Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney Steps Down
On Monday, Mayor Chris Carney announced that he will be stepping down from his seat as mayor of Mooresville on September 23.
“I am announcing that I am going to retire. I have no plan or there is no chance in the world that I would seek another office,” said Carney. “I will be the mayor till September 30th. Then, October 1st, Mayor Pro Tem Eddie Dingler will be taking over the mayor’s position.”
“When the list is done, I was done,” said Carney, in reference to a list written on a whiteboard located in his office of his goals that he and the town wanted to work towards.
Background on the Allegations
A former Town of Mooresville employee has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was retaliated against and ultimately fired after reporting surveillance footage involving Carney at Mooresville Town Hall in October 2024. The existence of the footage was first reported by WBTV.
The lawsuit centers on footage from the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2024. The employee, Jeffrey Noble, says he discovered surveillance footage showing Carney entering Town Hall after midnight with a woman and later appearing without pants while inside the building. Noble says he reported what he saw to his supervisor because he believed it raised ethical and security concerns.
According to the lawsuit, after Noble reported the footage, access to the video was restricted, and town officials allegedly accused him of leaking information about it to the media. Noble was later placed on administrative leave and says he was subjected to an internal investigation before his termination was recommended.
Carney previously acknowledged being at Town Hall that night but denied any inappropriate behavior. He said he became sick after drinking alcohol while taking medication, went to Town Hall because he did not want to drive home, and went to the bathroom. He has denied sexual misconduct.
The lawsuit is less about the mayor's conduct itself and more about whether town officials retaliated against an employee for reporting and raising concerns about the surveillance footage. Additionally, Judge Richard Gottlieb ruled that the videos are public records, rejecting the town’s argument that the footage contains sensitive, security information. The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.
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