Aug. 8, 2023

A session scheduled for primary contenders for Charlotte Mayor on the Sept. 12 ballot turned into a different discussion involving incumbent Mayor Vi Lyles and Libertarian candidate Rob Yates, who does not face a primary but will be on the November ballot.

It was announced that Democratic primary contender Lucille Puckett was attending the funeral for the second son she has lost since 2016.

Lyles, who is well known to most Forum participants, said that if re-elected to a fourth term as mayor she would work on transportation and jobs. But there were hints about some other possibilities – a hospital putting money into housing for nurses, the public schools investing in housing for teachers, two local banks underwriting some more readily available lending opportunities for entrepreneurs, the feds supporting new city lending programs to construct affordable housing near the transit stops that earlier federal financing helped put in place. All four p0ssibilities are examples of ways the mayor cannot decide things, but can cajole and can bring people together to make things happen for the common good.

Yates, who has a banking background and is communications director for his state party, said this morning’s Forum presentation was his first ever in front of such a group. He’s written about how Libertarians would become more successful candidates if they argued less and explored (i.e., listened) more, and he seemed to be doing that this morning. It may also prove difficult to be a strident government-is-the-problem Libertarian when musing about how one would lead a $3 billion governmental enterprise.

There was talk about transit, tiny houses, zoning, Johnson C. Smith University, greenways, reading to children, upward mobility. For Charlotte newcomers, it was a good primer on some of Charlotte’s challenges in creating tomorrow’s Queen City.