Key questions remain about Charlotte’s Mayor’s Equity Initiative as leaders face criticism and the need to replace a director who resigned after just a week on the job.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mayor Vi Lyles pointed to the importance and scope of the initiative’s mission.

“Racial equity is a tough issue to resolve,” she said, “and we are going to do our very best, but we are not going to be perfect all the time.”

The Mayor’s Equity Initiative, announced formally in November, is a $250 million effort — largely seen as the Charlotte’s most ambitious undertaking to atone for discrimination and harm, much of which occurred through government actions.

On Monday, a director the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance hired to oversee key aspects of the $250 million public-private partnership resigned. Kimberly Henderson’s resignation came just days after WCNC first reported Henderson had left her last job in Ohio while facing a criminal investigation related to unemployment claim fraud. Representatives also apologized for the controversy bringing “negative attention” and distraction.

Henderson’s hiring and quick departure has raised questions about who should have a say in how a mix of public and private funds will be deployed to address the legacy of racism in Charlotte.

“We need to hit the pause button,” said Tariq Bokhari, a city council member who has previously voiced concerns about the initiative’s implementation. “Until we have that confidence that we can transparently relay the process, updates and status to all of Charlotte as a community, we have to completely pause on everything.”

The Observer has been unable to reach Henderson over recent days.

The business alliance this week refused to answer questions from the Observer. The alliance instead issued a lengthy statement in the form of an “open letter,” which gave some new detail about how the Mayor’s Equity Initiative will operate.

The Observer reached out to each member of the Charlotte City Council to ask whether they would push for additional accountability measures — both on the hiring of a new director and on how the money in the initiative will be spent.

“I just think this was avoidable,” said Bokhari, who is also a non-voting member of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance’s board of trustees. “I really hope that this now puts the pressure (on) for this to be much more transparent and (have) a lot more accountability in the entire process.”

Bokhari has previously criticized Lyles for not explaining to council members that COVID-19 relief funding they approved last year would be lumped into the city’s investment in the initiative.

He said city council needs to have a bigger say as the program moves forward.

Councilman Malcolm Graham said he hoped the initiative could “get back to the mission” after the disruption caused by Henderson’s hiring and subsequent resignation. On accountability measures, he said he would push for regular public report cards about how the initiative’s partners, both private and public, spend the $250 million.

The partners need to spend the money “in a way that the public can understand what we’re doing, when we’re doing it and why we’re doing it,” he said. “I think that’s a very low bar to make.”

Councilman Ed Driggs said council members were waiting on “clarification about the terms of our partnership” and what the city’s commitments are going forward.

“I will intervene personally if there (is) more involvement by us than we intended,” he said, referring to spending.

Currently, the city has committed to spending $72 million under the banner of the Mayor’s Equity Initiative but officials say the money will stay under the city’s control.

Asked whether the City Council should try to make the hiring of a director more public, or get an elected leader a seat at the table, Driggs referred questions to the mayor. Graham said he did not see a need to make finalists for the director position public.

Council members Julie Eiselt, Dimple Ajmera, Greg Phipps, Larken Egleston, Victoria Watlington, Renee’ Johnson and Matt Newton either declined to comment or did not return phone calls from the Observer.

As the stewards of Charlotte tax dollars, Councilman Braxton Winston said in a statement that the City Council “should be at the table every step of the way of this Equity Initiative to be able to advise and consent on the issues.”

“This initiative presents incredible opportunities to improve the conditions for generations of Charlotteans and we cannot afford to make mistakes,” he added.

City Council members aren’t the only ones hoping for a change.

Rev. Janet Garner Mullins, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Coalition, a group of local advocacy organizations, said she hopes the city and the private partners build a robust relationship with the city’s grassroots leaders in determining how the money is spent.

“Bring them to the table,” she said. “They’re the people that are trying to and actually doing the work in repairing the harm” that this initiative plans to address.

Following a City Council meeting Monday night, Lyles told reporters that she was thankful to the alliance for the open letter that it issued earlier that day. She said the letter addressed some of the growing concerns since Henderson’s hire, including about the oversight of the initiative’s spending.

She told the alliance, she said, to own mistakes when they make them, “apologize for it and tell people you’re going to do better.”

She did not say whether she would push for any additional oversight other than what the alliance disclosed in its open letter, and did not say if she would ask to oversee the hiring of the next director.

“’Oversee” is a broad word and “not one that I often use,” she said. She added that her position as an honorary member of an oversight board should give her “some opportunities to talk about what characteristics we want, what kind of person we want.”

She declined to clarify when she was offered that honorary position — whether it was before or after Henderson decided to resign.

Asked whether she understood why people were concerned about her lack of oversight, considering the name of the initiative carries her title, Lyles said, “One day the city will need a mayor who has more authority like that.”

“I believe it will be after my time in this office, but I think at some point citizens will expect more authority out of a mayor and one day they’ll see that happen,” she said. “But they need to make that decision, not just someone deciding ‘I’m going to be mayor and I’m going to try to act that way.’”

In an open letter from the alliance released alongside Henderson’s resignation letter, program leaders broke down how the racial equity initiative will be structured.

But the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance has refused to say whether it will take public input in its search for Henderson’s replacement or share information on finalists for the job. The alliance also refused to provide a copy of the director position job description, the salary, or whether an executive search firm was used or will be used in the hiring process. Before Henderson’s resignation, the alliance refused to specify her official start date.

The program’s four priority areas for investment will be “shepherded” by four partner organizations moving forward.

The letter outlines:

Investing in the city’s corridors of opportunity: City of Charlotte

Transforming Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte’s historically Black university: JCSU

Catalyzing employer commitment: Charlotte Regional Business Alliance

The funding strategy hasn’t changed since the initiative’s launch, the letter said.

The third and fourth priorities will be solely funded through private philanthropic donations, the majority of which will be stewarded by The Foundation for the Carolinas. The digital divide and corridors of opportunity priorities will be funded with a mix of private and public dollars.

Initiative leaders are also establishing two oversight boards to support the allocation of private funds: one for the Johnson C Smith investment, and one for the other three priorities. The board will evaluate budgets, assess performance and communicate the initiative’s progress with the community, in addition to other responsibilities, the letter said.

Each board will be comprised of up to 20 members, from business, government, higher education, nonprofit and faith-based communities. Those members will be selected by the mayor and initiative co-chairs Malcomb Coley and Mike Lamach.

At the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, up to 2.5 full-time employees will support the oversight boards and the alliance’s “catalyze employer commitment” priority. There will be a new search to fill that “important administrative role,” the letter said.

“This initiative and its leadership team will learn as we move forward, and we commit to doing better,” the letter, signed by Coley, Lamach and alliance president and CEO Janet LaBar, read.