I?m no fan of Charlotte?s plans for light-rail transit, but I guess I?d have to share Mayor Pat McCrory exasperation at a proposal to shift money from rail-station improvements to, well, let?s call it a lower-priority item. Here?s how The Charlotte Observer described the exchange at a city council meeting Wednesday about. . .

. . . cutting $6.8 million from the $50 million South Corridor Infrastructure Program, which would put sidewalks, roads and other improvements around the new light-rail line.

Democrat Nancy Carter suggested diverting this money to other roads or arts projects. That irritated Mayor Pat McCrory, who said the move would undercut the success of the transit system by limiting residents’ access to the rail stations.

“You’re cutting infrastructure,” said McCrory, a Republican. “We’ve got dirt paths, dirt paths along South Boulevard and Archdale (Drive). How can you have dirt paths, the same paths the settlers and Indians used? And then I hear you want to transfer it to the arts. That just blows my mind.”