Charlotte City Council elects new mayor pro tem, welcomes new members
Three new Charlotte City Council members took the oath of office Monday and promptly voted on a new mayor pro tem as their first order of business.
The city welcomed Joi Mayo from west Charlotte’s District 3, J.D. Mazuera Arias from east Charlotte’s District 5 and Kimberly Owens from south Charlotte’s District 6.
A split council then rallied enough votes to elect veteran Councilman James “Smuggie” Mitchell to the largely ceremonial role of mayor pro tem. He replaces Dante Anderson, who will continue representing District 1 without the added title.
“We’ll continue to work as a team,” Mitchell said. “My biggest role as mayor pro tem is to make sure that we’re communicating, we stay clear on our priorities and that we’re gonna listen. We will do things together.”
The mayor pro tem is the second highest-ranking elected official on City Council but carries few added responsibilities. The pro tem’s main role is to facilitate meetings in the mayor’s absence. City Council members choose amongst themselves who they want to see in the position.
Council had traditionally awarded the title to the highest vote-getter in the at-large race, which would have been Dimple Ajmera. But city leaders began veering away from that practice in recent years, including the last two election cycles.
Mitchell received the third-most votes of the four at-large council members this election.
James Mitchell has served 13 nonconsecutive terms
Mitchell has been on council longer than any other sitting member, having served 13 nonconsecutive terms since 1999. He took one term off from 2013-2015 and resigned partway through his term in 2021. A new job as co-owner of construction company RJ Leeper presented a conflict of interest at the time since the company conducted business with the city.
The Charlotte Observer previously reported that Mitchell has routinely had the poorest attendance record on council, dating back at least to 2015. His attendance hit a low point last term when he missed one-third of meetings, which he attributed to health issues. He told WSOC after the election that he was battling bladder cancer that had resurfaced earlier this year but is now in remission.
Mazuera Arias made a motion to elect Ajmera as mayor pro tem. Ajmera seconded the motion, which failed 7-4 with support from Mayo and Renee Perkins Johnson.
“I was the highest vote-getter in both the primary and the general,” Ajmera said in a written statement to The Observer. “My 2-year-old and 4-year-old girls were watching, and I wanted them to see that when you earn something through hard work and trust, you stand up for it.”
Councilwoman LaWana Slack-Mayfield made a subsequent motion to elect Mitchell, seconded by Victoria Watlington. The vote passed 8-3, with only Ajmera, Mayo and Owens opposed.
No council member motioned to reelect Anderson to the position. She was mayor pro tem for one term.
In a post-meeting press conference, Slack-Mayfield said mayor pro tem is best suited for an at-large council member.
“There’s a lot of diversity in the geography of our districts. And that is an opportunity for you to actually get to know what’s happening on the ground. Your focus is all-consuming if you focus on your district,” said Slack-Mayfield, who is serving at-large and previously represented District 3. “(At-large council members) have the opportunity to look at the entire city and the big picture. For me, that gives us a little bit more flexibility.”
District 2 Councilman Malcolm Graham offered different reasoning.
“At-large, district, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the ability to lead,” Graham said. “This community is dying, starving, begging for leadership from the City Council.”
Mitchell will ensure council’s voices are strong in city decisions and don’t get drowned out by the mayor’s office or city manager, Graham said.
New council members take office
Before getting to official business, the freshman crop of council members spoke from the dais for the first time to offer visions of a people-first Charlotte that represents all constituents as they balance the challenges of growth.
“Growth is healthy. Business is essential. Development is necessary. But none of it matters if people are not centered in the process,” Mazuera Arias said. “That means every decision we make on this dais must begin with one question: How does this help the people who live here today?”
Mayo said she wants to create a Charlotte in which every resident can live, work and play within a 10-minute walk or commute. That will require intentional investment to increase opportunities for people in her district, she said. She replaces outgoing councilwoman Tiawana Brown, who she defeated in the September primary.
Mazuera Arias and Owens emphasized their seats belong to every member of their district, regardless of who voters chose on election day. Mazuera Arias defeated incumbent Marjorie Molina by a razor thin margin of 34 votes in the primary to become the first Latino, formerly undocumented and Gen Z city councilman.
Owens won by a wider margin in her race but knocked out one of two Republican-held seats.
“To District 6 Republicans: You have not lost your voice. I offer you a seat at the table for real collaboration,” Owens said. “Simply put, as I said on the trail, I want to bore you — to bore you with acts of governmental competence.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 11:18 PM.
