Charlotte's Mayoral Future

[Raintree21]

I found it politically noteworthy that Susan Burgess appeared at our weekly anti-war protest at Scott&East today. The crowd was much larger because the local Moveon.org group combined with CodePink Charlotte. I know Burgess is relatively progressive to begin with but shoring up her anti-war credentials with Charlotte's Democratic base doesn't hurt if she is considering a mayoral run....

[voyager12]

I don't think she could ever win. She has burned too many bridges in the past and definitely turned a lot more people off when she made her comment about how we as a society are at fault because we failed to help Demetrius Montgomery (the cop killer) succeed.

[Raintree21]

Whoever the next Mayor may be, they will have to work hand in hand with the city manager. The candidates to replace Pam Syfert were announced by Pat McCrory and listed in the Observer:

[voyager12]

It's helpful that one of these three people will have the longterm experience to deal with the unique issues Charlotte is confronting. A strong hand is needed especially since the City Manager runs Charlotte and not the Mayor. But I also think it might have been worthwhile to look outside the box and bring in someone with experience from another city. He or she would have had some fresh perspective and could have identified issues others may not because they have been around so long. There is a lot of animus and mistrust between council and city staff over miscommunications on the light rail overrun and other bureacratic battles, a new face could have provided a clean slate instead of more of the same infighting.

[stadtguy]

I would have preferred bringing in someone from outside. We need fresh ideas, perspectives and innovation. The same was true when we hired from within for the Planning Director position. Many of these folks have been in leadership positions during the most destructive, short-sighted suburban onslaught in history. Granted, the city has done some good things over the years, but we need someone with a demonstrated progressive agenda.

[Raintree21]

It's helpful that one of these three people will have the longterm experience to deal with the unique issues Charlotte is confronting. A strong hand is needed especially since the City Manager runs Charlotte and not the Mayor. But I also think it might have been worthwhile to look outside the box and bring in someone with experience from another city. He or she would have had some fresh perspective and could have identified issues others may not because they have been around so long. There is a lot of animus and mistrust between council and city staff over miscommunications on the light rail overrun and other bureacratic battles, a new face could have provided a clean slate instead of more of the same infighting.

[voyager12]

The Observer article says that Council members picked these three in-house candidates "because they liked the direction Syfert has been taking the city and felt her aides were best suited to continue her work."

[Raintree21]

I think it might be a case of, we're in knee deep (some people might consider it neck deep) with light rail and other projects, let's keep the ball rolling so we don't stop the momentum. To do this, they're going to keep the people that have been running the program behind the scenes in charge.

[ChiefJoJo]

I still find it hard to understand how a solidly second tier and fast growing city like Charlotte has a part time mayor. McCrory likes to say that he is above "politics" and is civil and straightforward with everyone. If that was true he would have signed the agreement based on the sound and important environment goal it's based upon and ignored the liberal bias he alleges is part of the statement. As soon as he saw Asheville, Durham,Chapel Hill, and Carrboro among the signatories there was no way he way he was going to put Charlotte's name near the most liberal towns in NC. He probably sees the whole agreement as a propaganda war against Republicans.

[NLP]

If the Libertarian Party wasn't disenfranchised you could have voted for Rusty Sherdian.

[monsoon]

I had predicted that he might go for Elizabeth Dole's senate seat, but the old woman says she is gonna run again. Since Sue id definately gonna run for her congressional seat, that leaves him with going after Easley's seat in 2008.

[voyager12]

I'm no McCrory apologist, and want him to sign it too but... with respect to the environment, don't you think his actions--at a minimum, being a steadfast supporter of the transit system in the face of growing and vocal opposition--say a lot more than him not signing a non-binding petition?

[Raintree21]

I had predicted that he might go for Elizabeth Dole's senate seat, but the old woman says she is gonna run again. Since Sue id definately gonna run for her congressional seat, that leaves him with going after Easley's seat in 2008.

[voyager12]

Well, there is a sparse blurb on the O site saying that McCrory will announce whether he is running for governor in the next month. I guess we shall see....

[voyager12]

The "Susan Burgess Campaign" is listed on the Pride Charlotte site as a confirmed participant for the event in August. Overall, I think it's great that more local politicians are recognizing and appreciating the presence of Charlotte's vibrant gay community. I know there has not been an announcement of Burgess's plan to run for Mayor although I still hear rumors to that effect. Decency aside I don't see the political sense in appearing at Charlotte Pride if she was not going to try and move up from her Council seat to a bigger race. She also showed up at one of our weekly anti-war protests in Dilworth a few months ago. Seems to me that Susan is trying to curry favor with Charlotte's progressive base. Or I could be wrong I just hope McCrory bows out. Charlotte needs a change!

[cinco]

well, looks like mccrory will be running again for his 7th term as mayor of charlotte.

http://www.charlotte.com/115/story/165820.html

[nowensone]

Could someone please give a brief synopsis on Curt Walton, and the significance of his appointment to City Mgmr? I looked him up and the best I can tell is that he brokered/supported both the Bobcats Arena deal and the land swap plan for the Knights, and otherwise believes that we need to be more forward thinking as far as development and land-use, though not sure what that means in terms of his perspective.

[voyager12]

Oh how lovely I am only speaking for myself but I think a new leaderwould be nice instead of good ole boy Mayor Pat of Uptown and Nascar... As much as I dislike him he is completely entrenched and supported by all big players in town who just tell him what to do and they will ensure his reelection. We might as well skip the whole thing as it's going to be a walk for him just like last time around. Madans will probably be the Democratic standard bearer and be the laughingstock AGAIN. God this gets old.

[elvigy]

Totally agree voyager12. I'm not even sure why they didn't just headline the article "McCrory decides he'll be mayor again". There is no chance at all that anyone else will win this (barring the proverbial dead girl/live boy).

[atlrvr]

Eh....suits me fine.....if he didn't run again, I'm sure Mumford would have (and won) which would have been ok by me as well.

Until Charlotte gets a full-time mayor, and shifts to a mayor-strong system, there is really little consequence other than the mouthpiece of the city.

[voyager12]

It's true that we have a weak Mayor form of government but on the national level people see the Mayor as the face of Charlotte and in my opinion he embarasses us with his provincial mindset and kneejerk talking point style about refusing to sign Charlotte up with national cities campaign on global warming and meaningless platitudes about "diversity" when he ignores Charlotte's gay community and or treats us with contempt. I know that's a very niche concern and has no impact on his electoral chances but Mayors of world class cities embrace diversity and would welcome national gay rights dinners like Mayor Franklin of Atlanta or Mayor Coble of Columbia instead of being insultingly silent and once again making Charlotte look intolerant and backwards. I would not opposed to a Mumford candidacy I have seen him around Dilworth and he has a good reputation as an openminded guy.

[voyager12]

Mayoral politics in Charlotte are getting a bit more interesting it seems. NC Democratic Rep Beverly Earle is expected to file for candidacy today. I know absolutely nothing about her stances but she clearly has the experience to hold the office having been in Raleigh for a quite awhile and worked as an advocate on a wide range of community issues. Another Democrat, Andy Silver has also filed. I have never heard of him and this could be a maverick run like Craig Madans has done in the past. McCrory is still heavily favored to win against Earle in my opinion. He has the establishment behind him. But at least city Democrats will have a credible standard bearer who can shine the light on issues often overlooked. On the long shot chance the Earle wins Charlotte and Atlanta would both have Democratic African American females as Mayor. It would be a great statement about today's major Southern cities. In NC Asheville also has a female Democratic African American mayor but I think she is the only one statewide. I expect Ken Gjertsen's GOP primary challenge against McCrory to fail. Many people may be annoyed about cost overruns on light rail and other issues but I don't see Charlotteans wanting to put a CMS school board member in the Mayor's office this time around.

[Raintree21]

From the Observer:

Democratic Challenge

Earle, who is in her seventh term, was the first black woman elected to the N.C. House from Mecklenburg County. She has been an advocate for women, children and mental health reform. She has been a leader in the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus and is past president of the Carolinas Association of Black Women Entrepreneurs. She represents House District 101, which starts in uptown and includes parts of north and west Charlotte. She lives in Third Ward on Clarkson Street.

Republican Challenge

Ken Gjertsen, a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, favors repealing the half-cent tax that supports the city's transit system.

[Raintree21]

I guess it's official now, the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website lists Pat McCrory, Beverly Earle, and Ken Gjertsen as Mayoral candidates.

[redjeep77]

McCrory will win.....landslide. He's a moderate enough conservative (getting votes from the republicans and moderates), pro developement, and has a good character (no scandals etc.).

I may be wrong, but i think that he'll never leave office on his own accord unless it's trying to run for gov.