Charlotte Assistant City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba is leaving the city to become city manager in Greensboro.
Jaiyeoba led the city’s efforts to pass the controversial 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which passed City Council earlier this year on a 6-5 vote.
The plan aims to make Charlotte a more dense, walkable city by eliminating zoning that only allowed for single-family homes. It’s meant to guide how the city grows over the next two decades.
He was also leading the city’s efforts to pass a $13.5 billion transportation plan that focuses on building new light rail and expanding the bus system. But that effort has so far stalled.
The city plans to pay for much of the plan through a penny sales tax increase. But it needs permission from the Republican-controlled General Assembly to place the referendum on the ballot, and the city hasn’t yet made a formal request to legislators.
The Greensboro City Council formally voted to hire Jaiyeoba at its meeting on Tuesday. He will begin Feb. 1 and will take over from interim city manager Chris Wilson who has been in the job since David Parrish resigned in June.
Sarah Hazel, who is the city’s chief sustainability officer, will now lead the efforts to pass the transportation plan on an interim basis.
