Candidates for Charlotte City Council answered questions from WFAE about why they should be elected (or reelected).
At-Large
DIMPLE AJMERA (D) (INCUMBENT)
Occupation:
Charlotte City Council At-Large
Political experience and/or advocacy groups you are affiliated with:
Charlotte City Council At-Large (since 2017) and Board of Commissioners - Charlotte Housing Authority
The Charlotte Area Transit System has reduced bus routes because of declining ridership and a shortage of drivers. What should be done to improve the bus system?
We must restore trust in our public transportation by addressing safety, reliability, and efficiency concerns.
Charlotte has been at or near 100 homicides each year for the past four years. At the same time, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has had difficulty recruiting officers to fill all of its vacancies. What do you think the city's priorities should be when it comes to public safety?
We need to continue implementing a competitive pay plan to recruit and retain the best talent. Additionally, we need to continue focusing on the alternative to violence initiative that has shown early success.
It appears the city will not meet its climate goals, which are to be carbon-neutral by 2030. What are your ideas for meeting those goals on time or as soon as possible?
I have been an advocate for the Strategic Energy Action Plan. We have come a long way since 2017, but more work needs to be done. We must look at alternatives, such as procuring clean energy through regional solar farms to meet our 2030 goals. Additionally, we must look at federal grants and other funding sources.
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative aims to improve racial equity and economic opportunity. How is it doing, and what (if anything) would you change?
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative focuses on the following:
- Bridging the Digital Divide
- Investing in Corridors of Opportunity
- Transform Johnson C. Smith University for the Future
- Catalyzing Employer Commitment
We are making steady progress in each of these areas.
JAMES “SMUGGIE” MITCHELL (D) (INCUMBENT)
Mitchell has not responded.
LAWANA SLACK-MAYFIELD(D) (INCUMBENT)
Occupation:
Student/Community Volunteer
Political experience and/or advocacy groups you are affiliated with:
Currently serving in my 5th term on Charlotte City Council, 4-terms as the District 3 representative, 1-term as an At-Large member. Current member of the LGBTQ+ Meck Dems and the NC International Minority Coalition member. Formerly served on various Boards/Commissions locally, statewide and nationally.
The Charlotte Area Transit System has reduced bus routes because of declining ridership and a shortage of drivers. What should be done to improve the bus system?
Part of the challenge is when the previous director of CATS removed community stops in neighborhoods which reduced ridership due to lack of access. Charlotte should move forward with instituting the neighborhood routes along with partnering with local ride-share companies to complete the last-mile connection. I also recently discussed with the City Manager that if we view transportation through an Equity lens you will see that Light Rail is on an honor system where the Bus is paid to ride immediately upon boarding. We should consider either free transportation or a pay-as-you-can for bus riders as this income from ridership does not create a large revenue source for the City.
Charlotte has been at or near 100 homicides each year for the past four years. At the same time, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has had difficulty recruiting officers to fill all of its vacancies. What do you think the city's priorities should be when it comes to public safety?
Charlotte needs to return to Community Policing with officers living in the communities and becoming active in the neighborhoods in which they live, this will build relationships and could create more opportunities for positive exposure to local officer roles. We also need to include racial bias training for all officers and when considering lateral hiring of outside officers make sure they do not have any aggressive actions towards residents in their files. Also, we can not discount the growth of Charlotte over the past four years, the low wages paid, and the increased unaffordability of housing options. Public safety starts in the community and more support should be given to locally created Violence Interrupter programs.
It appears the city will not meet its climate goals, which are to be carbon-neutral by 2030. What are your ideas for meeting those goals on time or as soon as possible?
First Charlotte needs to re-word its language in regards to clear-cutting areas for development with the ability to pay a fee in lieu or the usage of planting of seedlings that will take years to grow, more greenspace must be included so we do not become the "concrete jungle" many cities are. Charlotte also has an opportunity to utilize more "Green" build technology that will reduce carbon waste during construction & allows for better recycling of materials. I also support the idea of NOT in-filling every piece of vacant land to sustain more mature trees and not continuously displace our native wildlife.
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative aims to improve racial equity and economic opportunity. How is it doing, and what (if anything) would you change?
First I feel an opportunity was missed by not informing and creating the program in partnership with previous council members, although the funding has exceeded its goals as a current council member I do not know the real priorities and how they align with the needs of the residents as far and increased house revaluation and how we are helping residents to "Age in Place" when the funding approved by Council to help offset rising costs only increased the County's funding grant to $600 when many working poor residents have seen a tax increase over $1,500, the initiative should have clear funding access to help those residents along with updating the AMI numbers to reflect the local impact of rising costs to live in the City. Also, outside of the YWCA recent viewing and discussion on the 1619 Project I do not know of many "racial equity" discussions the funds have helped to facilitate in neighborhoods.
What else do you want to address that we haven’t asked?
It has been concerning the ability to vote on multiple Consent items with little to no discussion on the merits of each project and the impact it is having in the community from over-building in neighborhoods that do not have the road, sanitary or water infrastructure and the impact on residents from congestion to sewer back-up into homes of established neighborhoods. This can be addressed by slowing down development approvals enough to re-set the goals of the city along with better coordination of road widening, sidewalks, sewer, planting strips, road repair, curb & gutter for projects so neighbors are not being negatively impacted by construction, and traffic jams for multiple years.
VICTORIA WATLINGTON (D) (INCUMBENT)
Watlington has not responded.
STEVEN DIFIORE (L)
Occupation:
Procurement Manager
Political experience and/or advocacy groups you are affiliated with:
In 2017 I ran for Charlotte City Council and in 2020 was our party's Gubernatorial candidate. I've been active in advocacy for Pastor Moses Colbert in Gastonia as they try to shut down his church for providing for the homeless.
The Charlotte Area Transit System has reduced bus routes because of declining ridership and a shortage of drivers. What should be done to improve the bus system?
The bus system needs improvement to be the public transit backbone a world class city deserves. Rather than spend huge sums on streetcars that money should be invested in a city spanning modern bus network.
Charlotte has been at or near 100 homicides each year for the past four years. At the same time, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has had difficulty recruiting officers to fill all of its vacancies. What do you think the city's priorities should be when it comes to public safety?
I would like to see more conflict resolution programs. There are several in Charlotte that have promising result. More collaboration with those organizations should help improve neighborhood safety.
It appears the city will not meet its climate goals, which are to be carbon-neutral by 2030. What are your ideas for meeting those goals on time or as soon as possible?
Carbon-neutral by 2030 isn't realistic goal. Improving our public transit infrastructure to be more reliable and consistent is a necessary step in that direction, with the added benefit of improving urban mobility.
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative aims to improve racial equity and economic opportunity. How is it doing, and what (if anything) would you change?
The inequity in our society is class based and the focus on race is a distraction from the root cause. Switching from race based initiatives to class based ones would see meaningful change.
JOHN X. HENNY (D)
Henny has not responded.
District 1
DANTE ANDERSON (D) (INCUMBENT)
Anderson has not responded.
District 2
MALCOLM GRAHAM (D) (INCUMBENT)
Graham has not responded.
District 3
TIAWANA BROWN (D)
Brown has not responded.
JAMES BOWER (R)
Bower has not responded.
District 4
RENEE PERKINS JOHNSON (D) (INCUMBENT)
Johnson has not responded.
District 5
MARJORIE MOLINA (D) (INCUMBENT)
Occupation:
Councilwoman for the City of Charlotte
Political experience and/or advocacy groups you are affiliated with:
While pursuing my undergraduate degree at Arizona State University I was chosen for the Capitol Scholar Program, a public policy program crafted for honors students to live and work in our nation's capital for the experience. I worked at the Nobel Peace Prize-winning international non-profit Physicians for Social Responsibility. The organization’s policy focuses are climate change, public health and nuclear proliferation.
Additionally, for more than 10 years, I’ve been a state leader for North Carolina with the organization United States Global Leadership Coalition. I am a current member of the North Carolina Advisory Committee.
I have been a registered CMS volunteer since 2013; I’ve served on the YMCA of Greater Charlotte Diversity, Inclusion and Global Association board; I was appointed to the Women’s Advisory Board in 2014 by the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners; I served 9-months with United Nations Women as a Global Champion of Women’s Economic Empowerment in 2015; I completed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Citizens Academy in Charlotte in 2015; I was appointed by Charlotte City Council, prior to election, to serve on the Equitable Development Commission. (CEDC)
In 2016 I managed a successful campaign office for Hillary for America.
I have organized with local, judicial, state, and congressional offices campaigns as well.
I serve on the Jobs and Economic Development Committee as well as the Housing, Safety, and Community Committee for Charlotte City Council.
I was appointed by the National League of Cities in 2022 to serve on the Federal Economic Development Committee and the Race, Equity, and Leadership Council.
The Charlotte Area Transit System has reduced bus routes because of declining ridership and a shortage of drivers. What should be done to improve the bus system?
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) has been riddled with a number of issues in recent months. The new interim leader, Brent Cagle, has made notable transparent progress that I feel confident will began to set our sails in the proper direction. As we continue to work through the challenges I know we must prioritize service reliability, peak period service travel, and revisit the conversation of convenience. How far do our residents travel to reach a bus stop? I know population utilization data will be key in driving the deliverables.
Frequency, reliability, and convenience must be the mantra for our local bus system.
Charlotte has been at or near 100 homicides each year for the past four years. At the same time, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has had difficulty recruiting officers to fill all of its vacancies. What do you think the city's priorities should be when it comes to public safety?
Considering the tension around the role of police officers, retention is an area of opportunity nationwide.
A framework to address violence based on a violence interruption methodology is a sound policy recommendation. The methodology must data-driven and evidence-based. Safe Charlotte has become one of the city’s most notable programs that I believe we need to continue to improve upon. Some examples of priorities I recommend to continue or expand would be the Alternatives to Violence (ATV) program. This program has received $2 million in federal funding and is currently deployed on Beatties Ford Rd, West Boulevard, and Nations Ford and Arrowood Rd.
The CARES Team; The Civilian Assistance: Response, Engage, Support Team is a unique pilot using the power of trained civilians to assist in deployment of resources. This program is currently focused in the Central Division that includes Uptown and South End. This is another program I recommend we continue to learn from and expand upon to best understand how to ensure resident safety throughout our city.
It appears the city will not meet its climate goals, which are to be carbon-neutral by 2030. What are your ideas for meeting those goals on time or as soon as possible?
Although it’s been widely accepted that the Strategic Energy Action Plan (SEAP) goals were aggressive at the onset, the city has made progress. The city now has almost 140 charging stations citywide, 10 different electric models in the fleet with plans to pilot EV police cruisers and fire engines in the future. The largest area of opportunity is the projected building energy usage by 2030. To continue to work towards that goal I recommend to address the challenges with the Green Source Advantage Program. The city just launched a new Power Down The Crown program to encourage stakeholder participation.
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative aims to improve racial equity and economic opportunity. How is it doing, and what (if anything) would you change?
The Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative seeks to bridge the digital divide, invest in 6 Corridors of Opportunity, transform Johnson C. Smith University, and work to ensure racial equity. The priority that I, as well as many others, have an emphasis on are the 6 Corridors of Opportunity. $15M of City funding has been committed to the Corridors over the past 2 years. What’s working is that the City has achieved $4.2M in federal matching funds, the City won a $12M RAISE grant for mobility projects, specifically on the Sugar Creek Corridor, and the city has launched a 3 year SafeBiz CLT program to ensure safety at businesses on the Corridors.
I believe that with each Corridor implementation we learn something new about possibilities. My hope is that when we began the Albemarle Road Corridor in East Charlotte we will have the best understanding possible to maximize revenue and resources. The Corridor, in addition to Eastland Yards, has the potential of creating a generational impact on the Eastside.
What else do you want to address that we haven’t asked?
I appreciate the opportunity to offer answers in English and Spanish. It was very challenging because Spanish is my second language but I hope the message came through just as clearly with the much needed help of translation tools.
District 6
TARIQ BOKHARI(R) (INCUMBENT)
Bokhari has not responded.
STEPHANIE HAND (D)
Hand has not responded.
District 7
ED DRIGGS (R) (INCUMBENT)
Driggs has not responded.