Charlotte planning director ‘not one bit concerned’ after councilman demands his firing

Just days before a fiercely divided City Council is expected to vote on the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, one elected official says he wants to see Charlotte’s planning director fired in the wake of his handling of the plan.

Planning director Taiwo Jaiyeoba, in turn, scoffed at that possibility during an exclusive interview Friday with The Charlotte Observer.

“I am not one bit concerned about my job security,” said Jaiyeoba, who is also an assistant city manager. Council member Tariq Bokhari is the one calling for Jaiyeoba’s dismissal.

Bokhari and other district representatives are opposed to one of the plan’s most controversial policies, which would allow multifamily units like duplexes and triplexes to be built in traditionally single-family neighborhoods.

Opponents say this will accelerate gentrification and harm vulnerable residents who are supposed to gain protection through the proposal, while advocates see it as a major step for inclusion and expanding Charlotte’s affordable housing stock.

“My reputation is intact and my colleagues in the industry respect me very well... I don’t need to have any second doubt or second-guess myself with what I am doing,” Jaiyeoba said of the plan’s development.

Drama before the big vote

The increasing hostilities could likely be a prelude to Monday’s zoning meeting when Council votes on adopting the plan.

Mayor Vi Lyles has begged City Council members to stop hurling disparaging remarks at one another and at city employees. Lyles’ patience has visibly diminished toward Bokhari in recent weeks.

Bokhari, one of two Republicans on the City Council, has castigated Jaiyeoba at meetings for his handling of revisions to the land-use document. The massive plan outlines an equitable strategy for growth and development in Charlotte over the next two decades.

On Thursday,Bokhari took to Twitter to say: “We MUST delay the Comp Plan vote, and as a City we must demand with a unified voice the City Manager fire the City Planner on the grounds of ethical failures.”

City Manager Marcus Jones, in a statement Friday to the Observer, defended Jaiyeoba.

“I have complete confidence in our Planning Department and our Planning Director Taiwo Jaiyeoba,” Jones said. “I have committed to the Mayor and Council to review the overall process and identify any areas where we can improve. There have been dozens of people and multiple departments that have been developing this plan over the past several years, which included a robust public engagement process.”

Jaiyeoba said he has not yet discussed Bokhari’s tweet with Jones.

In his tweet thread, Bokhari also linked to a WFAE report that Jaiyeoba selectively cited positive poll results earlier this year on a possible Mecklenburg County transit sales tax. The National Resources Defense Council released the full poll results to WFAE, which showed residents ranked priorities like public education and reducing crime ahead of public transit and traffic congestion.

Bokhari said the omissions were “an example of how the City Planner regularly operates.” In February, Bokhari and other Council member questioned if the poll sample accurately reflected residents’ perspectives, the Observer previously reported.

‘Just not productive’

During public meetings and in a recent interview with the Observer, Bokhari accused Jaiyeoba and his team of not listening to Council’s complaints over the plan. Bokhari also has pinned part of the blame on Jones’ leadership.

When Lyles recently suggested that Council members meet with Jones and Jaiyeoba in small groups to move beyond their differences on the 2040 plan, Bokhari balked at that idea, envisioning staff further dividing representatives.

”The city manager has allowed the planning director to completely bungle this entire process and make it his own personal ambition project,” Bokhari told the Observer, prior to his tweet calling for Jaiyeoba to be fired.

“At the end of the day, I firmly believe the planning director is the ultimate person accountable for why we’re in this terrible situation, which was a disaster of our own making,” Bokhari said of the divided Council, which may adopt the plan with only a 6-5 vote.

Jaiyeoba — who’s helped lead major planning and transportation initiatives in major cities across the U.S. — said he does not pay attention to personal attacks.

But, Jaiyeoba said, his staff is willing to listen to criticism over the plan and the public engagement process to improve the quality of life for Charlotte residents.

“I can’t make this about any individual,’ Jaiyeoba said, acknowledging some mistakes in the 2040 plan were inevitable due to its sheer scope. ”It is just not productive and it just hurts the process.”

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 1:20 PM.