Over 50 ULI Charlotte Annual Sponsors gathered a the Charlotte Country Club for our semi-annual Sponsors-Only event.  In a discussion lead by Chris Williams of Wells Fargo Advisors & the Carolina Business Review, and a panel consisting of David Howard, Charlotte City Council, Member-At-Large, Ric Killian, North Carolina State Representative, District 105, Dan Clodfelter (D), North Carolina Senator, and Jennifer Roberts, Mecklenburg Co. Commission, Chairman At Large, discussed critical issues impacting our region.  Some of the lessons learned from the event included:

“Laws are like sausages — it is best not to see them being made.”  There was no sausage served today but we did get peek behind the curtain and gained a small understanding of the limitations imposed upon our legislators. “Educational,” “insightful,” and “emotional” are the finest words to describe this great opportunity to have four elected officials from four separate governing bodies speak to us and to each other.

David Howard  – “The thing that concerns me most about CMS schools is that the parents in the suburbs don’t seem to understand why the inner city parents do not see home/neighborhood schools as a positive thing, and the parents in the inner-city need to understand why the suburban parents want their kids closer to home in schools.  That is what I find concerning; that people are not understanding one another’s issues.” 

Dan Clodfelter noted, “Now is the time for extreme change!”

John Porter stated, “Substantive conversations with community leaders. ULI members clearly have the ear of policy makers.” 

For an hour, the conversation centered around transportation, schools, and budgets, with a lot of open and frank discussions.  If you are interested in participating in this programming in the future, please consider annual sponsorship in ULI Charlotte.  For more information, click here.