Council Quickies: Arts Funding and Replacing Bokhari

Charlotte City Council held an action review, public forum and business meeting on Monday night, tackling a number of topics ranging from last year’s arts funding to finding a new council representative for District 6.

Only eight members were in attendance on Monday night due to Bokhari’s recent resignation and the absences of Tiawana Brown and James “Smuggie” Mitchell.

On the Agenda:

• Consent Agenda: Independent Arts Funding
• Action Review: Replacing Bokhari in District 6
• Public Forum
• Affordable Housing Developments

Consent Agenda: Indie Arts Funding

Council began by discussing an item pulled from the consent agenda: A $285,000 contract for Charlotte Is Creative (CIC) to award $1,715,000 in grants to local independent arts organizations from last year’s budget allocation. CIC was originally named to award the grants but some council members called for an RFP process.

“I’ve had a number of creatives contact me saying, ‘What are you guys doing?'” said Ed Driggs. 

LaWana Mayfield voiced her concern that too much of the $2 million allocation for independent artists and organizations (14.25%) will go to CIC and its subcontractors rather than into the grants themselves.

There was some back-and-forth over the fact that a couple council members, Renee Johnson and Victoria Watlington, believe that the city’s Hospitality & Tourism Fund should be able to cover arts funding. This was something that was discussed and rejected in committee last year but will likely come up again in the coming Fiscal Year 2026 budget talks.

In a 6-1 vote, council approved giving the contract to Charlotte Is Creative so they can begin the grant process. Johnson was the only No. CIC will go through a grant application process that will last into the summer, meaning the local arts organizations won’t actually receive the money until a year after council originally allocated it.

Action Review: Replacing Bokhari in District 6

Deputy City Attorney Lina James updated council on how they may move forward to fill the District 6 seat vacated by Tariq Bokhari on April 20. His replacement must be a registered Republican who lives in D6 and is over 21 years old. The term ends in December.

James proposed two options. An expedited process included the following deadlines: Application process would open on April 29 and close May 6, with a candidate public forum on May 9 and a council decision on May 12. 

Option B proposed that applications open May 12, close May 20, a forum on May 23, and appointment on May 27. 

While applications will likely include an optional question regarding whether a candidate plans to run for reelection in November, Dimple Ajmera emphasizes that she will not take that into consideration as ultimately D6 residents will decide who represents them moving forward.

“I will point out the irony of the fact that nine Democrats and one Republican are going to choose the replacement for the Republican. That is without precedent,” said Ed Driggs, the only current Republican on council. 

Driggs said he agreed with asking the reelection question on the ballot as whomever council appoints will have a real advantage as an incumbent if they run for relection. 

There was a bit of a divide on council between folks who thought the expedited process would be ideal so D6 could have representation ASAP and those members who thought expediting could impact the quality of candidates and lessen the opportunity for community outreach. 

Mayor Vi Lyles said the city will engage local Republican organizations for outreach purposes to raise awareness around the application process as well as utilizing the common platforms such as the city website, etc. Driggs said most Republican orgs are well aware of the situation and those who are considering running will be ready as soon as the application process opens. 

LaWana Mayfield said she has sat on councils that have appointed two different mayors and two different council members and she’s unsure why there’s a need to expedite the process in this case but never before. “The fact that we are creating something new for this conversation is concerning.”

“Give it the two weeks that it needs and deserves and we move on from there,” she continued, “but trying to rush it especially when we’re in the middle of our budget cycle I think is disingenuous unless it’s been decided that there’s only one person that we’re expected to appoint.”

Driggs’ motion to approve the expedited process failed despite a majority 5-3 vote.

Council approved a compromise motion to open up the application process on Wednesday, April 30, run it for two weeks, then finish out on the timeline originally proposed in Plan B: a forum on May 23, an appointment on May 27 and swearing-in before an early-June meeting. 

Public Forum

Kicking off Monday night’s public forum in the chambers, an animal rescue volunteer decried Charlotte’s weak animal welfare laws compared to similar-sized cities. “Studies have shown that communities that tolerate animal neglect also see higher rates of violence and crime.”

Another volunteer with Animal Care & Control continued to push the message that staff and volunteers have been bringing in front of council for two years now: moving Animal Care & Control out from under CMPD’s management and building a new shelter to relieve the agency’s ongoing crisis.

La Becky Roe, founder of Let’s Talk About It: The Autism Center, said the city’s resources have not kept up with the rising rates in diagnoses over the years. She asked that folks with and impacted by autism be included more actively in city programming.

Dr. LaVeisha M. Cummings with Youth Advocate Programs Inc. advocated for the city to continue funding the Alternatives to Violence programming that’s been happening on Beatties Ford Road.

Timothy Lowe II said he works as a wheelchair agent at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) but was forced to live in his car after being forced out of the storage unit where he was living. “Our workload has doubled and we barely get breaks … the situation isn’t safe for us or the people we serve.”

Airport workers, union reps and advocates have urged the city to introduce a Charlotte Acting for Safety and Efficiency (CASE) Ordinance, which they say would help reduce turnover and improve safety at CLT, as we reported on last week.

June Blotnick with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Climate Leaders advocates for the People’s Budget Coalition’s request that the city mandate air conditioning be provided by property owners at apartment complexes throughout the city.

Read more: People’s Budget Coalition Releases New Recommendations for City Budget

An airline attendant spoke in solidarity with the contracted airport workers demanding fair pay and better work conditions. “With growth comes responsibility to not just meet the demands of passengers but support the people who make that growth possible.”

An attorney with Safe Alliance expressed her organization’s deep concern with a projected cut in funding from the city as a financial partner. The organization has received funding from the city since 2008. 

“We view this funding as a partnership between Safe Alliance and the city of Charlotte given the crucial life-saving impact our services provide each year,” she said, pointing out that Safe Alliance partners with CMPD, the DA’s office and other community partners to help protect not only survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence but all residents of the city through their work.

Former Mayor Jennifer Roberts urged council to move forward with the newly improved Strategic Energy Action Plan+. She also advocated for the People’s Budget Coalition recommendations, noting that there are 7,500 apartments with no A/C in CLT and asked council members to prioritize environmental justice more broadly.

Later in the meeting, council gave interim city attorney Anthony Fox a chance to address the calls by airport workers for a CASE Ordinance. 

The contracted workers are employed by contractors such as ABM and Prospect, which are utilized by airlines such as American Airlines. They are not city employees in any way, though they work at the airport, which is owned by the city. 

Fox said his office’s opinion is that state law preempts council from mandating that contracting companies at the airport pay their employees a certain wage.

“The city’s authority is only what is given to us by the General Assembly; the General Assembly has not seen fit to confer upon us authority to regulate the wages of employees who are not our own,” said Fox. 

“[The union’s request] wants us to insert ourselves in the relationship between the employee and the employer and that is what the existing case law prohibits,” he continued. 

Representatives Johnson, Mayfield and Watlington asked that the Budget, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee explore ways that City Council may or may not address these issues by changing its policies around contracting with the “lowest responsible and responsive bidder” so as to avoid partnering with bad faith companies who refuse to pay their employees living wages. 

Affordable Housing Developments

Council was tasked with voting Monday on six proposed affordable housing developments that were presented to them earlier this month. Find a breakdown of each one here. 

Marjorie Molina asked only to defer the proposed 120-unit Havenridge at Sharon Amity development for a short time as she continues to work with citizens who have raised concerns with accessibility and other issues. The project is allowed by-right and will likely be approved at the next business meeting.

That motion passed. Five developments will move forward while Havenridge at Sharon Amity will come back for a vote in May. 

Council approved conveying city-owned parcels on Freedom Drive near Browns Avenue to True Homes & Prosperity Alliance for the development of affordable housing there and a parcel on Tyner Street near the Camino campus in University City to that organization for the same.

Before the vote, LaWana Mayfield expressed her concerns with True Homes, saying that the company built her home and those of her neighbors, who have recently been seeing major problems with roofing, electric wiring and other aspects of their homes despite them being the products of new construction. 

She asked city manager Marcus Jones to add language to the contract that will guarantee the quality of whatever construction is carried out on the properties.

Charlotte City Council will meet again for the city manager’s proposed budget presentation on Monday, May 5.