In the last week, Councilwoman Tiawana Brown was indicted on federal fraud charges and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings announced his retirement.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council is set to return Tuesday night with a full plate, both on and off the agenda.
In just the last week, Councilwoman Tiawana Brown was indicted on federal fraud charges. Her and her two daughters are accused of misusing $124,000 in COVID-19 loans. On Sunday, CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings announced his retirement, as well as the details of the reported settlement.
Both of these are not on the agenda for discussion. However, at the last meeting two weeks ago, Mayor Vi Lyles addressed the initial controversy, which included allegations of corruption and transparency complaints over Jennings’ $305,000 payout.
“It’s been a tough week. A lot of words played and said and in conversations,” Lyles said at the May 12 meeting. “This council has an opportunity to really stop and think to do some things that we may do differently.”
Transparency concerns from constituents still remain. A group of airport workers showed up to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center Tuesday morning. They planned to deliver letters to councilmembers, urging them to pass the CASE Ordinance, or the Charlotte Acting for Safety and Efficiency Ordinance.
This would set minimum wage requirements, guarantee paid sick leave and establish stronger training standards for airport employees who work for private contractors at the airport, which is owned by the city.
Though the airport workers had informed City Councilmembers that they would be there, none showed up.
“It’s so much going on in the city that maybe they’re overlooking it,” said airport employee Willie Stinson. “Everything is important. Nothing is more important than any other issue.”
He, as well as his colleague Dominique Chambers, worried the drama within Charlotte’s government is preventing them from hearing their concerns.
“We’re homeless. We’re living with our parents. We’re living in our cars,” Chambers said. “We need city council to step up and do something about this.”
WCNC Charlotte reached out to former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts about how the City can move forward. She said, in part: “I am sure they can get through the budget even at this time, with a councilmember under indictment, who is innocent until proven guilty, and a police chief retiring, but I would suggest they plan to improve their responsiveness.”
Her examples included adding a person to their budget whose sole responsibility is to respond to FOIA, or Freedom of Information Act, requests. She also suggested clearing up the statement about what is confidential and what is not when it comes to personnel matters. This was a topic of disagreement prior to Chief Jennings releasing his payout agreement.
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