Closed-door meeting with MLS officials, Charlotte's mayor still on

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A closed-door meeting with Charlotte city leaders that involves using $100 million in taxpayer moneyto pay for a Major League Soccer stadium is still on.

Channel 9 reported Wednesday night that Mecklenburg County commissioners refused to meet privately next week with MLS officials.

[RELATED: Meeting between Major League Soccer, county leaders canceled]

Mayor Jennifer Roberts said on Thursday it’s important to show off the city of Charlotte to all groups who come to visit.

“Anytime somebody comes to look at Charlotte, we put our best foot forward,” Roberts said.

But she said by taking the meeting, there is no guarantee that MLS will play in Charlotte anytime soon.

Roberts said she plans to meet with MLS officials in private, along with city manager Marcus Jones, chief financial officer Randy Harrington and other city staff.

The new MLS stadium could cost $175 million. The deal was for the city and county to each provide $43.7 million for stadium construction.

Channel 9 uncovered emails written by county manager Dena Diorio that showed attempts to schedule a private meeting between MLS officials and county commissioners.

In the emails, Diorio said only four commissioners could meet at a time to prevent the meeting from becoming public.

It’s a move that the NC Open Government Coalition is criticizing.

“A clear intention to evade the open meetings law by breaking the meeting up into multiple groups,” said Jonathan Jones with the NC Open Government Coalition.

Roberts said the meeting’s topics include the time frame and benefits of having the MLS team.

Councilmember Ed Driggs said he hasn’t been invited to attend but he’s fine with the private discussion.

“I don’t think every conversation we have with MLS or the private partner needs to be done in public,” Driggs said.

Jones aggrees as long as no negotiations take place and the city’s representatives report back on what was discussed.

“"That's not inappropriate because there is not bad intentions to do the public's business in secret,” Jones said.

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