(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On the heels of two train stabbings—one of them deadly—the Charlotte City Council has approved a $3.4 million contract for a Texas-based public relations firm to improve the image of its public transportation system.
The city council voted anonymously Monday to approve the contract for the firm, Sherry Matthews Group. Company founder Sherry Matthews says on her website that she’s interested in “social justice, health, transportation, wildlife protection, and the environment.”
According to the city council meeting agenda, Sherry Matthews Group’s job will be “promoting [Charlotte Area Transit System’s] services, engaging with the community, and enhancing the public’s perception and use of public transit in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.”
The city council put out a request for proposals on Sept. 11, received 18 responses, and eventually found that Sherry Matthews “meets CATS’s needs in terms of qualifications, experience, cost and responsiveness to RFP requirements.”
The founder of the firm hired to improve public perception about Charlotte’s train system is a social justice warrior 😂 https://t.co/82w8hwA3gR pic.twitter.com/q0Yh89Ak3p
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 10, 2025
The approval came just three days after an illegal immigrant from Honduras stabbed a man on a Charlotte train who was defending an old lady from him. The alleged stabber, 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano, was charged with attempted murder, while the heroic victim, Kenyon Dobie, continues to recover from his wounds.
Before that, a homeless man stabbed 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death in late August. The stabber in that case, DeCarlos Brown Jr., faces a state murder charge as well as federal charges. The Justice Department has signaled that it may pursue the death penalty.
Brown’s first federal court hearing is set for Thursday.
CATS spokesman Brett Baldeck told the Charlotte Observer that the PR contract had nothing to do with the stabbings.
“There’s no correlation between the contract approved at council last night and anything that’s happened along our system in the past year,” Baldeck reportedly said. “The timing was not good, so it makes it look different than it really is.”
Local Republicans blasted the move.
“Let us be clear, public safety in Charlotte is not a messaging problem. It’s a leadership problem,” Mecklenburg County Republican Party Chairman Kyle Kirby reportedly said in the statement on Tuesday.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
