[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Music] B [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and now we'll have councilman Ed Driggs to open us up in [Laughter] song [Laughter] Rolling good morning good morning thank you thank you for showing up again today uh you guys have really done some great work so I just want to give you a round of applause applause for yourselves as I said yesterday you got your hands dirty yesterday um or over the last two days and really leaned in and worked you had some working sessions and you completed some deliverables and goals so we really appreciate that um today is the day we finish strong if we continue with the B uh baseball analogy uh home runs today only home runs today I'll ask uh for only opening comments or statements from the mayor and the manager it has been exceptional the level of conversation we've had about Mobility um most of us have been wrestling with this topic for years um I think I heard two things um that we need to act for the people that live in our city that they deserve better roads better infrastructure and we need to figure out how to do that but the long run if we're talking about generational change and continuing to grow I I love the idea of you know continuing to grow at the rate that we are or even when it's not that strong we need to be thinking about the next generation of change and that means you know you can do two things at one time and I believe that we have the value and the structure and actually the economics to be able to do that so let's figure out how we do it and what the what is the what but we know that we have to um perform and commit to the people that live in our city as well as those that are going to come to our city so let's figure out Mobility which is our first topic this morning but I don't know who's next on the list Mobility talk about it Mobility yeah okay thank so really great Mobility discussion on yesterday great questions great ideas great Insight from our panelists and we have a goal um in which we need to have some alignment from the Council on marching orders for Marcus and Ed and the team around what do we now go do so the the end goal is to have a plan and a strategy and a package to elevate for funding and so there needs to be some alignment among the group around what we move forward with um uh first is agreement that uh we will approach the business Community with collaboration and also other key partners collaborating with government and other key Partners we've talked about that a lot but I think it's time to say raise hands yes because literally they're leaving with action and so Clarity is needed and then the other is obviously uh the framework that Ed laid out that you have in your books that that we need to bless if you will um or edit if appropriate if so what are those at this time so that we can finalize u a plan they can leave and finalize a plan to Circle back to you with to elevate for some of those funding discussions and I'll ask um Marcus and the mayor at least if you could pass out the and the one I think the one on top is is uh M no no no the mobility the themes the copies and so mayor and Marcus I'll ask if there's anything else in terms of the call that to action for or direction for the council I that we clarify that I want to do a checkin because I while we had the presentation from Ed and we talked about 16 districts I'm not quite sure that I understand we in my history you of of what we've done like you know we always had um plans for neighborhood plans we had plans for um zoning and now I think if we are having 16 districts for infrastructure and capital um investment I and transportation investment I'm not quite sure that I understand it well enough to say what we what do we do to put in a plan like that or what is the plan going to accomplish or and does it align with the time frame that we are talking about we got a budget coming up we've had the question about our infrastructure and our Mobility so how do I I think there lots of pieces and so can we put the puzzle together yes so that we can see how it fits where we if we have something that we're missing a piece on the puzzle that we have to find or do are we ready for the puzzle but very I do believe it starts with our own people first um to be able to take the work that we talk about and Implement some things some action items in that puzzle very good thank you and I recorded that as a point of discussion today I do have some things that I want to ground you on but before that Marcus I just want to be really clear about what the goal of this discussion is today it's alignment on the approach that you're going to take when you leave here and any edits on the key points that Ed made in the actual framework itself is that is that accurate okay very good so you I want to call your attention to the uh sheet that Elise just handed out we've got one we probably should have made copies for everybody um but for group work at the at the table uh they were some things that we captured yesterday not they're not necessarily the technical components of what he talked about right so we didn't talk specifically I didn't capture things where you talked about the fact that you like the way that the intersection was constructed here so those nuances I think you do want to hear today right okay very good so Mobility themes from yesterday obviously agreement that there there are funding options that are needed we talked about the importance of alignment on council with and through collaboration with other key Partners um the need for a broad value proposition to get Buy in and to cast the wide net for support um that Mobility should be a community and business-led strategy not a government L strategy I think our community has had great examples of that in the past right Arts the arts and culture work that was done that was that was community and business Le and many others um leveraging past performance is a great way to gain credibility credibility and Trust from the community and our partners right speaking to the great work that's been done before and all the deliverables that we um delivered no pun intended uh creative approaches are needed to build trust uh we had some examples of that on yesterday a holistic approach is needed to position the Mobility plan as a catalyst for economic development and an improved quality of life for all I think that also speaks to the what's in it for me as you talk about the marketing and the talking points and the communication and the engage M that you have helping people understand where they fit in the big picture and Mobility is is much broader than getting people to a to be what are the tangential effects to all people the impact to the entire Community for writers and non-writers um the framework that Ed laid out uh in his presentation was confirmed through commentary from our experts in the room yesterday that we're headed in the right direction I think we all agree that we got kind of an official from them and certainly they add other added other great points to it as well and so as you think about these themes is there agreement General agreement on these things because there are some things that the staff can can use these to uh create some uh next steps around these things is there anything to add here thank you council member and Anderson and then the mayor go ahead okay thank you so I'm not sure if there anything to add but I just wanted some clarity clarification great great um panel great subject matter experts who have gone through it and lived it but we were in Ed's presentation here he ended by talking about bundling projects and how these bundles may come together in the future um and then we talked a little bit about some caveats around bundling certain projects from the subject matter experts I would just like to give get some understanding of next steps as it relates to will those projects be bundled together and then uh we have a view of those what what What's the timing of that um are we open to other ways of doing it I just given the subject matter expert information and input yesterday I wanted to know what tangible next steps are very good I've just recorded that as a as a key point to talk in discussion I do want to just put a pin on the themes here just to close out on that if there are other things to be added here or if you're in agreement with all of these uh mayor and then Ed I I just want to connect the 16 plans that we have with um the community engagement that we need to incorporate and I think that plans if we're going to do 16 plans across the footprint of our city then I think there needs to be some structure because all of us the the needs are going to be different but the process to determine the needs need to be the same that's kind of the way I see it very good and there's General consensus there I think we can add that to one of our themes in terms of takeaways for the staff okay Ed so oh I think Marcus knows that uh I have a feeling that we're not putting enough resources behind this uh this is not just going to happen and uh we don't have any people that we haven't had all along an Enterprise like this is going to have to take it's going to involve people like those uh and some staff and a lot of manh hours so we heard two years lead time uh we're already late to be starting our public information campaign uh I think in fact we are way ahead of ourselves in terms of having refined uh the projects the things we want to do we've gotten into a level of detail about that but meanwhile we don't have the alignment with other communities we don't have the alignment with the legislature so I would like us to step back and take a big picture look and and not kind of stress too much about the finer points of the plan and and let's let's tackle you know uh Mass mely let's tackle the issue of getting the governments in alignment uh working with the legislature we haven't had any uh Outreach to the legislature on a regular basis I've been a few times I've talked to them I have an idea of what they're thinking I'm sure tar does um but they they said to me we haven't seen anybody we haven't seen the mayor or the manager for two years Berger said uh and it needs to be more of a dialogue than a moment in time when we show up and say hey we want you guys to pass this uh so uh I I I I think I I don't disagree with anything that's been said all great but what's missing for me is is that big push I do want you tool budget and involves people uh makes sense yeah I do want you to see this exercise as a part of that process though because at some point they have to have something in a glossy that says this is our plan cuz when they go to to Raleigh they need to be concrete um in there not the conversations have to start it's a question of sequence just picture a critical path analysis right what's going to happen when who's going to do what so we've waited for a long time to answer the redline question because there was no doubt that there was a barrier there in terms of the northern towns but we could have been doing other things while that was going on and we need to be doing those things now we're not going to get there for in 2025 uh and unless we answer the money question the rest of what we're talking about is academic so uh I I just really want to bang the table and say let's staff this thing up let's get people with relevant resumés working on it uh let's let's put more pressure on leaders we've had a couple of conversations with leaders and they kind of said yeah okay I guess whatever uh or tell me what it looks like um so uh uh I I have been a bit frustrated because uh I see things like this and yes they're great but that's not what's going to make it happen if you talked to a lot of the guys in rally they hear 80% Rail and that they just they shut down and Tim Moore said so uh you know publicly so okay you don't like that what what could we do you know uh so let's get something we have the the necessary stuff but let's just get with them and and find out you know uh what would help them get across the line but that may involve first getting Business Leaders to take a little more interest in this what we've also heard and what I've seen repeatedly is there is a collaboration between the business community and government in making these things happen we haven't been able to create that yet uh we've had some Outreach to leaders but unless there's a whole lot going on that I'm not aware of nobody in the business Community has taken it upon themselves to help make this thing come true so I think we're sort of poking at it and we need to Slug It Ed I hear you and I and and I I agree that we have had um difficulty um but let me say the difficulty in creating this critical path we talked about how Charlotte is a democratic City and a Republican government structure and how we're seen and viewed so the strategies that we need to do is to build foundational leadership and we've spent a lot of time around the region to BU get that buy in so you know I think we ought to give ourselves some credit for the ideas that we've done and accomplish I mean when I became mayor I I didn't know any of the other Mayors and now they we were talking connect Beyond has been a part of this initiative but it hasn't been shaped towards action as you say what is our critical path for that so I I I believe that your suggestion about a critical path has to ask the question what is our strategy for doing this is it really with working with people that have more power at the state level than we do and I appreciate what you and tar are doing and and how you represent us in that Forum but we've also been trying and getting the business community and I agree with you some of them are coming in some of you know waiting to see um and I also see where we have people that we have not asked the direct question will you do this now and I think that's what you're saying we have a lot of relationships that we've built but none of them have been consistently to say will you support this effort and get them to so solidify their support for doing this I think we would be a lot more critical if we had somebody like one of them uh you know a real ball buster who has done it and is a career specialist in the field we don't have that person well I I agree and and uh we heard some stuff like two-year lead time for public information and that's been a pet peeve with mine as you know what are we doing about putting that that marketing that branding effort in place so uh I just think uh uh nothing wrong with what we've got but in in the larger scheme of things I think a bigger commitment of resources and a demonstration of real uh intent on our part uh because I mean you two don't have the time you've got jobs that aren't just this we need somebody who's doing this and whose resume says that that that is what I do that I have done it I know it I've headed these departments in other places I've readed Bonds in other places uh they know they have a very practical sense of what they need and they will get the message across to some of the people we need to talk to better than we can because frankly all of us you know me included for sure are in this space dilatant uh and and so I just hope that we will put some resources to work here invest in this thing and scale it up because it's not going to happen the way we're doing it so how does council feel about that I think it's a valid point I think the question is um have we considered ourselves enough in this conversation to support that effort because it can't just be the transportation leadership in our Council in the committee it is a very massive job I mean before I came up here I called every mayor in our surrounding town to say we're going to be talking about Mobility I don't want you to be surprised and those kinds of relationships matter but they don't necessarily move the ball so they matter but don't move the ball so what does council think about it Marcus did you have a comment to fall on really quickly before we jump yeah just one thing I want to put in the room to try to give the council the credit for what you've done I I think the alignment isn't necessarily amongst the council members I think the alignment amongst the county the towns and the city is the issue because the priorities for the city may be very different than the priorities for Mint Hill or for Pineville so I think that's been part of the issue of moving this along it's just General agreement about mobility and what it is and what you get out of this and I and I think that that that's a bigger problem than alignment within this room and you know and I I think you're spot on right for sure and as I said earlier seem like we're just running in place right we're not we're not going going forward and not going backward we just kind of just plow on the ground that we're on and I think the manager is right is how do we we get this Regional Buy in not withstanding that Charlotte has to kind of do what Charlotte has to do but how do we get people in the region to have one vision for what we're trying to do and answer a very basic question which is a selfish question for everybody what's in it for me right and and then thirdly how do we pay for it right and I think it's a theme that I hope that we're hearing whether it's priority other than public safety right because it's going to take so much time to get it done right we're talking three four years right not going to happen in the short session if it does it will be a miracle and even in the long session in 2025 it's it's it's it's problematic and then getting on the ballot to educate the public to vote for it and most of these cities that we visited over the last year or two it fails the first time around right I think and so we're talking a marathon here and another quick junk and and and then you know making sure that the region and the cities feel that they've been heard and we give them something that that's our values to them um a a trail a a a road that stopped at the Charlotte City Line doesn't do anybody good Transit that stops at Charlotte City Line doesn't do anything good so it's h how how do we get this Regional Buy in and how do we sell it to the public whether it's you know sports and entertainment whether it's uh Transportation Mobility um whether it's you know a a a strategy for for homelessness in our community it how do we begin to involve the public in this thing where they understand what it is that we're trying to to accomplish uh and how do we utilize our business Community uh to help be advocates for us uh and how do we begin to have this conversation with Raleigh in a way um that they feel that they're they're in it with us right I I think that's the thing that that that they're a part of the strategy that they're a part of the planning uh and that their investment um um is a for them as well you know I I agree with you Malcolm that we need to do this but I also want to remind you we couldn't do anything until we got the red line going and that's been what less than a year in a way so I I say you know we had no choice except to wait because we were never going I mean and and I know that Bradford said well you know didn't call me well I didn't call him because he told me don't call me unless you can do the red line and so takes some time and so the fits and starts are important but I think that we in a new environment with the red line and that discussion has to take place first because I it's just the thing that HS this together now I think Marcus is being very generous in terms of when you talk about a countywide sales tax referendum the deals are discussed the question is we all know that we run every 2 years we started in Huntersville with a mayor that said no and so you can't do this without now we have a new set and I think the question for me is now that we know that we have the red line it's not it's on the table and we know that you know that we have the red line the table it's on the table I don't mean we know that we have the red line on the table that's what I'm saying we do not know whether or not we'll still get there but I think the other part about it is that we have new leadership in Huntersville and that has always been one of the tougher things that we had to tr do because it was really hard but we also had a crisis in our own cat system and nobody was believing us and while the system everybody came to those meetings and voted every day unanimously I think somebody told me that the only no vote was they can't even find one and so we've got a lot of organizational work to do but the critical path that Ed is talking about the resources to put behind it and the agreement to get it done isn't going to be a short term and I'm okay with that because I think that we're building a city for the future not what we're doing right now except we do need to take care of our people in a lot of ways with real change and projects that are necessary because if you don't lose if we don't do stuff for our people then how do you do it for someone else so uh my feeling was that it doesn't have to be sequential so failure is not an option right we have to do something big so we can be kind of putting the infrastructure in place to do something big and I think that buys us more credibility in our conversations mean your relationships I've you know I've been with you a couple of times and I I they're absolutely essential right necessary but uh if we go in and we have a conversation and we say well this is our idea for a regional plan and then they say as they have a number of them have okay I need a local piece I need something for me I can't just be part of a network okay good that's information that's good to hear but if they see that now professional planners are starting to put this together and people who know about the authority are laying out the options for governance and stuff um it becomes much more immediate and our commitment is more apparent and I think the the conversations a substantive so it's not my purpose to criticize it all this is just a call to action if you want to achieve this on anything we were talking about getting a referendum done in 2024 no no no the first time 2022 at the transportation Summit I went back and looked and the first time we were talking about it we thought we were going to have a referendum in 22 so uh I just think we need to step up the urgency that's all and that in my mind means uh putting resources behind this and demonstrating to others that that uh there is something real there that they can get on board with I I think Ed and I have done so much of this Malcolm's experience but I haven't heard from Dante and Marjorie and James and Dante and then we can we can go around the as well thank you let me say I'm listening and Lear thank you uh we'll have we have James and then Dante thank you let me first thank uh Ed for uh what what I call showing a strong leadership this morning because I do know this Mobility plan has been a passion for this Council and and I think my frustration has been um mayor you touched on it earlier we don't even know the 16 strategies and I always thought the Mobility plan need to be concise it need to be a plan this whole Council can articulate to the citizens to get that buy in um Marx is part of me then agrees with you because a lot of hard work has gone into this and Ed his staff has done a tremendous job of trying their best to get us to a point and so Ed is right I don't think we should say we failing I think we all look at this this is a reboot we got two committees I think need to spend some time talking about the Mobility plan you got tap the Ed chairs and we get the BG uh with dple and I think it's need to be a parallel track if if we really going to be committed uh we got to have this in front of us and check in some boxes that would give people confidence but more importantly I think it was send the right message to Raleigh that we clearly know now what we would like to do what Vision we trying to create and Mary you said it best I mean we ought to stop thinking this is a Sprint to 2024 2025 and this is I don't want to call it a marathon cuz that's too long but I want to say we just need to reboot get a real strategy on all fronts and and here here's the big test for all of us though C I'm used to the old model that we had a strong business community that really got behind big initiatives in our community and they were our voice and they advocate for us uh I think there's a vacuum right now what business entity is out there that we're looking to Champion and to partner with us on this and so I think we got to have some conversation mayor I don't know if it's the what's the C I don't know it's the c or is it a group of you know Business Leaders that we know have cache in Raleigh that can partner with that so I I just think internally let's look at this or reboot but let's do some internal work right now to put us in a better position as we Implement um our Mobility plan thank you than you councilman Dante thank you you know I'm just listening to all the commentary I think this has to be a both and um because yesterday we discussed we we know what that what our objective is overall we have a a Mobility plan um but as we mentioned yesterday and you just me mentioned Ed you know it's it's a 2-year window from from a Communications plan with the community there's certain things we can't put on the ballot this year at this conversely the the city manager said we're not going to wait two years to do something about Mobility we have to find money to actually begin investment and so if if we have to do both end we have we need some we need some energy like Ed mentioned someone who can interface with the general assembly who can U has that level of pedigree like we've heard from our subject matter experts and that's that's the power of bringing in outside voices because then we can see we're very much focused on what we're doing but we can see and understand and grow from their lived experience uh so we need that I agree but we also need to continue down um adding some Dimension to this to the strategy to these projects understanding priority because between now and two years from now we need to make Traction in some way on some of these projects so I I firmly believe it's a both end and um and I think we have to manage it that way we have to manage the work that way thank you uh Moana there you go thank you that too far thank thank you we have the opportunity I believe to start the conversations in community cuz as was mentioned we heard from the panel first time around it failed well it failed cuz we got to go to our voters our residents and get their support we got we've created a space where we've done a lot of work with little to no communication with the residents that we're going to ask to vote for this so when we think of that an as we're working on the regional we used to have relationship on the CDC for the central L Economic Development commission I was the former Chair George Dunlap was former chair when we were on the board together we were in constant communication around a number of things we have that opportunity with our regional relationships where we have council members that sit on different committees and Boards I don't want us getting much further down the road without these Community conversations M Mr manager you used to have the meet needs out in the community council members are planning their upcoming town halls we need to have someone to at least start dropping the seeds of the conversation so that the community doesn't feel like oh here's another thing the city's doing without us that to me falls in the line of seeing progress and movement because if we haven't even talked to our residents about it why should R believe that we're moving forward and not just doing our own thing again and that way simultaneously when we're having these Regional conversations it's going to go a lot further but it will not be a good look for us to put this energy out there to try to get Pineville Gastonia others to come in with their Financial ask cuz we don't even know what that is cuz we're just not saying hey Charlotte's tax is going to pay for all this but y'all get the benefit we need to know what the financial ass for them is as well we need to start right here at home start having those conversations with our own residents and our community leaders because this came up a few times um I want to make sure that uh council's aware of the engagement process that that is happening so these Strategic investment areas 16 of them I guess we could have put a bunch of them up there and we do have them and so I apologize I was trying to slim down the um presentation so a lot of uh data goes into that but you also have um right now the community area planning process so they are having these discussions about these projects these areas these bundles so it's actually working well the timing is is is good so it's not that this is happening in a vacuum vacuum very good thank you Ed we'll we'll come back to you Ed um Marjorie tartia any comments um yeah okay yeah good morning um so uh what I got from first of all I don't want to belabor any point that's already been said I agree with much of what um many of my colleagues have already said I think um first of all I'm I'm I'm happy and very proud that we've taken the initiative to create a blueprint this represents in my mind Charlotte's commitment to doing what we can do before there is any initiative to look at the regional plan and I think you know the the what we can do and the bigger picture have to happen concurrently there's no such thing as wait until um and so um I'm I'm very excited about what I saw here even though we didn't see a comprehensive view the idea that we are looking to meet some of those needs um within the capacity that we're able to right because I I I don't want to belabor a point and I really don't want to um sound pessimistic but the truth is a lot of what uh council member dgg says about our budget and the deficiencies and our needs uh is something that we really don't demonstrate effectively across the board because people are like we need sidewalks we need roads fixed and da d d and we really don't in my opinion uh always do a good job of demonstrating to the public what we actually have for that and and how extensive those needs are um and so I'm like I said I'm glad that we're doing what we're able to do within the budget constraints that we have available to us within the city of Charlotte um and expanding that scope and thinking about the bigger picture um I know that I've at least I've heard that you know the conversations around our you know uh counterparts and Raleigh is difficult because of the region but uh Madame mayor I'm actually excited to you know uh lean in to that process and and be a part of the solution as much as I can and leverage you know the um the relationships that you've built in the community um and that council member Ed Driggs has been working on well before I came to council to to you know at least work towards the solutions um to say that this blueprint couldn't be successful based on what we have I think I'm overconfident because of the mayor's racial Equity initiative um to get to $245 million in one year with our private sector that is I mean I I cannot tell you I talked to a number of cities at the last National League of cities conference and when I said that number and how quickly we got to that with the partnership of our private sector people were astounded right for them to come in with over $30 million in a year's time you know was was just heartening and so I look forward to those continued Partnerships because those are you know how we make things happen and I think that's also something that our public doesn't understand right when we say you know for an example the municipal bond that we l for affordable housing right that $50 million Bond people hear $50 million not realizing that that's a debt leverage that we've asked the taxpayer to partner with us for so that we can create this subsidy but the only reason it works is because of the private sector right we provide these butt $ four dollar that are the result of their trus in us to make the right decision um and then we're able to provide affordable units but being demonstrative of how that process works is one of the reasons why I know for sure that our public feels as though they can't confide in us or or I guess I wouldn't say confide but they they I guess they hear that number they don't understand how it all comes together they don't understand that there's this inextricable nature with what we do and the private sector and the you know um the Construction and building community and the development Community to provide affordable housing it's it's inextricable there's an inextricable nature to what we do to that so like I said I'm really excited about getting you know um into the work I wish there was more of a way to really demonstrate what we actually do and the semantics of it to the public so that they understand all that was involved but um like I said I'm excited to continue to work and every person that I get in my grasp I really try to give them a big picture of how we make it all come together so that they understand because a lot of the time you know our partners in the development Community or in the private sector they take a lot of beatings you know uh from you know what is perceived to be you know buying into the process when there's a there's an inextricable nature to their participation in the process right so um thank you yeah oh thought you were done thank you TK so I I want to to say this next thing in a very non-threatening way do your best we believe in you let's go believe you okay I believe I start back where we all agree which is we absolutely need a transformational investment in transportation we need to achieve it I think I think what where the frustrations I see in the conversation which I think my perceptions are the same that several people I regular talk to view it when we have these conversations and they are the roadblocks to this being achieved so I'm going to come to you from that perspective and the frustration is what we need to happen I I just feel like we are on an impossible mission doing it this way and we should be focusing on Public Safety instead if there was even a 50% chance of success in this path I would I would not have said that but I I really believe it and here's why we had some really good conversations over the last two days some real conversations about what it would take to do this what it would really take and it disheartens me now and again this is just how I'm interpreting it maybe I'm wrong but I think this is how others hear it as well we jumped over that work of trans transforming an 80% rail plan in allocated dollars to a road first plan which is much deeper in its meaning than just the simple tagline um and jump straight over to okay we need a credible person in here that can have credibility with others so that they can negotiate around the edges of the same 8020 plan so that other people get on board or negotiate around the edges of a governance model so that people are happy with the 8020 plan or go to Raleigh and be seen in a credible way so they convince people for the 8020 plan or start a year marketing pitch to the people so they'll vote for an 8020 plan and we skipped right over the is the 8020 same plan maybe we call it 9010 before that but it was essentially the exact same plan the thing that we're going to get serious and take another look at that in my opinion actually is the body of work in getting this done or do you go the other route which I'm not going to say it has 0% chance of success but it's a a complete political problem it's not an expert redesigning the actual guts of the program and and maybe there's a 5% chance of success there over a very long period of time so again I I I'm oversimplifying the answer but sometimes in these settings we have to oversimplify so the message is heard I think there's one political route which is everything that was just said and it's largely if we're going to call SP to spade a marketing exercise and a consensus building exercise on something we already had or do we do two basic things table the silver line for a dollar-based reason only it is mathematically impossible to have what we're calling a roads firste plan and the silver line together there's just not enough money it it table the silver line and spend a fraction of the effort of staff and expert time that has been spent over the last decade on designing Rail and the silver line to design what truly roads first means which isn't just let's build more roads and expand them it's about the Smart Technologies at intersections it's about deep diving into bus Rapid Transit it's about all the other things that go along with reducing congestion and things with four and multiple Wheels on the road get around better more effectively in Innovative way so I really want this to happen but I know the folks that are the same headwinds that have been the headwinds for a long time they there's there's no expert that can be hired there's no marketing budget that can be set upon it and there's no slight tweaks around the edges that they'll be tricked into liking the same old plan that's before and maybe we wait them out maybe that's your strategy and they'll be gone and someone else will be there but that's a that's I'd rather us be working on Public Safety if that was the strategy so I I say that in in good faith that I I just I hope I've said it a lot but I hope someone hears that hope someone figures out maybe we tweak the plan but if not I really encourage us to really get serious about Public Safety because that is something we can make a difference in if I may just really quickly I think what you all have demonstrated is actually what I tried to start with at the beginning of the conversation which is I look around this room and all of you have done strategic plans you have the experience you're not align on what on the what so you have to start there and that's been in this conversation and that's what I'd like to bring out today even if it's in themes I don't think it's going to be solved today but you do have to start with the big picture on what you're going to ask the community to do and what you're committing to deliver for the community that is this is the time and this is the purpose of this conversation that level of alignment because you're talking about projects and how you're going to do it we're we're and I agree you can have some conversations at the appropriate time to say this is what we're thinking about doing but at some point you have to stand as a United at front and say this is what we've committed to do as a city and you kind of need to do that because if not Marcus and Ed are going to be on this framework do you like it or don't you like it like those are very basic questions that need to be answered so all these people working on these projects can know what to do and so we appreciate the perspective on all the nuances but at at a minimum is it rolls or is it rails like can we start there there there's some higher level conversations that you guys need to get an alignment on cuz if it's just confusion as I'm sitting here and I'm just going to call you on back to your own experience you know how to you know how to do strategies right I look around at the background of your your experience you know it's the same process with strategy so you can't get to implementation or anything like when you're talking to people what are you really talking about you know is Lana talking about something different in the community than the MERS or the Taris the Dante or Ed is that's not good that's not good for the city so can you just get on the same page around what you want to deliver you can talk about prioritization how you're going to deliver it because there is a place that says you do it all you can't have it all you just can't have it all at the same time and so what are your top of Mind thoughts around what we should ask the staff to work on to deliver initially um for the city that's where we need to go Ed so uh I just want to make it clear and I think I did make it clear that it wasn't my intention to suggest that we lead frog uh and and carry on um I I agree what I've heard in Raleigh as well is the rail component of this thing is not what they like Tim Moore I said so uh but in order to know what we do instead we need to engage and not just sort of come up with something else and see if that works and I'm just saying our energy around this is not big enough yes it's going to have to be different I think I don't think there is enough money for the Silver Line uh so we do have work to do but what what bothers me is this concept of let's do one thing at a time sequentially so let's just energize this effort let's put more resources behind it answer these questions figure it out but it's going to have to be a dialogue I mean what I said to the guys when I went to Raleigh was I understand that you don't like our plan we would like to collaborate with you and figuring out what the plan is instead of having this sort of unilateral process where we just deliver it and that involves them because Burger said to me I get it you need to do something you need to do something big you know but and and so you know my point was okay you don't like this then let's talk but we have to have the flexibility then to adapt to that but I think in my mind for example a penny is a lot we heard that uh we heard that um was it uh one of the Cities uh Miami I think scaled back to a half cent after a couple of fail at faal starts and didn't build rail for 20 years that's the kind of sort of on the ground experience that you don't get by just sort of mulling over in the abstract what kind of a plan you like there's a real there in terms of the people you need how it proceeds what happens we've been to Austin we went to Tampa uh at Denver and we've heard about the experience in these cities and I I just got the feeling from those visits that the way we're going about this is not sufficiently informed by the reality of what has happened in other places and I think the way to make achieve that alignment is to have someone who's done it who's been there a veteran so I'm I'm sorry go ahead good morning wonderful people how y'all doing I know I'm always positive I was born and raised that way I'm sorry not going to apologize for being the person that I am but truly sitting here listening to everything that has been said all of the big language that some of understand and I don't understand it's um the one thing that set with me is you know we all we 11 individuals we all had our own strategic plan as we went out on the campaign Trail trying to get people to support us and follow us the one thing that remains true and holds true to this point is that we've got to work together and we're not there I see it I've been in office I've contemplated leaving several times I'm being honest it's a disaster it's a disaster for me for the community it has to be for the staff that support us and it should be for each one of us you know there some things you just cannot change change and I realize that you know people are setting their ways I'm 52 years old that some things are not going to change but one thing that has to change is if we're going to work together I'm sorry I'm talking and I have the mic if we're going to change we're going to have to work together you might not like everything that I say or do and vice versa might not like the mayor's agenda but we have committees and we have to work together and we have to respect each other and it's a lot of disrespect going on it has been going on for quite some time and for me to come in as as as as a council representative of District 3 I've seen it is disappointing and it's disheartened so as far as this blueprint for the Charlotte Mobility investment it took a lot of hard work for the people Ed the staff whoever I don't know everything and I know everybody but the problem is we have everybody in here that think they do and nobody wants to follow every everybody wants to lead and so when you have a bunch of leaders that's great but somebody has to follow so we you know we're headed for for self-destruction I said it and I meant it and I know it's public record but we're going to have to fix this before we can move forward and have the community to follow us to really trust us and Believe in Us we got to go back to to to the the starting point and the foundation of what it takes to work together when everybody is strong everybody is smart in their own way intelligent you know everybody has everybody that support them in their own perspective ways but we have got to really go back to the basics and I don't know what that looks like I don't have all the answers and one thing about me I don't pretend to have them but we are definitely not aligned with anything to be able to move forward to have Community conversations in the community to go out in the community talk about Public Safety whatever yeah public saf is important but this is as well we got to make sure that we have a big agenda for the council we have a lot to put under that budget and to work and make things work you know I don't know how we're going to do it I don't have all the answers but that's what I had to say this morning okay that's my opportunity so y'all can continue to talk strategy strategic plan Blue Line Red Line the government legislation and Raleigh people hadn't seen whoever let's get together and see what it takes to get things done all the things that we need to get done that's what I would like to see thank you mayor Markus ship thank you council member Brown um just a couple things I want to say mainly because the mayor has to attend an MTC meeting tonight and I want to make sure that um there aren't sound bites that go out that would suggest that the city council is doing something that is inconsistent with the region okay so um I'm very visual so a slide yesterday and that middle stack was the 2030 plan from the MTC okay and in the 2030 plan which has been approved over and over again um there's a the red line the Silver Line East and the Silver Line West there's the blue line extension into Valentine as well as having uh the goal line east and west and that policy making board at some point over the course of this year is going to update something that's called the m TP and that uh is a big I think I'll get it right Liz but so that's something that carpo actually approves but there's an element of that that's related to rail that comes from the MTC some of the issues why the plan is so big is because you try to keep everybody together so when you eliminate the Silver Line let's say East which impacts Matthews then how do you all come together so I have totally understand this is big and there is a lot of thought behind eliminating some of this stuff but it I don't want the conversation to be tonight that the city council wanted to pull the silver line out of this plan and then lose some of the relationships that have been built so in terms of process there is going to be a public conversation about not only updating that plan but prioritizing what comes first second third fourth fifth and so that's just one of the reasons why and I know Mr D you're frustrated one of the reasons why this thing is slow moving is because approval processes and plans and who gets to prioritize those things so I think about everything anything that I've heard here and if we were to put a project plan together a program together I think they would be five tracks the collaboration important Conversation Pieces um the actual strategy and plan pitting teeth to that and you have to put a button on it at some point although they may be Ed edited but I think you need something concrete enough that you could actually begin to provide something that's aligned with the staff to move forward with DEA I I think that um well I know this you can't go out on the diving board without the support that's necessary to dive in and so we as a council have never taken a vote on a number of things these initiatives that we've talked about and if we are going to invest in this I think we need to ask the manager to come back to us with and it can be a number of options for review but in the month of February we have to take a vote on what are we trying to accomplish and do and if we can do that then perhaps the things that Miss Brown was saying we could have some roles that play so you know there's I've heard how do we get the business Community Support what is our community conversation do we need dedicated staff how do we tell our story how do we make sure our plans are consistent with what is available in our future but I also think that we have have to remember we're just one piece of this pie the federal government's money that would make this all possible because we could do a on sales tax and yeah we will have a match that's required and we will not have that match if we don't start today to go to get that Federal money we've been up there we have great relationships and this is the thing about it some some of us can go to Raleigh and talk to Burger and Moore and the Republican others of us can go to the White House we can go to do and we can talk about these things but we have to have some kind of uniy what are we saying and what are we doing so I'd like to actually ask you today to say that you would ask the manager to come back with a summary of what we've talked about and what's possible to be done and if we have to hire someone to do a critical path exercise that that's actually because there's information overload on this thing there's this was way too much information but if we know what's most important to do and someone that can do this in a way that communicates it easily I would say let's take the month of February carpo is going to be having to approve what the MTC does and all of these layers I think that government can sometimes make it harder to participate and educate than you can ever imagine and we get stuck in that cycle of that so let's try to figure out what we can do and a timeline and I'd like to ask the man for you to vote to support the manager to come back whether it goes through both of the committees or not we can do a referral for both but we really have to do something because otherwise we could do a half this half cent or a penny we could do a nickel and we wouldn't have the federal money to help us finish it but I think that's a great idea I support it wholeheartedly I'd add one asterisk next to it so it's successful I I think it how you do it will dictate if it's successful or not it can't be an exercise of what the 11 of us like because if we had a magic wand we'd like everything it has to be what are you willing to sacrifice to go from nothing to something transformational and the first question in priority which your point was well takeen about us not getting out ahead of the MTC but Vice point is good as well we've never really voted on any of this we don't we it's been presented we've talked about it we and and so at some point the local to sub Regional groups whatever order it needs to be need to see if there's a non-starter or if they're willing to raise their hands and say we're willing to table the Silver Line because this isn't I'm not making a judgment on the silver line one way or another I'm saying it's mathematically impossible with the other roadblocks that exist to do a roads first plan with that so E I think that we we've got to do is say can we agree on the bare minimums that make this move forward and unstick it or are we waiting for the lightning strike of somehow the other thing works and I I that's going to be one a really tough decision because it isn't passing judgment on the silver line it's saying can we can we do it so it's again I just my point is it can't be what do you guys like it has to be a binary thing of we've interpreted these routes and if you say this I want to stick by it no problem that's your prerogative but it shuts this store and then you got to go find another one somewhere and Mr manager uh I want to say for the record we're we're discussing Charlotte's position here only uh there is no suggestion that we would take a unilateral action without the engagement that you're describing so want to be perfectly clear about that I'm a member of card po I understand the MTC process but we need to have the ability to Talk Amongst ourselves about what we're seeing and what we heard and we would take the conclusions from that to the other bodies absolutely mayor okay you for help okay so is I guess what I'm saying is raise your hand if you're okay with the next step being a discussion and the and give ourselves some leeway for Fe for the month of February um when do the legislation when when is the short session start April we'll have some time okay all right everybody okay with it that's here okay two feet two feet vote Malcolm thank you very much all right okay let's thank I want I want to say thank you because I feel the need for us to actually get something that we can all write down and understand and decide if that's where we're going and it is okay it's not okay really to leave the generation without the infrastructure that's necessary but I think we now now understand the complexity of getting it done so thank you guys for the conversation very good thank you uh we have another agenda item it should be a quick one and it is to just confirm the objectives for safe communities and great neighborhoods okay I'll make this can you get the mic atast on the table thank you everyone I'll try to make this real quick so that we can keep it moving Victoria and I of course we had a lot between here so we narrowed it down to five here in great neighborhoods in no particular order when we look at the neighborhood diversity what we identify is to increase the number of accessory dwelling units adus in existing and new neighborhoods with the caveat of identifying of which Victoria went over this the other day identify the right location for the right project because in this box everything was just about increasing without putting the cats in place of what does that increase doe to a neighborhood we also identify under housing access for all increase the number of home ownership opportunities for low to moderate income households especially in areas with low access to Housing Opportunity scores as identified by the Equitable growth framework with a caveat of targeting Charlotte employees cuz we have a lot of people that unfortunately work in our city but cannot afford to live in our city even within the city of Charlotte over 8,000 employees a lot of our fire a lot of our police a lot of our drivers cannot afford to live here so with a Target specifically for Charlotte employees for integrated natural and built environments increase the number of development you utilizing Green Building practices or receiving Green Building certifications that keeps us in line with with our seat plans we have a number of our corporate partners that are receiving lead silver lead go we also have a habitat home that was built a number of opportunities we can focus on that and tie that into to our CA and help with our environmental goals all over all around in community for retaining our identity and charm improv job skills match in and near areas with residents who may be vulnerable to displacement let's connect to try to create these job opportunities to where people live um T want to remember when we were talking yesterday about the District 3 airport job fair that created a lot of opportunities for our residents that gave them easy access alone public transportation other things so our goal with improving that job skills match which we talked about yesterday that would be that's one to help retain our identity and support local so that job fa you was so success successful with um council member one what what what's going to happen with that we can we can park we can park a lot it and I will give you all my contacts if that's something that you're interested and re-engage it was very successful pandemic happened so once the pandemic happened for new counsil that came in 2019 a lot of things changed but I would gladly do whatever I can to help reinstitute it because that was one of those ways where that was a easy win for the city and for residents right than and our fifth under strategic Mobility plan is build and maintain Community relationships in all areas so it was a combination of our strengthen meaningful engagement and communication and providing high quality customer service we believe under the Strategic Mobility plan all of that falls under one umbrella just making sure we hit all the areas so that's in district 7 that's in district 6 a lot of our areas literally are blended with one Street you cross the street you're in a different District we have an opportunity to create some better relationships some council members already did it last year we're having joint town halls and community community meetings we have the opportunity to do more of that and that's what falls under that umbrella any questions try to give that to you real quick thank you all right great job and I like the fact I like when you said joint Town Halls that that's that's amazing thank you um that concludes our agenda items for today another close session yes yes okay very good very good yes well yeah we um um Mr Baker give me give me a resol a motion please no no no no hold on oh wait a minute I thought you were ready to go I mean not yet just give me a minute rolling I do want to just put a button on on the 3 days before you move on the session thank you it's nice to have someone summarize what we've accomplished I'm trying and you and I were lining your comments too just for the record thank you I was going exactly where you were going so perfect um we have a parking lot that the staff has recorded some actions there there are three things there for Council discussion four things there for the manager's office and I may have a couple of my notes that I still need to put over there and I'll do that before I leave um I do want to remind you of your disk as you move forward with your engagement I think you all have demonstrated great um ability to collaborate to demonstrate passion and commitment to your respective areas agendas perspectives Etc but also do it professionally um you have some additional information to help you understand each other better going forward um I've also put an offer out there to do a free session go deeper I really want to do that with you all to do the actual session T talk me down to half day from we'll get it done in a half day so that offer stands there because there is more work to do in terms of the understanding and those types of things and going into the other styles so I do recommend that but more importantly there is a um opportunity to start something new so don't lose what you started here over the last three days it goes without saying that I'm still standing today and it's much better than it was last year amen so uh thank you for those of you who agreed to let me get my hands dirty early before we got in the room this year to get some things aligned I appreciate that I think it showed in the results and um this is who you are so as you're standing here today keep this don't lose it you'll you have a lot of things to do you got budget conversations those got to be ugly right you're going to be on some different pages but you have a strong foundation and the relationships are already there don't lose those things because you're wasting time in doing that people are watching you they want to see leaders who can stand up responsibly and work with anybody that's where you get confidence in your people and get your um support that's needed for the things that you'll need to be talking about in the community and so just stand up as a person that you are uh remember your dis Styles remember that there are other people that are different than you that you you need to make the adjustment be a responsible um leader of yourself and then I want to offer one last thing to you um Alisa if you could get the books please The Four Agreements um are you guys familiar with The Four Agreements okay wonderful lifechanging four simple things four simple things and I'm going to give you the book um be impeccable with your word always do your best don't make assumptions and do not take anything personally being offended is a choice beautiful it just is so as you as you go into these conversations and on different pages which you should be right you shouldn't be uh a one note as I say I always tell my son don't be a one note you want to have diversity and thought that's that's beautiful and that's what the community needs you are representing 2.9 Million people around the region right Charlotte is a nucleus so you have a city but it affects a lot of people I think I and so we need diversity of thought but you got to do it differently going forward and I I highly recommend these if you don't do anything else adopt those be impeccable with your word be responsible for the words that you choose to share with each other always do your best don't make assumptions probing questions and clarifying questions are really important and people often appreciate those and do not take anything personally nothing is personal really if you think about it you can't be responsible for another person so I offer those to you also want to uh thank you for allowing me to be here with you again uh this year this is purpose work for me I've been in the city for a very long time so I feel like it's my small contribution and I thank you for allowing me to be a [Applause] part oh you're very welcome tell me where you want to go you want to go last [Music] okay e