Dear Charlotte,

We have to level the playing field ourselves. If you really want to see Charlotte become the opposite of what it is now, take the pledge and start Buying It Back. The money will be used to invest in the men and women who already live in historically and predominantly African American neighborhoods.

Trump’s economic plan (“at least he has a plan”) makes the income gap worse and is killing the American Dream for all of us. It and only it is being implemented by Charlotte’s Democrats. It causes systemic racism. I am the expert in this and have testified to this publicly in our City Council and County Commission. But, in the words of one council member, “you may be right but no one is going to listen to you until other people are listening to you.” I need leverage.

If NFL fans can build a stadium, Charlotteans can rebuild this city. If you join forces to create Buying It Back, I am confident I can convince Mr. Hugh McColl, Jr., former CEO of Bank of America and PSL-creator, and Carolina Panthers owner and MLS team-owner David Tepper of the economics behind this. I am confident I can get them to invest their social, political, and financial capital in you. They have the clout to help Charlotte do an about-face. They do not want what we’ve become.

The only people who win with our current system are racists.

I have implicit biases. I am ashamed. I am learning. As I attempted to illustrate the hierarchical system within the nonprofit sector created as foundations amassed wealth, I began using the term “care-givers.” I now realize it it should say “community leaders.” Community leaders were the key to distributing the resources that began meeting basic human needs at the start of COVID-19 Sheltering in Place. My terms were reflecting my own implicit bias. You’re the solution not the problem.

This is a Peace Treaty.

I humbly ask that you create Buying It Back by June 30, 2020. Any voter that wants to create the opposite of what we do now can take the pledge. If you do, I will act as your independent municipal financial advisor. I was recruited to Charlotte by Mr. McColl’s Public Finance Group after representing Milwaukee taxpayers when they financed the Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park. Make 2020 a fair fight.

We all win or we all lose.

Sincerely,

Leslie Dwyer, MPA

Death of the American Dream

We want a good job so we can take care of ourselves and our families as we save for the future. Economic development incentives given to the private sector are causing the income gap that’s killing the American Dream for all of us.

The Project

Let’s invest in previously redlined neighborhoods to accelerate home ownership and create a small business accelerator and wellness center. This silent investment supports neighbors as they create community, curb their own gentrification and maintain the character of their neighborhood in the future.

The Investment…
Teamwork

For $10 and one email each month, registered voters can fix this. If we target the resources we already have where they’re needed most, we’ll permanently reduce the need for services over time.

25 years ago, NFL fans invested in a stadium for the Carolina Panthers with Private Seat Licenses (“PSL”). If we invest in neighborhoods together, we can address our greatest challenges in a fiscally responsible, nonpartisan way.