I tiptoed into the house again last night, hoping to avoid waking my family after another late-night tryst with our city council. My mind, as usual, went straight to the chocolate ice cream in the freezer. Life is full of choices between sweet desires and best interests. But this time I came home with a different feeling — I wasn’t tense. In fact I was modestly inspired by an evening of half-decent governance, which ended with the selection of attorney Rob Harrington to serve as mayor of the 14th-largest city in the country.
The concern going into this process was that the 11 council members would choose chaos. It’s seduced them quite a bit over the seven weeks since Vi Lyles announced her resignation. But in this case, they landed on a solid mix of finalists for her replacement. The five who would be mayor gave compelling arguments, with a few hiccups, in 30-minute interviews last Thursday, and mostly they seemed grateful for the opportunity.
One, Harold Cogdell, actually sat for his interview before hopping on a flight for a quick family vacation. Over the weekend, I ran into another finalist, Carrie Cook, at a fish fry. It’d been years since we’d seen each other, and she was as bright a light as I remembered. We caught up while our kids played on a bouncy slide. The little glimmers of wholesomeness were encouraging, even as Cook’s phone buzzed with texts and emails as the political maneuvering played out beneath the surface.
Cook made it to the final two last night, losing out to Harrington by just one vote, but she was still happy afterward.
I don’t know Harrington personally, and can’t say for sure how this’ll turn out. But I know that he’s a 63-year-old attorney who’s served as board chair for the library and many other civic bodies, and a lot of people I respect think the world of him. I spoke briefly last night to Amanda Pickens Nitto, who came to Charlotte after law school to interview at Robinson Bradshaw 15 or so years ago. At the end of a full day of interviews, her final meeting was to be a 10-minute conversation with Harrington. They wound up talking for 35. Nitto got the job and still works there today as a partner.
She says Harrington helped her learn how to turn difficult conversations and disagreements into an art form, and how to listen to others before developing a perspective. She talked about his character and integrity, not as add-ons to his personality but as core values. In a city that’s going through a period of leadership roulette, all of that stands out as promising.
“He’s just really kind, very patient, really good teacher,” Nitto said. “And he takes time with you.”
Even without any political experience, Harrington by all accounts can be the veteran locker room leader, rather than next year’s top draft pick. Based on his interview with council last week — where he answered their questions so clearly and concisely that he actually left them with 11 minutes of extra time (it’s unheard of for this group to finish anything early) — he could be a healthy choice for this council, which in turn would make him a healthy choice for our city.
Their meetings are too disorganized and competitive and performative. By most accounts I’ve heard, they have very little in the way of relationships with each other outside of meetings. They’re faster to argue over process than articulate a cohesive vision. And the fact that several of them are considering making a formal run for mayor in 2027 seeds more distrust.
Harrington has pledged to hear them out over the next 18 months, and he spoke of making sure each council member had “a voice and not just a vote,” and of trying to “help people reach their goals.” But more than what he says, people close to him say he’s had a history of making decisions not based on what’s advantageous to him, but based on what lets him sleep at night.
City council is easy to pick on. But they’re also public servants making pennies, in a city full of easier treasure. And in the process of selecting the interim mayor, messy as it was at times, they wound up with several strong options. Then, though their votes were all over the place, they wound up with two fine finalists in Cook and Harrington. Then, despite a split 6-5 vote, they may have chosen the one they needed at this moment. Time will tell.
Either way, in the hallway afterward, most of the five qualifiers shook hands and congratulated each other on making it this far. Harrington and Cook hugged each other.
I shook Harrington’s hand on his way out. “Good people, good process,” he said. I asked him how his phone looked, and he said, “It’s blowing up. But I’m going home to look at my granddaughters tonight.”
Short and sweet. Sweet and short. For once after a city council meeting, I didn’t need the late-night ice cream.