A Charlotte City Council committee voted 3-2 yesterday "to recommend tying" six uptown attractions to an arena referendum and "to hold that referendum in June," according to Markoe & Bonnell in a front-page report in the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The five council members said that Monday's "full council vote" on the issue "will be just as close" and "predicted that bundling the arena and other projects would pass" by a 6-5 vote. Even if the vote passes, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory "could still veto it," and he has said that "at most two other projects should be bundled in with the arena." The NC legislature then "would have to approve at least two sources of funding and give permission to the city to hold a nonbinding referendum." Markoe & Bonnell note that a vote in June would cost an estimated $400,000. Hornets co-Owner Ray Wooldridge declined to comment on whether he "would consider" reimbursing the city for the referendum "because he has not been officially approached by the city" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/1). Also in Charlotte, Don Hudson reports that Mecklenburg County commissioner Becky Carney said First Union CEO Ken Thompson and Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl "were receptive to the idea" of an uptown park that would include the arena. But McColl said that "the city should at least consider switching the arena to an alternative site" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/1).
