North Carolina State Auditor Goes After Charlotte City Council

Republican state auditor Dave Boliek is investigating the City of Charlotte for "the $100,000 to $300,000 in public dollars may have been given" to police chief Johnny Jennings to avoid a potential lawsuit.

City staff have not confirmed to the public how much money was paid or even whether a payment exists, as Boliek underscored in a letter sent Tuesday to Charlotte City Council.

"Even if the payment was worth one penny, it should be disclosed to the public in a timely and transparent matter," Boliek wrote. "There is no tax dollar free from public scrutiny."

According to multiple media reports, the council voted behind closed doors on May 5 to pay Jennings $300,000 so he would not take legal action against the city for comments former council member Tariq Bokhari made.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles would later publicly apologize to the Chief saying in part that she should have spoken up sooner. 

In texts published by WFAE, Bokhari told Jennings he would call on the chief's resignation and work to "cripple" his legacy if he did not agree to let officers wear outer carrier vests.

The city has not confirmed the settlement. Instead, officials — including interim City Attorney Anthony Fox and City Council member Malcolm Graham — have discussed investigating leaks of information to the media.

Meanwhile, the Fraternal Order of Police is taking a no-confidence vote against Jennings, and fractures within council are being revealed.

"It is my understanding there is a possibility that as much as $100,000 to $300,000 in public dollars may have been given to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings for a legal settlement that may have been entered into by the City Council," Boliek wrote in his letter.

Boliek continued, "This is only what has been gathered by the Auditor's Office from news reports, social media, and conversation. The truth of the matter remains unclear."

The reported settlement may be higher than Jennings' yearly salary of just over $280,000.

Boliek remarked that the mayor's office could quickly release information that answers some of the most pressing questions — "which I strongly encourage."

Per state law, the city can vote on settlements behind closed doors, but it must publicly share the terms "as soon as possible" after finalizing the deal, as the Charlotte Observer reported.

However, the city has a poor track record of timeliness and transparency, from taking excessive time to fulfill public records requests to failing to publish city minutes.

The settlement fiasco has revealed ruptures within the council. WSOC reported that one council member's vote was counted as a "yes" because they left the room without being formally excused. That brought the tally to six votes, just enough for the settlement to pass.

Cedar's Take:

Liberal media even Axios which is somewhat more centric are fast to point out the Boliek who holds an elected position is a Republican. 

But his criticism of Charlotte City Council is well founded. What city government or any elected body would be allowed to settle a "pending lawsuit" that had little if any merit without a full understanding and public discourse or record meeting minutes as much as 3 years after the meeting has concluded. 

Currently the city clerk is only 26 months behind which is a nice improvement over 2022. But in a real world setting of local government, meeting minutes are formally entered into the record at the next following meeting. 

The city staff explain that since there is a video posted the next day the minutes are an unnecessary burden. 

Let's face facts the Mayor is ceremonial the council are all democrats with the exception of the two "Ed's" - Ed Peacock and "bidenesque" Ed Driggs neither of which have the drive to out the grift and DEI hires. Bravo to Dave Boliek for pointing out the obvious.

But the City of Charlotte's troubles run deeper than just sketchy City Council. It is clear to long time residents there has been a noticeable change in just about everything. 

Streets and Roads are awful

Street signs are in sad shape or completely missing.  

Traffic Enforcement is nearly non-existent.

Public Parks are unsafe

Every intersection is covered with litter and accident debris.

City management is disproportionately African American.

Police Call response time and 911 are far from what they used to be.

Solid Waste is a circus.   

Cost of city water is outrageous.

Property Tax is insane.

And it is only going to get worse.