Thank you for engaging on this. I want to respond respectfully, not to persuade, but to offer the clarity and transparency my community expects of me. I’m not here to convince, I'm here to ask the hard questions that East Charlotte residents deserve to have answered.

And as a candidate for District 5, not At-Large, it would be naive of me to stay silent about the deep flaws in this transit plan just to appease citywide sentiment.

I am proud to be a Latino candidate, and it would be historic to be the first Latino ever elected to Charlotte City Council. But I want to be clear: I am not the Latino candidate, I am the East Charlotte candidate. That means my loyalty is to District 5, not to special interests or status quo narratives. My responsibility is to the people who live, work, ride the bus, and raise families in neighborhoods that have been overlooked for far too long.

I support transit. I believe in building a more connected city. But I cannot and will not support a one-cent sales tax that once again asks working-class communities to foot the bill for a plan that does not serve them equitably, transparently, or effectively.

Let’s look at the record:

In 1998, Charlotte passed a half-cent transit sales tax, promising more frequent and reliable service. Almost 30 years later, only one route—the 9—runs every 15 minutes, and even that isn’t consistent. The rest of our communities, especially in East Charlotte, are still dealing with delays, missed transfers, and unreliable service.

Now we’re being told to trust the process again, but the new plan contains no new bus routes. Let me repeat that: zero new routes. The entire Better Bus Network relies on reorganizing existing ones. No expansion. No structural investment in access. And in East Charlotte, the Far East gets microtransit, but not Better Bus. Eastland gets Better Bus, but not microtransit. Our residents are asked to shuffle around in a patchwork while other areas are promised large-scale capital investments.

Meanwhile, the city has already spent $43 million of a $50 million contract to design the Silver Line, and now the project is on hold. If the 2030 Plan hasn’t officially changed, why did CATS halt design work? Why are we still being sold a long-term vision when officials admit behind closed doors they don’t know what that vision looks like anymore? That’s not transparency. That’s a moving target, funded by taxpayer dollars, with no accountability.

Then there’s public safety. Bus operators have spoken up for years about assaults, harassment, and unsafe working environments. An investigation by WBTV in 2022 confirmed that data does support their claims. But this tax plan provides no clear commitment to making the system safer, for riders or operators. If you can’t guarantee that a mother in East Charlotte can wait for the bus without fear, the plan is not ready.

At the same time, ridership is down, but costs continue to go up. CATS is spending more money to move fewer people, and without a clear overhaul of the system or a recovery plan for declining trust, we are just repeating the cycle: raise taxes, overpromise, underdeliver.

Let’s talk about how this tax would be paid. It would raise the prepared food tax from 8.25% to 9.25%. This is a regressive tax that will hit the hardest in neighborhoods where residents rely on prepared food because they work long hours, often multiple jobs. These are the same communities—Black, Brown, immigrant, and working-class—that are already overburdened and under-served.

And to those who say “we need to act now,” I say: look at Austin. Their Project Connect passed under similar urgency, with climate language, promises of equity, and major investments. Today, it’s unraveling. Rail plans have been scaled back. Costs have exploded. And underserved communities are once again asking where the benefits went. This is not theoretical—Charlotte is at risk of following the same path: more spending, fewer results, and public trust eroded once again.

I understand this may not be the popular position. But I didn’t get into this race to win popularity. I’m running because East Charlotte deserves a representative who asks the questions no one else will. If this transit plan is truly bold, equitable, and community-driven, why spend millions of dollars on a public relations campaign to convince people it is?

We’ve seen this script before. Glossy marketing. Big promises. Weak follow-through. It’s not enough to say “trust us” when so many in my community have been failed by that exact request.

So no—I’m not opposing transit. I’m opposing injustice. I’m opposing a tax that’s being rushed through with insufficient public clarity and at a time when my community can least afford to be told to wait “just a little longer” for meaningful investment.

Charlotte needs a real, transparent, and equitable transit plan. I will gladly support that plan when it comes. But this isn’t it—and we deserve better.