CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s first veto in more than a decade has been sustained. Mayor Rob Harrington vetoed a motion that would have set up a Nov. 23 vote on the new Airline Use Lease Agreement at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
With council opting to not override the veto, the vote will remain Nov. 9. The original motion was made by Council Member Dimple Ajmera and passed with a 6-5 vote. It would have taken seven votes to override Mayor Harrington’s veto. No motion was offered to do so.
Charlotte City Council is weighing whether to give approval to the lease that dictates how airlines use the runways and gates at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The rent and fees collected from these airlines pave the way for billions in Capital projects.
“This lease is really, I believe, going to take us into that purview of being a world class city,” Council Member Danté Anderson said.
Council Member Danté Anderson says the proposed capital program is four times higher than what the current lease offers. The airport says this includes expanding Concourse C, a passenger tunnel to connect people to it and renovations to the arrivals area for international flights.
What’s not included is any mandate on worker conditions or wages for subcontractors. State law bans the city of Charlotte from dictating this. But Mayor Rob Harrington has referred the topic to committee.
“As our value set as a city, as a part of our ethos as a city, we want all of our workers to be able to go to a workplace that’s safe and that they feel that they can be their best selves in that environment,” Anderson said.
“We have to be thinking about how we’re making sure that when we are going into contract with vendors, that we’re making sure that we’re doing that in a way that reflects our values,” Council Member Victoria Watlington said.
Even with a November vote, council members say there is still time for people to offer feedback on the lease.
“If there are things around the edges, certainly we can work through them,” Watlington said. “But I think most things have been addressed.”