdraft I hear paycheck to paycheck but the young brother said when you're robbing Peter to pay Paul you're doing that overdraft thing and we've got to get people into housing we've got to create safe spaces for people that come in even if they are working for the city they need to come in and not be considered a number they need to be considered an individual and look like as such and not be judged stigma stigmatized or prejudged or any of that for their situation very much Miss Mr derell uh mayor uh and mayor protim and council members Reverend Greg Gerald the senior campaign organizer for the redress movement here in Charlotte I thank you for the opportunity to speak I'm a 20-year resident of the enderly Park neighborhood now in District 2 with council member Graham and I'm thinking of a couple of neighbors tonight while I'm speaking in support of the people's budget and in particular of the Housing Trust Fund uh portion of that one is Denise who recently moved uh after a long long struggle into an apartment supported through Housing Trust Fund dollars she said to me I just feel so relieved and I'm struck that there are so many people around our city who need relief and more I'm also thinking of a neighbor Frank uh probably known to to a number of you who was one of the first people to purchase a home through the Westside Community Land Trust the morning after he bought a house on Tua Road at 60 years old the first time he's been able to own a home I called him just to check in and he said I felt like a hero waking up in my own bed he felt like a hero because it was so hard and it was so hard because of a history of policy that has dis enfranchised and displaced people across our city especially black people and always poor people and so this Housing Trust Fund needs uh your passage it needs to to get onto the ballot so that the rest of the city can pass it and it needs Provisions for affordable home ownership so that Frank is not one of a few but instead Frank is one of many many across our city who now have staying power who cannot be uprooted easily easily by the power of policy or by the power of uh vulture capitalist by uh but instead is able to pass a home on to his children to the Next Generation to build personal and Community wealth thank you for your time tonight and thank you for your support of this fun our our next four speakers the next four speakers are cor Corbin Smith Ben malikot Michelle frenzel and Fred Robinson all right we'll start with if you'll give me your name uh yeah my name is Corbin Smith uh all right thank you weren't kidding about those stairs yeah thank you very much Mr Smith uh thank you very much Madam mayor and members of council my name is Corbin Smith I'm a certified public accountant and inct six voter uh I'm here to speak in support of the bike lane proposal to increase the funding uh to 10 million um one of the things that I wanted to mention is that for the Capital Improvements plan with uh Transportation initiatives in general you have a list of assets with construction costs and it's common I find to stop the conversation there what I wanted to express is these are not just assets they're commitments you're saying that if these things break you're going to fix them and when they reach the end of their useful lives you will go ahead and replace them and uh pay the staff of whoever maintains patrols them as well as their pensions when we plot those costs annually we might find that things that look cost effective at first might not be and it's that in in that vein that I want to talk about the proposals before you tonight for cycling infrastructure there is a vast difference in the amount of Maintenance uh requirements for bicycles with respect to their infrastructure than there is for road infrastructure I did some very rough admittedly figures and the assumptions I use I think were quite conservative but uh based on the numbers that I've run if we convert even a percentage of the vehicle miles traveled in Charlotte from car to either not driving them or to Bicycle we can save somewhere between $ 800,000 to $600,000 a year plot that out over the 25 to 30 year useful life of the investments in which we're talking about and we can realize some savings from these things now I'm happy to share the figures and assumptions that I used as I said I think they're more they're very conservative but moreover I'd like to encourage the council to ask questions like these and others like them to take a look at the annual cost to carry that infrastructure as opposed to just the construction costs thank you very much for allowing me to speak today thank you um Michelle frenzel would you and Ben malot would be next thank you good evening I'm Michelle frenzel speaking on behalf of one a coalition of housing providers service providers and Community Advocates who support diverse neighborhoods and affordable housing for all residents tonight we are here as part of the Coalition endorsing the people's budget one of the best quotes I've heard that sums up our current housing crisis was from James Bradley Lee III who is probably here tonight he said can't afford to live in Charlotte can't afford to leave I think everyone in this room sincerely wants to change that Cycle City Manager Jones we thank you for your demonstra support of the critical 100 million housing bond in the proposed City budget a robust housing fund is key to the holistic solution Charlotte's housing crisis demands why construction costs continue to rise so is the increasing funding critical to sustaining Charlotte's progress in the creation of affordable housing Housing Trust Fund dollars are critical to obtaining additional funding from federal government and nonprofit organizations additional funding from the city will help us leverage these funding sources there is strong public support for affordable housing about 70% of Voters consistently approve the bond referendum for the Housing Trust Fund Charlotte is a vibrant growing city and can well afford the additional Bond issuance doubling of the current Housing Trust Fund allocation will incur less than 1% additional debt for the city we respectfully request a people first budget that provides stability dignity Justice and as a result better outcomes for everyone simply put we want affordable housing options so that everyone that makes Charlotte Charlotte can afford to live survive and thrive here thank you thank you Mr Malik good evening my name is Ben malicote and I live in district one I'm here tonight with the redress movement to speak in support of the people's budget and to thank you for the portions of that budget that have made it into the proposal particularly the100 million Housing Trust Fund and as we've learned tonight support for rof abb's day Services Center from the bottom of my heart thank you I'm here tonight as one of about 16 members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Dorth seated up here in the choir loft we're here tonight as our other Faith leaders because we know that a budget is a moral document that reflects the values and priorities of its community and so we say in as clear a voice as we know how our values demand that every person have a decent place to live and that every person experiencing homelessness be extended the same care that we would want for our children our parents or ourselves in support of that I would say two things to you the first is very simple we want you to spend our money on these things we are willing to pay for them we're not shy about saying it tonight and if our friends and neighbors disagree we won't be shy about saying it to them either pass this budget and we will have your backs in this community the second is this the faith communities that are represented here tonight are not asking you to do anything that we're not willing to do ourselves for our part Covenant has raised and invested millions of dollars in support of affordable housing we've taken on Project that frankly scared us to death because of their size and scope and we are not remotely alone in pulling that or your city's Faith communities your Civic organizations and nonprofits have been bold in pursuing a solution to this affordable housing crisis thank you for being bold with us Mr Robin thank you so much good to see you think uh LA and uh protim Anderson and city manager Jones and the rest of the city council my name is Fred Robinson I'm a theologian and I wear several other hats of which uh I don't need to get in but I'm primarily tonight a member of the redress movement in Charlotte so why my presence tonight well I'm here to show up stand up and speak up for justice uh if it were not for Injustice man would not know what Justice is I'm here to address the issues voice concerns and Champion ideas that can bring about positive change the primary concerns are Central to the bond attainment and bond projects that are important to this community the shock that we enjoy today is due in large part to the Investments that were made in the past the city we will enjoy in the future will come from Investments we make today meeting charlot's the uh infrastructure and housing needs are vital to our regionals health and sustaining our reputation as a great place to live work and play those housing trust funds would provide flexibility for our city of Charlotte and the county of mecklinburg governments to meet local needs s including emergency rent assistance you know addressing the housing and health needs of people to experiencing homelessness and building and preserving affordable housing thank you thank you I believe is Courtney sudak is I said that correctly and could I have the next three speakers Holly flam James Burke Cassandra Lily and Caitlyn Martin come down please please good evening my name is Courtney shudak thank you for your service and time being here today I live in district one and I work in bank finance I'm here today though joining my friends from Covenant Presbyterian church and speaking on behalf of the redress movement my comments come from the lens of my faith as well as my understanding of economics and finance and what is practical for the city I support the $100 million housing trust fund included in today's people's budget proposal which will help to cover the rising cost of housing and construction by doubling the amount of the city's past housing bonds and for that thank you I know and more importantly each of you know that stable housing is a key factor in reducing individuals Reliance on a wide array of city services it's a key ingredient in flourishing for individuals and families in our city in the Rel relationships that I've been able to build with our unhoused neighbors through room in the- indust room in thein ministries I have repeatedly seen this to be true in their stories the last time that I had the opportunity to spend time with room in the end was the week before Easter and the week before the the services stopped for the winter season I met a neighbor named Rachel who shared with me about many of the traumas that she experienced directly related to her lack of housing and the fact that she was periodically living within a car when she even had the car so I think of Rachel when I share with you today of my support for HTF while it is exciting to see the city's leadership increase investment in a housing affordability my experience in finance tells me that the way in which we direct this investment also matters to build generational wealth and to help families more charlatans need a pathway to home ownership not just rental opportunities as many have said before me 25% thank youed Miss foam hi good evening Council my name is Holly flum some people know me as Holly Hayes I'll get to that in a minute I stand before you not just as a 30-year resident of Charlotte but as a passionate advocate for the animals in our community I'm from District too by the way in my role as a shelter volunteer and Foster I have witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by our underfunded Municipal shelter as a radio personality here in Charlotte I have shared these challenges with my audience on the air and social media and I will continue to make the public very aware for the 2025 budget you're proposing 10 new staff positions for Animal Services that's a good start but it's not enough I'm here to ask you to take action on two critical requests that we have been begging for for over a year first to make animal services an independent city Department providing it with autonomy and resources to effectively carry out its Mission second to allocate funding for a new adequately designed shelter that could accommodate the growing needs of our city and our community shelter was built 31 years ago when the population here was 440,000 we are now at what a million thank you to the council member Brown for visiting our shelter and for responding to my email very promptly by the way and I look forward to seeing the rest of you there as well please do what's right and properly structure and fund Charlotte meinberg Animal Care and Control thank [Applause] you Mr Blake thank you Jimmy Burke oh Burke I'm sorry all right I've been call I've been getting a look a little crosseyed right now to tell you the truth so Mr Burke and then Miss Lily oh right over here all right thank you uh good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening I've had the opportunity to speak in front of you before and I appreciate it very much I volunteer at the animal shelter going to reiterate part of what you just heard um we want to thank you collectively for what you've done and the $610,000 that is appropriated in the budget for the 10 new positions we appreciate that very much unfortunately that is not enough as was mentioned we need a new shelter Charlotte is the 14th largest city in the country it is the fifth fastest growing city in the country and project ctions between now and the next census in 2030 are that Charlotte will be the fastest growing large city in the country obviously these statistics speak to the fact that we need a new shelter we the one we have is Antiquated it does not take care of the needs of the community it does not take care of the needs of the animals that we are charged with taking care of while we appreciate everything that the council has done we look forward to your efforts to move forward with a new shelter we also look forward to the opportunity to be an autonomous City Department it is time that we are no longer under CMD as I understand it the chief would prefer we not be our director would prefer we not be so if those two division leaders would prefer to be autonomous it would seem to make sense that we should be autonomous I will close with this Proverbs 318 says speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves for the right to all who are destitute thank [Applause] you good evening everyone um my name is Sandra Lily um and thank you again for the budget for a new vet and staff at the shelter like like it was said it's a start I'm a veterinarian and I currently work um for the Humane Society of Union County we see so many stray and shelter Fosters in our little clinic luckily youth in Asia doesn't happen happen often due to the Caring Hearts and likely the fact that we're a smaller County I would love for you to quickly imagine something with me imagine you're in the shelter and a healthy dog happily runs up to you as you approach the dog run with a leash they think you're about to take them for a walk but they don't know what you're really about to do you're about to leash them up and take them to the back they are on a leash wagging their tail prancing as they walk with you eventually you bring them behind a door and someone holds them tightly as they are jabbed with a needle full of sedative slowly they start to collapse this is not the outing they expected they are basically paralyzed or dissociated now imagine you're the vet who has to look at this healthy animal not the first one you've ever seen But hundredth or thousandth and you have to suppress your emotions because this must be done you pull up another syringe of drugs and prepare to say goodbye the injection goes into the healthy animal's vein and you see the dog's chest stop expanding and prepared to and Contracting you place your stethoscope on their chest and listen to the heartbeat slow and then stop this once h happy healthy companion animal is now dead and must be cremated all of this because there is no room at the shelter there are no funds to help advert advertise and advocate for those abandoned pets these are some of the reasons that friends of seamass has started this campaign for the shelter to have its own funding we don't want healthy animals or compassionate veterinarians and other shelter workers having to be a part of this routine we don't want this routine at all and with your help we may never have to imagine this scenario again thank you our next speakers if we could have the next group of speakers Caitlyn Martin Sierra melik Katie feri for f foli and Dominique Harris following that we're going to take a 10-minute break and come back and complete the hearing all right thank you Council thank you for your time my name is Caitlyn Martin and for the past two and a half years I've dedicated myself to volunteering and fostering for the animal shelter I've seen firsthand the struggles faced by The Animals the staff and the public who often cannot get the help that they need before moving to Charlotte I volunteered at another open admission Municipal shelter and the difference and conditions are Stark there I felt staff volunteers and animals heard much better because they were provided with adequate funding I genuinely enjoyed being there caring for the animals and helping the public while I love being able to give back the other sadness that I witness at our City animal shelter keeps me up at night while we appreciate the city manager's recommendation for additional staff it's not enough we still urgently need animal services to be an independent city department and we need a new shelter that is designed for our growing city this year alone in less than 5 months in 300 animals have been euthanized due to the lack of resources that we have when the budget was proposed the city manager touted Charlotte as a wonderful place to work and indeed it is for many city employees but as you have heard tonight it does feel that many have been forgotten and this does include Animal Services I encourage you to consider the importance of animal services not just for the animals but for the well-being of our the well-being of our city as a whole please make animal services an independent city department and fund a new shelter thank you [Applause] I'm Sierra maslac nearly 300 dogs did you guys hear that in five months nearly 300 dogs that's how many were euthanized this year alone due to lack of resources in space and that number would be a hell of a lot higher if it weren't for all my fellow volunteers and foster parents who continuously step up because our city city continues to fail this department and fail the animals if animals lives don't matter to you does the well-being of your city's employees matter to you can you imagine can you even begin to imagine the jobs of the staff members that have to pick which dogs lose their lives or the jobs of those who have to retrieve the dog from the kennel watching them wag their tail excitedly thinking they finally get to go play outside after possibly days of being cooped up having to walk that dog down the hallway and onto the vet table where they will have to look into the eyes of this unconditionally loving animal trying to make them understand that it wasn't their fault I feel more terrible for the staff that has to work in this environment than I do the dogs losing their lives and that says a lot because I would do anything for these dogs at least the dogs get to go somewhere hopefully better staff has to keep living this nightmare week after week after week I've watched this cycle of trauma happened at the shelter for the past 3 years I've volunteered there we need a new shelter we outgrew that shelter years ago and this is be Beyond overd we need animal services to be designed as an designated as an independent city Department although we appreciate that the city is proposing to add 10 new staff positions for animal services that is not enough by the way sitting here listening to all these other people talk everything's directly correlated unaffordable housing means that people are having to drop their dogs off at the shelter doors because they have nowhere else to go please take action until then we will continue to be here every single month just like we have been for the past year [Applause] you please good evening my name is Kitty foli and I'm a constituent living in District 1 and we'll be moving to District Six in two weeks I have worked in public health and Behavioral Health Services since moving here in 2015 I currently volunteer extensively with Charlotte meinberg Animal Care and Control and I serve as a board member for the nonprofit friends of seamass which seeks to support AC ACC and its life-saving work I want to start by thanking Council for the 10 new positions for ACC this is an excellent starting point in providing necessary Personnel but it is not enough for over a year we have been here at every single meeting asking for the following two items number one we need a new shelter the shelter was built over 30 years ago and is no longer capable of supporting the population of the county expansion of the airport in that area will add noise pollution harmful to both workers and animals alike number two animal care and control must become an independent city Department this will reduce red tape and ensure that the staff there can easily make recommendations and requests directly to the city manager I have spoken here before about the relationship between animal support services and mental health this issue is so closely tied to the items like homelessness food insecurity Healthcare infrastructure and other items I know are top of mind to counsel I run the social media account for the friends of seamass nonprofit and I am inundated daily by requests for help from families in need throughout the county while at the shelter I see staff and volunteers doing all within their power to save lives but we are facing odds that are currently insurmountable due to lack of resources city workers are tasked with walking dogs down the hallway to be euthanized and then shoveling their remains into the incinerators the trauma of this work is undeniable and yet staff and community members continue to show up in ways I find remark remarkable staff and volunteers are exhausted we show up but it is now your turn to support them previously I voted for mayor lyes and council member Anderson I want to specifically thank council member Anderson for your clear dedication to Animal Welfare thank you Dominique Harris Dominique Harris he's not he's not here not here so um I have 7:55 or 59 I can't see 755 7:56 we're going to take a 10-minute break so that everybody can regroup and we'll be back after that so we're going to give us attention thank you very much that's Dante F the reason why we here [Music] [Music] [Music] m n [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] and we will begin with our next group of speakers Tanetta Isaac Mike Murphy Gary Kinsley and step whan tetta Isaacs Mike Murphy Gary Kingsley stepen wh are any of okay thank you oh just the 33 million we need to not raise taxes oh all right who would like to give me your name and would you like yes please begin my name is Mike Murphy and I'm here in support of increased funding for the Charlotte bicycle program uh I believe this to be a good investment not only for recreational biking and fitness but for also for transportation to and from work in my remarks I'd like to specifically focus on bike commuting um for about 20 years I've been riding out to my my job at UNC Charlotte um and uh back when I started there weren't any bike planes in Charlotte and over the years as the bike infrastructure has developed and the miles of bike Lanes have increased it's gotten easier and easier but uh despite the greater connectivity and safety Prov provided by the Charlotte bicycle plan I think it's still a challenge for the average bike rider to to uh ride recreationally in our city especially if your destination is not up town um the good news is that within re uh the last couple of years a relatively direct route has opened up to the UNCC campus from well the NOA neighborhood which is has good connectivity to the rest of Northeast Charlotte um and the new Greenways at Eastway recreation center and Toby Creek have made this possible and it will continue to improve when they extend the Toby Creek Greenway to the uh to or Road in the Hidden Valley neighborhood um this new connectivity of the University of Charlotte is an example of the success and the potential of the Charlotte bicycle plan I believe that further development of bicycle infrastructure will encourage more people to get out of their cars which are often stalled in traffic and discover the rewards as I did of combining commuting and exercise thank you very much thank you Mr Kingsley hi my name's uh Jerry Kingsley and I'm here also to Advocate uh uh for the sustained charlott's proposal to increase the funding for the bicycle program to $10 million annually uh I am advocating on behalf of two uh distinct groups so it's not just a small subset of people that that are advocating for this um I represent the uh the Nota uh neighborhood and Business Association at our last um neighborhood meeting we we brought this up for a vote uh and and the members voted to engage in this advocacy the the vote was unanimously in favor of supporting this budget we're a neighborhood of thousands of Charlotte residents uh your constituents and voters I also represent the Sierra Club uh I'm on the uh the North Carolina chapters executive committee where I serve as Vice chair and I also chair uh the central pedmont uh Group which is uh housed locally here in Charlotte we also had a vote and voted to advocate for this you'll be getting letters from both of these groups on our behalf um again the same with the Nota NBA the Sierra Club has thousands of of members in Charlotte um and I I guess the point that I want to would make here that I would leave you with is that uh the advocacy and the enthusiasm for uh bicycle facilities and the request to spend additional uh dollars on these facilities uh is very widespread and comes from a very diverse uh set of people uh with different backgrounds so I urge you to add uh the fundings uh to this budget um just as an aside I I I started commuting here I moved here 25 years ago in District 4 and I did the opposite commute of of my the previous speaker I commuted from from University City into Uptown now I've moved into NOA and I have a much shorter and easier commute uh and I I got an ebike which is a game changer so I would urge that as well but the I I appreciate uh the change that has occurred over the last uh 25 years uh so very thankful for that but we're so close to the Finish Line let's not stop now thank you very thank [Applause] you Stephen whan yes ma'am oh Mr wh thank you hello mayor ly thank you very much council members thank you for the time I am here on behalf of sustain Charlotte however not from a transportation sense but as an advocate for mental health support as a business owner a Duke certified health and wellness coach also a part-time worker in the bicycle and Hiking Outfitter industry and an avid Avid cyclist who utilizes the roads and Greenways in and around Charlotte from my own mental health and as a commuter I have boots on the ground experience of interacting with many individuals desperately wanting to turn their lives around not not from handouts but by positive Lifestyle Changes one of the most economical ways to do this is by providing more accessibility to the Greenways through continued support of bik lanes as those wanting to build self-esteem by taking ownership of healthy choices individuals in individuals many studies find these choices can break Vicious Cycles into more virtuous Cycles I commend the city for the past efforts but strongly urge robust funding to support these efforts thank you thank you um did tetta isacs she here want to make sure all right our next four speakers are Frank Divine Jacob an anina and Kevin Dylan and MAA benter hi good evening uh my name is Frank dine I'm currently serving as the chair of Charlotte's bike bicycle advisory committee mouthful that's why we always just call it the BAC um I'm here tonight to ask that the city properly funds the bicycle program to the tune of $20 million per Bond cycle this is not a new request uh we sent a letter to city manager and City Council on March 27 asking for such that's the same amount to stain Charlotte is advocating for um just some back of napkin math the way we got to that $20 million is um we're committed to build 10 miles of all ages and abilities bike Lanes in the city of Charlotte per year that was initially passed in 2017 since that time Charlotte's done it once and that just painted by Lanes that's not necessarily protected or something you'd feel comfortable riding with a kid that's just a bike lane um so if you want to get serious about our 20 240 Mobility plan and actually closing the gap of 100 miles to go we need to actually fund 10 miles per year of all ages and abilities uh that's what it's going to take the uh we hear everybody talking about the budget concerns they have think how much of a relief it is going from two cars to one or even one car to go on car free in the city of Charlotte that's another 10 $20,000 a year that people could have back um and then you know if we look at it bike lines make Street safer for everybody so when it comes to Vision zero which we're going the wrong direction if you haven't noticed um we're seeing more deaths on the road bike Lanes make it safe for everybody whether you're driving walking rollerblading however you choose to get around bike lanes are the one piece of infrastructure that makes it safer for everybody um and with that being said we're still choosing to spend 25% more on road widening projects in the city of Charlotte perer if one more Lane was a legitimate solution the cities of Atlanta and Los Angeles would be lovely to drive in I assure you they're not right so when it comes down to we have a limited budget we have the largest Transportation Bond ever proposed in the city of Charlotte and you're keeping bike program funding flat with the inflation you're basically spending Less on bikes with the biggest Transportation Bond you've ever had thank [Applause] Youk Jacob an okay all right um Kevin Dylan Kevin Dylan michaa enter good evening mayor ly city manager Jones and city council people my name is Michaela bter and I'm speaking in support of and the necessity for continued arts and culture funding in Charlotte as a local artist and full-time nonprofit employee of Charlotte is creative I am a product of the power that is funding the Arts in 2020 I began my journey of becoming a full-time artist and continued and with the continued support funding and appication of my creative Community I have received my first mural my first Grant from Charlotte is creative my first event funded and supported by Dita Galloway and participated in my first group show local local Street curated by Carla Aron Lopez at The Mint Museum it was my first experience in a museum and it was not my last within the last four years I've had my work in several museums Uptown painted and installed Works around Charlotte organized events for the mint and along Bates for road across our city developed relationships with entities like Park and wreck the Carolina Panthers the Charlotte Hornets our local Arts institutions and organizations and I did not do it by myself funding our Arts Community is funding artists like myself it is a creative Community both institutional Grassroots that have provided the framework for our creative culture in Charlotte to develop into an Eclectic fabric of experiences ages occupations and abilities that make our city better Arts funding provides experiences and opportunities to our greater City and Aid in the expression of what it is to be a charlan in funding our Arts you are funding our culture we are the food the art the live music the bars the breweries the photo ops and theater everyone is creative because Charlotte is creative and everyone benefits from the funding of arts and culture in Charlotte thank you [Applause] our next four speakers James Mina Tim Miner Aisha kada and Katherine [Music] horns I'm sorry I see Todd Herman was it Todd Herman or Clayton sely that was going to speak Clayton thank you all right so I'll start again Clayton cely James Mina Tim Miner Aisha Kad and then Katherine Horn uh good evening uh mayor ly Council and City staff I'm Clayton cely the mint Museum's marketing director and a Charlotte mberg planning commissioner I'm stepping in today for Todd our CEO as well as Ruby Brit height our director of community relations and a co-leader of diversity Equity inclusion belonging and accessibility at The Mint Museum where has she been for 16 years she's a member of the Charlotte Mecklenberg public Arts commission and helped open this building that we're in today as a city staffer these are her words and I Echo them wholeheartedly as a leader of of the men's Community program I thank you for supporting our efforts and welcoming hundreds of thousands of students VIs visitors and Families Our educational and our educational programs include tours where students engage deeply with art practicing mindfulness and creativity we provide a vital third place a safe and welcoming space for all visitors of all ages backgrounds and abilities our star Gallery showcases student artwork from around the city giving young artists a platform to celebrate their talents this Sunday we host the ninth of the 12th Congressional District High School art compet aition finalist we'd love for you to join us during covid-19 we created over 20,000 free art kits for families and continue to deliver joy to students and families today Aur Heights youth arts program celebrates 20 years this fall and has very personally impacted 500 students through art history creative classes fostering self-awareness and Community Pride we host the annual African Brazilian festival with UNCC Charlotte for providing cultural dance education our bimonthly meant to move cultural dance night unites hundreds through Dance Art is a catalist for positive change your support helps us sustain impactful art education fostering Charlotte's growth and bring and we bring an estimated 50 millions of economic impact thank [Applause] you Mr evening I'm James me I'm the director and principal conductor of Opera Carolina I have been in this community 25 years and one of the wonderful things that Drew me to move well escape from Cleveland Charlotte was the fact that this cultural Community is a cultural Community you may have noticed I was sitting up with my colleagues uh Doug Singleton and Todd herban and I've seen my friends kathern horn and Terry White that is unusual just as Charlotte is unusual and we are unusual because we work together for the benefit of the entire community and art is not a luxury it's a necessity if we want to have a complete community so on behalf of the 70,000 plus young people and adults and artists who Opera Carolina interfaces with every year we completely support this marvelous budget because in our thinking this budget is not about either or it is about the holistic health of this community and I thank you for your service and I thank my colleagues and I thank as a citizen all the wonderful people who have been here advocating for those things that they believe in thank you so very much thank [Applause] you Aisha Prada oh I'm sorry I skipped over Tim Miner I don't know how I could do that that I I I think that means you have to do a song for me make us make us laugh Tim mayor I am happy to do that if you agree to double the Arts budget for for a mere $1 million I let's see now all night long about worth it let's do it I think she has a vote on that bu I know what was that council is there a negotiation here now that's taking place let's see all right go ahead I'm sorry mik I appreciate it good evening mayor ly city manager Jones and honorable members of the city council I'm Tim Miner co-founder of Charlotte is creative a few months ago it was my honor to be here with my colleagues from the Mt Museum and our mutual partner Carla Aon Lopez to thank you for supporting the infusion fund and the opportunity fund whose monies made it possible to execute Ute the local Street installation at the mint Uptown featuring the work of a nearly a hundred creatives that exhibition was significant because it featured the original work of Lo local visual artists on the walls of the mint but also because it was designed to help them find new markets and build their businesses their businesses like Carla our work at Charlotte's creative is to to help emerging and under resourced and creators and makers see themselves as businesses and be supported as small business business owners they are creative entrepreneurs and when you invest in the Arts you are investing in jobs that's an idea that the mint has championed too and I urge you to approve the 11 11 million in proposed Arts funding in their packets tonight over the years the mint has made considerable efforts to partner with dozens of artists like Carla Dita Galloway Idis consoles Milan D and organizations like Charlotte is creative blacket Market Charlotte and so many others to elevate the work of local creatives they didn't have to do that but they looked beyond their own own walls and shared Resources with others for Mutual benefit and they did this because it was good for everyone it lifted everyone I hope that the proposed funds will also expand in arts organizations and cultural organizations like the Museum of History who've not received operational funding like that before and that those funds continue to create opportunities for independent creatives our City's creatives and cultural nonprofits are building Charlotte's reputation as a destination for Innovation and art as well as business companies move here grow here hire here but getting them here is only half the battle keeping their employees and keeping them happy as here and C arts and culture play a pivotal role in that they come here looking for a culture of culture and that takes money thank you thank you very much all right Aisha good evening my name is Aisha McMillan kada and I'm the academy director at Charlotte B La I moved to Charlotte in 2002 from Houston Texas to work as an artist for North Carolina Dance Theater even after I retired from the stage in 2007 I've remained on staff at Charlotte ballet and for 22 years have enjoyed a front row perspective on the powerful impact of arts and culture throughout my adopted home city of Charlotte as the academy director at Charlotte ballet I see our students from all over the city thrive in the midst of their Arts Education and Training the ballet operates in communities throughout the city in K12 school programs and in recreation centers throughout the city as we partner with the county over the course of a year Charlotte ballet underwrites over one quarter of a million dollars in scholarships for our students it's been my joy to see our students go on to work as artists around the globe whether they become professional dancers choreographers or physical therapists or emergency medical technicians wherever our graduates of the ballet go they represent Charlotte and the wealth of support and opportunity they received here in the art sector that is Workforce Development Charlotte's arts and culture sector earns this investment and we thank you so much for this we return it to our community every day in the form of education jobs like mine and nationally recognized identity thank you for your time today thank you so much for your investment thank [Applause] you good evening I'm Katherine horn president and CEO of Discovery Place and as well as the Charlotte Museum of Nature and um Madame mayor Mr city manager members of council thank you so much for this opportunity to speak to you this evening um I am speaking in support of this very generous commitment that city council and the County Administration excuse me the city Administration has um committed in the budget for this coming year to help stabilize and utilize the work of the Arts and Science sector I believe I might be the lone science representative this evening and of course we are largely outnumbered by our Arts friends um in terms of Institutions but let me tell you that um no one serves the large number of charlatans and tourists to Charlotte quite like Discovery Place does with more than three4 of a million visitors each year and that includes of those being adults taxpaying citizens as well as the youth who are seeking to find their Futures and we are so thrilled that we are able to in many ways help them find a passion in science technology engineering and math nowhere is that more close to my heart and the hearts of our team than in the youth development programs that we provide to CMS schools through after school programs as well as of course the programs that they have during the school day through Outreach and field trips but that work helps students find their Futures and we want them to find them in uptown Charlotte and that is one of the greatest things about bringing young people whether it be on field trips or with family settings to come to the center of our city and see the magic that unfolds and helps them see in their Futures thank you thank you our next four speakers are Carla Aaron Lopez DaVita Galloway Cindy Patterson and Kevin Patterson yes good evening mayor lyes uh city manager Mr D and all of city council uh we just recently spoke with each other and now here we are again and based on today's conversations I would like to start off with this statement art is not a hobby art is my job and I'm here to continue my advoc advocacy on behalf of my continued Partnerships with the Mint Museum The Mint Museum and Charlotte is creative gave me the opportunity to conquer a fear and I titled it local Street and yes I have given over a hundred artists an opportunity to extend their careers but based on the conversations I've heard last night I must let you know that I am a native of Charlotte I am a CMS teacher and I cannot afford to live anywhere in Charlotte I am no different than the service workers before me yet I have no intention of moving away from home for three years my Partnerships with the Mint Museum Charlotte is creative Black Market Charlotte and du and SWAT we have become the cultural producers and the cultural identifiers for those out of town people do not come to Charlotte to visit Banks who does that Banks don't have visitor shops with little knickknacks and things to cherish the memories of their experiences people do come for our sports teams and before they walk into boa before they go to Spectrum before they attend Charlotte FC clubs they are walking downtown contributing to our local economies and participating in the exhibitions we are pull pulling off on the ground we are creating Charlotte's Identity On The Ground adding to what old black Charlotte has created as a native I would appreciate you to think wisely and vote properly unanimously in support of the Mint Museum I am King Carla signing off good night good night [Applause] deita I'm sorry I thought you were GNA just start oh yeah I'm getting ready to okay thank you okay thank you Council I yes Dita Galloway I'm an entrepreneur creating and providing opportunities for other artsy folk via dupp and SWAT and hu house by any means and I do mean by any means when asked to express support for the M Museum and arts funding my reply was simply whatever you need you see I felt happily and dutifully obligated to return what has been provided and honestly given to me throughout our years in collaborating whatever I needed in working with the Mint Museum I continuously feel seen heard humanized and provided opportunity space and platform to Dream create and continue to make impact in community no matter how crazy or farfetched the idea when I say community yes I mean black people but I also mean all artists creatives art enthusiasts and novices you see we've had quite a few first at the mint take the Kiki ball 101 for example where there was record-breaking numbers in attendance and the queer Community was celebrated and given space to safely and genuinely Express themselves too bad that can't be seen everywhere in Charlotte or take a dormant my current exhibit at the Min Museum where 11 of the 13 exhibiting artists are are are newbies new to the exhibition World clearly not in creating and arting they just like so many needed the chance opportunity and space The Mint Museum provided them that when I say community yes I mean black people I also mean I also mean individuals of every race and ethnicity as well as every every socioeconomic status when I say community I mean everyone because art is for everyone right when you enter the the Uptown location that's what you see highlighted in bold color art is for everyone and it's not to check a box or to look cool it's their why and their how and it's how lives are being changed it's how my life was changed my name is Dita Galloway all right thank you [Applause] Patterson Kevin Patterson good afternoon I think I'll go first and follow with Cindy if you don't mind uh mayor LS uh mayor protemp council persons and of course city manager I'm Kevin Patterson as you all know along with my sister there Cindy Patterson uh we were uh appointed as co-chair of the arts and culture advisory uh board that you put in place uh I'm not going to bore you with the cultural plan that you've already seen you know uh what's on the table in terms of $1 million I'm at allwe when I first of all I'm not an artist so I'm say that straight I'm at allwe when I hear the artists see the artists see their passion and see the things that they do obviously I want you to support these dollars but I want to take it from a different perspective so if you just give me a a couple of minutes to do that we heard about affordable housing needs we've heard about other needs in this community they are all very very important one of the things I love about this Arts campaign is it can change the trajectory of Charlotte and what I mean by that from an economic development point the monies that you put in the Arts will more than tenfold return to you in terms of Economic Development what I mean by that it was mentioned earlier it will bring corporations they will stay here when they have their employees see an opportunity see an opportunity to enjoy this community that they may not have known before you will see downtown businesses Thrive when the Arts Community thrives you have buildings that the city pays for when they're full of artists it's not just the artist that are there but it is Citizens throughout this community when you look at the cultural plan and look at the diversity elements within the plan it talks about making arts and culture for everybody and when you do that you make a difference in this community thanks Kevin um thank you all for having us um first I want to thank the city manager and the mayor and the council for for appointing this group of people that we've been together for 3 years we started in the fall of 2021 to do a strategic plan and also to in through increased funding by both the city the private sector we were able to have more money into the system substantial increases particularly to um what we call alala groups and others and we've been able to somewhat stabilize um the Arts in Charlotte and open the door for the kind of things that c and Jen is going to speak to you about and others because that was um a little touch and go um that we have significantly increased the funding to that into Grassroots organizations what we're asking is I I can't thank um the committee that worked on this enough um it's been a long haul a bit of a slog there are eight recommendations in the report you've seen it but the first three are critical funding to get us to a place where we're sustainable the Arts are sustainable in Charlotte and they have the opportunity to grow that we can lean in again on Arts education that we can lean in on smaller organizations and Grassroots we can go into neighborhoods there's just so much that could be done and secondly um that growth to create the growth that brings other artists to Charlotte we're we're becoming a place that artists want to come to that's a very different world than it was a long time ago or even 20 years ago so so you've made that possible by putting this Committee in place um we've done our work um some of us are saying okay we getting short timers as we say um but this is the last piece of it um and all the pieces are there if we get if the funding's there we've put together how to the governance measure that so that's critical thank you very much thank you Jen Edwards JY sadul Edwards and Terry White hi I am Jen sud Edwards I'm the chief curator and curator of Contemporary Art at the mitt Museum and I want to thank mayor lyes um our city manager Jones and the rest of the council members for yes as um Cindy parison mentioned pushing forward this really bold funding plan for the Arts in Charlotte but I wanted to come here today and also just let you know how important it is for our large cultural institutions to not only receive the funding that we need to do our jobs and I am so grateful to Dita and Carla and Tim and Michaela for outlining the way that the mint specifically commits to our Charlotte Community to help them do their jobs but I also wanted to mention how important it is for us to have a commitment that's longer than just a year to think about the long-term funding that we need to know is in place so that we can commit to these artists commit to these larger projects that need a two three foure Runway so not just one year but knowing that we will be secure for at least two to three years to come so as my fellow artists talked about the men has been committed to bringing their work into the museum spaces to show alongside more internationally recognizable names like Annie leboit Anna Su and um Pablo Picasso when the mint have the Picasso exhibition last year we welcomed an incredible number of people throughout that year we had 98 of North Carolina's 100 counties represented in the museum all 50 states made an appearance and 4 8 different countries when people came to see Picasso's Landscapes they also saw an exhibition devoted to Rome Bearden in conversation with Picasso and they sh and they saw 10 of Charlotte's muralists on view not only in The Mint Museum but throughout the city this was a huge step for us to equate this International artist with our locals thank you so much thank you this white oh man now I'm nervous uh good evening all my name is Terry White president and CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History um I want to thank you for the 11 million that you have allocated for the Arts but gently remind you you forgot us so we are asking here tonight uh to be included uh in the last year and a half since I have been president of CMH uh we have undergone a massive cultural and operational change to move away from the isolationist and elitist pth that we had to become an inclusive Al responsible institution that we are today we are the city's oldest history museum with roots at our site going back to the 1940s we take care of the county County's oldest home which turns 250 this fall we are mere weeks away thank God from reopening the historic salom school to the public we have partnered with local organizations of all sizes to provide engaging and Innovative programs and Exhibits and we do this on shoe strain budgets and prayers every metric the museum can directly control has improved substantially our overall income is up 23% from last year contributing income is double what it was in fiscal year 23 and our fundraisers are more productive than ever however we make these improvements at the bottom of a hole that Decades of neglect and divestment have left us in we are asking for a one-time infusion of cash to help us level set once and for all from our past debts and to be included in the fiscal year 25 budget and each year moving forward with an annual allotment of resources to help us maintain our 8 acre campus since I've taken the helm Charlotte Museum of History has spent more than $3.2 million on operations exhibits and programs 73% of which went right back into the local e economy our small business spending is up 189% and roughly onethird of that is spent with women and minority owned companies we're doing this by robbing Peters to pay paa and we can no longer wait to patiently wait until next year thank you thank you so our next speaker is Micah balong Kenneth Robinson Justin harlo and ishmail quiam if you would join us now please my name is Michel belong and I'm a minister of the Gospel to those on the outside the fish have the Sea and the Birds had the trees but the son of man has no place to lay his head Jesus Christ was a homeless man now I've been thinking a lot about something that uh representative bukari council member bukari said last time that we shouldn't be throwing good money after bad when he dismissed the idea that we should fund affordable housing well your government came out and did these listening sessions and they admitted that every time we invest in affordable housing the last couple times we've done it we put $50 million there and we've been able to build new units at about $8,000 every time you know how much that is equivalent to one night in jail in the Charlotte meinburg system we can put permanent housing permanently in our community for the same cost as one night in prison so why are we throwing good money after bad by continually funding the police instead of the things that actually solve the crimes housing in the first place I am so grateful that you have put $100 million toward affordable housing and you know what in 19 years we will have built enough affordable housing to get up to where we need it today 19 years we need a billion dollars in affordable housing not a 100 million a billion is what your government said we needed to a build in this city to actually make things affordable and you know that sounds like a really big number until you think about the fact that that's 40% of the budget of an ineffective police force that doesn't actually solve the crimes because last time you came here and you chose a a method that every expert in this room told you was the bad idea they told you it was a silly idea they told you it was a stupid idea and we chose that because cruelty mattered more we thought cruelty could keep away the people just like the government thought they could do with Jesus Christ instead I am offering you to join smart and kind and real solutions put money in affordable housing put a billion dollars into affordable housing to make Charlotte a place that this little girl can grow up in thank you Mr Robinson and then we'll go with Mr harlo I am Kenny Robinson founding executive director of freedom fighting missionaries got my notes here today I don't normally bring no notes but I don't want to misinterpret nothing due to the unstable living conditions it is difficult to obtain an exact count of the type of temporary housing our McKenna vento identified families live in so I here for the people's budget freedom fighting missionaries and the 5,200 invisible children currently homeless in meinburg County School Systems today where last year mckenny vento served 4,815 students uh the 2223 data reported that 52 children lived in shelters 1,117 lived in hotel motel 65 were unsheltered 3,131 live doubled up meaning living with others there were 311 students unaccom unaccompanied with no caregiver whatsoever most families and youth experien the combination of these Arrangements throughout the year the racial makeup of our families is africanamerican 377 white 193 Hispanic 674 multi-racial 193 other race 43 the needs in our district are obviously great as evidenced by the number of students and families experienced in a hous in crisis those numbers represent 76.9% of homeless children in CMS are black 4% are white 75% of the people in the Detention Center are black 133% are white homeless individuals consistently make up 78% of black people and 97% of the people that our organization serves are black 70% of FFM clients are single women with two or more children that was the fastest two minutes I've seen ever I can understand understand thank you [Applause] um thank you good evening mayor council hey city manager thanks for the opportunity um I'm Justin harlo since 2021 November I've had the pleasure along with Kim Graham to co-chair your appointed 15 member neighborhood equity and stabilization commission also known as The Nest Commission in those two and a half years we've worked hard to try to to meet your charge of recommending specific anti-displacement strategies to protect residents at risk of displacement reporting quarterly to Dr wallington's committee housing safety and Community I'm here to say that the nest commission is thankful to this Council and previous councils for taking our recommendations and putting them into the budget and programmatic use Investments over the past two cycles we hope the same this year last summer this Council adopted our recommended anti-displacement strategy which led to a subsequent six million dollars in programmatic Investments including a million dollars into acquisition rehab and resale programs a million dollars in accessory dwelling unit support and construction um a double down into House Charlotte and House Charlotte plus and $2 million invested to support rehab and Noah projects specifically for small landlords in this budget we commend you Mr manager The Nest commission along with many other advy advocacy groups as you've heard are in support of the hundred million housing bond proposal and we're confident that the community in Charlotte this November will support that and we also hope that future debt capacity can support it as well we are recommending a $25 million carveout for specific anti-displacement initiatives and strategies lastly we appreciate the inclusion of uh supporting our Nest recommendation to increase the transit oriented development fee and Li rate as a part of the affordable housing bonus program since 2019 that program has generated 17 million and we believe that this can be an ongoing bucket for a Permanent anti-displacement Fund overall we're encouraged um by the city's council's reception to our recommendations and we hope that you adopt this budget with housing and anti-displacement line items as proposed thank [Applause] you so ishel thank you hello everybody uh so uh I just want to add one quick point to what Mr uh said uh every single recommendation made by nes commission was not adopted the specific recommendation that the city of Charlotte fund eviction defense and diversion was not adopted in fact my understanding is that there's some type of hostility towards the idea that people who are facing eviction should have legal representation earlier we heard from a young lady uh who's from the Charlotte Hills mobile home park I will disclose that I am an attorney and I represent tenants in private practice and I represent a and I just settled a case with a tenant at that specific mobile home park I can tell you that if the tenants at that mobile home park many of whom are Spanish speaking in Latino have representation there's a there's a much less likelihood that they'll be displaced and I'm saying that as a person can't talk about the settlement but it's seen the inner workings of Charlotte Hills mobile home park legal defense keeps people particularly black people black women housed it is a measure it is a a direct form of intervention it's no different than the Housing Trust Fund it's no different than rental assistance is no different than building affordable housing there's no reason for it to be separated there's no reason for it to not be included uh in the budget and I say that as a person that sits on the board of the Westside Community Land Trust I say that as a person that believes in uh building Cooperative housing I say that as a person that uh is committed to affordable housing however property rights are enshrined here and are enforced by the law and what that means is that often times an eviction is the thing that stops somebody from being able to pursue to pursue upward economic mobility and opportunities for home ownership many of you voted to criminalize homelessness a while back ago and what we're here today to say is that you have an opportunity to enact a measure that we know through tried and true methods will keep people housed 85% success rate for legal aid when representing tenants we have more evictions being filed every day as a direct result of our growth here in Charlotte and I'm asking you to do the right thing because it's in your power thank you [Applause] our next four speakers are Ricky Woods Jerome Wagner Tara Peele and Jimmy Valu Reverend Woods go please start good evening mayor LS uh city manager Jones and members of city council tagline for Budget 2025 says advancing opportunities for all the current budget proposal places low wealth Property Owners at risk of losing their homes because of taxes or affordability whereas I applaud the increase in investment in public safety it will have very little real impact until our court systems are funded and the district attorney has what he needs to enforce the law a matter for state government those who put themselves In Harm's Way should not see the persons that they arrest over and over again endangering Public Safety and law enforcement a case that Chief Jennings Made just recently however this budget is more than public safety it increases art funding comes with an added tax as a member of the city appointed infusion fund that made funding decision for the Arts over the last three years I oppose this recommendation again low wealth Property Owners should not be forced to fund the initiative whereas actual operations of funding is still in question after funds were withheld from Arts and Science Council and there is no commitment to equity in the current funding model the budget includes additional funds for the Housing Trust Fund which provides opportunities mostly for rental units and not home ownership yet the tax increase puts in danger those who currently own their own homes last year the property reval sent almost all of those homes over the average cost used to talk with media in the public of $350,000 because of location in the Crescent those values exceed $400,000 and Beyond we are still waiting for the tax increase from the school bonds past last year year and the council is is pondering a possible tax increase for transit in the near future thank you very much and M are you Mr Wagner Mr Wagner please thank you good evening and thank you for this opportunity to address you my name is Jerome Wagner I'm the lead organizer of 350 Charlotte that is a climate change focused advocacy group I also convene the ca accountability committee for the Charlotte meinberg climate leaders tonight I'm speaking as an individual I'll be addressing the proposed budget from the perspective of envi environmental sustainability energy use and climate change mitigation Kudos the sustainability staff and the city's Executives relative to your National recognitions and rankings Kudos also for securing the South Davidson solar energy generation project ESP especially in view of the collapse of the Olan Creek opportunity and kudos to city council for approving that project and lastly kudos for suggest for securing additional support from the Bloomberg climate cities initiative in his presentation of this budget to this Council city manager Jones commented the sustainability and resiliency are now built into the fabric of the city's operations this is increasingly evident as is shown in the culation for capap specific spending shown on page 288 it shows embedded staff in both cats and the aviation operation it also totals almost $50 million for fiscal year 25 for CA related features I note that that's just 1% or so of the city's overall budget in about one tenth of the public safety allowance in the budget but it's still a significant level of spending I note that there's also one additional headcount in the current forecast for an the sustainability office that being for an additional energy coordinator for that I thank you we join the cityan looking forward to the securing of the Energy Efficiency Community block grant to be applied for solarization and other Energy Efficiency improvements thank you very much good day right Miss f good evening mayor lyes uh city manager Jones and council members my name is Tara Peele and I work with housing collaborative of Charlotte nonprofit that makes affordable housing easier to navigate for people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness I'm here tonight to thank you for considering adding housing collaborative as a City Financial partner and to share a bit about our our work housing collaborative helps people overcome barriers to housing like justice system involvement prior evictions or use of a rental subsidy we do this by removing Financial barriers to housing like application fees and deposits and by building relationships with housing providers to make it easier to work with rental subsidies we believe that people with lived experience are the most effective at helping others overcome barriers to housing over 25% of our team members have experienced incarceration homelessness or domestic violence and they're using their Journeys to help others the households housing collaborative assists are referred to us by amazing Community Partners like rof AB above safe Alliance and freedom fighting missionaries over the last year through the support of the city of Charlotte meinberg County and private funders we've HED 329 households including 388 adults and 362 children to secure permanent housing including 60 households displaced from JT Williams Apartments eono Lodge economy in and Speedway in we provided security deposit assistance over 350 households coordinated over 1,080 housing inspections to help voucher holders move into housing faster we administered rental subsidies for over 200 households we added 80 new housing provider Partners willing to accept households we refer and we checked in with our housing provider Partners over 1400 times to support housing retention becoming a City Financial partner we assure we're able to help even more households next year we thank you so much for your support of housing collaborative and your investment in housing through the increase in the housing Bond and Investments and preservation through the Noah housing program thank you very much thank you all right Jimmy vasil hello my name is Jimmy vasilio and I'm a member of the housing Justice Coalition I'm here tonight to ask you to include a budget line item of 1.8 million for right to counsel or eviction defense in order to match the County's proposed uh 1.8 million that they'll be partnering with legal aid to provide um I also would like to ask you to heed the call of the public workers of ue150 to include a $25 an hour minimum wage daily overtime a 6% raise a 4% 401k contribution and ultimately a workers Bill of Rights for them while the city has continually moved towards policies that aim at building more housing the cost of housing continually climbs as economic development through tax incentives and concessions to corporations takes priority these giveaways have advanced Charlotte's position as the largest metro area North Carolina which was which has been named by CNBC as the number one state for business but what about the workers specifically the workers of Charlotte workers have to deal with a completely defanged NC division of Occupational health and safety which is underst staff and unable to deal with the hazards that workers face as exemp as exemplified by the scaffolding collapse off of Morehead and the five alarm fire at a building site in South Park last year both incidents cost workers their lives workers have to figure out how to put food on the table in an environment where higher prices are eating into their incomes due to profit driven inflation and finally workers in Charlotte increasingly have to worry about whether or not they have a roof over their head according to the 2023 state of Housing and home excuse me H housing instability and homelessness report 48% of renter households are paying more than 30% of their monthly income towards housing costs this is a 46% increase since 2012 this housing insecurity along with the other heightened cost of living without an increase in Pay often forces workers to live in precarious situations these conditions have led to a 10% increase in the amount of evictions granted since 2019 many workers are being pushed out due to Rising rents support right to counsil thank you all right our our next speaker April April Lewis maren jasi Tanya cowens and Nolan d all right good evening City Council Members my name is April Lewis and I'm a housing or Justice organizer here in Charlotte I stand before you today to advocate for the thousands of residents in our city who are facing the threat of eviction and the devastating consequences that come with it I want to bring your attention to a specific case that highlights the urgent need for rights to counsel in our city at Randolph Hills and apartment complex in gr Heights residents are being forced to pay back rent as far back as 2019 due to incompetence and negligence of the office staff these hardworking individuals and families are now facing the possibility of losing their home because of the mistakes that were not their own this is just one example of the many struggles our residents face when it comes to housing instability by allocating 1.8 million in in the excuse me Fiscal 2025 budget for right to counsil and eviction defense you can provide essential legal support to those who are at risk of losing their homes including the residents of Randolph Hills this funding would match the County's proposed contributions demonstrating a united front in the fight against housing instability cities like Detroit Kansas City and Cleveland have already implemented right to counsil programs and these rights speak excuse me these results speak for themselves with success rates of over 80% these programs have helped tenants maintain their housing or negotiate settlements with their landlords by keeping residents house we can reduce the population relying on support Excuse Me Shelter Services saving our local government money in the long run the city has the means to fund rights to council with over 5 million in federal arpa funds earmarked at for General anti-is repacement cost and over 2.58 million in the 2025 proposed budget of pgo funding including 1 million listed as support public private Partnerships to end priv excuse me end and prevent homelessness we have the resources to make this crucial investment in our community's well-being I have seen firsthand the devastating impact of evictions on our community I have witnessed tears the heartache and the desperation of those who are fighting to keep a roof over their heads by providing right to counsel you can give these individuals and families a fighting chance to stay in their homes and maintain their dignity and build a better future for themselves I would also like to remind you that evictions thank [Applause] you good evening mayor lyes um manager Jones and members of the council um I'm Moren gesi I'm a resident of East Charlotte and a very dedicated East Charlotte Advocate and I'm here tonight really to talk about what's missing from the budget and that is the continued investment in the um completion of the central um kilborn and New Orleans CIP so that actually originated from bonds that came out and were voted for in November of 2014 so this is for sidewalks it's for protected bike lanes and it's for improved safety at the intersection of Central and kilborn and new Orland so this has been a long a weighted project for the community and it's been you know we're looking at 75 plus years of Aging infrastructure in this area I have been advocating for this East Charlotte connectivity as well as the Historic Site um for gathering for the past 12 years the project is incomplete a project that is 10 years behind while new projects are still being considered shows a concerning lack of dedication to the East Charlotte Community our community and its people we really do deserve some transparent communication thank you thank you all right T call Tanya cow good evening my name is Tanya cowens and I'm a Survivor of unjust eviction we do not normally associate surviving with the process in fact you really do the place that was my home became my prison my slum Lord wanted more money but I wanted heat a hot shower and a roof that did not leak in turn my slum Lord punish me for my needs with a with displacement I urge you to consider the addition to the budget that reflects our commitment to Justice and fairness the implementation of a right to counsel eviction Protection Program as we confront the sobering reality of rising eviction rates within our community providing Le legal representation to the tenants facing eviction is not just a moral imperative but a Strategic investment in the well-being of our city by ensuring access to Legal Aid we Empower vulnerable individuals and families to navigate the complexities of the eviction process let us not miss the mark with the opportunity to uphold the principles of equity and Justice and setting a precedent for compassion and solidarity in Charlotte implementing a right to council yields several significant benefits legal Equity prevention of homelessness Financial stability public health and well-being it's a cost savings which is identified as a National best practice and is in practice in Winston Salem fair housing practices Community stability and resilience in summary adding a right to council for Charlotte citizens facing eviction not only upholds principles of justice and fairness but also yields tangible social e thank you very much Mr Dom thank you to Mayor lyes and Council um my name is Nolan Dom and I'm the programs and Exhibits manager at the Charlotte Museum of History um I live and work in District One um I'm here to speak about the proposed arts and culture funding budget for this year and specifically I'm here to request that you increase that budget to more than $1 million that is currently allocated as my boss Terry mentioned earlier the Charlotte Museum of History does not receive a single Dollar in regular Public Funding despite being the city's namesake history institution and frequently hosting events for city officials in our space therefore we are asking for sustained funding for Operational Support and an additional one-time infusion to help us resolve this history of underinvestment our funding ask is the same or similar to other history institutions in the city and as far as we are aware we are the only history Institute major history institution in the city that does not receive Public Funding we're located in East Charlotte off of Shamrock Road one of the city's corridors of opportunity and we take that very seriously our museum is host to the ual African-American Heritage Festival the city's largest we just hosted the city's largest Earth Day Festival and we're planning the city's largest Latin American celebration this fall as well each of those events sees over a thousand people at our Museum and we see tens of thousands more at our programs and events in addition we're a key educational space in the city our campus is located on the historic Alexander homite the oldest standing home in the county the newly renovated salom school which will be the only place in the city to learn about the history of of Rosenwald schools and school segregation in other words there is no better place in Charlotte to learn about the city's history the good and the bad you've already heard from many people tonight many speakers about the history of urban renewal redlining and underinvestment that led to many of our City's challenges where better place to learn about that than at the Charlotte Museum of History without understanding this past we cannot build a better future to be clear this is not a selfish ask as Terry said we invest almost every single dollar that we get back into our community Through Contracting with local businesses educating local students paying our staff for their hard work we know that you all understand the importance of arts and culture investment and we hope you'll consider funding funding the museums uh arts and thank you very much Museum like the other museums our next speakers are Mary Bell mcreath Rob nanfelt Dr Blanch pin Quant Don light marabel MC thank you hi mayor Hi and hi all Council people my name is marabel McBeth I'm a cabin cleaner at at the Charlotte airport where have where I have worked for 11 years I am one of the essential workers who keep the airport running while being the least appreciated I make, 1650 an hour and I pay for my health insurance this is not enough not in this economy less than a year ago my rent went up and I had to move out of my apartment because I could no longer afford it I had to go to a hotel according to the 2023 state of housing instability and homelessness 13,239 of renter households that's 48% were paying more than 30% of their monthly income to our housing cost this is an increase of 46% since 2012 12 I was finally able to find an apartment Studies have proven that local governments with right to council save money that would otherwise go to shelter cost due to reducing the population ring on those Services by keeping res facing eviction house as a Charlotte Airport service worker it is hard to sur survive in the city making the low wages they pay we shouldn't have to worry about not being able to pay the rent and being evicted with no right to counsel when we are working hard every day thank [Applause] you Mr nanel thank you good evening mayor lyes members of council and city manager I'm Rob nanfelt I'm the executive director of reik reic is the real estate and building industry Coalition as a refresher we are uh our members work with businesses to locate here or expand uh they've helped them find locations our members develop land and build the homes to to house those workers our members help those employees U make the biggest investment they're likely to make in their entire lives and they also help if they're looking for rental uh rental hes well that's who reik is uh a couple of things in the budget I just wanted to touch on um first as it relates to the to the property tax increase property tax increases are not enjoyable for anyone um it's been a little while so perhaps there's there's a need at this point but I would encourage you and as you as you make this point make sure the community understands that this is likely the first in a cycle of these the county is going to do the same thing shortly and I think communicating that message to the community making sure they understand the long range plan and doing it once makes a lot of sense and I would encourage you strongly to do that make sure you have a concise plan that they understand so that's number one number two as it relates to the100 million in the trust fund that's that's doubling of the current amount we encourage you to go back and look and see how that 50 million right now is being spent is that being spent to your expectation are the outcome comes what you're looking for if you are going to double that and it looks like you are at this point how about part of that being set aside for things like down payment assistance so those folks that are right on the cusp of being able to afford a home have that little extra help and then perhaps educational opportunities especially in the trades folks there are there are jobs in the trades that are very wellp paying and I don't think enough is done to point folks in that direction so I strongly encourage you to do that finally the last point is no thank you thank you okay Dr pen I was about to say it oh my goodness um Dr Blanch pen I'm here also over the people budget but for me uh when we cry do y'all listen now y'all sit back and eat your little chips and drink your little sodas and but are you listening M Angelo is one of my favorite person with a poem but I have a poem for you cuz it says say it with me now this is my poem I just made up for you to move beyond the block into housing now say it with me say space for homelessness say it now now support the people budget say it now you got the 4% 401 contribution say it with me now 6% raise say it with me now working Bill of Rights say it with me now double daily over time say it with me now $25 minimum wages y'all can't say that with me now what you need to do is say it with me now because if you don't say it with me now the people will say it to you so you need to sit back and relax like you're doing and you might sit there and already made up your mind but you see that word the city of Charlotte you got have to say it with me now because right now it is about the people remember they put you in those seats is the people the same way Brown said several times the word that you use say with you didn't say this word but the other word that you use three or four times I'm saying it now say it with me now say it with me now the people's but [Applause] budget Quanto Don light and Jordan Lopez Diana Martinez and Jennifer vmer our next speakers happen I think Quant Don light I don't is she here all right sorry um Jordan [Music] Lopez well thank you uh good evening mayor LS council members uh and city manager Jones thank you all for your service and for making it this far through public hearing my name is Jordan Lopez and while I while I wear many hats throughout this community tonight I'm here as an e neighbor and Resident I'm here to ask for each of your support in fully funding the central kilborn Eastway comprehensive neighborhood investment project that was approved by voters in 2014 and is still unfinished one of my neighbors has already went and another will come next but I'm here to lift up this concern and the echo their concerns excuse me to the fact that this project would directly impact thousands of residents in the immediate area creating a new and safer way to access recreational amenities in the area such as kilborne park or the Evergreen nature preserved improv safety for Eastway middle school middle school students who walk or bike to school and the general safety of pedestrians in an area that already sees a concentration of pedestrian in of incidents excuse me with pedestrians and bicyclists additionally this allows for greater access and visibility to the commercial District along Central Avenue that is home to many small minority owned businesses that is truly the heartbeat of e Charlotte this project is long overdue and would have an immediate and lasting impact on our community and we hope that we can see it fully funded and completed before taking on new projects thank you thank you Diana Martinez hello hello hello hello my name is Diana Martinez a resident of Shannon Park and East Charlotte speaking to the proposed property tax increase that will fund among other items Capital Improvement projects in 2001 when I was one years old and not yet United States of America um the East Side strategy Plan called for the bicycle and pedestrian connection to link the commercial uh area of Central Avenue to the Evergreen Nature Preserve in 2014 uh in sorry in 2014 when I was a freshman in garinger high school the central kilborne Norland intersection and roadway upgrade project was selected as one of the projects to move forward as part of the 20 million cnip approved by voters today this project continues to be on hold and I am now 23 while other bike pedestrian projects in other parts of our city such as South Park cnip and the ma Avenue Bridge for example are seemingly prioritized I am here tonight to ask this question in regards to the proposed property tax increase how can our residents trust that the city will apply an equitable lens to Capital Improvement projects when the city cannot commit to the finishing the projects that were put on the books a decade ago thank you Jennifer Balmer fair enough Mr Jones fun prior they just can't be anywhere good evening everyone I'm really here to see councilwoman Tiana Brown up on the de I was so happy to see her elected I um I want to say I just think she's a treasure to the city and I heard that she's been having a pretty rough time being on city council people are being kind of mean to her um so stop doing that y'all she's really important I mean the voice of somebody with a lived experience on the city council that's amazing that's national news thank you thank you for the work you're doing thank you for putting up with all the crap that I hear you've been getting um just thank you thank you for running and being there like we need we need more people with the lived experience up there the second thing I want to say is shame on the City 7 yall passing these regressive ordinances that have led to chaos in my life but definitely incredible harm to homeless people I'm here because I'm with the black People's Community Justice Center and what we do is we help people who have especially people who have never been which means a lot of really young people like 18 19 20 year olds navigate criminal cases through our Courthouse that's what I do we have a big big hearing on Friday if anybody wants to come and do court support um the other thing I want to say and I hope I hope all seven of you that voted for those ordinances I hope all seven of you get replaced I hope we just elect you right off the board right off the council that was disgusting we've been through this we've been through this so many times y'all know that's regressive y'all know it's not going to work I hope all seven of you get replaced I'm here to support the people's budget thank you that that is the end of our speakers on the um budget for this evening thank you all that have came early those that have stayed late those that are still watching um we appreciate everything that you provided to us as information the next steps are the council will begin to continue to work through this budget with having the message I'm sorry madam clerk did do I have any close the public I I know I'm going to do that in a minute sorry I was just saying to all of you that have been here um and stay with us and express what the people wanted to what you wanted to make sure that we saw and heard that we are grateful to have this kind of participation in our community um and so with that I'd like to have a motion to close the public hearing on City Council budget we have a motion and a second all in favor please raise your hands anyone opposed thank you very much for the um opportunity to work with you now we now have a public hearing on a resolution to CL a portion of two Alleyways between Heath Court and hethon Lane do we have any speakers Madam clerk do not vote second we have a motion to close and is there a motion to um adopt a resolution and close close adopt and close any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed um wait we went through that rather quickly for agenda item number eight I see where council member Anderson had responded to a constituent who has questions regarding the t-shaped alleyway and the the abandonment of the portion being identified tonight for closure which is tonight's just the public hearing on it but we do have I have a older constituent that's not necessarily as comfortable with internet that reached out and just even though tonight is the hearing this is the only time for them to actually speak to either this or the next item that we have for the public hearing mayor just as an aside a question outside of being in person since we have Elders that don't NE that aren't comfortable driving at night and utilizing the internet can you identify or suggest other ways for those in our community that's finding some challenges that have questions regarding some of these either openings or closings in their dead end streets or in their neighborhoods I I'm going to probably ask our attorney or our real estate person but usually these are advertised in advance and I think that they may be on as well on mainly online they're mainly advertised online mainly mainly advertised online but we also have the public hearing that we read and I believe that there's contact made in this case am I talking about the one that's over on East Boulevard this is not the one that Colin Brown had right this is another one so Heath Court and hethon Lane um I think that if there's a way to recognize or how do they receive notice of closing of public spaces or basically land that we are abandoning and to the email that sent to all of us debie is going to come up and talk about how they're notified and who who is notified and how and that's the challenge mayor because according to the email that was sent to all of us we would like to point out that contrary to the statement published in the resolution to close no letters were sent to property owners who own Parcels along this t-shaped Alleyway in addition this alley closing as presented is contrary to to the public interest and the property owners in the vicinity of the alleyway would be deprived of reasonable means of egress and Ingress as required per statute 160a apple- 299 so we received the email to all of council that specifically addressing and it's not the first time that we've had residents to share that no they did not receive notification all right so how do we get them notified de and how absolutely good evening mayor and Council Debbie Smith with Charlotte Department of Transportation and we notify in a couple of ways one is we publish a notification in uh the meinberg times to be able to notify people of that but in addition to that we notify the people that are directly adjacent to the property and in addition to that we post very visible signage which has information where you can contact us if anyone has questions uh and we can reach out directly to them in that way so is the letter sent by certified mail or or just regular mail it is sent by certified mail directly to the adjacent property owners and like I said we also notify them with that signage out on the street visible for everyone and the signage is in a visible connected to prominent loation prominent location correct yes and again mayor just for clarification and for transparency because we all received the email that clearly stated that that is not what happened and that is not the first time that we've had constituents reach out saying no we did not receive any information and even I think about the notifications that I receive in the mail most of the correspondence is via Zoom one of the biggest challenges with that is one everyone that's on that Zoom call it is not easily seen the zoom calls are closed so when individuals may ask a question that question is not seen by everyone as if we would do in a group meeting the way before we went to zoom for everything in that public meeting everyone will hear the question there will be consistency that is not what's happening in some of the meetings so I the count the council's already moved forward they're going to close it I just want to make sure I'm bringing to the space that we did have a constituent reach out to all of us sharing concerns saying they did not receive information but also sharing that others have reached out because the our current process of a lot of our petitioners whether a city or a developer are moving towards Zoom versus the in-person option and that Zoom is limiting the voices of our constituents I don't know whether the law requires us to use certified male and I also know that if you're like me you may not open your mailbox for a while and that may come and so I think the question is um I don't know if there's Zoom do you do Zoom meetings for I don't think we do Zoom meetings for these openings and closings of for the um Alleyways so I think what we're looking at is is the certified male required by law yes ma'am it is and and it's sent out and I don't know whether or not people get their mail or not I mean a lot of people just don't have that opportunity I think what Miss Mayfield is saying is there another way that would be more of an assurance besides the older way that we've been doing it so we could take a look into that and see what we're doing but I know we have to do the certified mail and I know the signage is up and available in the neighborhood but I also understand that not everybody sees every the same way okay so Deb if you guys could think about that um I think we've already gotten an approval for this one on item eight so um Miss Johnson did you yeah thank you U this is the second or third time we've heard you know or we've heard that residents aren't receiving the notice we're using a a newspaper it maybe enough people aren't reading is there a way that this can be posted in The Observer Miss Johnson we'd be happy to uh investigate that the mecklinburg times has been one that we have used historically for just such a a long period of time um and you know it's it's fairly cost effective for us to do that but we can certainly investigate another means necessary Absol or even social media or something so that um and then um council member Mayfield you talked about individuals not being able to maybe drive at night to come to the meetings I will tell you that previous councils we had uh virtual Council meetings where the public could speak and they were actually council meeting so there was a that was there was a council that overturned that but there is a way to to manage and allow uh residents to be able to participate in Council meetings thank you so I I agree with the mecklinburg times it's pretty much real estate and legal document that's where you find out who didn't pay their taxes and whether or not you can bid on their house houses or not so I think that there is some opportunity that we could perhaps determine I know it will be more expensive with the Observer and I don't know that the Observer is really able or any different so we I think we need to give this some thought and would ask the staff to come back and give us some information about what you think works best in the situation so I'm going to go back to the next item we've um had the vote vote we have to vote for the item number nine a public hearing proposed I thought we already had Madam clerk did we have the vote for item 8 the public hearing that was approved no all right so we have we now have a public hearing I think that I heard Mr barari open Ando and I said I said Mr I'm sorry Mr dggs um um adopt the resolution and close the portion of the two Alleyways between Heath Court and harthon Lane so this is number eight item number eight so all in favor of item number eight please raise your hands all right anyone oppos one oppos all right now we'll go to item number nine which is we've had the public hearing operating budget I think that we have the speakers so that's all done so the next item is the city manager's report report no report thank you Mr Jones thank you so much okay the next item is an item number 11 um this is a policy item for the Charlotte business inclusion advisory committee term length um council member Mitchell um worked with us and for item number 11 is there a motion to approve second okay we have a motion to approve extending the times to two three years any discussion hearing on all in favor please raise your hands anyone opposed all right next item our next item is um to our business agenda and the item 12 is there a motion to adopt the resolutions authorizing staff to proceed with the necessary actions to conduct a general obligation Bond referendum on November 5th 2024 second we have a motion and a second any further discussion all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed was that an opposition Miss watlington okay thank you the next item is um item 13 again adopt an initial finding resolution authorizing refunding of existing outstanding Geo bonds series 2014a not to exceed $70 million authorizing City officials to take the necessary actions to complete the financing and adopt a budget ordinance appropriating $70 million to the municipal Services approve a b and c second all right we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed all right that passes item 14 water sewer revenue bonds and revenue Bond anticipation note adopted Bond orders and resolution authorizing and approving issuance of water sewer revenue bonds and bond anticipation note calling for the execution and delivery of various documents necessary to complete the sale provide for the issuance of water and sewer revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $610 million to refund outstanding 2022 Bond anticipation notes and provide for issuance of water sewer Revenue Bond anticipation notes in the amount not to exceed $500 million adopt a budget ordinance a c and d all right we have a motion any discussion any questions all in favor of the item please raise your hand anyone opposed all right thank you the next item is for a naturally occurring affordable housing preservation support request for item 15 to approve $1 million housing opportunities for persons with HIV and AIDS from Hope how you say have allocation to Pineville Noah LLC an affiliate of asent real estate capital for rehabilitation of Asen pville Apartments authorizing the manager to negotiate execute the contracts as needed to complete this transaction do I have a motion so move we have a motion we have a second any further discussion all in favor please raise your hands anyone opposed with that wait there's one all right Mr Bari and Mr Driggs you're opposed thank you very much um and now um we will go to appointments sorry madam mayor uh I I was stepped out can I the record show that I uh was opposed to the last one too nope no because you're not on the winning side of the vote well it doesn't matter clearly a going to change anything y are going to do it's for my own mental on the last one what the affordable housing what happens when you step away that we just finished that I'm one of the nice ones to you when you step away know already but there was one before it too oh this is the next one got it checked sorry I think there was another lost track I have still have a chance to vote no Mr Drees it's Federal money all right if we are now going into appointments appointments to the there a lot of nominations today Madame clerk a lot of nominations a lot of nominations so B we're having tonight the city council will make an appointment to the Charlotte business inclusion Advisory Board council members vote by ballot is that correct M Madam clerk bring those back there was there were TI votes so we will bring that back to you on the um at the next regular business meeting for there are others going on into nominations that receive six or more nominations and can be appointed upon the motion a vote a second and a vote all right Madam clerk will you go through those that receive six or more votes and and the board that they or commission that they appointed recommended for for the Beckler Arts Foundation board Sam Spencer receives seven nominations for the business advisory uh committee John Giglio received nine nominations for the Charlotte business inclusion advisory committee recommendation from the Black Chamber of Commerce Marjorie briy briff received nine nominations recommendation from the Carolina's Asian American Chamber of Commerce mon quman received nine nominations and from the Metrolina minority contractors Association Zan Patton received nine nominations for the um Charlotte meinberg Public Access we will bring that back to you at a future meeting excuse me for the Charlotte neighborhood equity and stabilization committee we will also bring that back to you at your next meeting for the Civil Service Board Sheila Ethridge um an incumbent received seven nominations Chad hulet received eight nominations Nicholas Peach received seven excuse me eight nominations and Katherine Susie Taylor received nine nominations for the community relations committee the following persons receive six or more Monica queman received eight nominations Tara Peele received eight nominations and Katherine Susie Taylor received nine nominations for the historic district commission there are no applications for the a resident owner of Fourth Ward and there are no uh applications for a resident owner of Hermitage court for the keep Charlotte Beautiful Committee the incumbent Michael David Davis received nine nominations for um also Grace F and incumbent received nine nominations Jacqueline Roseboro received eight nominations the incumbent Alberto Torres received nine nominations Elizabeth Weinberger received nine nominations as did Christa Utes for the neighborhood matching grants fund Leticia Hensley received nine nominations there are no applications for the passenger vehicle for hire at this time and finally for the transit services advisory committee Edward Jen jourin received eight nominations M to point all with six or more votes all right we have a motion um to for appointment of those that have received the appropriate number of votes or recommendations is there any discussion I have a question yes thank you um one of the boards a former employee had applied for one of the boards and was told that they were not eligible because they were a former city employee and I wanted to know if about that policy is that the policy for all of the boards or just specific Bo no ma'am as as I mentioned it's only for the Civil Service Board and the citizens review board no current or former employees are eligible for consideration nor are the parents um spouses or immediate family members of police officers or firefighters eligible to be appointed to either of those boards those are the only two that have those as qualifiers so citizens riew board and the Civil Serv Service Board now you said current or um former so current employees are allowed to serve on boards in some instances maybe it it depends on their the the board and their particular position um I don't know that we have any current city employees serving on any boards but I believe we have had with the approval of their department head I just want clarification okay thank you all right in favor we need to have a motion the we have a motion all in favor of those and I'm of the motion please raise your hand anyone oppose to it could I please be uh recorded for business agenda item 12 as opposed the goo Bond referendum please you can definitely do that no you can't you don't make me ask Mr Baker well go ahead next Mr Baker in the same meeting can someone change the vote yes not if they're not on The Winning Side they can't recall it you're not asking to reconsider the vote I I'm not aware of a policy that that you have that allows you to change a vote that's already been recorded but you can State on the record which you have on the record absolutely that you didn't without equivocation while I stepped out to use the bathroom didn't get a chance to be alone vo voiced against a $100 million affordable housing bond for referendum so I'm opposing it and if someone digs that deep into the records 10 years from now he wants 200 watch this they can see it oh my God thank you very much for the work around my pleasure apprciate I'm sure we're all pleas do I have a motion to adjourn and all approv thank you everyone I'm opposing Dr okay [Music]