Former Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess was the consummate political animal, somebody who could work a vote count and know exactly what concessions needed to be made or demanded to achieve a desired result. I mean that as a compliment. Burgess, who is battling terminal cancer, resigned her seat on council last week with an […]
As attendance projections for the vaunted NASCAR Hall of Fame crash and burn from original estimates, falling some 35 percent off the mark, none other than the Wall Street Journal picks up on the massive debt Charlotte has absorbed from the racing venture, lumping it in with a load of other pricey boondoggles from around […]
Charlotte’s contentious rules on where to locate so-called affordable housing would see subtle but significant changes under a new policy that the city council’s Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) committee unanimously approved Tuesday afternoon. The proposed policy would scuttle existing criteria that define areas where the location of subsidized, multi-family housing developments is prohibited, permitted, […]
With Mecklenburg County drowning in debt and struggling to plug an $81-million budget gap, the City of Charlotte’s spending plan has managed to fly under the radar virtually unnoticed, despite being chock full of questionable expenditures that could stand a spotlight. Take, for example, the $602,000 that the city manager’s recommended budget allocates for so-called […]
Can only assume that he does, or at least not like or appreciate them as much as, say, librarians or social service workers or veterans. While we’re at it, might as well add district attorneys, court clerks and sheriff deputies into the mix, as well. How else to explain Foxx’s wholly irresponsible threat to veto […]
In a series of pricey votes Monday night, the city council approved more than $46 million worth of contracts that clear a flight path for major overhauls at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and puts the Queen City in business with tech titan Google. The council approved a nearly $700,000 change-order to a construction contract with Edison […]
After months of political machinations and public theater resulting from a sexual harassment complaint that was never really a formal complaint filed against Councilmember Warren Turner, the Charlotte City Council on Monday night unanimously adopted a code of ethics and harassment policy to govern the council and mayor. The new policy, which includes guidelines on […]
Between feasting on bites of taxpayer-funded meals at their dinner meeting tonight, city councilmembers are scheduled to take a virtual stroll on a public art gallery crawl, to include works that were completed this year and others that are on tap for the 2011 proposed public art work plan. Total cost: more than $800,000. Included […]
If anybody needed proof positive that Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s criminal justice system is little but a revolving door, this week stands as damning evidence: Five homicides in five days and in almost every case the accused killers, as well as some of their victims, have extensive criminal records. Consider the most recent killing, where the body of […]
Could be $198.6 million. That’s the size of the bond city leaders are currently floating: $156.6 million for transportation (79 percent of total package); $32 million for neighborhood improvements (16 percent); and $10 million for affordable housing (5 percent). Call me crazy, but asking voters to approve spending nearly $200 million when unemployment continues to […]
