Charlotte City Council on Oct. 13 approved a council work-group recommendation to screen and interview applicants for the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority as required by the PAVE Act and the authority's memorandum of understanding.

Council member James Mitchell, who led the work group, told council that the process responds to earlier member requests for more involvement in choosing interviewees, input on interview questions and the ability for councilors to attend interviews. "On Tuesday, you'll get a special delivery of our application resume," Mitchell said; he said the applications list contained 126 applicants as of the previous day.

How the process will work

- Special delivery of application packets to council members on Oct. 14.
- Each council member will use a SurveyMonkey shortlist tool to select three candidates per category (nine categories were defined), producing a pooled shortlist used to identify roughly 27 applicants for interviews.
- Interviews are planned Oct. 27'30; the work-group interview panel (Mitchell, LaWanna Mayfield and Ed Driggs) will conduct the interviews, and council members may attend live or participate virtually.
- The work group will rank recommended candidates first, second and third per category and include recommendations in a Nov. 6 package to council.
- Council nominations and votes: each council member may nominate one applicant on Nov. 10, with final voting expected by Dec. 12 per the MOU; if no nominee receives six votes the final vote would be scheduled for Nov. 24.

Debate over transparency and evaluation criteria

Several council members supported the timetable but urged additional transparency about evaluation criteria. Council member Vi Lyles (the mayor) and interim city attorney Anthony Fox noted that the PAVE Act specifies candidate categories but not a single mandated formula for selection; other members urged that the committee publish evaluation criteria to enhance public trust. Council member Brown said she favored publishing metrics and a public-facing matrix; Mitchell and Mayfield said the committee would provide interview questions and would share the work-group's evaluation results with council after interviews are complete.

Mayoral appointments and tradition

Council members discussed mayoral appointment authority. Under existing board-and-commission practice, the mayor customarily holds additional appointment slots; the work group recommended preserving two mayoral appointee slots for the office of the mayor and capturing the practice in a council resolution so the practice is recorded. Interim city attorney Fox said the PAVE Act is silent on the internal selection procedure; the governing body still must make the official appointment.

Council vote

Council approved the work-group process by a roll-call vote during the meeting; the clerk recorded eight votes in favor and three opposed (those opposing cited concerns about publishing selection criteria and timing around the upcoming election). The motion authorizes staff to implement the timeline and use the SurveyMonkey shortlist to prepare the 27 interviewees.

Next steps

Staff will distribute applications on Oct. 14, collect council input on candidate shortlists, and return interview schedules to council by Oct. 22. The work group will convene interviews at the end of October and return ranked recommendations to council on Nov. 6.