Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles is doing a pretty poor job prioritizing our tax money | Opinion
My wife and I have frequently ridden the LYNX Blue Line train since the outset, but now we are concerned about riding anywhere after sunset. It’s impossible to go to NoDa or Uptown without being aggressively panhandled at the stations, on the trains and on the streets.
Mayor Vi Lyles seems to think that when the Panthers, Hornets, NASCAR or developers need funding, it is her responsibility to deliver the Benjamins. But when CATS needs more police for security, where has Lyles been?
That secretive $300k payout to the police chief could have gone towards a couple more cops. In my mind, Lyles’ number one job is to keep the citizens of Charlotte safe and find the money to do it. She is doing a pretty poor job!
Terry Keith, Charlotte
Political violence
The hate that is being preached between this nation’s two major political parties will be the death of our republic if we continue down our current path. As a Democrat, I did not agree with much of anything that Charlie Kirk believed, but I did honor his right to say what he thought. I also believed in the right of the slain Minnesota Democratic lawmaker, Melissa Hortman, to govern in the manner she saw fit. After all, she was elected.
This is not a partisan problem. It is a problem for the entire nation. If you are a middle-aged or older, you know that the last ten years have returned us to a very dangerous political climate. Not since the Sixties has our nation seen so much political violence. We figured it out then for a while, and we can again.
Benjamin Harris, Charlotte
Facilities shutdown
You have to go back almost 40 years when Ronald Reagan was president to ascribe responsibility for the tragic killing on a Charlotte train of Iryna Zarutska. He affected the closing of many mental health facilities under the guise of strict conservatism, to save taxpayers dollars on so-called unnecessary liberal “fantasies.” Instead the money was spent on weaponry, long since sitting in junkyards rusting.
David Loughran, Indian Trail
Horrible, abhorrent
Charlie Kirk’s murder was horrible and abhorrent. Too much of the reaction has been horrible and abhorrent. President Donald Trump, with no evidence, immediately blamed the murder on “the radical left.” Too many others immediately piled on.
Trump did nothing after a Democratic lawmaker was murdered in Minnesota, or when the CDC headquarters was shot up and a police officer killed. His opportunistic politicization of these tragedies encourages further anger and division, and is also horrible and abhorrent.
Pat McCoy, Charlotte
No tax
Vote no for the Mecklenburg transit tax. It is time to replace the entire Charlotte Area Transit System staff. All the problems are a result of CATS’ inability to preempt issues. My vote will be no for the transit tax. CATS should not get all that money to do as they please. Clean house and start over with new people, new ideas and better planning before we expand the rail system.
Tom Klipp, Matthews
Going green
While Trump takes our country backward by squashing clean energy projects as quickly as he can, the article “States fast-track wind, solar permits and contracts to beat Trump’s deadline” reveals efforts to keep the transition to green energy going forward.
Clean energy tax credits will expire July 4, 2026, and projects must start before this date or be operational by the end of 2027. Many states are creating fast-tracking methods to accelerate permitting, and several governors “pushing regulators and utilities to connect as many projects as possible before the tax credits expire.
I am inspired by the efforts of so many people striving for a cleaner environment in the face of our current federal challenges.
Debra George, Charlotte