Speaker 1: Hi Oh, let's go hi oh, let's go oh.
Speaker 2: Let's go oh, let's come.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Charlott Smooth Talk one oh seven point
Speaker 1: nine FM WBT. Brett Jensen here with you on this
Speaker 1: beautiful Monday night edition of Breaking with Brett Jensen. As
Speaker 1: we go up until seven o'clock tonight. Telephone numbers as
Speaker 1: always seven oh four five, seven oh, one oh seven nine.
Speaker 1: That is also the WBT text line, driven of course
Speaker 1: by Liberty Buick GMC and guys follow me on ACP
Speaker 1: Brett Underscore Jensen for all the lennis and breaking news
Speaker 1: in and around the shoan air and if you would
Speaker 1: have followed me on X then you would know what's
Speaker 1: going on with tonight's show because earlier today I had
Speaker 1: the most extensive, the most in depth, and the longest
Speaker 1: interview of any media outlet in the city of.
Speaker 2: Charlotte with brand new Mayor Rob Harrington.
Speaker 1: We met earlier today in his office on the fifteenth
Speaker 1: floor at the Government Center. And I know other media outlets,
Speaker 1: you know, they did interviews with him last week, but
Speaker 1: they were on a very very short timeline and they
Speaker 1: all basically got the interviews basically in the same day
Speaker 1: we waited a week and we got way more stuff
Speaker 1: than you could ever imagine. And the mayor, mister Harrington,
Speaker 1: was extremely generous for this time. And so the entire
Speaker 1: show tonight will be me and my interview with the
Speaker 1: brand new mayor, and we're going to cover topics about
Speaker 1: obviously I seventy seven and crime and still trying to
Speaker 1: bring business to Charlotte. Is he going to what's his
Speaker 1: political future look like? You know, would he consider running
Speaker 1: for reelection for mayor in eighteen months?
Speaker 2: So we've got a lot that we're going to get into.
Speaker 1: And again, this is by far the most in depth,
Speaker 1: extensive and longest interview that he's done with any media
Speaker 1: outlet in the city of Charlotte. And he, like I said,
Speaker 1: he was very very generous with his time today. So
Speaker 1: with that being said, here is the first part of
Speaker 1: my interview with brand new Charlotte Mayor Rob Harrington.
Speaker 3: So, Mayor, I asked you in your introductory press conference
Speaker 3: union you sort of came out of nowhere.
Speaker 4: So tell the people it's a three parter.
Speaker 3: Who is Harrington, the man Harrington, the attorney in Harrington,
Speaker 3: the mayor.
Speaker 5: All right, remember all of that? So Harrington the man
Speaker 5: the person. I grew up in South Carolina, grew up
Speaker 5: in Florence in the Great PD and went off to college,
Speaker 5: went to Duke for seven years and for college, and
Speaker 5: then straight.
Speaker 4: Through for law school, where I had.
Speaker 5: A good fortune to meet my wife and I, you know, family,
Speaker 5: my own family.
Speaker 4: I grew up in. I was the youngest of five.
Speaker 4: We were I really enjoyed growing up in Florence.
Speaker 5: You know, it was it was large enough, so there
Speaker 5: were some things to do, but it was you know,
Speaker 5: pretty small town. We knew each other, We took care
Speaker 5: of each other. Family was pretty securely working class.
Speaker 4: My father worked for the UH.
Speaker 5: He worked on the railroad as a as a mail
Speaker 5: clerk for many years.
Speaker 4: And then when he when when the.
Speaker 5: Mail went from the railroad to primarily airplanes, he became
Speaker 5: a counselor for the South Carolina Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Speaker 5: And I give that background because that sort of positioned
Speaker 5: us where we were in terms of resources. We are
Speaker 5: also really fortunate to have, you know, of strong tradition
Speaker 5: of education and higher education in the family. I was
Speaker 5: the youngest of five, and so I was able to
Speaker 5: really kind of leverage what others had done, but the
Speaker 5: idea of you know, working hard, academically, working hard in
Speaker 5: general with something like so many people in this community
Speaker 5: I was, I was born to and I think it
Speaker 5: very much influences who I am today and the way
Speaker 5: I as address issues. Harrington the professional, the lawyer.
Speaker 4: I've been a lawyer for.
Speaker 5: Somewhere between thirty five and forty years now, have done
Speaker 5: throughout that time primarily disputes or you know, litigation, business
Speaker 5: litigation practice here since here in Charlotte for twenty seven
Speaker 5: years I think this year just over twenty seven years now,
Speaker 5: and had practiced elsewhere for a little bit over ten
Speaker 5: before that, partially in Louisiana and partially in the District
Speaker 5: of Columbia. And have you know, still loved practicing law.
Speaker 5: It was one of the things that I considered being
Speaker 5: at least as far back as high school. And I've
Speaker 5: I've been really fortunate in my ride as a lawyer
Speaker 5: and then as mayor.
Speaker 4: You know, I come to this in.
Speaker 5: A unique time because Mayor Lews, my good friend, decided
Speaker 5: to retire and so counsel went through the process. I
Speaker 5: know we've been through that process before, but it's still
Speaker 5: obviously not the dominant process for selecting an elected or
Speaker 5: appointed mayor, and I looked at it, unfortunately at a
Speaker 5: time in career when I'm particularly interested in giving back,
Speaker 5: and Charlotte has been fantastic to my family and to
Speaker 5: me and folks around us. We've got a son who
Speaker 5: is in his mid thirties and you know, married, living
Speaker 5: in Augusta, Georgia, and they've got a couple of little girls.
Speaker 5: And I look at what this city has offered us
Speaker 5: in the time that we've been here, and saw this
Speaker 5: as an opportunity to give back, and you know, consistently said,
Speaker 5: you know, this is I am who I am. I
Speaker 5: bring the skill set and the experiences that I have
Speaker 5: and if that's something that the council, as the group
Speaker 5: that was selecting, thought would be useful helpful at this
Speaker 5: point in time, that's what I offer. So I just
Speaker 5: I feel fortunate, would I would say blessed to be
Speaker 5: in a situation where I can, you know, take this
Speaker 5: period of time and do some really intense public service.
Speaker 5: I guess the other thing I'd add on the public
Speaker 5: service note is I had not been directly involved in
Speaker 5: politics before now, but as you know, I've done a
Speaker 5: bunch of things in the community, from you know, chairing
Speaker 5: the board of trustees of the library and chairing the Arts.
Speaker 4: And Science Council Board.
Speaker 5: And I've just finished a year term as the president
Speaker 5: of ofrf Khina Bar Association. So the idea of being
Speaker 5: in the public and nonprofit public interest sphere is not
Speaker 5: something that's new, and I think that experience will help
Speaker 5: me over the eighteen months, and I think it's helped.
Speaker 2: Me so far. All right.
Speaker 1: So when we come back, where as this in depth
Speaker 1: interview with Mayor Harrington continues, We're going to talk about
Speaker 1: I seventy seven. We're going to talk about safety. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk about his political future. What kind of
Speaker 1: policies does he want to see implemented. Is he just
Speaker 1: going to be like, Okay, I'm keeping the seat warm
Speaker 1: for the next eighteen months, or is he actually going
Speaker 1: to try and get things done without worrying about trying
Speaker 1: to be re elected or anything else. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot that we're going to continue to talk about when
Speaker 1: we return. And if you can't already tell, this is
Speaker 1: a man who's extremely intelligent. I mean, he is a
Speaker 1: partner in one of the largest law firms in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: head of the North count of Bar Association, went to
Speaker 1: Duke for seven years, you know, obviously undergraduate and then
Speaker 1: law school. This is a man who is exceptionally bright
Speaker 1: and you should be able to tell that just by
Speaker 1: listening to him. So we're going to continue our conversation
Speaker 1: about what does he try to implement with the City
Speaker 1: of Charlotte going forward, and we're including I seventy seven
Speaker 1: safety and his own policies. Welcome back to Breaking with
Speaker 1: Brett Jensen on this Monday night. As we're going up
Speaker 1: until seven o'clock, we're continuing my most extensive, most in
Speaker 1: depth interview with brand new Charlotte Mayor Rob Harrington. And
Speaker 1: when I say the most extensive and most in depth
Speaker 1: is because I was given nearly three times as much
Speaker 1: time with the new mayor as any other media outlet
Speaker 1: in Charlotte, so which that allowed me to go into
Speaker 1: a myriad of topics and a lot of different things
Speaker 1: to talk about. So we're continuing my interview from earlier
Speaker 1: today with brand new Charlotte mayer Rob Harrington.
Speaker 3: When you thought about getting into this, did someone approach you,
Speaker 3: whether it's work, someone from your work, a friend, someone
Speaker 3: from your family or was it all on you where
Speaker 3: you said I think I'm want to do this. Did
Speaker 3: someone else plant the idea of you possibly doing this?
Speaker 4: It's primarily me.
Speaker 5: I mean I think there were a number of people,
Speaker 5: a handful of people in the community that said, gee,
Speaker 5: is this something that you would consider? Is this something
Speaker 5: that you'd.
Speaker 4: Want to do.
Speaker 5: I will tell you my first reaction is I'm coming
Speaker 5: off of a year of practicing law and being president
Speaker 5: of the Bar Association, and I thought, you know, is
Speaker 5: this the right timing. But ultimately came down to me feeling,
Speaker 5: you know, I think I've got something to contribute here,
Speaker 5: and my family, my wife in particular, being really really
Speaker 5: supportive of the decision.
Speaker 3: So now you've got eighteen months and if you decide
Speaker 3: and a half or seventeen and a half, if you
Speaker 3: decide not to run for reelection. The theory is, the
Speaker 3: working theory is out there. You can either just basically
Speaker 3: do what you want without having to worrying about am
Speaker 3: I popular enough to get re elected, or that you'll
Speaker 3: just try to just to fit in and just to
Speaker 3: go along. Those are the two working theories which Rob Harrington.
Speaker 3: Are we going to get Yeah, I'd.
Speaker 5: Reframe it a little bit, Brett. I mean, I told
Speaker 5: when I was coming in for the interview, I guess
Speaker 5: it was the thirty minute interviews. I was checking in
Speaker 5: security desk downstairs, and one of the gentlemen at the desk,
Speaker 5: the security.
Speaker 4: Folks started asking questions. He said, are you one of them?
Speaker 5: I said, yes, sir, i am, And he said, basically,
Speaker 5: just you know, all I would ask is that you
Speaker 5: do the right thing and do a good job.
Speaker 4: And in many.
Speaker 5: Ways, that capture is the way I've always looked at
Speaker 5: elected officials and folks who are running for office, is
Speaker 5: I want to vote for people who have some you know, beliefs,
Speaker 5: some you know, provide some answers and are willing to
Speaker 5: lose right and hopefully the person that you selected any
Speaker 5: given race, if you believe in them, you want them
Speaker 5: to win. But I think that's an indirect answer to
Speaker 5: the question. I mean, I'm a I'm not a sort
Speaker 5: of go along and just sort of ride the way person.
Speaker 5: And it wouldn't have made sense to do this like
Speaker 5: that because I've been really fortunate with a good career
Speaker 5: and with a good network, and so for me, it's
Speaker 5: you know, we know there are issues coming down the pike,
Speaker 5: and what can I bring to trying to convene and convene,
Speaker 5: counsel and have structure and then get to you know,
Speaker 5: good answers, and so it's it's it's much closer to no.
Speaker 5: I mean, there's some things that will likely need to
Speaker 5: be done in the near future, and I want to
Speaker 5: be a part.
Speaker 4: Of that process.
Speaker 3: Speaking of issues, you're walking into, you know, a hornets
Speaker 3: nest right now with I seventy seven, it's I believe
Speaker 3: it's twenty nine houses that would be impacted, So it's
Speaker 3: not this massive Grand Scots twenty nine houses, and many
Speaker 3: of those houses are actually owned by companies that rent
Speaker 3: them out to the people that live there, so many
Speaker 3: of the people that live there don't even own the house.
Speaker 3: I know, they're doing revoting and they're doing you know,
Speaker 3: towns are starting to flip again because they don't want
Speaker 3: to be on the foot for that bill. Now that
Speaker 3: you've had time to like really get into knee deep
Speaker 3: and really be briefed on everything from beginning to end,
Speaker 3: where do you stand on this? Because I know, you
Speaker 3: know Mary Lyles was you know, she really wanted to
Speaker 3: like to be involved with this and all that. So
Speaker 3: where do you.
Speaker 4: Stand on this?
Speaker 5: Yeah, so let me give you, I guess my punchline,
Speaker 5: and then I want to step back and reframe it
Speaker 5: a little bit. So you know, what I've said repeatedly
Speaker 5: and remains the case for me, is I want to
Speaker 5: you know, I think we're getting our arms around what's
Speaker 5: in the state's budget bill as far as timeline, and
Speaker 5: I want to have a process for community engagement and
Speaker 5: for council engagement that fits.
Speaker 4: The timeline so we don't look back.
Speaker 5: Two years from now, three years from now and say, well, gee,
Speaker 5: you know, I either didn't know this information, didn't have
Speaker 5: whatever information it is about the project from a trusted source,
Speaker 5: or didn't really know the timeline.
Speaker 4: And the implications of timeline.
Speaker 5: So that's my you know, at this point, my ultimate
Speaker 5: goal is to make sure that you've got an informed process,
Speaker 5: an accessible process, and have council you know, as the
Speaker 5: decision makers for the city and then you know, ultimately
Speaker 5: the regional Planning CARPO.
Speaker 4: But have council make a.
Speaker 5: Reasoned decision whether to do anything further, and if to
Speaker 5: do something further, you know what to do. But I'd
Speaker 5: step back and reframe a little bit, because yes, there
Speaker 5: are you know, approximately thirty houses that stand to be displaced,
Speaker 5: but there's also a community on all sides, on all
Speaker 5: sides of the issue, and literally on all sides of
Speaker 5: the you know, the route that will be affected by
Speaker 5: whatever happens with the highway, and as you know, many
Speaker 5: in that community will tell you have been affected for
Speaker 5: the last I'm a history and religion major, so I'll
Speaker 5: be bad with numbers, but for the last you know,
Speaker 5: fifty years. By what I seventy seven has done, it's
Speaker 5: clearly a vital artery. It's incredibly important to the city
Speaker 5: and to the region, but it's also important in what
Speaker 5: the impact on the community and the sort of division
Speaker 5: of the community, the bisecting the community. And I think
Speaker 5: we can't address the future of I seventy seven without
Speaker 5: acknowledging and addressing those those concerns. So there's the immediate
Speaker 5: thirty houses, but there are other issues around it that
Speaker 5: just have to address be addressed with people feeling like
Speaker 5: they're at the table. And obviously, you know, given the timeline,
Speaker 5: you know, we need to be prompt in having those discussions.
Speaker 4: Does the possible or as.
Speaker 3: Of now the likely having to pay back and the
Speaker 3: fact that Charlotte has forty one I think forty one
Speaker 3: percent of the vote with the carpo, but with so
Speaker 3: many other towns voting in favor of this, now your
Speaker 3: percentage would increase of what you would have to pay back.
Speaker 3: Does that play in a pack or does that have
Speaker 3: an impact on what you guys do or how you
Speaker 3: guys approach this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't want to.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think there are a lot of pieces
Speaker 5: built into what you said about you know, the percentages.
Speaker 4: And how that works together.
Speaker 5: I would zoom out without you know, sort of committing
Speaker 5: to a particular understanding of the formula or interpretation of
Speaker 5: the formula, but zoom out and say it creates at
Speaker 5: the very least a timeline, right. And it's it's as
Speaker 5: I've always said, you know, going into any professional project
Speaker 5: as a lawyer, you know you have all these factors
Speaker 5: around you, and there's the factor of the potential for payback.
Speaker 5: Does the factor of the timeline? I mean, what does
Speaker 5: seem clear from the statute is that there's a timeline
Speaker 5: that started when the governor signed the bill for ninety
Speaker 5: days for the if you want to call it safe harbor,
Speaker 5: and so that gives you a timeline to consider and
Speaker 5: then ultimately, with input from the community, you know, I
Speaker 5: think the council and then you know Carpo as a
Speaker 5: as a full body have to make a decision given
Speaker 5: all of those factors, what to do.
Speaker 1: All right, let me concern what does his political future
Speaker 1: look like and what kind of policies does he want
Speaker 1: to enact. Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen here
Speaker 1: on this Monday night, continuing my really truly in depth
Speaker 1: and extensive interview with Brandy Charlotte Mayer Harrington. More information
Speaker 1: here than you will get from any other media outlet
Speaker 1: because we were basically given three times the amount of time.
Speaker 1: So now we continue my interview with the mayor.
Speaker 3: So you walked into the ice seventy seven situation, But
Speaker 3: is there any situations or policies that you want to
Speaker 3: bring on your own and talk to city council about.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know one that I talked about a good
Speaker 4: bit during the.
Speaker 5: During our thirty thirty day or twenty one day campaign
Speaker 5: if you want to call it that, but is more
Speaker 5: broadly I'll say affordability. I mean you can translate that
Speaker 5: to certainly include affordable housing. But Charlotte's been incredibly fortunate
Speaker 5: in its growth. You know, we've got whatever the number
Speaker 5: is of folks who are coming here each day, you know,
Speaker 5: fastest growing city r size in the country. That's part
Speaker 5: of who we are, and we're you know, we're really fortunate.
Speaker 5: So we've got people and capital, you know, coming here.
Speaker 4: We're a magnet.
Speaker 5: How you balance that with folks who've been here for
Speaker 5: generations and have been so much a part of building
Speaker 5: this community, and how we do what we can by
Speaker 5: you know, policy and community action to make sure that
Speaker 5: the community feels as though it's sharing in this prosperity.
Speaker 5: Realizing that you can't stay still. There's no way cities
Speaker 5: or any other organization, but cities.
Speaker 4: Can't be stagnant. We're going to grow.
Speaker 5: And how do you provide spaces that Charlotte teans who've
Speaker 5: been here for ten twenty fifty families here for one
Speaker 5: hundred years, how they're participating and benefiting from that growth?
Speaker 5: One of them.
Speaker 4: I'd add one other piece, and I think.
Speaker 5: Looking for you know, looking, I think particularly about youth.
Speaker 5: I mean, one of the things that's been a huge
Speaker 5: benefit to my family.
Speaker 4: My son came here. We came here when my son
Speaker 4: was going.
Speaker 5: Into third grade and making sure that you know, we're
Speaker 5: doing all that we can for families and particularly for
Speaker 5: youth to benefit from.
Speaker 4: The know the good fortuite in the city.
Speaker 3: Some of the policies that were discussing here, and you
Speaker 3: just mentioned that youth and crime, and they will tell
Speaker 3: you for the last two or three years, like the
Speaker 3: youth in crime has been rampant, and that's been the
Speaker 3: biggest problem with CMPT every press conference because crime and youth,
Speaker 3: youth and crime, that's what.
Speaker 4: They like harp on a lot.
Speaker 3: Do you see a way where you can help CMPD
Speaker 3: to possibly offset that, whether it's either hiring more officers
Speaker 3: or programs like you were talking about through the city
Speaker 3: and like trying to get things with the youth like
Speaker 3: you what do you see with that and trying to
Speaker 3: help out with the youth and lower youth crime.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So, I mean, I think public safety another priority
Speaker 5: for anyone to sit in the seat, folks. Folks have
Speaker 5: to not just be safe. And if you look at
Speaker 5: the the numbers year over year, you know the numbers
Speaker 5: are are positive in the sense they're they're good trend.
Speaker 5: People also have to feel safe, and people have to
Speaker 5: feel safe across the community. It's not just in pockets
Speaker 5: or certain voices. You know, all of us, all folks
Speaker 5: in Charlotte's and visitors to Charlotte need to need to
Speaker 5: feel safe. You know, I look back at the budget
Speaker 5: that for next year, this year now that that I've inherited, that.
Speaker 4: Had already been worked through.
Speaker 5: You pleased to see that their increases in pay for
Speaker 5: first responders, for police officers, for firefighters. I think one
Speaker 5: of the other pieces for us is a community and
Speaker 5: this is you know, collaboration, because a key for us
Speaker 5: at this hi collaboration between you know, city, county, faith, community, nonprofits,
Speaker 5: others is how we continue to build outlets, you know,
Speaker 5: positive outlets for youth in the community from you know,
Speaker 5: I know the county has worked on you know, I'll
Speaker 5: miss the name, but you know they've worked on organized
Speaker 5: summer activities. If we can be a part of stitching
Speaker 5: together all of those pieces, you know, it's government, faith, communities,
Speaker 5: you know, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood groups to create you know,
Speaker 5: to to create and sustain a larger infrastructure for youth
Speaker 5: and put an emphasis on on doing that.
Speaker 3: Do you have a set schedule where you and Chief
Speaker 3: of Stella Patterson, where you talk like every Monday at
Speaker 3: nine am or every two weeks, or do you guys
Speaker 3: just have a thing where you guys to get together
Speaker 3: as set schedule you guys talk.
Speaker 4: If it's once a week, every other week, whatever it.
Speaker 2: Is, it's dire early.
Speaker 5: Yet you know the answer to that question is no,
Speaker 5: although we've probably talked. I mean I've been here now
Speaker 5: two weeks almost two so a week and a half,
Speaker 5: and we've talked multiple times during during that time. I
Speaker 5: have made it a priority to be in the building
Speaker 5: and accessible, you know, for this eighteen month period. I
Speaker 5: want to be available to the community and particularly available
Speaker 5: to the folks who work here, including the police chief
Speaker 5: in the council. And so I'm certainly accessible. And I
Speaker 5: think one thing we may want to explore is whether
Speaker 5: they're periodic meetings. But I think you take away some
Speaker 5: of the need for that if you're just here and available,
Speaker 5: and Chief Patterson knows she can reach out to me
Speaker 5: at any time, and I know the opposite is true.
Speaker 3: To One of the things that I think Mary Laws
Speaker 3: will go down for with her legacy is being extremely
Speaker 3: pro business and very instrumental in bringing so many headquarters
Speaker 3: to Charlotte during her tenure, fortune fifty companies, not just
Speaker 3: five hundred, but fortune fifties. And you know with Honeywell
Speaker 3: and what I So, do you see yourself also being
Speaker 3: that way pro business and trying to help headquarters come
Speaker 3: here like because again eighteen months, but do you see
Speaker 3: yourself A lot can happen in eighteen months.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I'm partly by training.
Speaker 4: I am like label averse.
Speaker 5: That said, Charlotte's been incredibly lucky, really fortunate in all
Speaker 5: of my life, certainly in the last few years in
Speaker 5: being a place that businesses want to come locate. And
Speaker 5: there's so many reasons, you know, businesses want to come here.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's a it's a it's a good environment
Speaker 5: I think for business itself. But we've got an incredible
Speaker 5: community that I think folks find contagious.
Speaker 4: They want to be here. You know, We've got you know,
Speaker 4: well trained community for.
Speaker 5: So many different types of jobs and particularly high paying jobs,
Speaker 5: and we need to continue to work on that. So
Speaker 5: no question, you know, I plan to continue to work
Speaker 5: closely with the Alliance and with others to make sure
Speaker 5: that the environment for businesses relocating locating here is positive.
Speaker 5: I think we also, you know, at the same time,
Speaker 5: need to be working really hard to support small businesses,
Speaker 5: those who want to come here and certainly those who
Speaker 5: are already in the community, and doing everything we can
Speaker 5: to provide, provide information, provide opportunities for small businesses and
Speaker 5: entrepreneurs in Charlotte to thrive. And I don't know that's
Speaker 5: a balance, but I think it's those are two things,
Speaker 5: both of which we need to do while at the
Speaker 5: same time making sure that the workforce is prepared to
Speaker 5: take on those new opportunities.
Speaker 1: All right, So when we return, we'll continue my conversation. Well,
Speaker 1: in our conversation, I should say, with Mayor Rob Harrington,
Speaker 1: and what.
Speaker 2: Does his political future look like?
Speaker 1: B I have to break in with Brett Jensen, So
Speaker 1: what's the political future of Rob Harrington looks like?
Speaker 2: That's what we're going to discuss right now.
Speaker 4: So a couple more questions. One is, and I know
Speaker 4: you're only a week and a half, two weeks on
Speaker 4: the job.
Speaker 3: I get it, and I know I probably already know
Speaker 3: what your answer is going to be. But let's just
Speaker 3: say a lot of people in the business community and
Speaker 3: other people here in Charlotte and the voters, and a
Speaker 3: lot of people say, hey, you didn't actually have to
Speaker 3: sign a paper saying you wouldn't run for reelection.
Speaker 4: Legally you're allowed to. So would you consider it?
Speaker 3: If there was a push and people are saying, hey,
Speaker 3: we really like what you're doing, we like you, we
Speaker 3: still think you're the best person for the job, would
Speaker 3: you still would you consider running for reelection?
Speaker 5: No. I mean, I've said eighteen months, and I think
Speaker 5: trust is one of the primary.
Speaker 4: Resources that we have.
Speaker 5: It's the building block for relationships not just with the
Speaker 5: community but with council. And what I said from the
Speaker 5: beginning is that I'm here. I don't know if bridge
Speaker 5: is the right word, because I think there you've pointed
Speaker 5: out two or three other things.
Speaker 4: There's a lot that needs.
Speaker 5: That will have to get accomplished in the next eighteen months.
Speaker 5: But I'm here for eighteen months. And you know, that's
Speaker 5: for all of us who were in that the five
Speaker 5: of us who were in the last part of that process.
Speaker 5: And I guess, I guess the whole group of one
Speaker 5: hundred and twenty or however many actually you know filled
Speaker 5: out the applicate the application.
Speaker 4: You know, we're we're in for eighteen months, and I
Speaker 4: think it's important that we that we stick to that.
Speaker 3: All right, I live there's there's an extra coach when
Speaker 3: I'm throwing there off of that.
Speaker 2: The okay, so maybe not mayor.
Speaker 3: But now that you've dipped your toe into the political
Speaker 3: world and you've been you know, the head of the
Speaker 3: North count of Bar Association, would state legislature or state
Speaker 3: Senate or even congressman, if my albums decides to retire soon,
Speaker 3: would that be something that you'd even be potentially looking to.
Speaker 4: I was thinking about going fishing.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: Look, I think it's particularly.
Speaker 5: For someone who I've been around politics, but I haven't
Speaker 5: been in politics. It's awfully early to say, you know
Speaker 5: anything about sort of the future beyond beyond this particular
Speaker 5: office and this timing in the city of Charlotte. The
Speaker 5: one thing that's clear, and this is true for the
Speaker 5: rest of my career as a lawyer, and you know,
Speaker 5: good health allowing after that that.
Speaker 4: You know, for me and for my family.
Speaker 5: You know, my wife Sharon and I have both been
Speaker 5: involved in a whole lot of things in this community
Speaker 5: who've been very fortunate. We will both I shouldn't speak
Speaker 5: for Sharon, that's here and face of Sharon. I will
Speaker 5: I will always be looking for opportunities to contribute in
Speaker 5: this community, and we'll see what the you know, you
Speaker 5: know what those opportunities are. But but you know, this community,
Speaker 5: like any community, needs, you know, folks to be involved,
Speaker 5: be engaged, and.
Speaker 4: Frankly, be willing to step forward and.
Speaker 5: Do some of the jobs that that are always always
Speaker 5: the easy jobs to do. But there we're better people
Speaker 5: for having having tried, and the community is better when
Speaker 5: when a lot of us step up and give it
Speaker 5: a shot. So, you know, we'll see what the future brings,
Speaker 5: but it'll it'll definitely involve some type of public involvement
Speaker 5: and engagement.
Speaker 3: So I always end every interview this way, whether it's
Speaker 3: an athlete, politician.
Speaker 4: Or just a man in the street.
Speaker 3: Is there anything that you'd like to discuss that I
Speaker 3: didn't ask you about? Anything that you say, you know
Speaker 3: what I really would like to talk about this. Is
Speaker 3: there anything that I didn't ask you that you'd like
Speaker 3: to discuss? No, I think I think we've covered it.
Speaker 3: I mean what I've what I've said probably in.
Speaker 5: Each interview and in many conversations is I think we
Speaker 5: need to be relentlessly forward looking, you know, I think we.
Speaker 4: We have real reason for optimism in this community. I
Speaker 4: hope we'd never forget that it's.
Speaker 5: A growing community with an incredible group of residents and
Speaker 5: residents from all around the city, from from every neighborhood,
Speaker 5: west and east and north and south. We've got so
Speaker 5: much to be grateful for here. And so two things
Speaker 5: that I've said a lot is one, let's be informed
Speaker 5: by the.
Speaker 4: Past, but let's be relentlessly you know, forward looking.
Speaker 5: And also, let's as we make the tough decisions, let's
Speaker 5: give each other a little bit of grace. Right because
Speaker 5: there's some tough decisions. There are decisions that not everybody's
Speaker 5: going to agree on on any of these decisions. But
Speaker 5: let's work with the assumption that there are a lot
Speaker 5: of good people who want to have input into a
Speaker 5: lot of decisions. And even when we disagree, and even
Speaker 5: when we have days when we disagree, let's give each
Speaker 5: other a little bit of grace.
Speaker 4: Will be better off.
Speaker 3: For anything, you'd like to say to the listeners, to
Speaker 3: the people of.
Speaker 5: Charlotte, grateful for the opportunity look forward to you know,
Speaker 5: continuing to be a part of the leadership of the
Speaker 5: city for this this period and I am I intend
Speaker 5: to be accessible.
Speaker 4: Mary Harrington, thank you for your time tonight. Thank you
Speaker 4: appreciate it.
Speaker 2: All right, that's going to do it for us tonight. TJ.
Speaker 2: Richie is coming up next. You've been listening to Breaking
Speaker 2: with Brett Jensen.