Around Town

Yes, there is a State of the City address

By Jen Rothacker

The Story

Yes, Charlotte’s mayor gives an annual State of the City Address. Here’s a snippet:

The Facts

Mayor Dan Clodfelter talked about:

    • How Charlotte may have to find ways to raise local money for transit, such as light rail extensions and streetcars.
    • The arrest of former mayor Patrick Cannon on corruption charges, comparing it to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1970 that desegregated schools. “Charlotte became known as the city that made desegregation work” was his way of praising Charlotte’s resilience in times of difficulty.

  • Upcoming challenges, including possibly building an amateur sports complex beside Bojangles Coliseum, deciding the fate of the old Eastland Mall property that now sits idle in East Charlotte and long-term capital needs such as sewage facilities.

What Mayor Clodfelter did NOT talk about:

    • Whether he’s running for mayor this fall. The City Council selected Clodfelter to replace Cannon after his resignation. We all thought he had promised not to run in exchange for getting the appointment. Now he’s being coy.

  • His thoughts on the $18 million gap in Charlotte’s budget with the loss of the Business Privilege License tax, which he supported changing or getting rid of when he was a state legislator.
  • How to deal with the fact that Charlotte ranked last in a study about upward mobility, or the ability of poor people to move up the financial ladder.

The Quotes

We love this graphic:

C5’s Take

Aren’t you glad we reported this out for you so you don’t have to listen to the whole thing?

Photo: T. Ortega Gaines / Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published January 14, 2015 at 1:07 AM with the headline "Yes, there is a State of the City address."

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