“Most of the type of reform that is needed we need from the General Assembly,” said Councilmember Malcolm Graham.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Council members are calling on the North Carolina General Assembly for additional support to address public safety and mental health concerns following the murder of Iryna Zarutska on the light rail system.
The request came during committee meetings Monday, where the safety committee received updates on current mental health services and what law enforcement officials say they need to prevent similar incidents.
CMPD officers told council members they need more than additional patrols — they require enhanced mental health response training. Experts also addressed the state’s shortage of psychiatric beds.
Councilmember Malcolm Graham said most of the necessary changes would need to come from the General Assembly.
“Most of the type of reform that is needed we need from the General Assembly,” said Councilmember Malcolm Graham, who formerly served in the North Carolina Senate, “We need magistrate reform. We need to fund the DAs. We need to fund the public defenders. We need clerks and judges, etc. Mecklenburg County has been underfunded for decades.”
Last week, Gov. Josh Stein signed Iryna’s Law, which ends the cashless bail option for certain violent offenders and will expedite death penalty appeals. However, he was critical of parts of the bill.
“The bill fails, however, to focus appropriately on the threat that people pose, instead of their ability to post bail,” Stein said. “Most alarming, the General Assembly sprung a last-minute amendment that aims to bring about execution by firing squad to North Carolina. It’s barbaric. There will be no firing squads in North Carolina during my time as governor.”
However, the state has not yet passed a state budget. Rep. Brandon Lofton, a Democrat who represents Mecklenburg County, was in attendance.
“We passed HB, 307, recently, and I think that we’re all at least your delegation is all very united with understanding that that does not really address the needs of what we’re talking about here today,” Rep. Lofton said. “It would be good to go back armed with some requests about what comprehensive support, and not just mental health, but for law enforcement and actually helping to make the investments needed to keep our community safe.”
This came during a big day of committee meetings, where transit and development were also big topics.
Transportation authority process pushback
Transportation and Planning Committee voted to not yet advance the process for forming a new transportation authority to the full council.
If voters approve a sales tax increase for transit projects in November, the authority will oversee how those funds are spent. The authority must be formed by Jan. 1, putting council members in a time crunch. The full council is expected to vote on appointments in November regardless.
Three councilmembers voted against advancing it, citing similar concerns. That whether to allocate two appointment spots to the mayor.
“I’m particularly concerned with this idea that we as a council choose to allocate two appointments to the mayor and then also not say that we want even distribution amongst districts. That puts us in a situation where some districts are not going to have representation and others are going to be overrepresented,” Councilmember Victoria Watlington said.
She also expressed concern about making decisions while council members are up for re-election.
Concert venue planned for uptown
Council members also learned that plans to build a large concert venue next to Bank of America Stadium in uptown will not use public money.
According to city documents, Panthers owner David Tepper wants to build a 4,400-seat indoor venue that aims to bring up to 100 shows every year to uptown.
Charlotte City Council could vote as early as next Monday on lease terms that would allow the Carolina Panthers ownership group to operate the indoor music venue on approximately 2 acres of city-owned land near the stadium. The venue would require no public funding for construction or operation. The Charlotte City Council approved a rezoning request in April that allows this type of facility.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram. […]
