Nearly two months have passed, and Charlotte leaders are still at odds over how to move on from the controversy surrounding the city’s “separation” from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings.
Interim City Attorney Patrick Baker has said he plans to launch an investigation into comments made by Charlotte City Council member Victoria Watlington shortly after news of the settlement broke in May. In an email to supporters, Watlington made accusations of “unethical, immoral, and frankly, illegal activities” in city government. She later said that her reference to corruption was “figurative” and clarified she had no concerns about “financial or widespread corruption.”
At this point, an investigation seems like the only way to get the transparency we’ve long been asking for from our leaders. The exact focus of the investigation is unclear, though, and not everyone agrees on who should be leading it. Baker wants to lead it himself, while Watlington has called for an independent investigation, given Fox’s own role in the very matter he would be investigating. Watlington said she is concerned about the “integrity of an investigation conducted by the subjects of the investigation,” according to WFAE…