City Smart: I-485 opening to Cochrane Collegiate’s first graduating class

• Veto Override. Last week we told you about the two bills that Gov. McCrory vetoed. Quick civics lesson for you: when the Governor vetoes a bill, it is returned to the chamber of the legislature where it originated, and has one final shot at becoming law if 3/5 of the present and voting members vote  to override the veto.  If they do, then the bill is sent to the other chamber where 3/5 must vote to override before the bill becomes a law. The legislature voted to override McCrory’s veto on the “Ag Gag” bill, which gave employers a cause of action against individuals who apply for a job for the sole reason of conducting an undercover investigation. The NC Senate voted to override McCrory’s other recent veto of a bill that allows magistrates to abstain from marrying same-sex couples for religious reasons. The House has not yet voted on override. The fact that the House has delayed in taking a vote indicates that Republican House leadership likely expect a close margin in the override vote. In the Senate override vote, Meck’s own Sen. Joel Ford, changed tracks. Ford originally voted for the bill, but decided to vote against override of the veto. Ford claims he had second thoughts after realizing that finding another magistrate to perform the marriage after one opts-out may be difficult in some counties. He also said that he realized that many people saw the bill as discriminatory. These recent realizations beg the question — why he didn’t find out more about the original bill before voting for it?

• Civil Rights Plan. In response to the recent events in Ferguson, and later Baltimore, City Council began working on their own civil rights resolution for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The goal of the resolution is to prohibit profiling, improve police interactions with residents and set boundaries for law enforcement action and protests and demonstrations. While many applaud the resolution, others are skeptical as to its purpose, stating that most of the contents of the resolution are already covered by existing police policy. The resolution arises a little over a month before the July 20th trial date for Officer Randall Kerrick, who is charged with voluntary manslaughter after shooting Jonathan Ferrell ten times. It also comes at a time when CMPD is searching for a new Chief, with many believing Kerr Putney to be the likely choice.

• All around good for business. The completion of I-485 on Friday, June 5, commemorates over 25 years of construction on the loop. Many credit I-485 in the southern part of the county with the boom of developments like Ballantyne. The completion of the last 5.7 miles, connecting NC 115 with I-85 also opens the doors to development opportunities in the northern part of the county. During the Interface Carolinas panel held last Wednesday at the Convention Center, Charlotte real estate developers said they see plenty of room for growth in general in our fair city before the next economic downturn. However, they remain concerned about North Carolina’s lack of action on economic development incentives. NC’s state incentive fund is depleted and McCrory is at odds with the NC Senate on how to address the issue.

2 Happy Things 

• Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools seniors will be graduating in the upcoming week and a half! Congrats to all the graduates, including the very first class of Cochrane Collegiate to graduate (pictured below)!

photo credit: CMS

• Get ready to don your shining armor — the Knights ranked among the 25 top-selling teams in terms of merchandise sales!

1 Random Thing

• Charlotte was a different place when construction began on the I-485 project in Pineville in 1988. Reagan was President. Sue Myrick was Mayor of Charlotte, a city of 430,023 (in 1990– compared to about 800,00 in 2015). Faith by George Michael was the hit song on the radio and Rain Man was the highest grossing movie (which you only had to pay about $4.00 to see in theaters). It was the first year that CDs outsold vinyl. And you only had to pay $0.25 to mail a letter and $2.00 for a gallon of milk. Oh, and if you were to gas up the car to hit the road (obviously not I-485) you only had to pay $1.07/gallon. Funny, isn’t it, that we now have 67 miles more of road and have to pay at least $1.50 more per gallon to drive on it? (Ok, maybe more depressing than funny.) According to Marty McFly we should all be riding our hover-boards around right now — when’s that going to happen?