Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,
my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron,
go to vpekclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the
subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your
smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for
your support. So an open letter to the Charlotte City
Council and the citizens of Charlotte. I don't know who
has seen this or reported on this, but I figured
this woman wrote took the time to write this letter,
and she sums up the issues going on with our
local governance very very well. And it is titled an
open letter, and so I don't think she would mind
if I read it. Her name is Robin Emmons. She
lives in District three in the Paw Creek neighborhood. Now
she is, I looked her up. She's a farmer and
an activist. She created a nonprofit called So Much Good,
So Sow, So Much Good nonprofit and they grow and
distribute farm fresh produce for underserved communities. She's been recognized
nationally for this work, and so she wrote this letter.
Now I don't know if she has any plans to
run for office, for a city council seat or anything.
I don't, but I appreciate her doing this, She says
to the Mayor Ylyles, the members of Charlotte City Council,
and my fellow citizen. So this is addressed to you
if you live in Charlotte. As a resident of Charlotte
and a constituent of District three, I write today with
deep concern about the state of leadership and integrity in
our city. Recent events have not only shaken my confidence
in those elected to serve us, they have revealed troubling
patterns that continue to erode public trust and delegitimize institutions
across our nation. The federal indictment of Councilwoman Tijuana Brown,
who represents my district, is only the latest in a
growing list of alarming developments within our city government and
related public institutions. Councilwoman Brown stands accused of wire fraud
and conspiracy involving more than one hundred and twenty four
thousand dollars in COVID relief funds beyond the disturbing details
of how those funds were reportedly used. I'm left wondering,
where is the self regulation we expect from our leaders.
The discipline to a void even the appearance of wrongdoing,
especially when operating under fragile public trust and preparing to
ask for it again, it should be foundational.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: The discipline to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing should
be foundational. These charges, compounded by a prior conviction for
fraud and time served in federal prison, demand thoughtful scrutiny.
While Councilwoman Brown maintains her innocence and emphasizes that the
allegations pre date her time in office, her claim that
these charges reflect attacks based on race and her refusal
to step down further undermine public confidence. I found this
framing not only unsatisfactory, but deeply troubling. As a black woman,
I do not offer this feedback to minimize these systemic
injustices that persist in our legal and political systems. They
are real, and they are ongoing, but we must not
use the language of systemic injustice to Exciteskew's individual misconduct.
When Councilwoman Brown stated that quote the Justice system doesn't
favor people who look like me as a deflection from
legitimate inquiry, it rang not just hollow, it rang careless.
To invoke that truth as a political shield in this
context is a disservice to those who are fighting every
day for a more just and equitable society. But Councilwoman
Brown is not alone. The allegations against Mecklenburg County Sheriff
Gary McFadden are also deeply disturbing. While the sheriff has
received praise for his quote no nonsense leadership style, his
tenure has also been marked by troubling reports a toxic
workplace for deputies, retaliation against staff, public humiliation of employees,
and the use of racially charged and demeaning language. These
concerns are compounded by a dramatic spike in jailed deaths
during his tenure, higher than under previous sheriffs with similar
time in office. Accolades from AFAR cannot erase the very
real harm experienced here at home by employees, by community members,
and by families who have lost loved ones while in
county custody. It should be clear to Sheriff McFadden that
recognition does not outweigh the duty to lead with professionalism, transparency,
and integrity. In yet another blow to public confidence, the
city recently approved a three hundred thousand dollars settlement to
police Chief Johnny Jennings in a closed door council session,
reportedly to avoid a lawsuit. No explanation was provided to
the public. This lack of transparency has triggered an investigation
by the North Carolina State Auditor, who reminded us, quote,
there is no tax dollar free from public scrutiny. I
wholeheartedly agree. I write this not in haste and not
to shame. None of us are perfect, but I do
believe that those called to serve and entrusted to lead
must be held to a higher standard. This is not
just about Charlotte. Across this country, disinformation, corruption and political
apathy are feeding public disillusionment and fraying the very fabric
of civil society. Like the rule of law, governance only
works when we all agree to believe in it, when
we trust in the efficacy of our leaders and the
legitimacy of the rules. We and Charlotte are not immune.
And while I do not call for a rush to judgment,
due process matters when the noise of scandal grows so
loud that it drowns out the ability to govern. We
must ask does continued service benefit the city or detract
from it. This is a question for every council member
who bears responsibility not just to their office, but to
the people who placed them there. Holding office is not
a right, it is a responsibility, and clinging to power
in spite of all else reflects a deeper problem, one
that has failed too many communities time and again. Charlotte
deserves better. We deserve leaders who reflect the best of
our values, honesty, humility, accountability, and a clear eyed commitment
to public service. Let this moment be a turning point,
not toward further division, but toward ethical leadership and civic renewal.
Charlotte has long positioned itself as a shining city of
the New South. If that identity is to mean anything today,
it must be reflected in how we govern, not just
in growth or branding, but in the integrity of our
leadership and the trust we build with those we serve,
with respect and hope for our city's future. Signed Robin Emmons,
District three, Paul Creek Neighborhood ps. I write not only
as a concerned citizen, but as part of a growing
national effort to restore the moral center of public life.
The Citizens Project twenty twenty five is a call to
action for local ambassadors, engaged neighbors, and everyday people to
step up, speak out, and demand better from those who lead.
Charlotte has the potential to model what courageous, transparent and
people first governance can look like. Let's begin here again.
That's the Citizens Project twenty twenty five. And she did
a marvelous job with this letter. I read it this
weekend and I shared it on social media. She sums
it up right from McFadden Gary, not my fault McFadden,
Tijuana Brown. The behavior of the Charlotte City Council with
regards to the police chief. The police chief, what are
you people doing? You know, what are y'all doing? Because
this is not dare I call it the Charlotte way.
This has never been what we're seeing now with what's
going on in Charlotte politics. Now, I can tell you
as one who covered city council, County Commission, the school board. Okay,
maybe the school board they were always kind dysfunctional, but
the other two this was never the way that Charlotte
leadership behaved. This is new. So last night the Charlotte
City Council had its first meeting since all of this
stuff blew up, with the settlement with the police chief,
the payoff, and the indictment of Tijuana Brown. And she
was there last night. There was a public forum. Not
a single person addressed her or these issues. However, at
the end of the meeting, Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield she raised
an issue not on the agenda. The real issue, the
one that she really wants to get to the bottom of,
is who the hell's been talking to the media? Right
They're on a mole hunt. She wants that to begin
post taste. How do we get the ball rolling on
the mole hunt to find out who has been talking
to the media from the closed sessions that city Council
has been holding, who's been leaking stuff to the media, Because,
as we all know, snitches get censured or an ethics
complain violation filed against them or something. All right, So
spring is here a time of renewal and celebrations. You've
got graduations, weddings, anniversaries and the special days for mom
and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to
last a lifetime. But let me ask you are all
of those treasured moments from days gone by? Are they
hidden away on old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos slides?
Are they preserved? Because over time, these precious memories can
fade and deteriorate, losing the magic of yesterday. At Creative Video,
they help you protect what matters most. Their expert team
digitizes your cherished family moments and transfer them onto a
USB drive, freezing them in time so they can be
enjoyed for generations to come. I urge you do not
wait until it's too late this spring. Celebrate your past.
Visit Creative Video today and let them preserve your legacy
with the love and care that it deserves. Creative Video
Preserving Family Memories since nineteen ninety seven. Located in mint Hill,
just off four eighty five. Mail orders are accepted to
get all the details that create a video. Dot Com
got an email from Jonathan Pete based on the amazing
letter you just read, I just braved, not Googled. Yes,
I use Brave as well. Brave is the browser of choice. Okay,
if you don't want to be tracked, don't want like
all of the cookies and all of the ad tracking
and pop ups and everything else you want to swap
out your browser for Brave. Brave was created by Brendan Iike.
I've talked about this over the years. I'm a big fan.
This was the guy who created Firefox, Mozilla, Firefox, that
browser which I used to use, and I was happy
with Firefox. And then his board of directors removed him
from his own company like he did Firefox, and they
fired him because he made a five hundred dollars donation
to Prop eight in California, which was to define marriages
between a man and a woman. And when the voter
or sorry, the donor list to prop eate got hacked
and disclosed, they went hunting for people on the donor
list and they found him, and the leftists whipped up
this mob and they got him fired. And then after
I guess he sat out long enough for his non
compete to expire, he went and built another browser which
is superior to all others, Brave. So anyway, back to
the email from Jonathan, based on the amazing letter you
just read, I braved the above Citizens Project twenty twenty five.
In the first two options, I got were ACLU dot
org and the Project twenty twenty five from Heritage Foundation
that has gotten so much flak from the left. Is
that what she was mentioning. I don't know, I've not
heard of the Citizens Project twenty twenty five. I believe
she is politically on the left. So if I had
to pick one of those two, I would say ACLU.
But I don't know. I don't know what the Citizens
Project is. She just made this little PostScript. The Citizens
Project twenty twenty five is a call to action for
local ambassadors, engaged neighbors and everyday people to step up,
speak out, and demand better from those who lead. So
I don't know what else, what else that organization is
about or the effort, But I just read her letter
because it was addressed to you, so you know, and
me all Charlotte residents. So there you go. But yeah,
i'd be interested. Maybe I'll maybe I'll brave it during
the during the break. All right, So let me get
to the Charlotte City Council meeting last night. The most
important thing that the city council members need to wrestle
with right now is who has been telling media stuff
from closed session? How dare they inform the public about
things that they are doing in closed session. So Lewana
Mayfield said, hey, we need to get the ball rolling
on investigations here.
Speaker 3: The way our system is set up because of North
Carolina General Assembly legislative language, I must ask my colleagues
to be recused in order to not be present at
a closed session meeting. I have concerns regarding our closed
session meetings because quite a few of those meetings, honestly,
before we even leave the meeting, the information has been
shared with the media, which is in direct opposition of
the oath, one of the oaths that we take, but
also legislative policy.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. So people are well, just look to
see who's on their phone. Then if some like if
stuff is leaking out in the middle of the closed session,
like Joe Bruno is getting direct texts and Brett Jensen
is getting you know, notes in real time about what's
going on, then you know what, then maybe just look
across the table and look to see who's on their phones.
But this is so there's two parts of her comments here,
two parts. So one is and Renee Johnson will also
pick up on this, which is, if I leave the
closed session. Why is my so counted as a yes?
And this question has come up? This actually state law,
So this question came up. A lot of people were
unaware of that. That's one component. But then the other
component is who's leaking?
Speaker 3: Mister Fox, I need to get an understanding of what
is the process for there to be any research on
what ability or inability we have. Let's say we're going
to go. We announced from this diast that we're getting
ready to go in the closed session. If I was
to say, okay, clerk, go ahead and put me down
as a note because I'm not going to be attended
this closed session, I don't know if I would be
able to do that because the way that our policy
language is written, you must be in attendance. If you
are not in attendance, then that is an automatic yes vote.
Speaker 2: What do you.
Speaker 3: Need in order for you to move forward to one?
Do an investigation and or identify can their language to
say no sail phones, no smartphones, no nothing in our
closed session so that we can have a meeting that
doesn't be reported to the immediate media immediately afterwards. Because
there are a lot of important discussions that we have
and the information is going to be released through the
close office after decision anyway.
Speaker 1: Not necessarily just if well, I mean, I could tell you,
like I'm old enough to remember when this issue came
up with Chief Jennings's settlement, right, Yeah, you guys weren't
going to tell anybody about that, were you. It was
only because Jennings and the city attorney waived confidentiality. That
settlement agreement had in it a confidentiality clause that they
were not supposed to talk about any of the details
in the settlement. So don't tell me that, Oh, the
city clerk is going to publish the results after the
votes anyway, No, she won't. You know, how do you
know how far back in arrears they are on minutes?
You're like, this is truly amazing to me in today's
day and age with all of the AI stuff, and
they have a clerk that is trying to put minutes
of the meetings out and they still can't seem to
catch up. It's unbelievable. Back in my day, literally back
in my day, when there were no AI things to
help out, it was just Brenda Freeze typing away and
then the minutes would be posted like within a day
or two you had a complete transcript of everything that
happened at the city council meeting. So yeah, I don't
put a lot of faith and confidence in the city's
ability or willingness to produce this information after the fact
if it's not required. And boohoo hoo. You have some
city council members that feel like this information should actually
be public and the city is not going to be
making it public, so they are leaking it out. Good
for them, Good for them. Here's a great idea. How
about making an escape to a really special and secluded
getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up
the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether
you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to
plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together
for a big old reunion, Cabins of Asheville has the
ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your
loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within
the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest,
their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the
entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the
perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local
attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi
Fi grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch.
Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a
great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville
has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and
they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two
eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out
all there is to offer at Cabins of Aashville dot
com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. All right, So,
the Charlotte City Council last night meets and one of
Charlotte City Council members calling for an investigation into their
closed session meetings, mainly the people who are going to
the media, the city council members who tell the media
stuff that goes on in the closed session, which, by
the way, that has occurred, that's been occurring ever since
there were closed meetings and a media so moral compass
on Twitter points out it's a pete tweet points out
a mole aka a whistleblower. Right, something is going on
in the closed session that should not be going on
in closed session. The people have a right to know
what's going on. And a city council member then goes
and tells a member of the media, this is what
happened in the closed session and Lewana Mayfield, Councilwoman Mayfield
is keen to start the investigation to find out who
has been telling the citizens of Charlotte what's been going
on with their tax dollars?
Speaker 3: Or is that something that I can request or is
that something that has to come for as a council
vote with majority.
Speaker 2: What does that look like, Councilman Mayful, there are several
questions that you have raised in your address. First of all,
you're correct. So it's a it's a product of the
state law that provides that if a member who attends
a meeting leads that meeting, that that member is counted
in the affirmative as a vote when they are not
excused from that meeting. The law provides that you are
excused when you can demonstrate to the council that you
have a financial or peculiary interest in the matter absent
that your colleagues should not technically allow one to be excused.
So are your ability to announce that you are no
vote and not attend a closed session meeting would not
have the way that you would like for it to
have because your vote would be counted in the affirmative.
Speaker 1: So this only applies obviously if the council member comes
to the meeting first, right, So the way they do
their meetings, well, first they have their dinner meeting. They
do like a workshop kind of a deal, and that's
televised you can watch. But then they go downstairs to
the full chamber they have their meeting. And so if
you show up at any point for the open sessions
and then the council votes to go into closed session
and you do not go into the closed session, that's
still part of the same meeting, and so your vote
is counted as a yes. So let's say the meeting,
the open meeting is running like four hours. They used
to cover those all the time. They would drag on
to eleven twelve o'clock at night, you know, and then
they would go into a closed session. So let's say, like,
I can't stay I got a flight to catch, this
meeting has gone way too long or whatever, and so
you bail. Now, every vote that comes up after that
you get counted as a yes. So and again that's
state law for all municipalities. Now, if you just don't
show up to any of the poor, the open or
the close, you just don't show up that night for
the meetings, then you're not counted one way or the other.
So that's the only way to avoid having a vote
counted as a yes on something if you can't stick
around for the whole meeting. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: Now? With regards to closed session, Council Member Wallerston has
raised a question that office is looking at about a
bifurcated approach to the meeting where you have a separate
notice of the closed session as well as the business meeting,
and we are evaluating that option. There's some hurdles to that,
but we're looking to respond to that.
Speaker 1: So this is not a new issue. Apparently this has
been raised before. It makes me wonder, what exactly have
you guys been doing in closed session that has created
this kind of animosity and confusion and leaking. Right, what
haven't we heard about to the point where councilwoman Victoria Watlington,
who recall about a week ago, had accused the city
and the council of unethical and maybe illegal behavior. So
she is suggesting that you do separate notices because the
law requires you to issue a public notice for a
public meeting. You've got to give people, you know, enough
time to go to the meeting, you have to advertise
where it is and all of that, and so there
are all sorts of rules that govern that. So you
have to advertise the public meeting. So her idea is
to say, let's advertise an open meeting and then advertise
a closed meeting, and we're going to make them separate meetings.
It's not going to be on like your one business
meeting agenda where it says closed session if needed, and
then you go into a closed session as part of
that meeting. No, well, it'll be a separate meeting just
for a closed session. That would maybe allow council members
who don't want to participate in whatever chicanery. I don't know,
but whatever is whatever's going on in the closed session,
they don't want to participate in it for whatever reason.
So that's the city attorney. The interim City attorney Anthony Fox,
not the former mayor, but interim city attorney, who is
saying it, just said that they are, they're looking into it,
they're exploring whether they could do that. All right, if
you're listening to this show, you know I try to
keep up with all sorts of current events, and I
know you do too, And you've probably heard me say
get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's
how you detect media bias, which is why I've been
so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's
a website and it combines news from around the world
in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information.
You could check it out at check dot ground, dot
news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description.
I started using ground News a few months ago and
more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate
because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered
and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which
stories get ignored by the left and the right. See
for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe
through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription.
I use the Vantage Plan to get unlimited access to
every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast,
but it also supports ground news as they make the
media landscape more transparent. I have a peak meal from
Ron who says, Charlotte leadership, you get the government you deserve.
I would not hold my breath waiting on any self
reflection by Charlotte area leadership. And then I got a
tweet message from Kenny Smith, who ran for mayor with
a campaign slogan of Charlotte deserves better. I ask, does
it seriously? Like we keep saying, and people keep making
this argument, you know that we deserve better leadership, But
I'm not sure we do right. I mean, we get
what we vote for, or in my case, I get
what other people vote for. Well because I live outside
city limits. But I yeah, outside city limits, so I
have no city council representation, even though I am controlled
by all of their zoning. Oh it's a wonderful spot
to be in.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, they're not taxing me, so there's no taxation with
that representation. It's just you know, controls, aren't you know,
development and such that impact the whole portion of the county.
Because when they couldn't get people to get annexed in involuntarily.
Nobody wanted to join, So that's where we kind of are. Anyway,
back to the audio here from Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield asking
the interim city Attorney, how do we get the ball
rolling to find out who's been leaking from inside the
city council closed sessions.
Speaker 2: With regards to I think your question regarding I don't
know if it's an investigation. The only thing I'm looking
at right now that within my Bailey Wick is the
product of having done a disclosure for the airport twenty
five bonds, and in that disclosure we raised comments that
were made and I, in responding to that, assured to
the bond holders that we would look into that. And
that is something that I'm looking into sufficient enough to
provide a response that we have. I looked at it
and determine if there's no there there. There's no there there,
But we've got to, as a point of due diligence,
look into that issue, all right.
Speaker 1: I must admit I have no idea what he's talking
about here. I'm not I don't know. Something to do
with the bond holders. Is there something like a violation
that would jeopardize, like the bonds or something. Maybe this
was an issue that arose a couple of years ago.
I just I wasn't aware of it. I don't know.
I have no idea what he's talking about, but it
somehow relates to whatever approach they're going to try to
take on this leaking. Maybe there was some leaking about
the bonds or the airport projects or something. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Apologies because I actually part of my question was ask incorrectly.
I believe I sent you an email thanking you and
saying I'm looking forward to whatever the results are, based
off of an emails previously sent. Yet also in there,
I think I asked the question, and I'm not I'm
gonna ask it now. Is there a space for your
office and or the manager's office to do an investigation
so that we on the council can have full transparency
if there is a member or members that is releasing
information to the media when we are still in discussion
of whatever the item that we go into closed session for,
do we have what would be what would it take
for that investigation to.
Speaker 2: Happen that would require a director for discouncil required will
take you to this Council to direct our office to
look into issues around closed session meetings and provide a
report or response. Partly that may include our office doing
it or having an outside firm conduct that, but would
require the directive of this all of this council in
order for us to undertake that engagement.
Speaker 3: So for clarification of a director, director, if I am
requesting it, are you saying you will be able to
move forward an investigation or that you would need a
certain number of council members to actually vote in order
for that to happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I view it as that would be a council action,
and action that this council requires six votes.
Speaker 1: Correct, Yeah. Individual council members don't get to direct staff resources.
It's been a very old rule. One member on the
eleven member body does not get to tell the manager
go do this, or tell the attorney go launch an
investigation into my political enemy or something like. You don't
get to do that. So you would need the full
council to vote. Now here's the problem. There's no criminal
conduct here, right, So this would be just like a
city government probe that would require that all of the
council members cooperate if they're going to be interviewed, right,
because if you're trying to find the mole, like, unless
the reporters want to completely torch their careers, they're not
going to tell you where they're getting the information from.
They're not going to burn their sources. So you have
to ask the council members. Oh and also all the staffers.
Let's not forget about the staffers. See everybody thinks that
it's always the city council members, but there are other
people in those rooms having conversations about this stuff too,
So you're going to have to bring in all of
the staffers. Now, maybe with the staffers, you could require
them to get deposed, like you could, I guess, do
voluntary depositions, swear people under oath, right, get them to
answer questions whether or not they have ever provided information
from a closed session. And if you are the council
member who has been leaking, or you are one of them,
let us also keep this in mind, right, it could
be every single one of them and the mayor. It
could be every member of council and the mayor and
staffers at any given point on any given issue, over
any amount of time. Right, So you're going to put
everybody under oath. You're going to depose them all, and
you're going to ask them if you've ever leaked anything.
And then I guess you could have them voluntarily comply
and do the deposition and lie or admit that they
did disclose stuff, or they just say I'm not going
to participate, which then would indicate that yes, they were
a leaker. All right, that'll do it for this episode.
Thank you so much for listening. I could not do
the show without your support and the support of the
businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like,
please support them too and tell them you heard it here.
You can also become a patron at my Patreon page
or go to the Pete Calender show dot com. Again,
thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything
while I'm gone.