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Charlotte City Council member, mayor acknowledge strained relationship

City of Charlotte
Charlotte City Council

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles on Monday night asked City Council member Renee Johnson to work with her on ways to improve council relationships. Her outreach came as the council remained sharply divided over a reported $300,000 settlement made to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings.

After the City Council reached a settlement, Council Member Victoria Watlington sent an email to her constituents. She wrote that the way the city handled the settlement showed a “brazen disregard for dissenting opinions and the rule of law.”

Lyles and other council members pushed back strongly against Watlington’s allegations last week.

But in reaching out to Watlington’s friend and ally, Council Member Renee Johnson, the mayor appeared to acknowledge that there are festering problems on the 11-member board.

Johnson said yes — though she alluded to her own difficulties with the mayor, including Lyles endorsing a primary opponent against her two years ago.

"You and I have some healing to do. And I look forward to that opportunity. I want to do something different. Dr. Watlington has also expressed frustration with how things have gone," she said.

The settlement was made because Jennings was upset over threatening text message he received last year from former City Council member Tariq Bokhari.

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Steve Harrison is WFAE's politics and government reporter. Prior to joining WFAE, Steve worked at the Charlotte Observer, where he started on the business desk, then covered politics extensively as the Observer’s lead city government reporter. Steve also spent 10 years with the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.