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Anthony Foxx – Candidate, Charlotte Mayor (D)

Website URL: http://www.anthonyfoxx.com

Phone Number:: 704-342-8005

Facebook Page:: Anthony Foxx for Mayor – November ’09

Twitter:: @Foxx4CLTmayor

Current Occupation:: Attorney

Education–Highest Degree:: New York University School of Law

Please share with us a short personal/professional biography:: Raised in Charlotte by my mother and grandparents, I learned early how to overcome adversity through hard work and personal responsibility. I attended the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools through high school, graduating from West Charlotte High School. I graduated from Davidson College and New York University School of Law as a Root-Tilden-Snow Public Interest Law scholar.
In my career, I have worked in all three branches of the federal government and spent the last eight years in private practice at Hunton & Williams, where I am a business litigation attorney. In my law practice, I have defended large and small companies in courts throughout the United States.

Since 2005, I have served as an at-large member of Charlotte City Council, and I have worked to serve the entire community well. I have chaired the Environment Committee and the Transportation Committee. Over a party-line vote in 2006, I supported ending the neglect of our public safety, transportation and neighborhood needs. Today, our crime rate is down, the city is building roads again for the first time since 2002 and neighborhoods are stronger.

My wife Samara and my children, Hillary and Zachary, give me tremendous love and support.

Three (3) most important organizations you belong to:: (1) My family,
(2) Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
(3) North Carolina State Bar

Three (3) most important political/civic accomplishments in the last five (5) years:: (1) Public safety, transportation and neighborhoods. I voted to override a mayoral veto and party line vote to pass the 2006 city council budget which funded all 70 requested police officers to reduce crime, returned the city to building/repairing roads for the first time since 2002 and set about improving neighborhoods.
(2) Expanding Economic Development To Challenged Areas. I led a strategy to improve economic conditions in challenged areas. By addressing crime, environmental problems, land assembly challenges (Eastland Mall) and zoning issues, the city can encourage private sector growth in these areas while expanding our tax base, growing jobs and improving available goods and services.
(3) Getting $5 million of Safelight/SafeSpeed Funds to CMS: Last spring, I stood up and ended a silent dispute between the city and school system over these funds. By forcing the transfer of these funds, we helped to keep effective teachers in the classroom.

Why are you running for the office of your choice?: Charlotte is my home. I was born here, raised here and educated here. I am raising a young family now, and looking around the corner, I see a number of challenges and opportunities. As a city council member, I have worked tirelessly to address issues that threaten our future: public safety, transportation, environmental, managing growth and, of course, growing jobs. The concept that we will emerge from this downturn just as we entered it is wrong. We won’t. We have to rebuild our economy and set anew to keep Charlotte as a strong community of choice for employers and families. I see these challenges clearly, and I am confident that I am the best leader for our city right now.

What makes you the most qualified candidate?: Charlotte is facing a transition. The next mayor will not enjoy an economic wave to ride. If elected, I will have to work hard to create the next wave of economic growth. We need to diversify our economy, offer help to small businesses, create good jobs that cannot be outsourced, expand emerging sectors like clean energy, increase educational opportunities, improve access to after-school programs and keep our streets safe for businesses and families. We also need to make strategic and forward-thinking decisions about growth based on sound policies rather than special interests.

My record of service reflects the following: I am an inclusive leader. I believe in progressive, pro-business leadership. I work with developers, not for them. I am open-minded. I don’t have an over-reliance on how things have been done. I have a great respect for Charlotte and its history. I will work just as hard to make Charlotte a great place to live as I will to make it a great place to visit. I will build a new blueprint for job growth, not casting out the old but mining new opportunities. I will not allow our public safety or transportation needs to pile up.

In this challenging economy, if elected, what do you see as your role in improving the quality of life in Charlotte for all its residents?: The mayor sets the tone for our community, and in this election, residents will have to decide if they want the tone to be pessimistic or optimistic. I am an optimist, and my life experience has taught me that goals cannot be reached without relentless focus. I want to grow jobs in Charlotte. I want every corner of Charlotte to thrive, which means continuing to improve public safety, transportation and economic development efforts throughout Charlotte. I want to improve our relationships in our region and with our state leaders to get I-485 completed and widened and to address criminal justice issues, among other things. None of these goals will be easy but all of them are achievable. I have undergone the most extensive efforts to craft a workable agenda for Charlotte. The most important thing I can do as mayor is to give residents of Charlotte confidence that someone is thinking about their challenges every day, has a plan to address them and the political courage to fight for good results. My entire service on city council reflects this kind of approach.

What role do you see residents playing in improving the quality of life in Charlotte?: Government simply cannot solve every challenge we face. For example, public safety is a community challenge. We have the capacity to be the safest large city in America, and that’s my goal as mayor. We will need courageous neighbors who keep a vigilant eye on their communities and call in problems to our police department or code enforcement staff. We will need volunteerism to end the pipeline of crime by lifting the ambitions of Charlotte’s young people, showing them that they should aspire to everything their talents and ambitions lead them to accomplish. That’s the kind of Charlotte in which I grew up. I am not just talking about this kind of work. I am doing it myself, mentoring young people at West Charlotte High School, my alma mater. As mayor, I have pledged to spend a portion of every week tutoring a young person and challenging every able adult to do the same. We’re going to tackle our challenges one at a time – one child, one neighborhood, one city working together.

How can residents get involved in your campaign? Please include campaign manager or volunteer coordinator’s contact information.: Our campaign headquarters is open: 1524 Elizabeth Avenue (704-342-8005) from 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. Mondays – Saturdays and 12 p.m.- 5 p.m. on Sundays. I encourage residents to connect through our website (www.anthonyfoxx.com), Facebook (Anthony Foxx for Mayor – November ’09) and Twitter (@Foxx4CLTmayor) – and get your friends to do so too. Please also donate securely online or mail a check to P.O. Box 34065, Charlotte, N.C. 28234.

This post was submitted by Anthony Foxx.