Rivals tout Leadership, Experience
(Charlotte Mayoral candidates Anthony Foxx (D) and John Lassiter (R) unofficially kick off city races; topics include police, jobs, streetcars.)
They talked about streetcars, cops and jobs. But leadership and experience were the main themes as Charlotte's two leading mayoral candidates made their case Tuesday night to be Charlotte's first new mayor in 14 years.
On a night when city races unofficially kicked off, Democrat Anthony Foxx and Republican John Lassiter made their pitches to an audience of about 50 residents of uptown's Third Ward.
“I'm not coming to you as a leader interested simply in recasting the same old ideas,” said Foxx, 38.
Lassiter, 54, ticked off a list of efforts he helped champion, from the uptown arts complex to the Metropolitan development to a summer jobs program for kids.
“That ain't charisma, but that's leadership,” he said in reply to a question.
As the two took questions from the crowd at the Gateway YMCA on West Trade Street, across town in east Charlotte residents grilled 14 City Council candidates at the Hickory Grove recreation center.
The forums were the first since the fall slate of candidates was set this month. For many, it will be a short election season.
In Sept. 15 primaries, voters will choose a Republican mayoral nominee, narrow a field of 14 at-large candidates to eight, and elect three district members who will be unopposed in November.
In the mayor's race, Lassiter and Foxx are trying to succeed seven-term incumbent Pat McCrory, a Republican. Lassiter is a heavy favorite to win the GOP primary over Martin Davis and Jack Stratton, who were not invited to Tuesday's forum.
The fall campaign promises to be the most competitive in two decades. How competitive could become clearer this week as both release fundraising reports. This month, Foxx announced he had raised a quarter-million dollars.
Both candidates are at-large council members. Foxx was first elected in 2005. Lassiter has served since 2003.
Foxx portrayed himself as a candidate of new ideas. He called for diversifying the economy, making every corner of the city “a great place to live,” and working better with the state and other governments.
“One mistake we've made in the past,” he said, “is we've always framed Charlotte's need in terms of Charlotte. We've got to frame it in terms of North Carolina.”
Lassiter is a former neighborhood leader and school board member. He touted his involvement in economic development efforts including South Tryon Street's new cultural complex, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the mixed-use Metropolitan development on the site of the old Midtown Square mall.
“That's the kind of things that are going to change the dynamic of this city,” he said. “These are ... evidence of my commitment to make things happen in Charlotte.”
Both described themselves as boosters of a proposed streetcar that would run down Trade Street through Third Ward and eventually along Central Avenue. Foxx chided his opponent for not voting to include about $8 million in the city budget to study the project.
“When you support something, you stand behind it,” Foxx said.
Lassiter said later that, faced with uncertain revenues for the project, he wanted to put the money in reserve.
Both candidates pledged to fight crime and applauded the federal government's decision to award the city 50 new police officers. Lassiter said crime had become personal. His son's roommate, he said, was recently hit on the head with a gun and mugged uptown.
Police have since promised to increase visibility in the area, he said.
“This is one of the safest parts of the city,” Lassiter said. “But it's perceived as one of the most dangerous.”
Foxx not only trumpeted his support for proposals to put even more police officers on the street, but his 2006 vote to hire more officers than even the city manager had asked for – and more than recent councils had approved.
“That is the kind of commitment I've made to you the previous leadership wasn't making,” he said.
To Lassiter, leadership is what the contest is all about.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “this race is about putting experienced leadership to work for Charlotte.”
Lassiter-Foxx, Who's ahead in the Polls?
Republican mayoral candidate John Lassiter found some good news in a recent poll. But how good was it?
Cornerstone Solutions, a Raleigh-based polling firm, found that Lassiter leads Democrat Anthony Foxx, 42 percent to 26 percent, with 32 percent undecided. The findings are based on an automated phone survey of 401 Charlotteans.
A poll for Foxx, meanwhile, shows the race a dead heat.
Rule number 1: Be wary of polls done by a campaign for their candidate. Rule number 2: Be wary of all political polls, especially without several to go by and compare.
Cornerstone is a Republican consulting firm that also does polling. "We have no horse in this race," says partner Chris Sinclair of Raleigh.
Foxx campaign manager Bruce Clark questions Cornerstone's methodology. For example, while 34 percent of Charlotte voters are black, less than 14 percent of those in the Cornerstone survey identified themselves as African American. Almost 12 percent refused to disclose their race. Black voters are more likely to vote Democratic.
"Our poll," says Clark, "more accurately represents the breakdown of voters in the city."
Sinclair stands by his sample. He says part of the discrepancy could lie with those who refused to answer the race question. And he says his statisticians weighted the results based on the number of registered voters.
"We weighted it appropriately and feel good about the outcomes," he says.
One advantage of sites like realclearpolitics.com is that they present a number of polls on the same race over time, showing patterns.
MAYORAL FORUM TUESDAY
Foxx and Lassiter will talk about their views of uotown Tuesday night at the Third Ward neighborhood meeting at the Gateway YMCA, 900 W. Trade St. It starts at 7 p.m.
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Sources: Charlotte Observer, Charmeck.org, votelassiter.com, www.anthonyfoxx.com, Google Maps
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