Charlotte announces new city attorney to replace interim Anthony Fox
Charlotte will soon have a new city attorney.
The City Council unanimously selected Andrea Leslie-Fite, who has more than 18 years of local government experience and is currently the Guilford County attorney in Greensboro. Her first day will be Nov. 3, the city announced in a press release Friday.
Leslie-Fite is the president of the North Carolina Association of County Attorneys and previously served as senior assistant city attorney for Charlotte. She earned her law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“The City of Charlotte has a tremendous reputation across the state and across the country,” she said in the press release. “I was honored to previously work alongside many of the people who still work in the Charlotte City Attorney’s Office. I look forward to working with this dedicated team again as we deliver quality services.”
Leslie-Fite will replace interim attorney Anthony Fox, who entered the role on a wave of controversy last December.
The council voted 8-3 without debate to hire Fox on a temporary six-month contract in December, and later voted 7-3 to extend his contract for another six months. The city did not say what had happened to outgoing attorney Patrick Baker, who was hired in March 2019.
WFAE reported last October that Mayor Vi Lyles and a majority of the Charlotte City Council voted in closed session to “end” Baker’s employment, in part because he decided to fulfill a public records request from WFAE.
Baker later told The Charlotte Observer he officially retired. The terms of his contract said he would not receive severance if he resigned or was “terminated for good cause.”
Pay stubs obtained by the Observer through a public records request showed the city paid him $230,000 on his way out. The city declined to confirm whether those payments were part of a severance package.
The announcement did not say how much Leslie-Fite will be paid. Baker’s final salary was $297,143.36, plus a $4,800 yearly car allowance, 401(K) contributions and a cell phone.
