Charlotte City Council member alleges corruption amid reported CMPD settlement
Charlotte City Council member Victoria Watlington alleged corruption within city government in an email to supporters Tuesday night amid reports of a settlement with the city’s police chief.
The email, sent from her campaign account, begins with the words “Power Corrupts” and says she’s “extremely concerned with the level of unethical, immoral, and frankly, illegal activities occurring within City government.” The email also contains a “contribute to the cause” link that typically appears on top of Watlington’s campaign messages and directs to an ActBlue donation page for her council campaign.
“I have seen enough. Over the last five and a half years, I have witnessed the brazen disregard for dissenting opinions and the rule of law. Never, however, have I seen such an egregious example as what has occurred in the last week,” the email continues. “It is time for a change.”
The email did not specify what Watlington was referring to.
But it was sent the same day WSOC and WFAE reported the City Council agreed in closed session to a settlement with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings to prevent a potential lawsuit over now former-Council member Tariq Bokhari’s push to get new bulletproof vests for police officers.
Watlington told The Charlotte Observer she couldn’t discuss events in closed session but was speaking about “the culture of the organization and how work is done.”
The at-large Democrat, who’s been in office since 2019, said she’s concerned about “the use of disclosure, or lack of disclosure, to drive particular outcomes” and said “internal politics has spilled over into policy work.”
“That is not a new phenomenon,” she said. “This experience over the last week, however, has I think created a need to really sit down and look at how we’re operating and just really reevaluate fundamental baseline respect for our rules, for our roles and each other.”
Reported settlement with CMPD chief
WSOC, The Charlotte Observer’s news partner, reported council members voted during a closed session April 28 on a potential settlement but failed to meet the threshold for approval with multiple members absent from the meeting. During another closed session Monday, the previous vote was deemed to meet the six-member threshold under council rules because of a council member who left the meeting without being formally excused, according to WSOC.
The potential lawsuit reportedly stemmed from friction between Bokhari and Jennings over outer-carrier vests for police, including heated text messages previously reported by WFAE.
In a statement posted to social media Tuesday night, The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police said Charlotteans “should be outraged” over the reported settlement. The organization supported Bokhari in his push to get outer carrier vests for officers.
“While the city is negotiating paying out over hurt feelings, many Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers who are physically suffering feel the city pays no attention to them,” the FOP’s statement said.
Charlotte NAACP President Corine Mack confirmed to the Observer she filed an ethics complaint against Bokhari in January over the issue, claiming he and the FOP “began a crusade against” Jennings. WSOC reported two top Jennings aides advised her on her complaint, which Mack said was dismissed by interim City Attorney Anthony Fox for insufficient evidence.
Multiple City Council members declined to speak with an Observer reporter about a settlement deal. Bokhari, who now works for the Federal Transit Administration, also declined to comment.
Watlington: Council members need ‘need equal access to information’
Watlington told the Observer the situation on City Council “has come to a point where we’ve got to do something about how we operate, how we work, so that there is clarity and that there is optimal performance.”
Council members “need equal access to information,” consistency in how meetings are facilitated and to follow local and state rules, procedures and statutes, Watlington said.
“If everyone is operating under the same rules, and if everybody has respect enough for each other to have those conversations which require disclosure even if you think somebody’s not going to agree, then we get to better policy for the people,” she said.
Watlington believes she’s “certainly not the only one” with similar concerns.
“Unfortunately, I’m the only one who chooses to speak on something and just say what it is, because people have varying degrees of appetite to have a discussion, or maybe just have different viewpoints about the severity of things,” she said.
Mayor Vi Lyles said allegations of corruption are “wrong” when asked about Watlington’s email during an appearance Wednesday morning on WFAE’s Charlotte Talks.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about, but everybody on the council has an opinion, and so we’ll probably learn a little bit more,” she said.
Lyles said city leaders “follow the law and the processes that we adopt as policy makers.”
Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Watlington’s statement was “not based in reality, political rhetoric at best.”
Fellow Council member Marjorie Molina wrote in a thread on X Wednesday morning she’s “not ignoring the news.”
“I’ve read it all and I’m aware. It’s tough when private conversations become public controversy,” Molina wrote. “I’ve stayed quiet (because) I respect the seriousness of what was discussed and the responsibility that comes with it. I believe in accountability — but also in process, in trust, and in making space for the full story before rushing to conclusions.”
First elected in 2019 to represent District 3, Watlington is now an at-large council member and unsuccessfully sought mayor pro tem in 2023. She leads the city’s Housing, Safety and Community Committee and was the top vote-getter among council candidates in the last municipal election.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM.
