CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – A Charlotte City Councilman, currently being investigated by the State for his business dealings, is now facing new allegations from former co-workers and friends.
In an exclusive interview with Queen City News, James “Smuggie” Mitchell’s Campaign Data Director, came forward to explain what has gone on behind the scenes.
His name is Jeff Marshall; he met Mitchell when they were working on Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign. Jeff was the North Carolina Data Director, and Mitchell was the campaign’s State Director.
“After a while, we had struck up a friendship,” Marshall said.
Their friendship grew when Mitchell told Jeff he wanted to get back on the Charlotte City Council and asked for help with his campaign.
“I was anticipating a person who had been elected official for 14 plus years to have everything put together really well. Whether it’s financial, whether it was data, whether it was volunteer,” Jeff explained, “And from day one, and it was almost like building from scratch, a very new rookie candidate. And so those were big red flags to me.”
As for Jenny Marshall, she met Mitchell through her husband, Jeff. Jenny is one of North Carolina’s four elected Democratic National Committee Members and has a long resume of political experience. When she heard about the dynamics of Mitchell’s campaign from Jeff, she was perplexed, especially regarding fundraising.
QCN: “What was your reaction when you heard he wasn’t associating with Act Blue?”
Jenny: “Everybody signs up with Act Blue; it is the easiest, most reliable source that you can get donors from. I mean, people are used to donating, especially on the Democratic side, used to donating through Act Blue. And so when Jeff told me that all he had was a PayPal account, I was like, ‘that’s odd’ because Act Blue is reliable reporting, it’s reliable contributions.”
Jeff even tried to help Mitchell sign up with Act Blue, which serves as the Democratic Party’s primary fundraising source.
“I actually had a pretty high-up contact with Act Blue. So I contacted them. And they’re like, ‘Hey, listen; we sent the email for verification. So when you set these up, you have to have your bank verified’. And I even asked Smuggie and said, ‘Hey, I can sit right next to you, your laptop, that email came in there, I can walk you through the process.’ and he really turned me down on that process,” Jeff said.
Jeff said Mitchell claimed he didn’t need Act Blue to fundraise for him; he could do it himself and was always able to raise the money.
But when Mitchell started requesting services from Jeff and Jenny’s printing company, they started questioning if he really had the money to run his campaign and pay his bills.
“We started rolling out doing vinyl banners, doing yard signs, t-shirts, doing the mailers, door hangers, postcards, and the normal things that we do on a campaign,” Jeff said.
Jeff and Jenny started “Next Digital Print” in 2020 and have worked on building up their small business ever since.
“So, at first, it was good. When we started getting up there, the yard signs and the t-shirts with a higher dollar amount. And when we got to that, he came to me, he’s like, ‘Hey, I can’t pay you for a couple of weeks; we have to fundraise for this.'”
According to Jeff and the documentation he provided, Mitchell usually did end up paying until he didn’t.
“What’s really going on here? You know, and we could never get a true answer. And it was always, always an excuse, always admitted to owing me money. Always said he was going to pay me. And he said he always paid his bills. But here we are,” Jeff said.
QCN: “So how much does he still owe you?”
Jeff: “Currently, with the interest charges that are occurring, about $3,300.”
After three months of begging Mitchell to pay his bill, resulting in excuses and broken promises, Jeff and Jenny decided to hire an attorney.
“It’s not just an empty threat, like, right, we’re serious about this. And regardless, if, you know, we get half of the back because attorneys fees eat up the other half, it’s the right thing to do. It’s about principle, you know, making sure that, you know, we make sure that clients pay their bills,” Jenny said.
Jeff and Jenny’s attorney sent Mitchell a letter in August demanding he pays his bill by the end of the month but never heard back. Since the bill remains unpaid, QCN asked Mitchell about it at the Charlotte City Council meeting on Monday.
QCN: “Councilman Mitchell, one of your campaign volunteers and former friends, says you owe him and his wife more than 3,000 dollars; why haven’t you paid your bill?”
Mitchell: “No comment.”
“I counted him a really close friend, and to where if he will basically stab his good friends in the back then, you know, the people of Charlotte are in trouble,” Jeff said.
Jeff also gave QCN insight into the ongoing investigation into Mitchell’s ownership stake in Bright Hope Construction LLC.
For background, Mitchell resigned from the Charlotte City Council in January of 2021 because he became the CEO of RJ Leeper (a large construction company) and the 25% owner of its parent company, Bright Hope Construction LLC. Mitchell got fired from his position at RJ Leeper, but according to him, he kept his ownership in its parent company. So the investigation by the Mecklenburg County DA and the State Bureau of Investigations was launched because of his right in BHC LLC and its direct violation of the State’s conflict of interest law.
North Carolina law says a city councilman can’t own more than 10% of a company that does direct business with the city.
Mitchell has openly admitted to still owning 25% of BHC LLC, which regularly contracts with the City of Charlotte.
There have been contradicting statements on Mitchell’s ownership stake in BHC LLC. Mitchell says he owns 25%; Bright Hope Construction says he defaulted on their $375,000 loan and therefore didn’t maintain any ownership.
So QCN asked Jeff Marshall, who was in the thick of Mitchell’s campaign, what he knew about the controversy.
QCN: “Would you say he’s leveraging his position on council to get that money from Bright Hope Construction?
Jeff Marshall: “Definitely. I think, you know, there would be no other alternative. Because if it wasn’t, then that means there was criminal intent. I mean, I’m not a lawyer; I don’t pretend to be one. But if you’re going to swear in, and you own 25% of a business that has city contracts, then it falls just like it did a few years ago, when he was said, hey, you need to you need to step up, you either give up your shares, or you’ve got to step away to city council. So there was no other alternative here. I think at the time, he was honest with me, and I think it’s still the same case today. He’s hoping that they’ll buy him out. And thus, you know, you will get something for free.”