REBIC – Charlotte City Council Meeting Erodes Into Angry Activism Over Data Center Debates. Socialist Agendas Were Highly Visible.

From REBIC - 5/27/2026

Yes. That’s a hammer and a sickle in the image above. It seemed appropriate for what we’re calling 2 For Wednesday. Published today so you have a full report of the City Council Meeting from last night. Before I begin my short summary and offer resources below, I want to say that we keep asking you to get engaged. But I want to reframe that statement. You need to start making engagement your top priority. Because last night’s City Council Meeting was an unbelievable group of radical and angry socialists circling our camp. And frankly, prosperity is in their crosshairs. We need to start working together to support policy makers who want to champion prosperity, not axe it.

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On the agenda, eliciting the most fire were data centers. Just one of the many issues that represent a frightening trend toward revolution all being carried out by people marching around with facts which could quite possibly have been amassed from their phones, by using data, meant to use against anyone planning for progress.

The Party for Socialism & Liberation (yes, I too believe those words are diametrically opposed terms) are organizing in Charlotte as part of a nationwide effort, and their focus last night appeared to be eliminating existing data centers while also banning any future ones. This group is also tied to the Service Employees Union International (SEIU) that came out in force for City Council elections during the 2025 cycle, successfully handing the election to Council Member J.D. Mazuera Arias by 34 votes. They were on hand at that 2025 meeting to bully council into holding up a final airport lease agreement until certain airport workers are paid a wage deemed acceptable to the union. A one-year lease extension has been approved which affords SEIU members an opportunity to continue the campaign of agitation. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

 

In all seriousness, if you are not paying attention to current events in our community, you really need to. In a ten day period, this Charlotte City Council killed a highway project that had been conceived of more than a decade ago and was unanimously approved for support, also by council, less than two years ago.

I’ve rarely seen government of any kind move that fast. In doing so, our community gave away $600-700 million that would have gone to widen the highway, rebuild nearly 20 overpass bridges, and provided additional community benefits such as safer crossings and enhanced parks. The sticking point was that the total cost of the road expansion was closer to $4 billion meaning that a private company would have been engaged to build out the improvements in exchange for the ability to collect tolls for a determined amount of time. According to some of the individuals who had involvement with the I-77 project to the north, many lessons had been learned and the approach would be different. I guess we won’t have the opportunity to see that play out as we are now back in the queue for funding from NCDOT, along with the rest of the state, meaning it will likely take years, maybe decades to get back to the top of the list.

I’ll say it one more time: If you want to have a voice and any say in the future of your community, you need to start paying attention. If you don’t, one day you may wake up and wonder what happened. I already am.

More to consider:

To get a clearer picture of the facts, read this document published by NAIOP entitled Facts, Myths, and What you Need to Know.

If you subscribe to the Ledger, they published a great story today about the facts surrounding the data center issue.

Our elected officials had this Executive Summary for Elected Officials at their fingertips as well. Read it so you’re informed, too.

Watch the entire meeting here. My comments are around the 2 hour and 40 minute mark.

My Take: I am, and always will believe that America is “advanced citizenship” a quote from the movie The American President. And each of us should be able to shout our beliefs from the top of our lungs. But the only free speech voices I’m hearing are from people who want nothing to do with what our industry represents, creates, supports, and advocates for: A prosperous way of life and continued economic stability. But…We need to get louder.

I am also sad to report that the meeting was so raucous that a police officer had to escort me and Bobbi Jo Lazarus (the NAIOP President) back to my car. Even as the officer guided us we saw bands of socialists circling the block heaving taunts from their vehicles.

We keep talking about bringing collaboration to the table. But I feel like we’re the only ones offering it. I’m tired of being patient around the lack of improvement in the permitting process, something we’ve been asking to be addressed for years. We’re supposed to believe that government works slowly and we have to give them time. Yet in 10 days, our policy makers have caved to fear and shut down a project that is going to literally change the face of Charlotte for generations to come.

If there was ever a time to get involved, to tell others to join REBIC, to form strategies to elevate good candidates, to understand how to develop our next tier of young leaders, it’s now.