Council Confirms Four Appointees to MPTA Board

By Jack Beckett

The Charlotte Mercury — Civic Affairs Desk
November 17, 2025

After nearly 17 hours of interviews, stacks of score sheets, and enough ballot-checking to qualify as light cardio, Charlotte City Council on Monday night confirmed four appointees to the newly created Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority (MPTA).

It is the most substantial structural step since Mecklenburg voters narrowly approved the transit referendum—one that passed by margins thin enough to produce long memories, lingering skepticism, and a few visible winces during debate.

The four confirmed appointees—each receiving six or more council nominations, the required threshold—represent the first wave of the city’s seven council-selected seats on the 12-member regional authority.

Those appointees include:

• Frank Emory (Law)
• David Howard (Government)
• Todd Collins (Architecture)
• Jocelyn Jones-Nolley (Logistics; also meets the required Transit Rider category)

Each earned support from across the ideological spectrum and across districts—no small feat given council’s recent run of divided procedural votes.

A Committee That Outworked the Calendar

The three-member selection panel—James “Smuggie” Mitchell (Chair), LaWana Mayfield, and Ed Driggs—spent the better part of the last week interviewing 27 finalists. The process began with 145 applicants, whittled to 27, and eventually narrowed to the group presented Monday night.

Council members praised the work as “exhaustive,” “transparent,” and “a true marathon.”

Or, in Mayfield’s terms:

“We asked every block of candidates different questions so nobody could study the Wednesday group’s answers to prep for Friday.”

Even by council process standards, it was a rare admission: the interview gauntlet was intentional, meticulous, and meant to prevent any performance advantage.

Who Almost Made It? And Who Comes Back Nov. 24?

Candidates receiving five but fewer than six nominations—the category of “close but not confirmed”—will return for the next round of voting at the November 24 business meeting.

Ballots and nomination breakdowns will be made public on Thursday, including precisely which council members supported which candidates—data eagerly anticipated by several council members who requested real-time disclosure during the meeting.

Council Member Victoria Watlington asked to double-check tallies as she submitted her ballot minutes before the vote.
Council Member Tiawana Brown pressed for clarity on which applicants opposed the referendum itself—a concern tied to the razor-thin margin in District 3, where “Yes” and “No” voters were nearly matched.

Brown was assured that none of the four confirmed appointees had opposed the referendum.

Two Categories Still Required by Law

While council members debated how heavily to lean on the nine interview categories used by the selection committee, the City Attorney clarified that two categories are legally mandatory across the full 12-member board:

• Small Business Representative (required by the PAVE Act)
• Transit Rider Representative (required by the interlocal MOU)

Because Jones-Nolley satisfies the Transit Rider requirement, only Small Business must be filled among the remaining three seats.

A Moment of Bipartisan Breathing Room

The final vote was 10–1, with Council Member Brown dissenting in protest over what she described as a lack of consideration for referendum opponents and potential impacts on long-time residents.

Still, the overall tenor was unusually harmonious for a process involving competitive appointments, regional politics, and the future of transit funding.

Mitchell closed the item by thanking the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance and the Foundation for the Carolinas for their two appointees each—and congratulating former Council Member David Howard, who was present for the vote.

What Comes Next

• Nov. 21: Council receives nomination breakdowns
• Nov. 24: Remaining seats return for a second-round vote
• December: Full 12-member MPTA expected to be seated

Once constituted, the authority will begin the complex task of setting revenue priorities, negotiating interlocal agreements, and preparing financing frameworks for long-planned rail expansions.

The long-promised “unified regional transportation body” is suddenly, undeniably real.

Now all it needs is its final three members.

About the Author

Jack Beckett is senior writer for The Charlotte Mercury. He drinks his coffee the way City Council conducts meetings: long, occasionally chaotic, and with no promise of an early adjournment. If you see him at Einstein Bros. Bagels on South Boulevard, he is probably writing this sentence again.

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