When I read this post from Jim Morrill I couldn’t tell if Speaker Joe Hackney was joking when he addressed an Uptown gathering:
“There’s often a perception in Mecklenburg, I am told, that nobody cares about Mecklenburg,” he said.
“I can assure you I keep up with it. I know all about 495 … ” People in the audience quickly corrected him that it’s completion of the I-485 beltway that is a concern to Charlotteans.
“485, same thing,” Hackney said quickly.
But now I’m told by someone on the scene that Hackney was not joking. In fact, he provided little evidence that he knew anything about Charlotte — or much cared to change that. True to form for Raleigh pols, his over-arching message seemed to be, “Be nice to your state delegation — or else.”
