Charlotte City Council's new immigration committee holds meeting without inviting public

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Days after Charlotte City Council's newly formed immigration committee held a private, unadvertised meeting to discuss recent ICE arrests and how the committee should move forward, the City of Charlotte has provided Eyewitness News political reporter Joe Bruno the presentation given to everyone in attendance.

The meeting likely violated North Carolina's Open Meetings Law. The city admits the meeting should have been public. Some councilmembers described it as a "planning session."

The presentation showed possible immediate steps that could be taken including allocating funding in the budget, creating an immigrant advisory council, formalizing a Charlotte compact, and implementing a racial equity tool for boards and commissions.

The city told Channel 9 no votes were taken during the meeting.

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After ICE arrested more than 200 people across North Carolina, Mayor Vi Lyles formed the ad hoc immigration committee. According to the mayor's memo, the committee was formed "to listen to apprehensions in our immigrant communities and determine what, if anything, can be done to allay these apprehensions about city government services and activities."

Sources told Channel 9 the committee's first meeting was Monday in the Government Center. Sources said the meeting was around two-hours long, and it was not advertised to the public. Immigration has been a hot topic at City Hall, lately. Dozens of activists packed the chamber recently to call on the City Council to take a stance against ICE. Had the meeting been advertised, the meeting would have likely been well-attended by the public and media.

In attendance at the meeting were all four of the committee members; Chair Larken Egleston, Dimple Ajmera, James Mitchell and Matt Newton.

Mayor Vi Lyles, Councilman Braxton Winston and staff also attended the meeting. Sources told Channel 9 Council Members Tariq Bokhari and Julie Eiselt tried to attend the meeting but were told they could not, so as to prevent a quorum.

Following questioning by Channel 9, the City of Charlotte admitted the meeting should have been public.

“As the city worked to execute the mayor’s charge to form an ad hoc committee, a planning session with staff that occurred Monday. In hindsight, (it) should have been advertised as a public committee meeting," said Jordan-Ashley Walker, spokeswoman for the City of Charlotte. "During the meeting, council members did not vote on or discuss policy decisions. Those who attended the planning session were informed about upcoming community outreach meetings, the dates and times, of which have been shared publicly.”

According to the North Carolina Open Government Association, the public should have been notified about the meeting.

"The notice requirements of the Open Meetings Law are triggered whenever a majority of a public body meets," Brooks Fuller, director of the N.C. Open Government Coalition said. "Therefore, if all four members of the committee are meeting for the purposes of deliberation about the committee's business, then notice is required."

Sources told Channel 9 that Ajmera and Winston voiced concerns during the meeting about it not being public.

Winston confirmed the exchange in a text message to Bruno.

“I was at the convening of the Immigration ad hoc committee on Monday. I was not appointed to the committee but am passionate about the role our city should play in advocating for immigrant communities," Winston said. "I became aware that the public wasn’t invited to the meeting while the meeting was in progress, and we were in the middle of discussion. I voiced my displeasure and concern to the committee. I have always advocated for transparency and access to the work of government. I hope the committee will operate differently in the future as it progresses in its important work.”

“I had expressed concerns over transparency and trust to the committee chair,” Ajmera tweeted following Channel 9’s story. “This is not how we build trust with our residents!”

In an interview with Channel 9, Mitchell defended the private meeting saying it was mostly for planning purposes of future meetings.

"I think that meeting was clearly about expectations the mayor had for putting this ad hoc committee together," Mitchell said. "Instead of staff having four individual meetings, it was a way of having everybody in one meeting. It was truly a planning session."

A spokesperson for the City of Charlotte said minutes were not taken at the meeting.

Before Channel 9's questioning, the City of Charlotte released the list of future meetings for the immigration committee.

Committee events:

Immigrant Business Outreach Resource Fair

• Saturday, March 9, 9–11 a.m.
• Inspira, 3909 Monroe Road

District 4 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Thursday, March 14, 7–9 p.m.
• Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, 6300 Highland Ave.

District 7 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Saturday, March 16, 9–11 a.m.
• Morrison YMCA, 9405 Bryant Farms Road

District 2 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Tuesday, March 19, 6–8 p.m.
• Johnson C. Smith University, 100 Beatties Ford Road

District 3 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Thursday, March 21, 8–10 p.m.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 6212 Tuckaseegee Road

District 6 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Tuesday, March 26, 6–8 p.m.
• Harris YMCA, 5900 Quail Hollow Road

District 5 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Thursday, March 28, 6–8 p.m.
• Camino Community Center, 201 Stetson Drive

District 1 Immigrant Community Committee Meeting

• Saturday, March 30, 9–11 a.m.
• ourBRIDGE for KIDS, 3925 Willard Farrow Drive

Immigration Court visit and panel discussion with immigration attorneys

• Thursday, March 21, 8 a.m. to noon
• Court visit: Charlotte Immigration Court, 5701 Executive Center Drive, Suite 400

Panel discussion: Latin American Coalition, 4938 Central Ave.

City of Greensboro International Advisory Committee election

• Saturday, March 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Greensboro Coliseum Complex, 1921 W. Gate City Blvd.

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