These are the questions Charlotte’s government never answered in 2025
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- The Observer has several outstanding public records requests to Charlotte agencies.
- Records could address recent stabbings, Border Patrol activity and grant oversight.
- Public agencies must respons “as promptly as possible” under state law.
The Charlotte Observer is waiting for local government to fulfill a half-dozen public records requests heading into the new year.
Those records could shed light on circumstances surrounding recent stabbings, hate crime incidents and internal discussions about Border Patrol.
Anybody , regardless of whether they work in news, can request records from public agencies such as city government, law enforcement, schools and courts. Those agencies must release documents that are considered a public record.
Some exceptions apply. Some police and personnel records are excluded from public record, for example. And sensitive information or the names of minors can be redacted from files like police reports or school records.
But public bodies by and large have to respond to requests “as promptly as possible” and release records when asked, according to state law.
These are the questions local government still hasn’t answered.
The city of Charlotte
The Observer has several outstanding requests with the city. The earliest was filed on Sept. 12.
That request asked for nearly two years’ worth of emails between employees with the Charlotte Area Transit System and Professional Security Services, the private company contracted to provide security on city transit.
The Observer also requested all internal CATS communications discussing the performance of, and any security-related incidents under, the security firm.
PSS landed in the spotlight after the fatal Aug. 22 stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska while riding the Blue Line light rail.
The North Carolina State Auditor’s Office released a report in the fallout questioning the process Charlotte used to hire the security firm. Requests for security contract proposals were targeted to businesses registered with the city’s diversity program. State Auditor Dave Boliek said the practice limited contracts “to only firms that meet a DEI checkbox” and “raises questions as to whether politics has taken priority over public safety.”
It’s unclear what discussions looked like behind the scenes without communications records, but city officials have publicly stood behind the security firm.
“The report appears to suggest that PSS is not qualified but fails to offer specific evidence to support this conclusion,” Mayor Vi Lyles wrote in a response letter to Boliek’s office. “PSS has met contract requirements and continues to provide satisfactory services.”
The Observer also filed two requests on Nov. 24 and 25. One sought email and text exchanges involving Lyles or any City Council members that discussed Border Patrol. The federal agency landed in Charlotte on Nov. 15 for what the Department of Homeland Security dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web.” Federal agents spent five days arresting people in public places.
Another request asked for scoring information from City Council members’ evaluation of the finalists for the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority. The MPTA is a new board that will oversee billions of dollars under the voter-approved 1% sales tax referendum. Council selected 7 of the 27 new board members in November.
The city partially fulfilled the Observer’s Oct. 20 request for records relating to Heal Charlotte, a housing nonprofit that reportedly lacked proper documentation for more than half of the expenses under a $2.25 million grant awarded by the city. Charlotte pulled future funding eligibility from the nonprofit until it resolves the issues.
The Observer requested a copy of the monitoring report that detailed the findings and all communications between the city and the nonprofit between July and October.
Spokesperson Jack VanderToll provided the Observer with a copy of the contract and monitoring report. The city still has not released communications between the two parties.
Police and county records
The Observer requested data on every incident the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has investigated since 2019 that falls under general statute hate crime laws. That request, filed July 14, is still pending after multiple follow-ups.
CMPD told the Observer there’s no expected date of completion due to the size of the request.
The Observer also has yet to receive the personnel file for now-former Deputy County Manager Anthony Trotman it requested from Mecklenburg County on July 19. The news outlet asked for all parts of the file that are subject to state public records law.
The request was filed after WFAE reported Trotman had been “pushed out” by new County Manager Mike Bryant. Bryant told the Observer days later Trotman was “transitioning out of the organization,” and a county spokesperson declined to provide additional comment at the time. Trotman has since been named executive director of the Katie Blessing Foundation, the nonprofit leading the construction of the Katie Blessing Center pediatric mental health care facility in east Charlotte.
Unanswered questions
Not all questions were submitted as formal records requests.
The Observer asked a number of questions by email following the second light rail stabbing earlier this month that never received a direct response. Most haven’t been answered despite multiple follow-up requests.
CATS has not told reporters how many security officers were deployed throughout the Blue Line at the time of the stabbing. The agency pledged after the first stabbing to increase the number of security guards patrolling transit property but noted it would be impossible to have guards on every train.
It’s also unclear what current system-wide staffing levels look like, how many armed and unarmed guards there are and whether fare enforcement has increased. Neither of the suspects in the two stabbings are believed to have bought tickets, according to CATS.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has supplied all relevant records the Observer has requested since the beginning of 2025. The school district, however, has not clarified under what circumstances, if any, parents will be notified of immigration enforcement operations nearby one of its campuses.
The Observer initially requested this information Sept. 10. CMS has offered guidance to schools and school employees about what to do if immigration enforcement agents come physically onto a CMS campus, but as federal border patrol agents descended upon the city in November, several parents told The Observer they’re more concerned about immigration activity nearby a campus than on it.
One CMS parent was previously detained nearby Charlotte East Language Academy in May. At several campuses, parents stood watch outside during pickup and drop-off the week of Nov. 17 to ensure students and parents were able to make it safely to and from school
Reporters Jeff Chamer, Rebecca Noel and Mary Ramsey contributed to this story.
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
