Charlotte City Council’s dysfunction has voters’ inattention

CITY OF CHARLOTTE

Charlotte City Council's recent dysfunction, from federal indictments to threats against the police chief's job security, hasn't registered with rank-and-file voters.

For the typical engaged voter, recent unsavory news about Charlotte City Council were perplexing, or, at least, entertaining. 

District 3 representative Tiawana Brown was indicted for wire fraud, a federal charge for which she previously served a prison sentence. 

Text messages from former District 6 representative Tariq Bokhari threatening Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings’ job were leaked. 

And at-large member Victoria Watlington publicly denounced council’s “immoral, illegal, and corrupt” behavior, only to walk back her comments after failing to provide evidence. 

But most Charlotteans have other priorities on their minds.

Oneil Kerr said he’s “constantly bombarded with world news.” Kerr, who said the last time he voted was for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, said world events can be “overwhelming,” and local news is “not something I need to attune my energy to when I’m living my regular life.” 

“I believe in voting and that the right to vote matters, but that there are other things we can do to cause a shift, like community care,” he said. “I mean, it’s not really shocking to me just because I’m a conscious Black person. You see injustice happening every day. There are people in power trying to be in a certain class or social group. It just goes back to knowing who you’re voting for.” 

Kerr’s friend Alex Padilla “doesn’t think I’m at the maturity level yet” to make voting a priority. After hearing about council’s dysfunction, he believes “a lot more attention should be drawn” to what’s going on. 

“Those are the people in charge, and it should be concerning to people,” he said. “You want to know what’s going on in your city.” 

Kobie Vilaiphon, who was walking uptown with friends, said he was “definitely astonished” to learn of the drama. 

“I’m saddened because this is definitely not being presented toward citizens, these things are kind of hush-hush,” he said. “It’s the duty of City Council to tell people what’s going on.” Vilaiphon, 20, said he’s new to voting, but current events have made him realize he needs to “do more research.”

“Honestly it makes me feel disillusioned,” he said. “I have a hard time trusting politicians anyways. I feel too disconnected.”

Kendrick Cunningham, a political strategist and former candidate for council and North Carolina Senate, says it’s important to distinguish between voters and nonvoters. He doesn’t see voters removing anyone in this year’s election cycle. 

“There hasn’t been enough capacity building work from opposition to delegitimize the work that the council has done over the last two years,” he said. “They’ve done a lot of empowering work, and I do think they have a compelling message that will keep the traditional voters of Charlotte on their side.” 

Filing for municipal elections ends July 18. 

Matilda, who declined to give a last name, said they’re too disillusioned to vote. 

“I was told that this is the evil we have to defeat Trump and everything and I really saw how much of a lie that was and was really ashamed of my vote and I swore I would never feel that way again,” said Matilda, who voted last year. “The headlines that come up, I’m just like ‘oh, here we go again, some more [expletive].’” 

Matilda said they attend public comment segments at council meetings to support workers’ rights, urge protection from racial harassment and advocate for homeless people. They believe council members “don’t like hearing people speak.”

“All of us are closer to being houseless than being in one of those seats and getting one of those seats to listen to us,” they said. 

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