Mayor outlines structure for productive city council meetings

CHARLOTTE, NC – Changes are on the way to Charlotte City Council meetings to increase productivity. WCCB obtained a memo from Mayor Vi Lyles to City Council about re-emphasizing the rules to improve the structure of the meetings. Even with less than six months left on their term, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles says council members should make the most of what’s left of their terms.

“My goal is to advance some of these things in August to help address some of the issues and concerns so that we can work better,” Mayor Lyles said.

Lyles would not answer specific questions about the memo from WCCB news, but she did address the memo in a city council committee meeting Monday evening.

In the memo, the mayor writes, “the past several months have been challenging and the public’s trust in this body has been tested.” Lyles says council members will get up to an hour at the end of every meeting to discuss items that aren’t on the agenda.

Former Councilman Braxton Winston says this brings back the Mayor and Council Topics portion of the meeting that was eliminated during the pandemic.

“It has the potential to relieve some of the stress that you hear from council members that the mayor might or the manager might have too much control over the agenda and don’t allow certain views to be heard,” Winston said.

Lyles says Councilmembers will also have time to add agenda items for upcoming meetings. She will also limit speaking time to three minutes per councilmember on each topic. Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera says this structure could make meetings more productive.

“We all want to work towards more transparent government and we all do,” Councilwoman Ajmera said. “We do not want to silence any voices. So I think this step forward will help us ensure that all voices are heard.”

Councilman Malcolm Graham sent an email to his colleagues and the Mayor outlining what he thinks will make meetings run smoother, including starting on time.

“There’s some internal cultural issues I think we need to address to ensure that, in fact, that we have meaningful dialog and the type of transparency that I think the council deserves to give to the community,” Councilman Graham said.

When the mayor mentioned the public’s trust has been tested, we still don’t know exactly what she’s referring to. We do know the city hired an attorney last month to investigate claims about unethical behavior on the council. The Mayor says the council will try out this structure for the month of August then revisit it to see how it’s working.