Charlotte Mayor Roberts leadership problems foreshadowed by the Observer

“Leadership is not about avoiding problems,” she said at an Observer/WBTV debate. “Leadership is about how you respond to problems.”

In light of Mayor Roberts mishandling of the situation on the ground last week in the aftermath of the officer involved shooting that resulted in the death of Keith Scott, the above quote sounds almost comical.  Unfortunately, there's nothing funny about it.

Roberts uttered those words during a debate last year against her Republican opponent, Edwin Peacock.  Readers may remember the unlikely fact that the Charlotte Observer actually endorsed Peacock in that race.  Yes, the Observer endorsed a Republican.

The Observer sited Roberts' history of a lack of leadership as its primary reason for endorsing Peacock.  That's a testament to how much of an issue they thought it to be.  To repeat, the Observer endorsed a Republican.  (Yes, it was Edwin Peacock, but still, he had an R behind his name.)

In the aftermath of last week's events, it's now clear why.

The events in Charlotte unfolded in two ways that were materially different than the unrest occurring in most other cities after officer involved deaths.

First, things spun out of control in Charlotte more quickly than in other cities.

On the night Scott was killed, violent unrest occurred comparatively quickly.  Tuesday night/Wednesday morning just hours after the shooting, I-85 was shut down as protesters stopped trucks and burned cargo on a major interstate highway.   The Observer has a good article on that chaos here.

Looking at Ferguson, Baltimore, and St Paul, violent protest did not start until well after the incidents which sparked them.  In two cases (Baltimore and St Paul) riots didn't start until after the funeral of the person killed.

What happened in Charlotte was closer in its timing to what occurred in Milwaukee.   The violence there started the same day just like in Charlotte. Fortunately, while the timing was similar, the Queen City was spared the duration and sheer destruction seen in Wisconsin.

This fact of timing alone makes Roberts' statement to the media on Thursday following the Wednesday riot untenable.  Roberts told WBTV the city was planning for peaceful protests on Wednesday even though Tuesday had already shown unrest.  It is hard to understand why Roberts and her staff would think violent protest was unlikely given the facts of the previous night.  Even more tellingly Roberts was also quick to subtly throw her own people under the bus saying "we are a team here in Charlotte. We are a team. I rely on my experts to give me appropriate advice at the appropriate time for the appropriate resources that will be needed.”

A leader takes responsibility.  A leader does not pass the buck.

The second differentiating aspect of the events in Charlotte could have a more far reaching impact.

It was widely reported originally that most of those arrested on Wednesday night were from out of state.  (UPDATED - A regular reader pointed out the source of the original report saying most arrested were out of towners has since recanted that statement.  See here.)  Regardless,  the mishandling of the early events in Charlotte has given the "professional protesters" a new play for their playbook.

In the other examples of violent protests in other cities, the riots did not occur in the business district.  In Charlotte, it did.  That's an important difference because it effectively shut down the heart of the city for two days as major employers kept people home.  Seeing this result has to be considered a victory for those seeking conflict.  Don't be surprised if you see it repeated elsewhere.

Would having more state assistance on the ground Wednesday night have made a difference?  It is hard to know for sure, but not having those extra resources sure looks to have made things worse.  Even just accepting some State Police resources if not the National Guard may have given enough manpower to keep things under control.

What we know for sure is that once a state of emergency was declared and the National Guard was called out, there wasn't any more significant conflict.  The protests at times on Thursday night were tense and certainly could have gotten out of control, but with so many Police, State Troopers, and National Guard on the ground things never got violent.

Cities in the United States absolutely do not want to get in the habit of having curfews, troops in combat gear on street corners, and Humvees patrolling the streets.  Stronger leadership from the Mayor's Office could have prevented that from being necessary.  Help was offered but not accepted until too late.

That led to a second rebuke from the Observer on Saturday regarding her leadership - or lack thereof.  Ouch!

Charlotte gets the Edward Longshanks treatment over HB2

Fans of the movie Braveheart may remember the below exchange between the ruthless English king, Edward the Longshanks, and his field commander during the climactic battle scene.  The English troops are engaged in fierce hand to hand combat with William Wallace's Scottsmen when Longshanks orders the archers to fire randomly into the melee.

Longshanks: Archers.
English Commander: I beg pardon, sire. Won't we hit our own troops?!?!
Longshanks: Yes... but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack!

As events unfold in the aftermath of the NCGA passing HB2 which rescinded Charlotte's so-called "Bathroom Ordinance", that exact scenario seems to be unfolding with Charlotte playing the role of the English troops coming under friendly fire..

Tuesday's announcement by PayPal that it is no longer considering Charlotte for its expansion plans follows announcements by the NBA that it may rethink coming to Charlotte for the 2017 All Star weekend as well as numerous state travel restrictions from across the country - trips that likely would have included Charlotte.

Of course there is lots of finger pointing on all sides.

Charlotte officials blame the legislature.  The NCGA says none of this would have happened if Charlotte had not acted first by enacting the ordinance in the face of clear warnings from Raleigh that doing so would get a response.

Regardless of who is right, Charlotte is paying the price.  Frankly, if I was a Charlotte City Council member who voted for the ordinance which started this whole thing, I would be a bit P.O.d at these groups threatening to hurt the city.

Weren't they good soldiers for the cause?  Yes.  Yes, they were.

But, maybe that's the point.  Good soldiers are sent into battle knowing they won't all come out unscathed.

Here is an interesting map from the ACLU depicting which states have statewide laws treating LGBT people as a protected class.

You will notice no state in the south has this protection.  In fact it appears less than half of all states have LGBT protection in statewide law.

So, why all the brouhaha over North Carolina?  Why now?

On some level, it is just electoral politics.

It is an election year.  Gov McCrory is very vulnerable.   Any damage done to him in Mecklenburg really hurts him.  That explains at least some of it.

Also, if the NCGA cracks and adds LGBT protection to the state law, that's a major victory for the LGBT lobby by adding NC to that map as the first southern state.

However, as long as Charlotte is the main area paying the price for HB2, it would seem unlikely the majority of legislators hailing from more rural areas will care.

As this plays out it seems the Charlotte pols maybe didn't realize that, or they didnt think their supposed ideological allies might be launching arrows at their backs.

Charlotte pols may have thought they were actually in charge, when in fact they are just pawns in a larger battle.

Bonus Observation: Charlotte City Council member Kenny Smith (a Republican) had an interesting take on the issue this Wednesday AM.

Listen here.

WFAE.org article acknowledging this issue as welll.  See here.

Will Town of Davidson officially oppose HB2?

With the debate about Charlotte's "Bathroom ordonance" and the NCGA invalidation of it continuing to rage across the nation, municiputies in the state have begun passing resolutions opposing HB2 which invalidated the Charlotte's action.

Will the Town of Davodson follow suit?

That question was posed to Davidson's Board on Friday with Mayor John Woods responding immediately with this.

"The Town Board has not met since the passage of HB2.  It is possible we will discuss this in due time and engage a conversation.

We will certainly keep all citizens informed."

Responses from a majority of Commissioners indicate if such an ordinance does come up for discussion, it likely will be well received.

Commissioner Rodney Graham chimed in with this lengthy statement.

"I'm happy to give you my personal opinion, but it only represents my opinion.  I can't speak for anyone else.

I think it's a terrible piece of legislation.  It has been mischaracterized as dealing with bathrooms, but if you look at the Charlotte ordinance the bathroom issue was a very minor part of that legislation.  Charlotte was simply wanting to join hundreds of other municipalities across the country (including some in North Carolina and several in South Carolina) and extend protections against discrimination to the LGBT community, which is a sizable community which suffers from discrimination.

The NCGA took away those protections, and even made it more difficult for people in existing protected classes to take action if they feel they have been discriminated against.  They have made it legal in NC for businesses to refuse to provide services to the LGBT community.  Fortunately, most businesses realize that it is bad for business to discriminate against anyone, but it is shameful that it is the law of our state that they can do so.

You have undoubtedly observed the reaction of the business community to this legislation.  While facebook is not a scientific gauge of public opinion, both Tarte and Bradford are getting criticized roundly on their facebook pages for their support of this legislation, and not just by the usual suspects.

Ultimately the legislation will be overturned either through the political or judicial process.  It is unfortunate that the NCGA put the state through this embarrassment.

And yes, it is one more example of a Raleigh knows best attitude.  I'd love for people to contact their local legislators about this issue."

Commissioner Jim Fuller followed that with a simple "I agree with Rodney."  Commissioner Stacey Anderson then said "I agree with Rodney and Jim."

That gives the town a Board majority supporting opposition to HB2.  The only quesion is will they act on it.

Update 4/4:  All five Davidson Commissioners have now expressed support for Rodney Graham's comments.

Update 4/12: Davidson adds request to repeal HB2 to its legislative agenda for the upcoming NCGA session .