Q&A: Charlotte’s new mayor-elect on LGBT equality
Anthony Foxx committed to amending non-discrimination policies, other LGBT-inclusive changes
by Matt Comer. Q-Notes staff
/ n November, Charlotte voters ushered in a
new era of local government, electing the
city’s first Democratic mayor in 22 years
and an historic 8-3 Democratic majority on
city council. A number of city council candi
dates, as well as Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx,
have expressed their support of the LGBT
community and have said they’ll seek to make
LGBT-inclusive changes at the city level,
Q-Notes spoke with Foxx via telephone just
two weeks after his election victory, discussing
the general state of Charlotte, his top priorities
upon taking office in December and his plans
for supporting the LGBT community.
So, now you’re the new mayor elect.
How’s that feel after campaigning for
it and working toward it for so long?
It feels good. Obviously it is a challenging time
for the city and for the country, but that’s pre
cisely that kind of time when you need leaders
who have a proven resiliency and new ideas
on how to tackle old problems and the
courage to follow through. I’m looking for
ward to serving.
You’ve had a couple weeks since the
election to reflect on your campaign.
Looking back, what are you particu
larly proud of, and in meeting con
stituents what did you most learn
about the needs of Charlotte and
her citizens?
I’m proud of the positive campaign that we
ran. I thought it was important for our city in
a time like this to really have a good debate on
the issues, but not on personalities. I think we
accomplished that. In terms of what I learned
from citizens, I learned what I suspected,
which was that not only is the community
changing, but the community has changed.
The leadership that we’ve had in place has
governed under an outmoded leadership style
and what I’ll endeavor to do is be a lot more
inclusive, a lot more focused on acknowledg
ing the changes that have occurred in the
demographics of our city and pushing to
make Charlotte a place that’s known as an
even more welcoming place than it has been
in the past.
You’re the first Democratic mayor
here in 22 years. The last, of course,
was Mayor Harvey Gantt. Do you
think the voters’ decision to elect you
is an indicator that the city is start
ing to turn bluer, more solidly
Democratic?
You know, maybe. That may be true. Ifs really
hard to say. Clearly this was an off-year elec
tion. The mayor’s office was probably the
biggest race on the ballot. In those years you
see a dramatic drop off in turnout and I was
actually surprised by the extent to which
turnout was low this time. It was lower than it
has ever been in the other two times I’ve run.
Maybe that has to do with the economy or has
NEW YEAR'S
WEEKENI7
with Plue Moon Now Year's Eve Party
Vinner
Jeff Jarnienn
February 12-14tb 2010
Selling out fasti
For Entry Details:
www.fCcdubs.org
December 30 - January 2
to do with people being worn out from 2008.
I’ve seen an analysis that says 49 percent of the
voters were Demoaatic, which roughly tracks
the percentages [of registered voters] in the
city. We’ve had a rim of Republicans who’ve
been able to attract Democratic support and
independent support. This time, I think some
of that independent group and some, of those
Democrats who had supported Pat McCrory
chose to support me this time. I think it is an
indication of the kind of campaign we ran. In
local races I think you tend to see people vot
ing more for individuals than the party. I think
that was true this time as well.
LGBT folks are citizens too, so other
than specifically LGBT issues, what
will be some of the topics on the top
of your priority list upon taking office
in December?
Priority number one is getting the city back to
work. We’ve got an unemployment level that is
the highest in the state here in our county. If
you track the numbers of people who are also
underemployed, it even goes higher than that.
There is a lot of work to do in terms of the
short term trying to back-fill jobs in sectors
hit hard and longer term identifying sectors
with long-term potential and working with
our community colleges and school system to
orient ourselves to the jobs of the future.
There is a lot of work ahead of us on that.
In addition to that, one critical need that I
see for our community overall is for leader
ship to be a lot more communicative about the
problems we face and the solutions available
to deal with those problems, whether that be
the economy, transportation issues or hous
ing. I’ll be working hard to find new ways to
communicate with the public because I think
the more we can inform residents of Charlotte
about where we are, where we are trying to
get, I think the more supportive they will be
for the solutions we end up moving forward.
On LGBT issues now — I asked you to
read at least one of my opinion
columns here in Q-Notes, I think, that
reflected a lot of the frustration LGBT
citizens have here. A lot of us work
for companies that are very progres
sive. We are protected by corporate
policies, but LGBT citizens who are
employees of the city aren’t protect
ed. One of things we’ve needed for a
long time is an inclusive non-discrimi
nation policy from the city. A lot of
people would like to see domestic
partner benefits extended as well.
When do you see the city council tak
ing up these issues?
I’d like to see the City Council move on the
non-discrimination issue very early in the
next term and I’d like to see us do that in a
bipartisan way. I know there are members of
City Council within both parties who have
Maze, Dungeon. Video Lounge, Cafe. Pride Shop, WiFi
!^min’s Catering*
Armin Desch has passion for creating magnificent dishes
and weil-pianned menues. His inspired ideas for presentation
and a love for people make for a unique client experience. The result is a
dramatic yet elegant presentation of sumptuously creative recipes.
Available for any event — including your holiday party!
Join the growing list of happy customers —
Call Armin today.
Holiday Discount
10% OFT
An order of $500 or more
> ■ ' y-
Expifvs Oaotmber 2Stti. 3009
On reguiarly priced items.
Cafwiot be used towards prevkMsty booked
or diKDunted orders.
Cannot be combined wdth any other offers.
SomecKdudoRsmayapp^-
VWd towards food purchase on^
email:
armincat@bellsouth.net
704.947.1670
www.arminscatering.com
NOVEMBER 28.2009