City Smart: Kerrick trial begins to potential MLB expansion to Charlotte

• And the race is on! The deadline for filing with the board of elections in order to appear on the ballot for this year’s election was noon last Friday. Six candidates filed as Democrats for the mayor’s race, and two filed as Republicans. In the City Council at Large race, there are twelve candidates that filed as Democrats and three as Republicans. Nine people filed in the non-partisan school board at-large race. The primary will be held on September 15th, with early voting beginning September 3rd.
• Presidential primary to be held on March 15. Under an agreement reached late Friday afternoon between North Carolina Senate and House leadership, North Carolina will hold its presidential primary on March 15, 2016. For over 20 years, North Carolina’s presidential primary, along with the primary for other elected offices, was held in May. In 2013, in a bid to be a bigger player in national politics, the legislature separated the presidential primary from the rest of the ticket and scheduled it for February. This would put North Carolina’s presidential primary before many of the primaries held in states where the DNC and RNC specifically sanction early primaries. The RNC threatened to take away twelve North Carolina delegates at the Republican National Convention if the primary was not pushed back.
• Kerrick trial begins. On Monday, the trial of officer Randall Kerrick began. Kerrick is being tried on voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell. Ferrell wrecked his car in West Charlotte in the early morning hours of September 14, 2013. He went to a nearby house for help, and the owner of the house called the police, telling them she believed Ferrell was trying to break in. Kerrick responded and shot at Ferrell twelve times, hitting him ten. Ferrell was unarmed. The trial has been in the public eye from the start. CMPD reminded their officers of the social media policy in place over the weekend, and the city recently hired a consultant to help with communications on the trial.

2 Happy Things 

• Charlotte made the list of cities that Major League Baseball will consider for future expansion. While Charlotte’s MLB team is likely a couple decades down the road, it’s still nice to make the list.

• Forbes ranks Charlotte in the top ten metro areas in the country where white-collar business is booming!

1 Random Thing

• NC Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform has resurrected the dead Massachusetts Governor and US Vice President Elbridge Gerry on twitter. Gerry redistricted the state while a state senator to benefit his party, thereby giving birth to the term “gerrymandering”. The Coalition, tweeting on behalf of Gerry, advocates for an end to gerrymandering, instead promoting districts drawn by an independent redistricting commission.  You can tweet at the Commission and Gov. Gerry at @GovGerry.