POLITICS
Sartain announces Raleigh
council run
Second openly gay city council
candidate in state this year
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
Another openly gay man has announced his
intention to run for a city council office in North
Carolina. Lee Sartain, a Charlotte native and N.C.
State University alumnus, made the announce
ment in early June. He’s running to fill one of tvco
at-large seats on the Raleigh City Council.
In a telephone interview with Q-Notes,
Sartain, 28, said his primary campaign issue
Lee Sartain is running for an at-large
seat on the Raleigh City Council.
will focus on economic development. He
wants to create a “Raleigh Innovation and
Technology Zone.”
“It’s trying to basically take pre-existing
technological space and doing a more concen
trated effort around creating the [Research
Triangle Park] of 2009 in downtown Raleigh.”
He says such a “tech zone” — what he
calls a “downtown renaissance” — would
both mirror and complement the success of
the Research Park.
Sartain also wants to focus on building
more comprehesive public transportion.
“The difference between Charlotte and
Raleigh is that our regional transportation is
split between three counties,” he said. “There
has not been any major success getting the
commuter rail up and running. If they can’t
come up with a reasonable plan, Raleigh
needs to do it on its own.”
Neighborhood development and several
other local government issues round out
Sartain’s campaign focuses.
Sartain will be the second openly gay man
running for a city council seat in this election
season. Owen Sutkowski announced his can
didacy for Charlotte City Council in late May.
Mark Kleinschmidt, currently a member of
the Chapel Hill Town Council, is also running
for mayor there.
But Sartain wants to be known for more
than his sexual orientation.
“I’m not particularly keen on being called
the'gay candidate,”’ Lee Sartain, a 2009 city
council candidate in Raleigh, told Q-Notes.
In today’s time, Sartain said, gay and lesbian
people actually have a chance to run for office
and make a difference on a range of issues other
than those pertaining to the LGBT community.
“One of the things that strikes me in 2009,
is that if you look back over history and you
look back to Harvey Milk — that was 30 years
ago and he was the gay candidate,” Sartain
said.“In 2009, you are not the gay candidate.
You are just a candidate. I don’t necessarily
think it is helpful for the community to run as
the gay candidate. If you are, you might not
even get my vote.”
Sartain said he’s always been involved in
public service. “This is certainly a way to be
involved in a more significant way,” he said of
his campaign.
“A lot of people have it in their minds that
maybe they want to run for office, but they
never take that next step to dojt,” he said.
“They get involved in lobbying and the legisla
tive process, but they don’t take that leap and
put themselves out there as a candidate.”
Sattain worked for the Friday Institute for
Educational Innovation, a part of the College
of Education at N.C. State University. He is a
member of the Wake County Library
Commission and is active in the life of his two
churches. White Memorial Presbyterian and
Pullen Memorial Baptist.
In the past, he’s served in various church
roles, including a stint as interim minister of
young adults. As a student at N.C. State
University, Sartain worked with the school’s
LGBT student organization. I
info: wwwjartainfotTaleigh.com
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QNotes