McCrory and the other airport controversy

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory appeared to feel right at home Tuesday, meeting with a dozen members of the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, a group he helped start when he was mayor of Charlotte.

At a news conference at the executive mansion, the mayors stood on a staircase behind him.  I asked the chairman of the group whether the city leaders had taken position on the effort to take control of Charlotte's airport from the city of Charlotte. No, said Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane.

Then McCrory offered, "I think this is an issue Charlotte needs to resolve among themselves .... I look forward to hearing the conclusion of the discussion."

One of the mayors standing behind the governor was Terry Bellamy, the mayor of Asheville. She felt blindsided last year by legislation transferring control of the airport there from the city to an authority. Before the news conference, she said, she talked to McCrory about it.

"I told him our business community was just as surprised as our council was," she said. "He was like, you all have to fix it at the local level. It's not a local issue. It's a state issue."

McCrory, Bellamy said, "understands the long-term impact" of the airport.

The governor has said the dispute in Charlotte is between "factions." He's urged lawmakers to slow down a bill that has until recently been on the fast track.