Charlotte City Council member Victoria Watlington criticized the city in an email to constituents, expressing frustration over how the city handled a financial settlement with Police Chief Johnny Jennings.
In an email to constituents sent late Tuesday, Watlington wrote that, "I have seen enough. Over the last five and a half years, I have witnessed the brazen disregard for dissenting opinions and the rule of law."
She added, "Never, however, have I seen such an egregious example as what has occurred in the last week."
She also said the city was "unethical, immoral, and, frankly, illegal."
Local leaders have been tight-lipped about the settlement so far. On Wednesday, Mayor Vi Lyles said on WFAE's "Charlotte Talks" that she would not discuss the case.
"Human resources items in closed session are not appropriate for me to talk about," she said. "Honestly, there is no way for a council member to talk about what happens in a closed-session meeting."
Several hours later, however, at a 3 pm news conference, Lyles forcefully pushed on Watlington's allegations. Flanked by a majority of her colleagues on the council, she objected to the allegations
"To be clear, these allegations are unfounded, and if she has any proof, she needs to provide that to the city attorney’s office to investigate," Lyles said.
The controversy stems from a dispute between Jennings and former City Council member Tariq Bokhari, who wanted officers to be allowed to wear outer-carrier protective vests. Jennings argued the vests weren't necessary.
Over the summer, the two men exchanged a series of increasingly confrontational text messages. Bokhari said he would attempt to get Jennings fired and that he would work to "cripple" his legacy.
WFAE first reported on the text messages in November.
At the time, the city did not publicly address the messages. But Jennings was reportedly upset that no action was taken against Bokhari, and that he received no apology.
He threatened to file a lawsuit against the city.
The city and Jennings began negotiating a possible settlement weeks ago.
A little more than a week ago, City Council met in closed session to discuss a possible settlement. The vote was 5–2 in favor of settling, with one council member having left the meeting before the vote.
WSOC-TV reported details of the vote last week.
Council members met again on Monday. City staff said that there wasn't a need to take an additional vote because the council member who left would be technically counted as a yes vote, per city rules. Six votes was enough for the settlement to move forward.
In an interview with WFAE on Wednesday, Watlington said she was upset with the process by which city staff handled the settlement in closed session. She said she didn’t believe the city technically had enough votes to reach a financial settlement, but did so regardless.
The settlement is for at least $100,000, WFAE has reported. Jennings' salary is $280,000.
Watlington said she did not attend the most recent closed session, in part as a protest, saying the "cake has already been baked."
Bokhari resigned from the City Council last month to take a high-level job with the Federal Transit Administration, under the Trump administration.
