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LaWana Slack-Mayfield

Council Member At-LargeCharlotte City Council

At-Large council member. First name often wrong in auto-captions.
At-Large

LaWana Mayfield

At-Large · Term 2025–2027

LaWana Mayfield serves at-large on the Charlotte City Council. She is the council's most vocal advocate for zero-based budgeting and requested that city staff model a housing bond in the $200–$300 million range for the November 2026 referendum — the highest figure any council member has named publicly.

Mayfield was one of four council members who voted no on the Crosland Southeast affordable housing project, arguing East Charlotte has absorbed a disproportionate share of subsidized housing. On April 13, she successfully pushed a street vending ordinance back to the Safety Committee after the mayor moved to table it, telling the mayor she would bring the item back herself even if it meant "firing me." She has been active on the Citizens Review Board, MPTA board appointment rules, shelter policy, and city consulting work. At the same April 13 meeting, Mayfield chaired the Housing Trust Fund staff recommendations review and traced River District’s history back to 2017, citing verbal commitments for mixed-income housing that were not codified in legal language — while current River District studios list above $1,300.

In The Mercury

A 49-Unit Faith in Housing Petition Reached Public Hearing at Council Monday

May 21 · Petition 2025-027 · Mayfield: Faith in Housing label is not an automatic project stamp

Charlotte Council Votes Unanimously for 150-Day Data Center Moratorium. Two Weeks Ago, It Was 5-5.

Data center moratorium · Mayfield quoted

Charlotte's 2024 Housing Bond Is $5.6 Million Over. Staff Wants to Cover It From Supportive Housing, Shelter, and Innovation.

2024 housing bond rebalance · Subject

Charlotte Council Approves Both Faith in Housing Rezonings.

Faith in Housing rezonings · Mayfield split

Charlotte Housing Trust Fund Staff Picks Are In. The Questions Are Already Louder Than the Numbers.

HTF staff recommendations · Housing Committee chair · River District history

Charlotte City Council Passes First Post-Sales-Tax Transit Budget, Sends Street Vending Back to Committee

April 13 business meeting · Street vending push · “Firing me”

Charlotte's $50 Million Housing Bond Is a Non-Starter. Council Said So Monday.

Housing bond debate · $200–$300M request

Six Council Members Voted for Affordable Housing in East Charlotte. Four Who Champion Equity Voted No.

Crosland Southeast · Equity-based no vote

Charlotte City Council 2026: Budget Pressures, Toll Lane Fights, and the Topics That Actually Matter

Q1 2026 recap · Budget and zero-based budgeting push

Charlotte's Watchdog Board Seeks Teeth, Time, and Transparency

Citizens Review Board reform

What The Mayor Pro Tem Vote Reveals About Charlotte's New City Council

Council dynamics and alignment

← Back to City Council

Coverage (20 articles)

A 49-Unit Faith in Housing Petition Reached Public Hearing at Council Monday

Jack Beckett·

Mission City Church, Freedom Communities, and the True Homes Foundation walked Charlotte City Council through their 49-townhome affordable-housing petition Monday night. The 5.38-acre Faith in Housing rezoning is petition 2025-027 in District 2 — all units sold (not rented), House Charlotte eligible, with a seven-year deed restriction. Council Member LaWana Slack-Mayfield used the floor for what is now her third public Faith in Housing argument of 2026: the program label, she said, is not "an automatic check."

Charlotte's $50 Million Housing Bond Is a Non-Starter. Council Said So Monday.

Jack Beckett·

City staff proposed cutting Charlotte's affordable housing bond from $100 million to $50 million in the FY2027 budget. Council members from across the dais rejected the number, with Mayfield requesting modeling at $200M–$300M and Graham calling $50M a non-starter. The November 2026 bond referendum is the deadline.

Charlotte's 2024 Housing Bond Is $5.6 Million Over. Staff Wants to Cover It From Supportive Housing, Shelter, and Innovation.

Jack Beckett·

The rental housing production category of Charlotte's 2024 affordable housing bond is now $5.6 million over its allocation goal. To cover the gap, city housing staff are recommending council pull $1 million each from supportive housing and shelter capacity, and $3.6 million from the Innovation Pilot Fund. LaWana Mayfield warned this would happen on April 27.

Vi Lyles Will Resign as Charlotte Mayor on June 30. The Race to Replace Her Already Started.

Jack Beckett·

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced Thursday that she will resign on June 30, ending a tenure that began in 2017. Under North Carolina law, the City Council will appoint a Democrat to serve the remainder of her term — and the field is already organizing in public, with former Mayor Jennifer Roberts offering to fill the vacancy and Council Member Dante Anderson breaking for the outsider option. The vote that decides who fills the seat has not been scheduled.

Charlotte Council Deferred a Conventional Rezoning 5-4 Monday. Renée Johnson Led the Opposition.

Jack Beckett·

Council Member Renée Johnson pulled petition 2025-136 — a conventional rezoning at 1800 West Sugar Creek Road by Larry Cooper — off the consent agenda Monday, citing her standing concern about conventional petitions filed without site plans. The 5-4 vote that followed fell short of the majority needed for approval. The council then unanimously deferred the petition.

Manufacturing Land Near Woodlawn Station Just Became TOD-NC

Jack Beckett·

The Charlotte City Council on Monday rezoned a 0.16-acre Verbena Street parcel from ML-2 (manufacturing and logistics) to TOD-NC, 7-2. Council Member LaWana Slack-Mayfield and Council Member Renée Johnson voted no — not on the parcel, on the trajectory it represents. Council Member Victoria Watlington voted yes but asked staff to map Charlotte's remaining manufacturing-zoned acreage.

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