A version of this news analysis originally appeared in the Inside Politics newsletter, out Fridays. Sign up here to get it first to your inbox.
A surprise Charlotte City Council shake-up last week could have big implications for the city’s transit ambitions and local politics: Republican council member Tariq Bokhari is resigning to become the No. 2 transit official in the Trump administration.
The promotion is fascinating on a few levels: For starters, his new transit job coincides with Charlotte’s multibillion-dollar transit ambitions.
The city’s Democratic leadership must now kowtow to a soon-to-be former council member they at times dismissed and kept on the outside of crafting transit plans.
And then there is Bokhari himself, one of the most colorful/over-the-top/sometimes profane council members ever.
An eight-year council veteran, Bokhari has toned down his routine since a 2021 must-read profile in Axios Charlotte (In which he lamented the GOP’s fortunes with memorable lines such as “I’m depressed. I feel like a loser.”). But he can still turn the volume up to 11. On Election Day last year, for instance, he hired a private Cessna to fly across his south Charlotte district with a sign to troll his opponent.
A better chance in Raleigh?
To advance its transportation plan, Charlotte first needs the General Assembly to pass a bill allowing Mecklenburg County to place a new, one-cent sales tax increase on the ballot. A bill was filed in late February, but it hasn’t had a committee hearing yet.
Iredell Republican state Sen. Vickie Sawyer, one of the bill’s sponsors, has previously said the chances of the bill passing are 50-50.
But now Bokhari will be one of the most powerful people in Trump’s Department of Transportation.
Green-lighting a sales tax for Mecklenburg County will not directly help the rest of the state, but Bokhari’s new job could make legislators more willing to help his home of Charlotte in exchange for the DOT looking favorably on their home counties.
Can Charlotte move fast enough?
If the General Assembly and voters OK the sales tax, the new money would start being collected in January.
Can Charlotte bring projects to the Federal Transit Administration before Bokhari’s tenure ends? After all, there's no guarantee he will want to serve a full four years.
The project furthest along is the Red Line commuter train to Lake Norman. The Charlotte Area Transit System bought the rail line last fall, a key milestone. But the transit system has said even with tracks already laid, the train probably wouldn’t be ready for passengers for a decade.
That could be too late for Bokhari’s window.
Even less work has been done on the other proposed rail projects: extending the Gold Line streetcar, extending the Lynx Blue Line and the east-west Silver Line.
Does Charlotte need a new approach?
Bokhari declined to be interviewed, saying it was premature to talk about his transit vision before starting the job.
But having covered him for eight years, Inside Politics has some ideas.
Bokhari is pro-Charlotte and will want to help the city however he can. But he will also want to move quickly at the FTA, advancing futuristic projects that will leave his mark on the agency.
He is not wedded to traditional rail transit. He has often talked about how autonomous vehicles and drones could change transportation. Several years ago, he floated the idea of having Elon Musk’s Boring Company build tunnels under congested Charlotte intersections.
If Charlotte were to propose some sort of driverless taxi program (such as those running in San Francisco), Bokhari’s FTA would probably look upon it favorably. Same for an automated rail people mover or a special bus line.
On the other hand, Bokhari has never been a fan of the Gold Line streetcar. CATS plans to fully build out the streetcar in all four of the proposed scenarios for its transportation plan.
CATS may want to rethink that.
Once near the bottom, now on top
There are two Republicans on Charlotte’s 11-member City Council. But to advance its stalled transportation plan and build bridges with the Republican-led General Assembly, Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, turned not to Bokhari, but rather to Ed Driggs. As chair of the transportation committee, he was deemed one of the most important people to shepherd the transit plan forward.
When Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio and other town managers met last spring to hash out a new transportation plan, some of Bokhari’s ideas were included — especially more money for roads — but he was mostly sidelined.
Bokhari wanted more input.
Now he’s gone from the outside looking in to becoming the ultimate insider.
Krista Bokhari to finish husband’s term?
Bokhari’s wife, Krista, has expressed interest in filling the remainder of Bokhari’s term, which ends in December. She lost to Democrat Brandon Lofton for a state House seat last year.
It’s likely she’ll be picked.
For one, there aren’t many Republicans with experience in south Charlotte’s District 6. (You have to live in the district you represent.) Two, many potential candidates will probably clear the field for her. And three, it’s hard to see why the City Council would say no if that’s what Tariq Bokhari wants.
One question: Will the council seek a pledge that she not run for the seat again, as council members have done in the past?
Inside Politics’ guess: No.
