We have released our latest podcast!
Thinking outside the box doesn’t aptly describe the way Douglas Welton, Chair of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Commission, approaches the idea of change. For him, he doesn’t even see a box. He sees an open landscape of ideas, opinions, and solutions just waiting to be deconstructed and rebuilt into something new.
After a fun lighting round that opened some entertaining personal dialog, this episode went deep into the issues Charlotte faces today. With growth at the forefront, and policymakers searching for the best way to stay ahead of future problems, Douglas believes it will take more than just following old ideas to move us forward. It will take trust between policymakers and developers, and an atmosphere where everyone is free to ask, “why can’t we do this a different way?”
2. My New Blog Post is Live – Let’s Stop Playing Around with Transportation Solutions
Last week the Charlotte City Council held its annual three-day budget retreat in Winston-Salem and the topic of transportation was unanimously front and center. The simple acknowledgment that this is a priority by this group of elected leaders is a good thing. But some of the messaging that came out of the session seemed to indicate otherwise. In fact, it appears these same decision-makers might be content with just pulling the four-year-old plan off the shelf and moving ahead with an appeal to the legislature for the authority to impose a 1 cent sales tax to be included on the 2025 election ballot. Is this how we take control of an issue?