Vi Lyles is a strong mayor. Charlotte could use a little more of her right now

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles held a question and answer session with constituents Friday morning on Twitter. It did not start well.

Lyles, who began soliciting questions for the event a couple of days earlier, answered her first question three minutes into the hour-long session. Her second answer didn’t come for 20 minutes. The reason: Instead of taking and answering the questions live, Lyles addressed each with a separate video in a separate tweet. It wasn’t the most efficient use of technology. It felt scripted. It felt ... cautious.

There have been a few murmurings around Charlotte lately about the mayor. She’s done a handful of interviews and videos, but more than a week has passed since she stood in front of her city for a press conference, and she hasn’t been the visible presence during the coronavirus crisis that other city’s mayors have been.

In part that’s because Lyles has rightly deferred to Gov. Roy Cooper, who is the primary decision maker for COVID-19 responses in North Carolina, and Mecklenburg Health Director Gibbie Harris, who is the primary source of local public health information. In part, it’s also because unlike mayors in many cities, Charlotte’s doesn’t have a lot of actual power.

In Charlotte’s “weak mayor” government, a city manager runs the day-to-day operations, and the mayor votes only to break a city council tie. Even if Lyles wanted to, she couldn’t issue sweeping orders that restrict businesses or require that Charlotteans stay at home. She is, however, the public face of city government, one who can help guide the city through difficult times and issues and rally the city council around a vision for the future.

Lyles has been a formidable mayor, especially in the latter role. She’s strengthened the city’s relationship with the corporate community, and she led the council in building a financial and structural foundation to tackle the critical challenge of affordable housing. But in this extraordinary new crisis, Charlotteans may be looking for steady and comforting voices to lead us through challenges. It’s not Lyles’ nature to jump in front of a camera, but she certainly has the compassion and strength to serve that role well.

In fact, Lyles showed more of that in the second half of her Twitter Q&A Friday. She got over her skis a little bit in saying “at some point we might have to stop public transportation,” but in a question about small businesses, she told the story of a “dear friend” who had to shut down his 22-year business, and she promised that the council will be talking Monday about what the city can do to help business owners. “I want you to know that we’re going to be there,” she said.

Lyles also addressed important questions about North Carolina’s stay-at-home order and whether the Republican National Convention in August might be canceled. On RNC 2020, Lyles said the city will operate under the recommendations that Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies offer later this year. “We’ll see,” she said. On the possible extension of the stay-at-home order, Lyles similarly said the city will listen to health professionals and experts.

“I’m going to support whatever’s necessary for us to get better,” she said. “We’re going to tell you what we know, and what we can do.”

It was the last of seven answers she gave in her Twitter hour. Lyles says she’ll do one again soon. That’s good, and she also should consider more ways to answer the questions that didn’t make the cut Friday. Lyles has been a strong mayor in a weak mayor structure. Charlotte could use more of the steady leadership she can bring.

This story was originally published April 5, 2020 at 4:00 AM.