MOORESVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) – Mooresville commissioners voted 4-2 Monday in a vote of no confidence against Mayor Chris Carney. The resolution commissioners passed also requested his resignation following a 2024 after-hours trip to town hall where he is accused of walking around without pants.
Town commissioners said they have been bombarded with questions from constituents and the town’s credibility has been damaged over Mayor Carney’s late-night trip to town hall.
Carney does not have to resign. Town commissioners could declare the mayor’s position “vacant” under North Carolina state law, but there is no statutory mechanism to remove the mayor from office.
The October 2024 incident
On Oct. 10, 2024, Carney went to town hall after midnight with a woman who was receiving taxpayer dollars as a communications consultant. Motion detectors were set off twice, sending police to town hall.
WBTV interviewed Mayor Carney at the time and requested dozens of records to try to get to the bottom of the story; asking Carney point blank about what happened in the early hours of October 10 at town hall.
“Just like I said, between, and I’ve, like I’ve expressed to other people, the, the alcohol and anxiety meds didn’t don’t always work that great with me,” Carney told WBTV during an interview in 2024.
WBTV filed a record request to get surveillance footage from townhall that night but Mooresville officials denied WBTV’s request. WBTV asked Carney during that 2024 interview what the footage would show.
“There’s no video of me in my office or anything. I mean, it’s all about me in the hallways. I can’t imagine anything that would be pressing me, going to the bathroom,” Carney said.
In June of 2025, WBTV filed a lawsuit against the Town of Mooresville after the town refused to release the surveillance video.
Former employees file lawsuits
In 2026, former Mooresville employees filed lawsuits telling a different story about what happened that night.
Jeff Noble, a former IT employee, filed a lawsuit against the town in January. He claims he was retaliated against after discovering surveillance video of Carney in town hall after hours with his pants off.
“You can see the mayor at least, a couple of different occasions without wearing pants, which is very, big issue. That’s unethical,” Noble said.
In an amended complaint filed earlier this month, Noble claims the female was in a state of partial undress as well.
Former IT Director Chris Lee filed a lawsuit in March claiming he was fired because of how he handled surveillance footage of Carney and that town leaders pressured him to suppress or delete the video and related records.
Lee said he reviewed the footage from multiple camera angles and described seeing Carney and the communications consultant enter the building after hours, go upstairs into an office and remain there for an extended period.
“And then after midnight again, you see back and forth to the bathroom a couple times, and then eventually you know, I did see him come out and there was no clothing whatsoever on there. And you can very directly see that,” Lee said.
In his lawsuit, Lee claims the video shows Carney in a state of partial or complete undress with his genitalia exposed and his penis visibly erect while inside town hall.
Lee said Carney’s account does not match what he saw.
“That does not line up at all. No,” Lee said.
During the time period that these lawsuits were being filed, Carney told other news outlets that his pants were taken off because he had thrown up on them.
Carney did not mention that in the interview with WBTV in 2024.
WBTV lawsuit
WBTV is seeking the footage that shows Carney, his companion and the police response to town hall after motion sensors were tripped.
On March 16, attorneys for WBTV and the town of Mooresville both presented their arguments for motion for summary judgment. At the end of the hearing, Superior Court Judge Richard Gottlieb said he would take the matter under advisement, meaning a decision on whether or not the videos are public record will come at a later date.
WBTV’s attorney Lauren Russell pointed out that footage from surveillance cameras owned by municipalities was already regularly released, such as video from the city of Charlotte showing the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska.
Judge Gottlieb asked Russell whether any arguments had been made that the footage should not be released because they show private or embarrassing footage. The town has not made any argument that the footage contains embarrassing material.
Russell pointed out that North Carolina’s public records statute was not made for sparing public officials from potentially embarrassing content.
“It’s made for accountability and transparency when it comes to our public officials,” Russell said.
Monday’s meeting
During the meeting Monday, some residents made their position clear. One resident asked those who wanted to see the mayor resign to stand up. Others applauded when people called on the mayor to resign.
Before recusing himself for the discussion, Carney took time to tell his side of the story again.
“Having a person who was with me, I’ve known a very long time, but as a member of the opposite sex and I know on paper that raises questions. In hindsight what this has done for our community, I’m truly sorry,” Carney said.
Town commissioners have not seen the video but it has been described to them in closed session meetings.
“The conduct and the choices made by the mayor that particular evening were not in keeping with the expected conduct of the mayor’s office,” said Commissioner Gary West.
Four commissioners agreed to request the mayor’s resignation, stating that the reputational damage done to the town was too great.
“I am concerned that public confidence in the board and the mayor is not high right now. There is a perception that the fabric of trust has not just been torn, but it is shredded and tattered. That is the problem we wrestle with,” Commissioner Dana Tucker said.
During the meeting, Carney also denied that he had anything to do with employees being terminated or investigated for seeing the footage of him in townhall.
Carney did not respond to a request for comment following the meeting.
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