Charlotte will swear in its interim mayor, attorney Rob Harrington, next week. On Monday night, after two rounds of voting by council members, Harrington came away with a majority of votes to lead the city.
Last month, Mayor Vi Lyles, the city's second-longest serving mayor, announced that she will resign from office and retire in June. That triggered the procedure for council to consider applications, hear from candidates and ultimately make a decision on who would fill the term until December 2027.
Harrington has not held elected office before, but he has led the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library board and is the current president of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Meanwhile, the council also approved a pilot program to bring red light cameras back to 10 of the city’s most dangerous intersections. It’s been nearly two decades since red light cameras were discontinued due to cost concerns.
At the state level, lawmakers continued overriding vetoes of previous legislation that Gov. Stein had rejected. One of which is a bill that will require all state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE and prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving certain state-funded benefits, including Medicaid, housing assistance and child care subsidies.
In sports, the Carolina Hurricanes showed off the prized Stanley Cup to lawmakers in Raleigh as questions swirl in the General Assembly over Major League Baseball coming to the state.
We discuss it all on this week’s local news roundup.
GUESTS:
Ashley Fahey, managing editor at the Charlotte Ledger
Ely Portillo, executive editor at WFAE
Alexandria Sands, reporter at Axios Charlotte
Erik Spanberg, managing editor at the Charlotte Business Journal
Adam Wagner, reporter with NC Newsroom
