CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings will get a settlement from the city council. But the vote to authorize it was anything but clear-cut.
As Channel 9 reported, the April 28 vote to approve the settlement was 5-2. Despite a majority being in favor, the vote to settle failed because it takes 6 votes for the Charlotte City Council to pass something.
But before the vote was taken, earlier that night, a Charlotte City Councilmember left the meeting without being excused by a majority of councilmembers.
The city attorney spent the week researching whether the 5-2 vote should be 6-2.
According to Charlotte City Council’s rules of procedure, that councilmember’s vote was counted as a “settle” vote.
“A failure to vote by a member who is physically present in the Council chamber, or who has withdrawn without being excused by a majority vote of the remaining members present, shall be recorded as an affirmative vote,” Charlotte City Council’s Rules of Procedure state.
When Charlotte City Councilmembers met in closed session on May 5, they were told the vote to settle actually passed, with the absent member’s vote being the decider.
A spokesperson for the city of Charlotte says a vote is official at the time it was taken. So, despite Charlotte City Council members not finding out until May 5 that the settlement vote passed, it was already official.
That determination that the vote was already official played a key role in this next part.
Sources say a Charlotte City Councilmember tried to change their vote on May 5, but the attempt was rejected.
A spokesperson for the city of Charlotte says, per the council’s rules of procedure, a motion to reconsider “must be made by a member who voted with the prevailing side, and only at the meeting during which the original vote was taken.”
This has happened before.
In 2021, on a council retreat, Charlotte City Councilmembers were debating whether to send the transit plan to the intergovernmental committee. Charlotte City Council voted to do so and was able to because former Councilman Matt Newton’s parking expired, and when he went to renew his parking, he noticed he forgot his wallet and had to go grab it and go back to the meter. When Councilman Newton returned, he made a motion to revisit the vote. The council decided not to send the transit plan to the committee.
It also happened in 2022 when the Charlotte City Council was debating an apartment complex in NoDa. Councilmember Victoria Watlington voted with the majority to send the apartment complex back to the zoning committee. At the request of former Councilman Larken Egleston, Councilmember Watlington made a motion to reconsider her vote later in the meeting. The project then passed.
But despite the council not finding out the settlement passed until May 5, by the city’s logic, the vote was effective at the prior meeting, April 28. A vote can be visited during a different meeting, but it is much harder to do so.
A spokesperson for the city of Charlotte says in order for that to happen, the council must suspend its rules, which require a 2/3rds majority.
Votes to suspend the rules are rare but have happened before.
Last April, the Charlotte City Council voted to suspend the rules when people mistakenly signed up to speak at a public hearing about the wrong topic.
But on May 5, there was no appetite to suspend the rules for something much more controversial.
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