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3 North Carolina cities, including Charlotte, elect women as mayor

By Jenna Deery
By Jenna Deery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three of North Carolina's largest cities, including Charlotte, elected women for mayor on election night.

In about a month, Democrat Jennifer Roberts will be sworn-in after winning 52 percent of the vote over Republican Edwin Peacock.

Roberts was the first to announce her candidacy for mayor more than a year ago and she told supporters at her campaign party Tuesday night that she thought her positivity and optimism carried her through to nab the top spot.

Her plate is already filling up with agenda items she would like to accomplish and duties pressing the mayor's office to address.

Roberts said she got a call from Gov. Pat McCrory after the race was declared hers. He congratulated her and Roberts told Channel 9 they are already starting on working to rebuild the bridge between Charlotte and Raleigh.

Recent, previous mayors have dealt with the city and state being at odds with each other over critical tax dollars and control over the airport.

Roberts plans to protect what's Charlotte's by building an alliance of local leaders to communicate better with the capitol.

"I do believe when I look at a regional agenda, then you have more impact," she said.

The mayor-elect also believes more partnerships are needed to bring down crime. She wants to expand CMPD's Cops and Barbers program.

It's been an important catalyst of communication between police and the community and Roberts wants churches involved in the conversation.

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"This is a critical issue for so many parts of our city and its great way to leverage that volunteerism and that community connectedness," said Roberts.

Before she is even sworn-in, Roberts said she plans to meet with City Manager Ron Carlee about an initiative to study wages for city workers. She wants to request a human resources audit to understand whether there are wage gaps between male and female employees and whether the city can adjust salaries to offer equal pay.

"We'll look at if they are doing exact equal work, are they being paid equally? We want to lead by example," she said.

Roberts recognizes tackling fair wages may lead to some tough budget decisions but she said she believes it's an important issue worth working on with council.

Just a few months into office, council, including Roberts, will have to address the city manager's contract. Ron Carlee's contract expires at the end of March.

According to state law, Roberts will have a vote in the matter of extending Carlee's contract or launching a search for a new city manager.

She said there's information on his performance with running the city that she wants to get before making her decision on his future.

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