Libraries, Culture, and Teacher Pay Raises Worth Paying For

   As host city for Bank of America and Duke Energy, Charlotte sees some significant levels of capital flowing around town. So what does it mean to be poor, working class, and middle class here?

   Everyone—from the homeless to the 99% to the 1%—benefits from a better public library, for example. The book budget allows the library to stay current and relevant, establishing its basic value for the community. Expanded service to six days year-round means that Charlotte children have someplace positive and productive to go for an extra day each week—either with parents or when parents are away at work during the summer.

   All of us Charlotte and Mecklenburg residents deserve a better library, one more on the same scale as the highly concentrated wealth this city possesses.

   So the majority of Mecklenburg County Commissioners are asking the 99% to pay the bulk of it? It is not a perfect world. It is time for us all to step up, vote yes, and pay for what we need—and deserve.

—Nicholas Patti