City Council Zoning Meeting on 2026-01-20 5:00 PM - Jan 20, 2026

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Charlotte Zoning Meeting 3h 56m 4 speakers 7 agenda items transcribed 2 months ago official recording ↗
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Who are the council members introduced at the meeting start?

so so
Thank you.
Douglas A. Welton 1:09
Good evening, everybody.
Victoria Watlington 1:27
Good evening.
Douglas A. Welton 1:28
Good evening, everyone.
LaWana Mayfield 1:30
Welcome.
Ed Driggs 1:36
I would like to call this January 20th, 26th zoning meeting of the Charlotte City Council to order. My name is Ed Driggs. I am the District 7 Councilmember and also Chair of the Transportation Planning and Development Committee in which capacity I'm sitting here tonight. We'll begin with introductions commencing with Councilmember Johnson. Good evening. I'm Renee Johnson, and I'm honored to represent District 4. Good evening. I'm J.D. Masueta-Arias, proudly representing the Eastside District 5.
LaWana Mayfield 2:07
Good evening. Luana Mayfield, Council Member-at-Large.
Ed Driggs 2:10
Good evening. Kimberly Owens, speaking for District 6.
James Mitchell 2:13
Good evening, everyone. James Mitchell, Mayor Pro Temp.
David Barron 2:16
Marcus Jones, City Manager.
Alison Craig 2:19
Alison Craig, deputy city manager. Dante Anderson, district one.
LaWana Mayfield 2:24
Joy Mayo district three.
Alison Craig 2:26
Good evening. I'm Victoria Watlington and I have the pleasure of serving you as a member at large. Harry Hagler Gray, senior assistant city attorney.
Victoria Watlington 2:33
Billy Tons, deputy city clerk.
Ed Driggs 2:36
So we will begin our meeting with an invocation expressions and inspiration followed by the pledge of allegiance. The invocation by the council members intended to solemnize our proceedings. We celebrate the religious diversity of our community, including those without a religious faith. Tonight, Councilmember Owens will give our invocation. Thank you, Councilmember Driggs. For those of you who know me particularly well or were privy to the night I was sworn in, you may have noted that I have a firm adherence to the separation of church and state. And consequently, I was sworn in on this copy of our Constitution of the United States rather than a Bible. I will say that in light of that, I had had some questioning, and what I had said at the time was that my relationship and any of our relationships with books of faith is, I believe, something deeply personal.
Ed Driggs 3:28
My relationship with the Constitution, though, and how I observe my duties is something that I think is public, and that is why I chose that document. Um, in light of that, there was some reticence when I got tonight's invocation, because the three that I was originally assigned tonight was originally supposed to be, um, council member Graham's, but he's unfortunately not able to join us. This is sort of a fourth one. The three that I was assigned, I immediately reached out to the three expressions of faith under the Abraham communities. I reached out to Judaic folks. I reached out to Christians. I reached out to some of my Islamic guidance within District 6. So the other three that I will have this year will be informed by my belief that we are greater for the diversity of our faith expression.
Ed Driggs 4:16
So tonight's I will bring forward, uh, just a couple of thoughts that are in the vein of, of my particular belief system. Um, you know, we had wonderful expressions of, uh, Martin Luther King's teachings. And so I think I would be remiss not to, to quote as, as we solemnize our discussions here tonight, uh, something that, that I have heard multiple times over the last weekend. And that was always one of my favorite quotes. which is the time is always right to do what is right. And that has been deeply resonant with me as I assume this position representing District 6. I take that to heart. And again, I wanted to lift that up in light of the timing of this first meeting after Martin Luther King's observance.
Ed Driggs 5:02
And then secondarily, in this one, I don't mean to be cheeky about it, but I will say that it's one that I've always held deeply close to my heart, as do my children. which is in the Spider-Man movies. Uncle Ben, of all people, leaves us as he's dying at Spider-Man's feet. He says, with great power comes great responsibility. And I look at where we are as a country, I look at where we are as a citizenry, and we all have power. And with that power, be it our powers of privilege, be it our powers of wisdom, be it our powers of experience, be it just our powers of proximity to situations that we can address, I would ask that we all yield that responsibility.

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