July 12, 2022

Five of the eight candidates on the July 26 City General Election ballot for four at-large seats on Charlotte City Council this morning tackled housing, transportation, gentrification and other issues in ways that made the era’s partisan divides slip into the background.

“What a bunch of bright thinkers and, to be sure, big egos,” commented one longtime media observer.

Attending were Democrats Dimple Ajmera, LaWana Slack-Mayfield and Braxton Winston and Republicans Kyle Luebke and Charlie Mulligan. Republican David Merrill sent in a statement on “why I want to be on City Council.”

During the session, facilitator Carlenia Ivory-Cantey suggested that the candidates write down and send in a list of what they would want, if elected, to be their first actions on City Council. Here are their replies:

Charlie Mulligan

July 19, 2022

1.) Aggressively get to the bottom of the staffing crisis at CATS. We need answers on what’s going on, and we need results.

2.) Start the process to have public, transparent conversations with grocery store executives to figure out how to solve our food deserts on the east and west side.

3.) Turn around the relationship with CMPD by giving them the public support they need – they need to know that, as long as they are following the law in practicing their duties, that the city will have their back.

4.) Make sure the $1.5 million we have allocated to Aging in Place for elderly residents is actually disbursed to them. We still have 98% of that money left!