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Charlotte City Council has heated discussion over contract threshold

By Joe Bruno, wsoctv.com
By Joe Bruno, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New Charlotte City council members have made it clear since they were elected they do not want to conduct business as usual. But a debate on whether to raise the city's contract threshold drew pushback from Councilman Braxton Winston, a newly elected at-large representative.

Currently, all purchases and contracts over $100,000 have to be approved by Charlotte City Council. These items appear on the consent agenda and are approved by City Council almost weekly. The items vary from public safety items to sidewalk improvements.

In July, Channel 9 reported a city audit recommended raising the threshold to $500,000. The audit found doing so would increase city efficiency and be in line with other North Carolina municipalities.

In an interview with Channel 9, the North Carolina Open Government Coalition raised transparency concerns about the potential move. If enacted, citizens who like to track city spending will have to jump through additional hurdles to find information that is currently on agendas on a monthly basis.

The topic sparked passionate debate at Thursday's Budget and Effectiveness Committee meeting.

Winston, a Democrat, told committee members at the meeting he is opposed to raising the threshold citing transparency concerns and feedback from the community.

"We need to figure out what is best for Charlotte," Winston said. "I don't really care what Asheville and Durham are doing. We have to figure out how to be responsive to our folks."

Republican Councilman Ed Driggs objected to Winston's comments at times raising his voice and waving his finger.

[ needs CharlotteAudit says new process for some contracts]

"I don't think all the conversations with people he knows constitutes a survey of the people of Charlotte," Driggs said. "That is a perspective. There are a lot of people in this town, and I don't know we have evidence of any prevailing sentiment among them."

Winston cited not being able to easily track public safety spending as an example of his concerns about raising the threshold. Driggs said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s budget is $270 million and having to approve purchases over $100,000 is micromanagement.

"I don't think a governing body like us needs to go that far down in the weeds," Driggs said. "If there is a controversial item like a weapons purchase, there is no reason that can't be raised for discussion."

Deputy City Manager Sabrina Joy-Hogg said city staff members are closely looking at consent agenda items. She said no matter what the council decides, the city is still going to review its efficiency and oversight process.

"As a governing body, do you want to govern through transactions or policy?" Joy-Hogg said. "I think some of that is being mixed together. If you set the policy, we will not do it."

Winston told committee members he does his due diligence to get feedback from people from all across Charlotte when making decisions like this.

"You can at least get a good gauge of what people want," Winston said. "That is a job I take very seriously, and I do it every day."

"I've been doing it for five years, you've been doing it for 7 months," Driggs responded. "Do not walk in here and lecture me about the City of Charlotte. You haven't been around long enough."

Winston cited the city of Charlotte's letter to the community following the Keith Scott riots as a reason why the city should be more transparent, including on city spending. Driggs pointed out the letter did not mention a $100,000 threshold and neither did the Police Foundation's report on the city's response to the unrest.

"You don't have data," Driggs said. "You can assert, I can assert too. We got down to the point where you're just sitting there and making statements. I am prepared to state back. Show me an opinion poll where you can show me the City of Charlotte in large numbers has any awareness whatsoever of what purchasing policies of CMPD. It doesn't exist."

Driggs and Winston were unavailable for on-camera interviews Friday.

Driggs told Channel 9 over the phone his attempts to do things in a civil fashion "have fallen on deaf ears." He said it is important council demonstrates confidence in the staff and he has reached a point of impatience.

Winston told Channel 9 over the phone he has great respect for Driggs and that they are both passionate about the issues that face the city. He said there has to be a balance between transparency and city efficiency.

City Council is expected to bring this topic up again and potentially vote in the fall.

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