Sheriff’s Office Responds to Complaints Involving Conditions in Uptown Jail

Sheriff’s Office Responds to Complaints Involving Conditions in Uptown Jail

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) responded this week to a letter from the National Association for Upward Mobility demanding solutions to troubling conditions some inmates have reported at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center Central (MCDCC) in Uptown.

Sent early this week, the letter raises concerns about reports from three men currently being held in the Uptown jail who say they’ve been forced to sleep on the floor of the facility despite suffering from major medical issues ranging from severe arthritis, hernia and heart conditions to diabetes, obesity and geriatric ailments.

The letter also claims the detention center ran out of toilet paper on April 25, leaving inmates to go without.

In a video released Wednesday by the MCSO on Major Anthony Durrah, facility commander at MCDCC, claims that the conditions described in letter are “not accurate.”

According to Durrah, none of the inmates at sleep “on the floor,” though some do sleep on what are called Stack-A-Bunks, temporary sleeping surfaces that are raised about 8 inches off the ground. He also denied that the facility has run out of toilet paper.

“Toilet tissue and other basic hygiene items remain available to residents and are provided through established facility procedures,” Durrah stated.

Regarding claims that MCSO is not providing sufficient care for inmates with medical conditions, Durrah said, “The MCSO remains committed to ensuring that the residents with medical needs are reviewed and housed appropriately based on medical guidance, classifications, safety consideration and operational needs.”

Durrah said he could not address the situations of the specific inmates named in the letter due to privacy laws.

In a video released on April 21, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden warned that “the pressure is building” at the Uptown jail as the inmate population neared 2,000 people. He blamed the overcrowding in part on House Bill 307, known as Iryna’s Law, which has led to an increasing number of people being held in the jail for lower-level charges.

Read more: New Report Highlights Hurdles to Iryna’s Law Implementation

City to Implement Water Restrictions Amid Severe Drought

Charlotte Water announced Friday it will implement mandatory water restrictions beginning Friday, May 15, due to ongoing dry conditions while Charlotte Fire made its new burn ban effective immediately, tightening restrictions already in place through a statewide burn ban.

As part of the “Low Inflow Protocol Stage 2” restrictions taking effect in two weeks, city residents will be asked to irrigate lawns and landscapes no more than two days per week between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (odd-numbered addresses on Tuesday and Saturday and even numbers on Wednesday and Sunday) and top of swimming pools only on Thursdays and Sundays between 6 p.m.-6 a.m.

Residents will be asked not to wash vehicles at home, fill residential swimming pools, operate water features that do not support aquatic life, power-wash surfaces for non-essential purposes, nor hold car wash events for charity or fundraising purposes.

The restrictions come as southern Cabarrus County, the northern half of Union County and the eastern edge of Mecklenburg County are all under “exceptional drought,” the worst of five possible levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map. All Charlotte-area counties, parts of central North Carolina, much of the northern part of the state and most of the mountains are under extreme drought, the next worst classification.

Below-average rainfall since September has depleted the 11 reservoirs in the Catawba-Wateree Basin, and the streams that feed into them, to below normal levels, the local Drought Management Advisory Group reported. Charlotte’s tap water supply comes primarily from Mountain Island Lake and Lake Norman, both part of the Catawba-Wateree Basin.

If drought conditions worsen, additional response measures may be considered in alignment with regional protocols, Charlotte Water stated on Friday. For more information, visit the Charlotte Water website. Find additional info about regional coordination through the Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group.

CMS Board Rejects Superintendent’s Proposed Budget

In a rare move that appeared to come as a surprise to Superintendent Crystal Hill, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education (BOE) rejected the Hill’s proposed budget in an 8-1 vote on Tuesday, leaving the superintendent without much clarification as to how she should amend her proposal.

Multiple members who voted against the budget on Tuesday insisted they are supportive of Hill’s work in her role and that the rejection should not be taken as a vote against her personal performance.

While board members voiced vague wishes to see a budget that better addresses mental health and performance gaps among students while providing more resources for teachers, Hill was not provided any specific directives.

“We will address that after this meeting,” BOE Chair Stephanie Sneed responded to Hill’s request for clarification on how she should move forward, as reported by WFAE. Sneed then abruptly adjourned the meeting as Hill continued to ask for direction.

On Friday, the BOE announced a special budget workshop scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday to discuss the matter.

Data Center Debate Continues Following Council Vote

Following Monday night’s Charlotte City Council discussion about a potential moratorium on data center construction, Action NC on Tuesday sent a draft ordinance to council members to help envision what new regulations on such facilities could look like.

The email cited requests from council members on Monday that experts with corporations like Duke Energy be brought in to inform council on the impact of data centers.

“We respectfully want to ensure that the public is equally heard in this process, because while we may not be technical experts, our communities are experts in living with the consequences of poorly regulated industry — from coal ash to Forever Chemicals in our water and other environmental harms that data centers now represent in a modern form,” the email read.

The attached ordinance called for the creation of “data center districts,” limiting any and all data center construction over 10,000 square feet, among other changes.

“We know the sample ordinance we’ve provided can be strengthened further, and we want the council to hear even more input from the community as this process moves forward,” the email read. “What we did not want, however, was for the conversation to be grounded solely in a ‘corporate’ framework that, in practice, can end up sidelining the very people it claims to center.”

District 6 rep Kimerly Owens, who on Monday voted against holding a public hearing that would need to precede any potential moratorium, responded to ActionNC’s email on Wednesday.

“I voted Monday night to get more information and to have an opportunity to learn and discuss amongst council publicly and then to schedule a public hearing to hear the public’s comments once we have had a chance to understand the issues,” Owens wrote.

“I do not believe that we should allow these data centers near homes, but I want to be better grounded in what a ‘moratorium’ means with respect to reevaluation of the UDO and ‘as of right’ uses,” she continued. “I need to be informed more not necessarily on the environmental problems of data centers but on the means to legislate them effectively. Delaying a public hearing does not take this issue off of the table or shirk our duties.”

Drafted Resolution Not Enough in I-77 Toll Fight, Org Says

Sustain Charlotte put out a press release on Tuesday responding to a drafted resolution that Charlotte City Council will consider adopting to clarify its stance on the I-77 toll lane project at its May 11 meeting.

The resolution would call for the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to “undertake a targeted reevaluation and design analysis of the Interstate 77 toll lane project,” as reported by WFAE.

“The draft resolution reflects important progress, particularly in acknowledging the need for additional analysis, community engagement, and consideration of impacts on neighborhoods,” read Sustain Charlotte’s open letter. “At the same time, it does not yet ensure what many residents have been calling for: a truly independent, comprehensive evaluation of alternatives before the project advances further.”

The statement went on to point out that the analysis would be led by the NCDOT, the same entity tasked with advancing the project.

“For a decision of this scale, it is critical that the evaluation be conducted by an independent third party. The resolution also references alternatives, but largely within the context of refining the current project. What’s needed is a clear requirement to evaluate a full range of options—including multimodal and non-highway approaches—so that decision-makers and the public can understand which solution best meets the region’s needs.”