Foxx pledges to sign climate agreement (Charlotte Observer)
New mayor, backed by a Democratic majority on City Council, hopes to change city’s direction on several issues.
Anthony Foxx said his first act as Charlotte mayor will be to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which incumbent Republican Pat McCrory refused to do.
More than a dozen N.C. cities have joined the campaign against global warming. By signing, the communities pledge to work toward cutting emissions of greenhouse gases to pre-1990 levels.
McCrory helped draft the measure as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors environmental committee. But he refused to sign it two years ago because it didn’t include nuclear power as an alternative energy source.
Foxx said he would put Charlotte on board “with the stroke of a pen.”
Foxx outlined his plans for the city Thursday, two days after he was elected Charlotte’s first Democratic mayor in 22 years. Foxx will take office Dec. 7 with a City Council that’s more Democratic, with an 8-3 majority instead of 7-4. Since the city went to partisan elections in 1977, no party has had such a commanding majority.
A Democratic mayor and a five-member majority on council could alter the city’s agenda over the next two years on a number of issues, from streetcars to city budgets.
Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess, a Democratic incumbent, was the top vote-getter Tuesday, getting nearly 5,000 more votes than Foxx. She said the council votes unanimously “99 percent of the time,” and she doesn’t expect significant changes.
But she added: “We won’t have, of course, the McCrory vetoes that we’ve had to deal with in the past.”
McCrory said Thursday that city government will suffer under a council tilted to Democrats.
“There isn’t any balance anymore,” McCrory said.
Here are a few issues the new council may consider:
Rental ordinance
Council members are scheduled to vote Monday on an ordinance that would require landlords of crime-ridden rental properties to register with the city.
Problem landlords would have to meet with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to map out a strategy to reduce crime at their properties and could ultimately lose their ability to collect rent if crime isn’t reduced.
Some Democrats, including council member James Mitchell, want all landlords to register with the city.
Foxx said he hopes the ordinance is deferred.
“I think we can strengthen it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the best we can do.”
McCrory said he’s opposed to the ordinance, in part because it expands city government. He said he might veto it.
Eastland Mall
The council has held closed sessions this fall on buying all of Eastland Mall, to make it easier for a developer to buy the entire 90-acre site and redevelop it. The city is concerned that the large number of property owners at Eastland – nearly a dozen – will make it difficult to transform the failing mall into a mixed-use center of offices, stores and houses.
Council members haven’t talked about the purchase in public, and many are reportedly hesitant about such a complicated deal. But a larger Democratic presence in city government could increase the likelihood of an Eastland deal. Democratic council member Nancy Carter, who represents east Charlotte, is lobbying colleagues to invest in the blighted area.
Collective bargaining
In late October, during the height of the mayoral campaign, McCrory asked council members to oppose a bill working through Congress that would allow collective bargaining for police and firefighters nationwide – even in states that already forbid it, like North Carolina.
The item was sent to committee but will return this fall. Foxx, who had union support during the campaign, didn’t take a position on the issue during the debate.
Foxx said the National League of Cities is already lobbying against the bill, and that the Charlotte City Council’s voice isn’t important.
“I don’t know what the point is, other than to make a political point,” he said.
McCrory said it’s important that Charlotte’s voice be heard. He said collective bargaining could have “dire consequences” for the city financially.
“We should add this as part of our federal lobbying efforts,” McCrory said.
Streetcar
The streetcar debate has been settled – at least for the next year. Seven council Democrats this fall voted to override McCrory’s veto of a decision to spend $4.5 million on designing the line through central Charlotte.
But in 2010, that phase of engineering work will be finished, and the council may face another fork in the road: Spend more money on designing the line or freeze the project until a funding plan is in place?
Foxx campaigned on his willingness to advance the streetcar, though he said he wouldn’t raise property taxes to pay for it. Having another Democratic vote on the council could increase the chances of the streetcar advancing.
Foxx said he may make a trip to Raleigh and Washington, D.C., before he takes office to continue lobbying for transit projects, such as the light-rail extension and a commuter train to Lake Norman.
Development
In the last two weeks of the campaign, Foxx said his opponent, Republican council member John Lassiter, was beholden to developers. Lassiter said they were important to building the city and that he could work with them effectively.
One test of the new council will be revisions to the city’s 1978 tree ordinance. The changes, which have been debated for more than two years, would require developers to set aside at least 15 percent of property for trees, among other changes.
The Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition has balked at some of the changes, arguing it would increase the cost to build homes and businesses. Council could vote on the revisions in the next six months.
Budget
Foxx also said he would appoint citizen advisory committees, including one on city spending. He wants the group to report on possible cost savings before the City Council adopts a new budget next spring.
By Steve Harrison and Jim Morrill
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com and jmorrill@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Friday, Nov. 06, 2009
