Charlotte is a beautiful, clean, vibrant city, and I have been privileged to live here for the last 14 years. Unfortunately, over that time, I have watched this city succumb to the worst perils of government mismanagement.

We are told that our schools need more funding, then see millions squandered on things like see-through backpacks that did nothing but contribute to a landfill somewhere. Meanwhile, we seemed to be playing hungry-hungry hippos to pick superintendents, but we did manage to earn a reprimand from the FBI for being years behind in reporting sexual assaults. In fact, our inability to keep our students safe is only eclipsed by our inability to get them an education. Yet no one is held accountable.

Housing prices are skyrocketing, and the only action the city takes is to approve changes to zoning laws as requested by real estate developers who happen to be massive donors in North Carolina. Multi-unit construction is squeezed onto available parcels of land, driving up traffic, slowing emergency response times, and overcrowding schools. Yet most of us in Charlotte see only the negative impact of this haphazard and manipulated development approach, while remaining subject to the restrictive and arcane zoning laws in place. Even recent changes to zoning restrictions are middling, at best.

Crime, especially violent crime is going up at an alarming rate, and opportunities for upward mobility are dwindling. Yet all we are given from our city leadership is a dramatic increase in property tax rates and pledges to spend tens of millions funding vanity projects for billionaires.

As mayor of Charlotte, I will focus singularly on rooting out the backroom deals, manipulations, and favoritism that is making life here cost more for less in return. I will hold myself and everyone in the city government accountable, ensuring that we are achieving our goals and that those goals are good for the people of Charlotte. I will not accept failing our children as a standard. And I will relentlessly fight for your rights to live as you please without hurting others.

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