Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles’ attendance hits lowest point yet as she plans to resign

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has missed more than one-third of City Council meetings since December, marking the lowest attendance rate of her five-term tenure.

Lyles, the second-longest serving mayor in Charlotte history, announced Thursday she will resign at the end of June and won’t seek reelection. She did not offer a specific reason beyond being able to spend more time with her grandchildren.

The decision follows a sharp change in her meeting presence after years of gradual decline.

The Charlotte Observer reported last year that council members were starting to take notice of her absences, particularly during zoning meetings. Beginning with her fourth term, Lyles almost never attended zoning meetings from start to finish, if at all. She has only attended two zoning meetings since the start of 2025.

Councilman Malcolm Graham emailed the mayor and the rest of City Council about the issue in July, noting her “participation has been limited and her absence felt.”

Lyles explained the issue at the time by telling the Observer she wanted to give then-Mayor Pro Tem Dante Anderson experience facilitating meetings. The mayor pro tem can only lead meetings in the mayor’s absence.

But Lyles continued to miss zoning meetings this term, too, after the City Council appointed a new mayor pro tem in longtime councilman James Mitchell.

Her current attendance rate across all City Council meetings is 61.1%, down from 82.2% last term.

Lyles did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Why has Lyles’ attendance rate dropped?

Here is a breakdown of the mayor’s attendance over time, according to an Observer analysis of meeting minutes and recordings:

• First term: Seven missed meetings for a 92.9% attendance rate
• Second term: 11 missed meetings for a 91.2% attendance rate
• Third term: Nine missed meetings for an 85.3% attendance rate (this was an abbreviated term due to COVID disruptions)
• Fourth term: 16 missed meetings for an 82.2% attendance rate
• Fifth term: Seven missed meetings so far for a 61.1% attendance rate

The sharp drop from last year isn’t as seismic as the raw numbers suggest.

Zoning accounts for a disproportionate number of meetings this term compared to last because the City Council no longer holds meetings with the full council and mayor on committee days. And one business meeting was canceled due to winter weather.

Aside from zoning — she has missed all five — Lyles has been absent from two meetings. One of those absences was to attend a hearing on safety with the House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform in Raleigh, where Lyles answered legislators’ questions.

Still, her attendance habits have noticeably shifted compared to earlier years. For example, she has missed as many meetings during the first five months of her current term as she missed during the entirety of her first term.

How does Lyles’ attendance compare to City Council?

Lyles has missed at least twice as many meetings as any council member besides Renee Perkins Johnson, who missed a string of meetings beginning in March to take care of a sick loved one.

Mitchell, who became mayor pro tem in December, has made the biggest attendance improvement and turned his record around. Mitchell consistently held the worst attendance rate of anybody on council since at least 2015, according to meeting minutes.

Last term marked a low point. He later told WSOC he had been battling bladder cancer and underwent two surgeries during that time.

When the Observer reported on attendance records in August, Mitchell had been absent from about one-third of meetings. He has only missed a single meeting since and went on his longest attendance streak in the 11 years for which the Observer reviewed records. That streak ended on May 4 during a midday strategy meeting where the city manager presented his budget proposal.

The mayor pro tem role will take on added importance after Lyles resigns, with Mitchell likely carrying out some of the mayor’s responsibilities until the City Council appoints an interim mayor.

The rest of the City Council has missed three or fewer meetings.

Here’s how they stack up, from best to worst attendance:

• Dante Anderson, District 1: 100%
• JD Mazuera Arias, District 5: 100%
• Dimple Ajmera, at-large: 94.4%
• Ed Driggs, District 7: 94.4%
• Joi Mayo, District 3: 94.4%
• Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell: 94.4%
• Kimberly Owens, District 6: 94.4%
• LaWana Slack-Mayfield, at-large: 94.4%
• Malcolm Graham, District 2: 88.9%
• Victoria Watlington, at-large: 83.3%
• Mayor Vi Lyles: 61.1%
• Renee Perkins Johnson, District 4: 61.1%

Nick Sullivan

The Charlotte Observer

Nick Sullivan is the city reporter for The Charlotte Observer. Before moving to the Queen City, he covered the Arizona Department of Education for The Arizona Republic, where he received national recognition for investigative reporting from the Education Writers Association. He also covered K-12 schools at The Colorado Springs Gazette. Nick is one of those Ohio transplants everybody likes to complain about, but he’s learning the ways of the South. When he’s not on the clock, he’s probably eating his weight in brisket at Midwood Smokehouse.