Charlotte Councilmember Malcolm Graham on Mayor Vi Lyles, I-77 South toll lane project, land use for data centers and more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Councilmember Malcolm Graham joined Siobhan Riley on Live Impact News to discuss topics like Mayor Vi Lyles’ recent announcement that she will be stepping down, the future of the controversial I-77 toll lane project, which is currently designed to impact neighborhoods in his district in west Charlotte, the city budget and more.

Siobhan Riley: The talk that everyone has been talking about this week is the announcement of Mayor Vi Lyles announcing that she’s resigning. This is effective June 30th. She’s stepping down. It caught a lot of people off guard this week, but she said she is stepping down to spend more time with her family and her grandchildren. And right now we are joined by council member Malcolm Graham. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Malcolm Graham: Thank you very much for the invitation and happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, uh, who are watching us.

Riley: Certainly wishing all of the moms a happy Mother’s Day. We’re so glad you were with us, even though I know you’ve got a busy weekend ahead because you are planning budget talks, you are planning talking about I-77 at your upcoming meeting, and I’m sure -Mayor Lyles- I’m sure that would be a topic of conversation. You got a really busy weekend and week ahead. 

Can you talk a little bit before we go into that about the announcement of Mayor Lyles saying she is resigning? Can you talk a little bit about when you heard that news? What’s going through your mind right now?

Graham: Well, um, uh, Mayor Lyles is not only the mayor of the city of Charlotte, but she’s a friend of mine, I’ve known for well over 35 years. We worked together in 1999 when I was first elected to the Charlotte City Council when she worked for the city of Charlotte as a budget director and an analyst and so I’ve seen her mature in terms of being a 30-year employee of the the city of Charlotte, um, running for city council, uh, uh, being named mayor pro tem, and then certainly running for mayor and being the first African American woman to hold that leadership position.

She’s a lady of, um, commitment to our community. She’s committed to the issues that our community is facing for the last 10 years and demonstrated the type of leadership a major city like Charlotte needed. And, she really came into office at a time where the city really needs someone to come in and provide some leadership.

We went through a period where we had like four mayors over sever years, and so we really needed someone to come into the building to calm it down and provide some longevity and certainly she’s done that over the last 10 years.

Riley: Well, this is effective June 30th, and I know that council members have a lot on their plate. What’s next for council as you work on trying to find a new mayor? What’s next? What are the next steps?

Graham: Well, I think the next step for the council is continue to make the main thing the main thing, and for us is a big meeting on Monday where we will be talking about the budget, I-77 South resolution, data centers are going to be on the agenda. As you indicated, the mayor is not leaving until June 30th, so she still is the mayor, and so we’ll continue to do the work of the city, um, certainly, but obviously we have to begin thinking about how we replace the mayor. The Mayor Pro Tem James Mitchell and I have talked some that process is gonna be unfolding for sure. 

I serve as chairman of the city’s Budget, Governance and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. That may come to my committee in terms of how we process it. I don’t know. That’s just conversations that we’re having and so more to come in terms of what’s next, but certainly she’s with us until June 30th. The work continues and we will begin our process of identifying and selecting who will lead the city for the next 18 months once she leaves office.

Riley: Are there any names that you can think of off the top of your head?

Graham: No, no, again, like I said, um, my commitment right now is really to kind of focus on what’s ahead immediately, which is Monday night, and, um, when you called me and asked me to be a part of this show tonight, I was literally doing my homework in preparation for Monday and the agenda items that we have in front of us. Again, I serve as chairman of the Budget Committee, so certainly the budget is gonna be extremely an important topic.

We have a public hearing on Monday, a resolution that we’re taking up for I-77 South; data centers is gonna be on the agenda. 

And I’m almost certain, right, there will be some informal conversations among members about the vacancy and in the process and how do we move forward with it for sure. There’s still a lot of work to do. That’s why I’m here, kind of, you’re kind of helping me do my homework. 

Riley: And before we get to that, before we talk budget and I-77 and data centers and all of that, the last question about the mayor: What do you want the next person who takes over as mayor, what advice do you have for them and what do you want them to be able to accomplish?

Graham: Well, her shoes will be really, really hard to fill. She’s such an institution, uh, in the building because of her longevity of being a city employee, a council member, mayor pro tem, and mayor for the last 10 years.

The focus on the work, right, we have a lot of big, heavy issues that the council will be diving into moving forward and we need someone that can come in and help the council and guide us through those issues, to do some of the work I believe that needs to happen, internally to the building that the public will never see, right?

How we process our work, how we facilitate our meetings, how and when we disclose information, working to help, improve the culture in the building and then all the external stuff that has to be done in terms of representing the city, on the international stage, the national stage and certainly being accessible to the citizens of Charlotte at neighborhood meetings. 

And lastly again, guiding the council through very heavy issues, like the airport lease that will be coming to our desk in months. It’s a significant issue that we have to navigate. Certainly 77 South will be with us for a while, right? So someone that’s willing to come in and, and do the work and it’s not just about holding the position. It’s helping us do the work necessary to keep Charlotte moving and thriving.

Riley: I have to ask this question, are you considering that seat?

Graham: I’m considering getting past the public hearing for the budget on Monday night, right? And so my goal right now is to keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing is the agenda that we have to process for Monday. 

Riley: So, is that a yes or no?

Graham: It means that we have a public hearing on Monday for the budget.

Riley: Okay, okay. Just thought I would ask. Just thought I would ask.

Graham: You wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t.

Riley: Let’s talk about I-77. A very interesting topic came up this week with former Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx and also he also worked for the Obama administration as the U.S. Transportation Secretary. And in a meeting this week, he asked that state leaders really rethink the I-77 toll expansion’s impact to the community. We asked him just about elevating those lanes. He said he didn’t really think that was a good idea.

 What is your response to that?

Graham: Well, I’ve been on record since October of last year, um, regarding 77 South that I thought both proposals were dead on arrival from my perspective. I thought the first proposal had too much impact on neighborhoods and communities. They scrapped that proposal, and then even the second one, the elevated one, leaves a lot of questions, and impact to our community and so I think the the transportation secretary is right.

Um, I think there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. I think NCDOT stumbled out of the gates for sure. Their community engagement was poor at best. 

Now they’ve come and corrected themselves some, but it’s really, really hard to put water back in a bottle once you spill it, or you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

And I think the first impression coming out of the gates from NCDOT despite some of the progress they made, um, still lingers in people’s minds.

So, we will be discussing the resolution tomorrow, just asking them to reconsider a lot of assumptions that they have made in reference to how the highway should be built and designed and getting additional input from the community and and making sure that those who are impacted are are appropriately compensated. It all rests in the design, right?

 And so hopefully, we’ll have a robust conversation on Monday and talk about a wide variety of issues in reference to the expansion project.

Riley: Something else former Mayor Foxx said, he said, and you mentioned it when we’re talking about community engagement, you said community engagement was poor. 

He said that he does not recommend when you go into these communities and you have these conversations and you already have your mind made up, that really can impact a lot of residents because they feel like no one is hearing them, and he said that is the worst mistake people can make.

Graham: Oh, that was the worst mistake that they did make. And they were talking at people, not with them, and, and I made them quite aware of that in October and November. I said, hey guys, you guys are missing the point. You’re, you’re telling people what you’re going to do versus asking their opinion. You’re showing up in people’s yard and measuring and staking things out but not informing them what you’re trying to do.

I wanted and I did, when I had a town hall meeting, wanted to talk about the history of how the highway was built and invited Tom Hanchett, a local historian, to talk about how the original construction divided and impacted the African American community and some of those lingering impacts are still felt by people today. 

They didn’t listen and so again, like I said, um, earlier, it’s kind of hard to put water back in the bottle, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

And there’s also an old saying that the end is in the beginning, and right from the very beginning, they fumbled the ball very, very badly.

Riley: What is next when it comes to I-77 because a lot of residents there, they still, they just don’t feel like they’re being heard.

Graham: Yeah, I think part of the discussion tomorrow, I would, Monday rather, I would imagine would be talking about a pause and having them go back and re-examine a whole lot of assumptions that they made in reference to the construction of the highway. How the highway will be paid for. Certainly the elevated version, um, is, um, questionable in the minds of many.

They’ve done a, I think, a better job of, beginning in March in terms of, uh, their engagement. Now they’re talking to people, they’re talking with folks, uh, they need to continue to do that. 

They’ve said they want to form a citizen advisory committee and I think that’s appropriate. They’ve opened a community engagement center, I think that’s appropriate. 

And so, but that may not be enough, right, for a lot of residents simply because the way this thing was introduced and presented to the community right from the very start. 

And so I think the council meeting on Monday will be talking about impact and how do we begin to roll it back in a way where folks can believe that they’re a part of the process versus being a victim of it.

Riley: And NCDOT has said over and over they say doing nothing is not an option, and they say if they don’t do something there’s going to continue to be congestion along the highway. What is your response to that?

Graham: Well, two things can be true at the same time, right? Um, I-77 South, I drive it every day, is congested. I-77 South does have one of the highest crash rates on that 11-mile stretch. If you get on there at the Morehead Street exit going to 77 to West Boulevard, actually going to your location right to Woodlawn, right, you’re going 20-30 miles an hour, and so the highway does need to be addressed. 

It’s a part of the infrastructure improvement that we need for our community, just like improving the transit system, or using the 40% receipts we get from the tax for improving local roads, expanding and, uh, uh, and, um. Expanding 77 South is a part of the long-term infrastructure that we need for our community.

However, comma, you’ve got to do it in conjunction with the community. You gotta make sure that the community is engaged, that they’re involved. You gotta talk about impact and, you know, no matter what design is is chosen, whether it’s design A, B, C, D, or Z. There’s something that you have to assume there will be impact. There’s no way around it. It’s how do you mitigate the impact?

How do you make sure that residents are at the table, helping choose the design and, and making sure residents are compensated accordingly.

And, so I think we probably need to dial it back a little bit for sure and making sure that everyone is on the same page. Two things can be true at the same time.

How do we work together as a community with NCDOT to ensure that we get the best results for improving the infrastructure, the road itself,  but not at the expense of neighborhoods and communities and people of color?

Riley: Now let’s go ahead and talk before we go to break. Let’s talk about data centers. We know that state and local leaders, they have been pushing for data center changes and that’s on the agenda as well.

Graham: Yeah, yeah, that that’s on the agenda tomorrow as well. Um, you know, there’s been a lot of conversation about data centers throughout the state. Obviously the council had its first conversation at our last meeting. This is the first time that data center actually is on the agenda.

And I think it’s really important how we process our work, and so getting a presentation, getting information from our staff is, I think is a critical first step in terms of how we process our work. 

There may be a public hearing, and I support it, right, a public hearing that may lead to a moratorium. I think we’ll discuss that for sure on Monday.

But one of the things that continues to trip this council up is how we process our work, right? And so I think it’s, it’s really important that we take meaningful steps, uh, steps that all councilmembers kind of clearly outline and know.

And so I think the first step towards, uh, is tomorrow, is Monday, by having a conversation for the first time formally as a council and I’m pretty sure that’s gonna lead to getting the public involved with a public hearing that might lead to a moratorium.

Riley: All right, thank you so much for your time, council member Malcolm Graham. It has been a pleasure to be with you on this Saturday. Thank you.

Graham: Happy Mother’s Day everybody. 

Riley: Thank you. Wishing all the mothers a happy Mother’s Day. We are gonna keep this conversation going about Mayor Lyles. A lot of officials came out this week and spoke about her after she announced unexpectedly that she is resigning, saying that she wants to spend more time with her family and her grandchildren. We’re gonna hear from Lawana Mayfield after the break.

Welcome back to Live Impact News. I’m Siobhan Riley. The time right now is 7:18. We tricked you. We told you that Malcolm Graham was leaving us as far as we just got finished interviewing him, and we thought we were done with the conversation, but the conversation was so good that we asked him if he could stay just a little longer to talk about budget. So thank you again for staying with us, Mr. Graham. We appreciate it. 

Now we’ve been having a really good conversation about what to expect at Monday’s city council meeting. Budget is on the agenda. Tell us a little bit about what we can expect there. 

Graham: Yeah, so on Monday we will also have a public hearing um for um the city’s 2027 fiscal year budget. Last week, the city manager Marcus Jones introduced his version of the budget to the city council. It is a $4.4 billion budget that has a 1.89 cents property tax increase.

All the increase of the property tax, about $85 million goes towards public safety, uh, police and fire. The police officers will receive a 10%. Salary increase, 7% for the fire department, a $125 million bond affordable housing bond is recommended, a $300 million transportation bond.

 This budget takes into consideration our our general fund, our enterprise fund, which is water and the airport, as well as critical infrastructure improvement. 

And so the citizens tomorrow get the opportunity on Monday rather to come before city council and and tell us their opinion about the budget. I serve as budget chairman, so certainly I will be listening for sure.

Through the budget cycle, we had surveys where residents can come and comment on what they wanted to see in the budget. The manager took all that into consideration and so his version of the budget now has been turned over to the city council where we can make adjustments and recommendations, changes to it as we see fit. 

As long as 6 members agree to do that, and so tomorrow starts that process, Monday rather, with the public hearing, and then the schedule goes as May 18th will be the budget adjustments where the council gets to, uh, make any budget adjustment that we recommend.

On May- June 1st is our first straw vote, which we’ll actually make our first formal vote to support the revised version of the budget, and then on June 8th is the final vote where we will officially approve the city’s fiscal year budget, $4.4 billion right now. 1.89 property tax increase, first time we’ve increased taxes in about three years.

Graham: And again, all this is subject to council approval. This is the manager’s recommended budget that we will be discussing, and then council have the opportunity to make any necessary adjustments along the way.

Riley: And you talk about property tax increases. Anytime we hear tax increases, we know that that’s something that kind of has some people on edge. Why is it so important to have those increases?

Riley: We’re a growing city and for the last couple of budget cycles, uh, the city manager and the council have really looked under every chair for nickels, dimes and quarters to support the city services. We’ve examined every department looking for savings there. Again, Charlotte still has one of the lowest tax rates in the state of North Carolina. Even with this tax increase, it will still be very, very low.

Our city is growing and part of the, the reason for the tax increase this year is really to address what we’ve been hearing for the last year and a half, which is public safety concerns, right? We need additional police officers, more 911 workers, more equipment for our officers, more equipment for the firefighters, a pay increase for both.

We need to make sure that our police officers are competitive so that they come in and want to work in Charlotte versus working in some of the other smaller towns and municipalities, right? So our pay scale has to reflect that, uh, and they need the the equipment necessary to do that to do their jobs effectively and efficiently and so, uh, like I said, all the increases um from the tax goes towards public safety.

And again, council will have the last word on that and so  tomorrow, Monday, starts the hearing from the public and their perspective on the budget. I’m almost certain we’ll hear about the tax increase as well, considering that the sales tax that was approved in November goes into effect July 1st as well. And so, uh, folks will be paying more for city services.

Riley: And you mentioned without this, you know, public safety is always a concern in every city, especially here in Charlotte. If these, uh, increases don’t go through, what is your biggest fear? What’s your biggest concern?

Graham: Well, again, how do we fund and maintain and recruit officers for our community? Uh, again, um, all the funds that, uh, from the, uh, proposed tax increase goes towards public safety, police and fire, how do we remain competitive in the region where we get the best and brightest  law enforcement officers wanting to come to work for the city of Charlotte.

Riley: And you mentioned those surveys and you had people fill out some surveys to just talk about what they wanted to see. Can you tell us what came out of some of those surveys? 

Graham: Yeah, you know, um, people kind of voiced their concerns and their perspectives in terms of investing in affordable housing or investing in our corridors of opportunities like Beatties Ford Road and Freedom Drive and Graham Street.

Public safety, the type of investment that we need to make there, obviously, a number of individuals voiced concerns about property tax increase, increasing of fees, and so the public hearing on Monday will give the citizens yet another opportunity, uh, to talk to the council, um, about, uh, their perspective based on what the city manager has recommended.

I know I talked to Robert Dawkins with Action NC, a good friend of mine, about the people’s budget, and so they have their version of what they want to see in the budget and so, they tend to follow some of the same recommendations and suggestions that came from the survey and so again, literally on Monday night, it’s game on for the council for a three-week period as we march towards June 8th, which will be our final meeting to adopt the, the fiscal [2027] year budget.

Riley: Any final thoughts? Anything else you want to say or add?

Graham: Charlotte is a growing city, and we have to continue to invest in our, our infrastructure, invest in our communities, try to find ways to make the city a lot more affordable for all. And so, um, these are big city issues that we’re dealing with and as we said earlier in the program. 

The city’s operating budget, 77 South, land use decisions like data centers, how do we work with NCDOT for the expansion of 77 South. Another big issue coming down the road is the airport lease, and how we maintain and assure that Charlotte Douglas International Airport still remains competitive, not only for the city of Charlotte but for the region and so there’s a lot of work that we have to do to preserve and maintain.

What I think is, not just the 13th largest city in the country, but now one of the world’s international cities and and uh how do we make sure that we continue to dot our I’s and cross T’s to ensure that the city is running effectively and efficiently.

Riley: All right, Malcolm Graham, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you being with us.

Graham: Thank you for the opportunity.

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