Charlotte's city council voted Tuesday to open applications for an interim mayor. District 1 council member Danté Anderson put the stakes plainly: whoever council selects in June "will effectively serve out 75% of a mayoral term."
Mayor Pro Tem Kimberly Owens, who represents District 6, was direct.
"I'm asking you to put the campaign aside and to run in 2027, not to start running right now," she told the council. "I really am hopeful that we'll come together to choose a person who will study this council, steady us and not divide us, and who can lead without ego."
The 2027 municipal primary is September 14. The general election is November 2.
Mayor Vi Lyles announced her resignation on May 7. She leaves June 30.
The council settled on what it calls Option B — a process open to both sitting members and outside applicants. Applications open June 2, close June 9, and go to council on June 11; a public forum is scheduled for June 18, ahead of the June 22 appointment vote. The new mayor would be sworn in July 1. If council doesn't make an appointment by then, Owens would serve in Lyles' absence under state law.
The application includes a question about 2027. The city attorney called it a "non-binding consideration" — applicants have to answer whether they intend to run, but the answer doesn't determine eligibility. It goes on the record.
District 4 council member Renee Johnson, who pushed for Tuesday's discussion, noted the meeting itself arrived late. The council had not addressed Lyles' resignation since she announced it — nearly three weeks earlier.
"On May 7th, 2026, our mayor announced her resignation," Johnson said. "Most, if not all, council members learned about it through the media. And today, 19 days later, is the first time council is discussing this matter. Not just publicly, it's the very first time."
Getting the item on the agenda had required six council members — a full majority — just to call for a discussion. Johnson moved to lower that threshold to four. The motion passed unanimously.
Charlotte has done this before. In 2013, Mayor Foxx resigned, and council appointed Patsy Kinsey to finish the term. In 2014, Mayor Patrick Cannon resigned, and council brought in then-state Sen. Dan Clodfelter — an outside candidate at the time — as his replacement. Both were chosen by a council vote.
During public comment Tuesday, resident Tara Long made a direct appeal: "I'm just asking for Jennifer Roberts for interim mayor. She knows what she's doing. She's always involved with the community."
The application asks whether you plan to run in 2027. You don't have to mean it.