November 27, 2013

The Charlotte Way

Dear Friends,

Happy Holidays!

My final day as Mayor will be this Monday, December 2. At 7:00 PM that night in the City Council Chamber, we'll have an Oath of Office Ceremony for Mayor-Elect Patrick Cannon and our other new Council Members. At that time, I will also take back my District 1 seat on Council.

It's been an honor to serve you as Mayor these past five months, and I want to thank you for supporting me as I've worked to improve the lives of all Charlotteans and strengthen our community. I was glad to have the opportunity to lend my voice to LGBT issues and promote public art across our City. This past Monday, the Council also adopted a resolution that will create an inter-agency task force to examine immigration issues in Charlotte. The task force will look for ways to help immigrants better integrate into Charlotte's education system, neighborhoods, and businesses, and I look forward to opportunities it identifies to make our City an even more welcoming place.

While the fight to retain control of our airport is far from over, I'm proud that it has remained a City department during my tenure as Mayor, and that Interim Aviation Director Brent Cagle and his team have continued to operate it as one of the best airports in the country. I'm also glad that US Airways and American Airlines have settled their lawsuit with the Justice Department, and I look forward to continuing to work with the airlines' leadership to grow and expand Charlotte Douglas under the New American system.

During my time as Mayor, I've tried to do things the "Charlotte Way"--which, to me, means simply that our community accomplishes more when we work together than when we work alone. I hope our City will continue to embrace this philosophy in the years ahead by favoring collaboration over division; inclusion over exclusion; partnership over separation.  

Charlotte is quickly emerging as one of the world's truly great cities and, if we work together, there's no telling how much we can achieve.

Thank you, again, for the opportunity to serve you. 

It's been an honor.

Sincerely,

Expanding Affordable Housing

On November 1, I was happy to join Congressman Mel Watt, State Senator Joel Ford, City Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield, and Charlotte Housing Authority CEO Fulton Meachem for the grand opening of the Retreat at Renaissance. Retreat is the first phase of Charlotte's newest mixed-income community, the Renaissance, which replaces the former Boulevard Homes on West Boulevard.

This new development will provide housing for our seniors, disabled individuals, working families, and Charlotteans who are simply looking for an affordable place to live. It will provide children with a safe and stimulating environment to grow up in through its development center, charter school, and library. And it will provide the West Boulevard with a healthy and vibrant housing development that will positively affect the entire neighborhood in turn.

The City was proud to commit $12 million to this effort, and I look forward to working with our counterparts at the state and federal levels, along with the Charlotte Housing Authority, to construct more affordable housing developments like Renaissance across our community.

Creating Livable Communities

With Charlotte’s population growing at a rapid rate, creating livable communities is more important than ever in order to manage the influx of people moving to our City. Recently, I spoke at a summit on this topic sponsored by the AARP at Queens University.

As we develop our City, we must create neighborhoods that accommodate the needs of our older residents, our residents without cars, and the kinds of young residents we hope to attract in order to maintain a talented workforce. This means constructing streets that are designed for walkers, bicyclists, and cars; providing wide, tree-lined sidewalks; continuing to build new parks and greenways; and ensuring residents have easy access to retail stores and services.

At the same time, we must also build communities where residents can rent their first apartment, buy their first home and raise a family, then downsize later on. By allowing our citizens to "age in place," we make it possible for them stay in Charlotte their entire lives without being forced to move to another city to accommodate their changing housing needs. 

Every Charlottean deserves to live in a safe neighborhood with access to all that he or she needs to live a happy life—regardless of age or income. That is the vision that I’m committed to for our City, and I will continue to work with AARP and my colleagues on Council to achieve it.