Daily Update - December 15, 2025

Better PR - Not Better Solutions - in Charlotte

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About Reuel Sample

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday December 15th, 2025.

There is nothing that millions of dollars of Public Relations spending cannot fix on the Charlotte Area Transit System – CATS. Or at least, that is what Charlotte is hoping will happen.

North Carolina's largest city is allocating 3.4 million dollars to the Sherry Matthews Group out of Texas to provide specialized expertise across the PR board – including general marketing and branding - in order to

[enhance] the public’s perception and use of public transit in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.

The Center Square reports the deal is spread out over 3 years.

According to Fox News, even though the city council voted on the agreement just this month, the contract with the PR firm was

unrelated to the recent stabbings on the light-rail system and that the timing was coincidental, but not connected to the incidents.

We find that truly hard to believe.

The average salary of a police officer in Charlotte, NC is around 64,000. If the city would take that 3.4 million tabbed for PR and instead hire more transit officers – they could have roughly 18 more law enforcement personal onboard trains keeping customers safe for that exact 3-year time frame.

In other words, Charlotte should actually fix the problem, instead of spending money on glitzy advertising that only covers it up.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.