Lawsuit says CPCC broke open meetings laws over first responder training facility
A Central Piedmont Community College student alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday that security guards followed her and barred her from returning to campus after she went to a Board of Trustees meeting.
She is one of five plaintiffs alleging that school officials broke open meetings law when discussing a planned first responder training facility that is being built on 23 acres at the college’s Matthews campus.
The college calls the plan “Community Lifeline.” Opponents have called it a “cop city” like the one that drew protests in Atlanta.
“Defendants’ plans for the Public Safety Training Facility were secretly conceived, negotiated, and approved by Defendants in direct violation of North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law,” read the lawsuit, filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.
“The public has a vested interest in the discussions surrounding the Public Safety Training Facility. Shielding such discussions from public scrutiny undermines public trust and violates the duty of the public body to conduct business openly,” it said.
The plaintiffs are being represented by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a Durham-based nonprofit that provides legal advice and representation to poor people and minority communities.
Catherine Butler, the vice president for communications, marketing and public relations at the college, said by email: “As you can imagine, a filing of this length will take some time to review — and we are doing so with our legal counsel.”
The lawsuit alleges the college board violated state open meetings law by not keeping adequate minutes, not recording meetings, not issuing proper public notice of meetings, requiring photo identification for the public to attend a meeting, failing to provide copies of an agenda at a public meeting and unlawfully discussing the plan in closed session.
After publication of this story, the college responded with a statement:
“Our commitment to the residents of Mecklenburg County and the first responders who serve them will not waver. Central Piedmont strongly disagrees with the allegations outlined, which are based on inaccurate claims.
“We will respond more specifically in court. We stand by our history of striving to comply with public records and open meeting requirements as a steward in the community. Our free speech policy provides for robust speech and debate while maintaining a respectful and secure campus environment.”
Student, attorney say they were banned from campus
Wednesday’s complaint said that visiting student Eboni Exceus of Charlotte left a March 12 Board of Trustees meeting before it went into closed session. School officials cited a statute that allows meetings to be closed to the public for “anti-terrorism planning,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged that a security guard followed her and took a picture of her license plate as she drove off, and she parked and went to query him about it.
Mecklenburg County Assistant Public Defender Mina Ezikpe left the meeting around the same time, the suit said, and security also followed her. She “went to investigate” when she saw the security guard recording, wanting to make sure Exceus was safe, the lawsuit said.
“Plaintiff Ezikpe and Plaintiff Exceus asked … why he was filming them, but he did not answer,” the lawsuit said. “He drove off in his golf cart.”
When they crossed the street to Exceus’ car, two more campus security guards were standing by it, the suit said. Exceus asked them to move so she could get in, and one of them told her she was banned from campus and would be arrested if she did not leave, according to the filing.
Both the attorney and the student were worried about being arrested, so they left, the lawsuit said.
In April, Ezikpe’s boss got a call and learned that she had been banned from Central Piedmont’s campus, the lawsuit said.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department officer claimed she was “swearing in a disrespectful and abusive manner toward the board members and/or CPCC security,” but no one watching the meeting was allowed to speak at all, it said.
The plaintiffs said in their lawsuit that they did not swear at staff or campus security.
“This ban from campus negatively impacts (Exceus’) ability to travel to campus to supplement her virtual class,” the complaint said.
Other concerns
Exceus, Ezikpe and three other plaintiffs alleged that Central Piedmont violated their rights.
Attorney Xavier Torres de Janon of Charlotte alleged he asked a school representative for an agenda at the March 12 meeting, “given the repeated references to a non-public agenda having been circulated to members of the Board,” but was told no such agenda existed.
Some plaintiffs were asked to show photo identification to security before going into the meeting, the suit alleged.
The plaintiffs want a judge to order the March 12 meeting nullified, along with any other meetings where the board allegedly broke state law.
They also want the board to “disclose the full, unredacted minutes of any closed, non-public meeting that occurred in violation of the Open Meetings Law.” Ezikpe and Exceus are asking for compensation after they were banned from campus.
Public safety dean says facility will be a boon for Matthews
The critics of the proposal have said they’re concerned about the environment and tree cutting for the $118 million project, which is expected to be finished in 2028.
As Charlotte grows, first responders need dedicated space to train together, Central Piedmont Public Safety Dean Luke Sell told The Charlotte Observer in an interview earlier this month.
The training center will feature simulations of places where police, firefighters and medics go — a bathroom where someone slipped and fell, a hotel and more.
“A SWAT team could be training on the ‘motel’ one day, and then one of our EMS personnel could be training in the ‘hospital’ the next day,” Sell said, adding that movable walls mean training center operators can simulate “just about any scenario.”
The facility is to have a driving course and a soundproof firing range. The school will add academic programs.
Right now, there is no dedicated facility for cross-training in the area, Sell said. There are “few and far between” opportunities for agencies training together, he said.
Central Piedmont says officials expect agencies from other parts of North Carolina and even from outside the state to use the new training center.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 5:30 AM.