Charlotte’s Black mayors reveal hopes for Charlotte’s future — and issue a challenge
Advancing long-awaited transit plans and promoting private investment in the Black community are key to making Charlotte’s economy equitable, current and former mayors said Tuesday.
Mayor Vi Lyles joined former mayors Harvey Gantt and Patrick Cannon at the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum as part of its Black History Month series. Former Mayor Anthony Foxx also appeared via video call, which brought together every African American mayor in the city’s history.
The group discussed their personal journeys and hopes for Charlotte’s future.
The city “has been moving the needle” on growing wealth in the African American community, said Gantt, elected in 1983 as Charlotte’s first Black mayor. But he would’ve liked more “progress” in the decades since he left public office.
“In many ways, I see y’all doing the same thing we were trying to do, the city that is, 30-some years ago. That’s not progress to me,” Gantt said.
Lyles told attendees many of the city’s ongoing initiatives, including efforts to overhaul the region’s transportation system, will spur economic growth in communities of color and citywide, making Charlotte “one of the stars across this country.”
Transit ‘can have an impact’
Lyles, first elected in 2017 and now in her fourth term as mayor, advocated for the crowd to support the city’s transportation plans.
If the General Assembly approves a bill crafted by local officials last year, voters will decide the fate of a ballot referendum to raise Mecklenburg County’s sales tax to pay for transportation needs. The money would go towards expansion of train and bus services as well as road projects.
“There is a plan. There is a strategy,” Lyles told Tuesday’s audience. “... I hope at some point I’ll be able to say ‘thank you for your support.’”
Lyles said public transit is an integral part of the city’s economic development strategy that can help more residents access high-quality jobs, education and health care.
“If we can actually have trains, perhaps we can build houses next to trains, and people don’t have to spend $5,000 to buy a new car,” she said.
Gantt: Black leaders should invest in Charlotte
Gantt said Tuesday he wants to see more focus in the African American community on the private sector, not local government, driving economic growth.
“I think we should have gotten to the point where the city is not the major instrument by which we see economic improvement in our people,” he said.
The former mayor said he’s proud to see Charlotte’s Black population grow and more Black business leaders accumulate wealth. But he also wants to see those leaders investing more in their communities, both monetarily and with mentorship.
“What we need is an economy that, in fact, goes full force with an engine of private sector involvement by richer Black people in this community who are joining their resources to build solid businesses,” he said.
‘Go backwards in order to go forward’
Cannon said the city needs to be “more intentional to create some upward mobility.”
The former mayor, who resigned in 2014 after he was arrested on public corruption charges, noted that he focused on bringing back manufacturing jobs when in office. Charlotte’s transition from a blue collar community to more white collar jobs created an economic “imbalance,” he said.
Cannon called for current leaders to consider getting more involved again in job training programs and advocate to bring back events that have left Charlotte, such as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s basketball tournaments.
“Not in all things, but sometimes we should consider going backwards in order to go forward,” he said.
