Two For Tuesday | February 13, 2024

Last night the Charlotte City Council voted 7-3 to reimpose penalties for individuals conducting certain inappropriate acts in public.  Opponents attempted to couch the changes as an attack on the homeless community while supporters saw them as necessary to public safety for residents and visitors to Uptown businesses.  The final version that was adopted included six of the initial eight ordinances and eliminated those dealing with unauthorized people in parking lots and loitering for the purpose of engaging in drug-related activity due to constitutional concerns raised by the City Attorney.

Charlotte City Council Agenda – February 12, 2024

Proposed Ordinance (strikethrough version)

Proposed Ordinance (clean version)

Video of Public Comments (1:44:40)

Video of Council Deliberations (3:10:50)

My take:  These issues serve as a distraction from the important and essential business of council. Adopting the ordinances was a necessity but the associated circus was not. Citizens should be allowed to have their say, but to devote the better part of an entire meeting to determine whether it’s a good idea or not to impose penalties for public defecation, among other unmentionables, makes little sense. Once again Council Members Renee Johnson and LaWana Mayfield used their platform to promote emotion over reason and further attempted to blur the lines of sensibility.  If we put the same level of effort into recruiting businesses and the jobs they bring, developing and building additional housing units to house the workers, and guiding young people into educational and career opportunities that provide a sustained and regular income, we’d be well on the way to addressing the challenges of our time.
  

​Rob Nanfelt
Executive Director, REBIC