McFarlane Wins Raleigh Mayoral Race
Julia Dent, Staff Writer
On October ii, Nancy McFarlane
was elected as the second female
mayor of Raleigh. According to Matt
Garfield in his article “Raleigh Voters
Choose McFarlane as Next Mayor,”
McFarlane swept Raleigh’s first open
mayoral race in over a decade in all
precincts, winning 6i% of the votes
with opponents Billie Redmond claim
ing 30% and Randall Williams finish
ing with 9%.
McFarlane is following in the foot
steps of her predecessor and endorser
Mayor Charles Meeker, a Democrat
who decided not to run again after
serving five terms. She holds him in
high regard and hopes to continue
what he has done for the city.
“The thing I’ve heard the most is
that people love Raleigh, they love
where we are and they want to stay on
the right track going forward,” said
McFarlane on the day of the election.
She continued, “Mayor Meeker has
done an incredible job over the past 10
years. I’m honored that he thinks I can
lead the city” (WRAL News).
McFarlane announced her candidacy
in May, running as an Independent.
“She ran on a platform of ‘continuity,’
praising the city and promising to keep
things on their present course,” said
Dr. Rebecca Duncan, of the Meredith
College English department. McFar-
lane’s wehsite lists her copious experi
ences at leading and keeping Raleigh
on its “present course,” as she served
two terms on city council, is a small
business owner, volunteered in class
rooms and at PTA, and was the presi
dent of the homeowner’s association of
Greystone residential neighborhood.
Garfield said that McFarlane attri
butes these roles as her key to leading
Raleigh on the road to success and
says that she “learned how to be a good
listener at the grassroots level, where
people are more concerned with solv
ing problems than notching political
victories.”
Some of these problems that Mc
Farlane hopes to solve listed on her
website include sustainable develop
ment and protection, enhancing the
economy, improving schools and
parks, strengthening neighborhoods,
creating jobs, and expanding trans
portation. Despite losing the mayoral
race, Redmond has mentioned meeting
with McFarlane to work together on
these issuek
Both Redmond and Williams con
gratulated McFarlane with camara
derie after her win and hope to help
her in the future, as all three of them
came to a consensus on many topics.
“The biggest challenge we had is that
we are all nice people,” said Red
mond according to Garfield, “We all
sounded alike. Differentiation was the
challenge. I told them the other night
at the forum, maybe we should just
job-share.”
WRAL News’ article “McFarlane
Elected Raleigh Mayor” stated that
Williams agreed with Redmond and
said, “It’s good for Raleigh in many
ways there was a consensus among
the three candidates on the major
issues. The fact we’re able to work to
gether and conduct a campaign is one
reason we’re the Number One place
to live in the United States. I think
the thing that’s impressed me is that
I think all three candidates were in it
for the right reason. I think they all
just love Raleigh.”
In “Raleigh Gets Second Woman
Mayor,” by Sommer Brokaw, McFar
lane does indeed seem to love Raleigh
and wants it to continue to prosper,
as she was quoted praising the city
saying, “I have a vision for Raleigh
as a true world-class city that provides
choices as to how we live, work and
play. But I want to make sure that we
always retain the beauty and charm and
sense of place that makes us Raleigh.”
As for being Raleigh’s second fe
male mayor, McFarlane seems to share
many of the same interests as the first
one, the late Isabella Cannon. Cannon
served one term as mayor from 1977
until 1979, and, like McFarlane, she
took city planning seriously and focused
on improving residential areas. As for
being women, that did not seem to hin
der or distract the voters from electing
them.
“It didn’t matter so much that [Can
non] was a woman,” says Duncan,
“It is possible that opportunities are
more open to women at the local level,
because the candidates’ actions and
records are more important than an
image they convey...[Cannon’s and
McFarlane’s] campaigns were much
more about issues than about individual
candidates.”
McFarlane will be officially sworn in
as mayor of Raleigh in early December.
Until then, she will continue planning
for the future of Raleigh and its citi
zens.
Female Football Kicker at South Johnston High
Sarah Potratz, Staff Writer
Of course, we girls have watched at
least a few football games, picked up
a football a time or two, participated
in the powder-puff football game in
high school... but how many of us can
say that we have joined a high school
football team? At South Johnston High
School, senior Morgan Gatlin has be
come the Trojans’ new star kicker.
A year ago, family friend Mike Car-
roll, father of a former South Johnston
football player, mentioned the idea of
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Gatlin’s putting her soccer skills to use
and lending a hand - or, rather, a foot
- to kick for the team. Although Gatlin
did not have much experience with
football, she was willing to give it a try.
According to Tim Stevens, a reporter
writing for the News & Observer, Gatlin
said, “I don’t know what made Mr. Mike
think that I could do this except I have
a tendency to shoot high in soccer and
knock it over the goal.”
Apparently, Carroll was not the only
one who saw potential in Gatlin. During
a physical education class last Decem
ber, then-coach Joe Salas watched
intently as Gatlin kicked the football.
It was clear that she had the talent, but
she needed to develop accuracy in order
to become the Trojans’ new extra-point
kicker. Salas asked Gatlin to practice
her kicking every Friday, and Gatlin
followed through with weekly kicking
practice, joining the team for summer
training. By the time football season
came around, she was just as ready as
the rest of the team.
So far this season, Gatlin has been
consistent in scoring extra points. Ac
cording to the News and Observer, she
has made 32 of the 38 extra point at
tempts thus far, and she estimates that
she could hit from roughly 40 yards out.
While Gatlin has worked hard to
earn her title as the Trojan’s kicker, is
she pushing more than the next down?
Although many might view Gatlin’s
decision to join South’s football team as
pushing the social boundaries, surpris
ingly enough, there has been a great
amount of social acceptance. According
to the News & Observer, South John
ston’s new coach Shane Dular observed,
“The guys knew her and figured she
could help us. She was accepted right
away. I think the guys just love her to
death. And she’s helping us.”
After reading the article, “South
Johnston Finds Female Kicker a Quick
Study,” Meredith College Athletic Direc
tor Jackie Myers noted, “Even though it
definitely goes against the norm, I think
it’s great that she’s been able to help
out the team and they’ve embraced her
doing so! It’s cool too how she knows
and accepts that the other kicker who
is a guy is stronger overall but that she
has more accuracy within her dis
tance range. That way they both get to
contribute and that’s what teamwork is
all about—each one giving their best to
help the team achieve success.”