Carolina Politics Online

It always gives me a warm and fuzzy when the people defeat the political elite.  For those of you unfamiliar with Charlotte, Ballantyne is a very affluent neighborhood in the south part of the city near the South Carolina border.  It’s a safe neighborhood with good schools and nice homes, but for some reason Mayor Anthony Foxx (D) and some others on the city council were in favor of flushing it down the crapper.  The proposal was to build a low income public housing apartment complex right smack dab in the middle of suburbia in the city and well, that didn’t fly too well with the residents.

From what is reported at the public hearing last night there were fireworks being thrown by the residents.  The Charlotte Observer was keeping a live update of the meeting on their Web site and of all the comments spoken, they naturally chose this one to put up for all to see.

6:25 p.m.: Said one speaker: “My house is over $1 million. I don’t want that crap next to me.”

Why Steve Harrison chose that comment is quite obvious, to paint this as some struggle between “poor impoverished victims” and those “evil country club snobs” who don’t want them in their backyard.  Well you know what?  I’m on the millionaire’s side.  I wouldn’t want that crap in my neighborhood either and he and every other affluent person in Ballantyne who worked hard their entire lives to reach that standard of living has the right to feel the same way.  Public housing destroys neighborhoods and I’ve seen it first hand.

Years ago I lived in a neighborhood of Pittsburgh called Sheraden.  At one time Sheraden was one of the safest, nicest middle class neighborhoods in the city.  That all started changing in the mid 1990s when a public housing complex over the hill was shut down and all the drug addicts and welfare trash started infiltrating Sheraden with their Section 8 vouchers.  Within ten years the neighborhood went through a complete metamorphosis.  Crime shot up, property values declined and blight was everywhere.  I was fortunate enough to live in the one part of Sheraden that hadn’t decayed like the rest, but the effect was in its infancy of taking hold just as I sold my home and moved down here to South Carolina.  Public housing destroyed Sheraden and it would do the same thing to Ballantyne if Mayor Foxx had his way.

The developers who were working with the public housing authority decided today to abandon the proposal.  Hey, I don’t blame people for not wanting to live in the ghetto and they don’t have to if they get their asses in gear and set their lives straight.  I work for a living and I can’t afford to live in Ballantyne.  There is no way those people deserve to live there on my tax dollars.

Interesting.  How often does the President of the United States take the time to call the newly elected mayor of an upper medium sized city? I mean, I could understand if Foxx just got elected mayor of New York City or LA, but Charlotte?  I wonder what the motivation behind that phone call was?

While Republican and Democrat fortunes varied around the country, Democrats made out fairly well in Charlotte last night.  Anthony Foxx was the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Charlotte since 1985, breaking a Republican hold on the office.  Democrats also increased their majority on city council to eight, with Susan Burgess, Patrick Cannon, and David Howard claiming three of the four At-Large seats.

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board races two seats changed parties and that was the predictable District 3 and District 5.  James Ross, a Republican, was appointed to this very heavily Democrat seat when former board member George Dunlap won a seat on the Mecklenburg County Commission last year.  The odds were against Ross winning his own term, but it didn’t stop him from trying.  Rhonda Lennon (R) won the District 1 seat being vacated by Larry Gauvreau.  Richard McElrath (D) defeated appointed board member Kimberly Mitchell-Walker, which was the result I wanted to see.  Districts 5 went to Independent candidate Eric Davis and District 6 remained in Republican hands with political newcomer Tim Morgan winning that seat.

In Chapel Hill, Mark Kleinschmidt narrowly defeated Matt Czajkowski in the mayoral race.

There were no surprises in York County last night as former State Representative Ralph Norman (R) reclaimed his old House seat in District 48, easily defeating Democrat Kathy Cantrell by a huge margin.

In the school board run off race in Wake County, Republican John Tedesco trounced his opponent by 50 points to solidify the Republican majority on the Wake County School Board.

In Asheville, Democrats swept the City Council races there as well with Esther Manheimer, Gordon Smith, and Cecil Bothwell winning all three At-Large seats.  Incumbent Republican Carl Mumpower came in fourth with 14% of the vote.

That’s all the big news for tonight.  I’ll write a recap tomorrow.

9:57PM Mecklenburg County – Burgess, Cannon, Howard, and Peacock have won the At-Large seats giving the Democrats a veto proof majority on the Charlotte City Council, although it’s unlikely they’ll need with Mayor-Elect Anthony Foxx.

9:41PM Mecklenburg County – Anthony Foxx (D) has won the Charlotte mayoral race.

9:36PM Orange County – Mark Kleinschmidt has won the Chapel Hill mayoral race.

9:32PM Wake County – In the run off for the Wake County School Board District 2, John Tedesco has trounced Cathy Truitt 75% to 25% making the Republicans’ majority on the school board now official.

9:28PM Mecklenburg County – With 142 of 169 precincts reporting, Anthony Foxx (D) is leading John Lassiter (R) 51% to 49%.  It’s looking like Foxx is going to be the winner.  It also appears that Susan Burgess (D), Patrick Cannon (D), Edwin Peacock (R), and David Howard (D) will win the four City Council At-Large seats, increasing the Democrats’ majority to 8 of the 11 seats.

9:18PM Mecklenburg County – Foxx (D) has retaken the lead with 124 of 169 precincts reporting.  It is also starting to look like the Democrats are going to take three of the four At-Large seats on Charlotte City Council.  McElrath has a three point lead over Mitchell-Walker in CMS District 2.

8:58PM Mecklenburg County – In the At-Large Charlotte City Council races the top four are as follows: Susan Burgess (D) 15%, Edwin Peacock (R) 14%, Patrick Cannon (D) 13%, and David Howard (D) 12%.

8:56PM York County – Ralph Norman (R) has defeated Kathy Cantrell (D) in the South Carolina House District 48 race.

8:51PM Mecklenburg County – John Lassiter (R) now has a half percent lead over Anthony Foxx (D).

8:45PM Mecklenburg County – In the CMS school board races Rhonda Lennon (R) is leading in District 1.  In District 2 Mitchell-Walker (D) is barely ahead of McElrath (D) one and a half percent.  In District 5 Eric Davis (I) has a 30 point lead over Susan Walker (R).  Tim Morgan (R) is leading in District 6.

8:39PM Orange County – Mark Chilton has won the Carrboro mayoral race. It also looks like in Chapel Hill that Kleinschmidt will be the winner in that mayoral race.

8:34PM Mecklenburg County – With 23 of 169 precincts reporting, Anthony Foxx is at 51% and John Lassiter at 48%.  In the Mecklenburg County Council At-Large race, Susan Burgess (D) is at 15%, Patrick Cannon (D) is at 14%, Edwin Peacock (R) is at 14%, and David Howard (D) is at 12%.

8:24PM – In South Carolina House District 48 Republican Ralph Norman is decisively stomping Democrat Kathy Cantrell, as expected.

8:18PM – With 18 of 21 precincts reporting in Chapel Hill, Mark Kleinschmidt is leading Matt Czajkowski 51-45

8:05PM – With early voting ballots counted in Charlotte, Anthony Foxx (D) has a ten point lead over John Lassiter (R) in the mayoral race.  In CMS District 3 Joyce Waddell (D) has a huge lead of 39% with early voters so despite today’s voters I am thinking appointed school board member James Ross (R) will not be able to overcome that, which was expected.  The district is just too Democratic.

The final poll is out for the Charlotte Mayoral race.  According to 791 likely voters interviewed by Public Policy Polling between October 31st and yesterday, Republican John Lassiter leads Democrat Anthony Foxx 50% to 46% to be the next mayor of Charlotte.

In the Chapel Hill Mayoral race, it’s pretty much neck and neck between Matt Czajkowski and Mark Kleinschmidt with Czajkowski holding a one point lead.

Tomorrow the City of Charlotte will be electing a new mayor and sending four candidates to the At-Large seats, currently held by two Democrats and two Republicans.  There are also contested races in District 6 and District 7.  I’m not going to spend much time on these races as I did with the others because there isn’t much to really decide here.

Of the four At-Large seats, incumbents Susan Burgess (D) and Edwin Peacock (R) along with former Councilman Patrick Cannon (D) are going to win three of them.  I wouldn’t vote for any of them, but that’s conventional wisdom and the polling shows it.  It’s really only the fourth seat that is in contention.  Polling showed Tariq Bokhari with a slight advantage.  Either he or Matthew Ridenhour will do a fine job on the City Council.  Both are committed to getting the city’s spending under control and decreasing the role of government.  So vote for both of them.

In Districts 6 and 7 incumbents Andy Dulin (R) and Warren Cooksey (R) are running for reelection.  I don’t expect either of them to lose.

Finally, the mayoral race.  Quite honestly, I’m not all that enamored with either John Lassiter (R) or Anthony Foxx (D).  I don’t like the direction the city or the county has been going in and they are both currently office holders.  If I had to make a choice, it would be Lassiter only because the Democrats hold a majority on City Council so putting another Republican in the mayor’s seat keeps a balance in the city government.

A Public Policy Polling poll shows Republican John Lassiter and Democrat Anthony Foxx tied 45 to 45 in next Tuesday’s mayoral election.  This is the closest mayoral race Charlotte has seen in years as Mayor Pat McCrory won all seven of his terms pretty handily.  Demographically, Lassiter leads among white voters 63 to 29 and Foxx leads among black voters 80 to 9.  59% have a favorable view of Lassiter while 52% have a favorable view of Foxx.

A Cornerstone Solutions poll shows Lassiter leading Foxx 42 to 37 with a margin of error of plus or minus five points, which for all intents and purposes makes this a tied race as well.

PPP is a Democrat pollster and Cornerstone Solutions is a Republican pollster, so wading through a bit of the bias that could be present, I think Lassiter has a slight edge over Foxx going into Tuesday, which is what I’ve been predicting pretty much since both candidates were formally declared.

Queens University in Charlotte is hosting a mayoral forum on October 7th beginning at 7:00pm in the Dana Auditorium. The forum will feature Republican candidate John Lassiter and Democrat candidate Anthony Foxx. The public can submit questions at charlottemayor@queens.edu

Charlotte City Councilman and mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx put forth a small business plan that would cut through some of the red tape involved for said businesses who want to bid on a contract with the city.  Foxx says by making the records electronic it would speed the procedure for processing permits and encourage more small businesses to apply.  The idea has merit.  Nobody likes bureaucracy, especially me.  He also is willing to raise the $200,000 limit for which small businesses in the city get preferential treatment.  Another good idea.  I’m not so crazy about the next one, though.

Foxx also said he expanded a city-backed loan program for small businesses. The program currently is targeted toward businesses that open in low-income neighborhoods, and Foxx said he would expand to certain industries such as financial services or sustainable energy. The recession warrants the change, he said.

Charlotte Observer

The reason why small businesses, or any business really, tend not to open in these kinds of neighborhoods is because they aren’t profitable areas and are prone to higher crime.  If the business doesn’t survive and goes under who picks up the tab of the loan that is not repaid.  The taxpayers of course.

A Public Policy Polling survey of 540 likely voters conducted from August 11th to August 14th shows the race for the next Mayor of Charlotte to be neck and neck between Republican John Lassiter and Democrat Anthony Foxx.  This is a much different result than the Cornerstone Solutions poll two weeks ago that showed Lassiter with a 15 point lead.  Either Lassiter has lost some of his lure or one of these pollsters needs to tweak their methodology a bit.  Cornerstone Solutions is a Republican polling firm and Public Policy Polling is a Democrat polling firm so I suppose there could be some bias present in either one.

Charlotte has not elected a Democrat for mayor in 23 years so if Foxx were to win it could mark the end of a strong Republican era for Charlotte.

A poll conducted by Cornerstone Solutions from July 15th through July 19th shows Republican John Lassiter with a double digit lead over Democrat Anthony Foxx in the Charlotte mayoral race. The poll shows Lassiter with 41.6% and Foxx with 26% with 32.4% of those polled undecided.

Foxx criticized claims Lassiter had made in a campaign video professing support for housing.

“Last week, a friend sent me an emailed video in which a colleague and fellow mayoral candidate made claims about a so-called plan for affordable housing,” Foxx emailed supporters. “I almost fell out of my chair because it belies the voting record.”

Charlotte Observer

When Anthony Foxx talks about affordable housing, that’s a code name for government subsidized housing projects for crack heads and welfare trash.  There are already plenty of those neighborhoods in Charlotte.  They don’t need anymore.  I can’t imagine why Foxx would even pick this issue to attack Lassiter with anyway.  The only people this is going to resonate with are those already living in lower income areas who will vote for Foxx anyway.  He certainly isn’t going to rile up the folks in Dilworth or Ballantyne.  If Lassiter really is in support of this then he is an idiot.

The budget crunch for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools could help settle a years-long debt the city owes to the district over proceeds from its old traffic-light camera program.

Charlotte City Councilman and mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx wants the city to give CMS $4.7 million that it’s due from the old SafeLight and SafeSpeed programs. The programs used cameras to photograph drivers who ran red lights or were speeding, and violators received $50 citations.

The city suspended the programs in 2006 after a state appeals court panel ruled that 90 percent of proceeds must go to local schools. Charlotte had been spending about 75 percent of money from the citations on operating the cameras. The programs were officially scrapped months later, but the city had not given the money to the school system.

Charlotte Observer

Foxx is absolutely correct.  That money rightfully and legally belongs to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District.  North Carolina law is perfectly clear that fees generated from red light cameras are to go to the local school district.  The courts have upheld that against the City of Charlotte and yet the city has continued to thumb its nose at the ruling.  If the money isn’t going to go to CMS then the city operated those cameras illegally and every single fine should be refunded.

Coincidence?  I think not.

The news is out that Charlotte City Councilman Anthony Foxx plans to officially kickoff his mayoral campaign next week on April 16th at West Charlotte High School at 5:30 PM.

I think the race this year is going to be much closer than what we’ve seen in recent years.  One, there is no incumbent so that almost always makes a race more competitive.  Two, Charlotte is a changing city.  It voted more Democratic in last year’s elections than normal, but that also may have been due to the Obama affect.

In any case, I don’t think the Republicans are an automatic shoe-in to hold the office like normal.

Share

It sounds like there is a little of “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” down on Billingsly Rd.  Controversy is brewing over the hiring of Samara Foxx, the wife of Charlotte City Councilman and mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx (D), to a position with the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services which pays a salary of $100,000.  Her hiring alone isn’t enough reason to suspect any unethical play here.  What raises my eyebrow is the fact that the department was on a hiring freeze and she got the job after it being posted for just one day.

Nothing to see here folks (wink, wink).  Move along.  Move along…….

It’s official, Mayor Pat McCrory announced today that he will not seek an eighth term as Charlotte Mayor. He has endorsed City Councilman John Lassiter to be his heir apparent, though Lassiter has not made any announcement to run for the office. Whichever Republican runs, they will face a credible challenge from Democrat City Councilman Anthony Foxx who has already declared his candidacy.

A week before an election that will shape Chartotte’s next mayoral race, Democrat Anthony Foxx said Monday that he’s running  regardless of whether he has an incumbent to face.

Foxx, in his second term as an at-large city council member, told the Observer he’s sent letters to friend and supporters. He said he’s getting the word out now to let people know that he’ll run whether or not Republican Mayor Pat McCrory is around to try for an eighth term. McCrory is running for governor in Tuesday’s election.

Charlotte Observer

Foxx will probably be a fairly strong opponent to whoever he ends up running against.  If Pat McCrory gets elected Governor, which I think he will, the mayoral race will be wide open which gives Foxx an even larger advantage.  The Republicans have held the mayor’s office for 20 years in Charlotte, but Foxx could be the one to break that cycle.

That’s the question posed by columnist Mary Curtis of the Charlotte Observer.  The answer is simple.  You have to run if you want to win and there have been very few black mayoral candidates in Charlotte’s history.  My question to Curtis is, why does it even matter?  People should be electing a mayor based on their qualifications, not because of their race.  When another Harvey Gantt comes along and convinces people he will be a capable mayor he’ll be elected.  It’s really that simple.

City Councilman Anthony Foxx evidently understands this:

“Harvey won because he was Harvey. He was African American and brought a perspective to the role of mayor that had not been there before. I think it will happen not because the person is black but because people felt that person has the qualities to lead.”

I think people who pose the kind of question Curtis does is only trying to divide people by insinuating there is some kind of racial problem that doesn’t exist.

As the economy slows and city employees face smaller pay raises this year, the city manager has proposed a 27 percent increase in compensation for council members.

The adjustment includes a new $4,000 car allowance. It would boost each council member’s total pay, which also includes expense and technology allowances, from $23,463 to $33,645. The mayor’s pay would increase by 19 percent to $39,900.

Charlotte Observer

Boy is this rich, no pun intended. Curt Walton is clearly not the most politically astute. While the dollar is falling and the prices of just about everything is rising and putting the squeeze on every family in America that last thing you do is come out and recommend a 27% raise of elected officials. Even if the current slumping of the economy wasn’t a factor, the Charlotte City Council certainly hasn’t earned even a tenth of that much. Both the City Council and County Commission have been getting hammered almost daily about the rise in crime in the city. There would be an enormous outcry from the public if this passed.

Council members disagreed about the proposal, with the board’s four Republicans saying they would vote against it. Among them was councilman John Lassiter, who suggested at a budget meeting Wednesday that the increases be cut.

“There are several unfunded issues that are in front of us that are better than giving me a couple bucks,” he said.

Democrat Susan Burgess, who has been an advocate for city worker raises, said the proposed salary increases for the City Council and mayor were reasonable. She said the boost would help encourage a wider variety of people to run for office.

“The lost wages from time taken away from your work for everything on City Council makes it impossible for so many people,” she said.

Democrat Anthony Foxx said he wasn’t sure how he would vote on the matter, but he was willing to think about it.

I don’t generally like to take partisan shots, but I can’t help myself in this instance. I can’t even count the number of times I have heard left wingers accuse the Republicans of being the “party of greed” and here we are with all four Republicans on City Council against this pay raise while the Democrats think it’s the best thing since sliced bread.