Lewis eager to unite Charlotte City Council as next mayor

Tim Lewis is eager to get to work after voters in the City of Charlotte elected him Nov. 3 as their next mayor. Lewis (532 votes) narrowly defeated council member Yvonne Ridge (507) to claim the two-year term. Mayoral candidates Joe Daly and Zach Story received 183 and 119 votes, respectively.
Lewis will be sworn into office Monday, Nov. 9 along with newly elected city council members, Bill Mitchell in District 1, Anthony Russo in District 2 and Chris Bahmer as councilor at large. Mitchell and Russo both ran uncontested races, while Bahmer beat out current District 2 city council member Branden Dyer. Incumbent Brad Johnston defeated challenger James Wyszynski 429-195 to retain the remaining two years left on the District 2 seat.
Lewis said his first order of business as mayor is to bring the council together to start talking priorities.
“We will begin as a team, work as a team and accomplish things as a team,” Lewis said. “That starts right from the first meeting.”
Lewis said the community made it very clear as to what they want the mayor and council to focus on moving forward — streets and reinvigorating downtown.
“We want the community to know we are going to take a real good look at the concerns they have and that we intend to address them,” Lewis said. “The bottom line is the citizens have given us our marching orders.”
Lewis said successful communication of how those issues are being addressed will be a key component of his time as mayor. He said he expects all council members to continue to actively engage the citizens within their districts. He also plans to reinstitute a “Coffee with Council” program he ran during his previous time as a Charlotte City Council member. The first coffee is tentatively scheduled for the second week of December.
Voters reject CPS sinking fund proposal
Voters within the Charlotte Public Schools district overwhelmingly defeated the district’s proposed Building and Site Sinking fund millage proposal by a vote of 1,984 “no” to 1,017 “yes.” The proposal was defeated by a similar margin in August.
The proposal called for a 1-mill increase for 10 years, which would have generated approximately $535,000 annually.