Charlotte City Council member Ed Driggs apologized Monday night for remarks he made at a county Republican meeting last week that were critical of the city's 2040 Comprehensive Plan and people involved with it.
Axios Charlotte reported Monday that Driggs called the 2040 plan "an attempt at a socialist takeover of Charlotte." And he said he and the council's other Republican, Tariq Bokhari, had been able to stall the plan’s progress because “smart people can outmaneuver dumb people.”
Driggs admitted he said those things but said it was out of frustration.
"This was an occasion in which I vented," Driggs said at Monday's City Council meeting. "It was not my intention that it be public. I didn't expect that it would be, so I want to apologize if any members of staff were offended by them. That was not my purpose."
The 2040 plan lays out a vision for how Charlotte will develop in the future. It has sparked a debate, in part because of a proposal to allow two-, three- and four-unit buildings in neighborhoods currently zoned single-family only.
Driggs and Bokhari spoke at last week's Mecklenburg Young Republicans gathering, where they talked about delaying the plan.
Council member Braxton Winston, who supports the 2040 plan, responded Monday night with an email to his supporters calling Driggs' remarks "disappointing."
"This is what we're up against," Winston wrote.
Winston said he's raising money for a video series that explains the plan.
