In 1976, I decided to run for Student Government treasurer at Catawba College, concerned that the place was in a death spiral dominated by an emphasis on football, beer parties and infighting between the admnistration and professors over being told to pass through football players who were not able to do the class work. I’m a pretty shy, non-social person, so me running for SGA Treasurer against a female social butterfly who had been selected by the school as their choice was very atypical for me – but to my surprise, I won the election.
Serving on the SGA as a representative was a young man (one year behind me) named Pat McCrory. We immediately hit it off as he was also an outsider upset with the direction the college was headed and wanting to communicate the things we were hearing from our fellow students to the people who ran the college (nominally a Christian college supported by the United Church of Christ). I was an accounting and business major and Pat was headed for a career in politics.
Pat McCrory went on to become mayor of the city of Charlotte North Carolina- – and served for 7 two year terms (1995-2009) – during which time the big small town that had been run by a man named Belk (of the department store chain) was transformed into a major urban city, being the headquarters of Bank of America (formerly NCNB) and Wachovia Bank, and adding many new employers. Pat McCrory’s reputation is as a very clean honest person who cooperates with business while considering the overall need of the city – exactly as I knew him to be in college.
Pat ran for governor of North Carolina four years ago and lost in a surprise – he had been expected to win easily, but the Barack Obama election may have influenced the outcome.
One of the regular readers here brought it to my attention that Pat is running again for governor of North Carolina and has a huge lead now – with Conservative Democrats defecting to support a Republican candidate for governor as the existing Governor has run the state into the ground.
I haven’t had any contact with Pat since leaving college, but am giving serious consideration to moving to North Carolina now, perhaps to help him win, or at least provide moral support. If you have read my personal story over time, you are aware I’m unhappy living in Connecticut and was already thinking about moving back to North Carolina.
Here is his web site if you want to get a sense of who he is
If this web site goes on autopilot, that might be the reason why. I don’t know what the rules are for political campaigns in North Carolina, and since I haven’t had any contact yet with him or the campaign, for now I think I can still speak freely 🙂
Pat is awesome! We would love to have you in NC. Things are looking up here.
From Asheville to Wilmington and all points in between, North Carolina is a great place and deserves someone like Pat, especially after the disaster that is Bev Perdue. And if SRG World Headquarters moves there, all the better!
Bev Perdue is a really nice lady and a really awful leader. I usually equate her Governorship with the Presidency of Jimmy Carter.
McCrory should win very big in 2012 — as Art hinted above, McCrory only lost in 2008 due to Obama’s coattails. Obama may or may not win re-election but I would be willing to safely bet that he will NOT win North Carolina this year. Unemployment here is still 10%+ in most areas and the economy is largely stagnant.
Perdue has done everything in her power to thwart the will of the people (who gave the Republicans both houses of the assembly for the first time since Reconstruction). She has issued more vetoes than any previous governor –and some in her own party even defected and prevented her veto of many other acts in the past term.
McCrory will win big and will have both houses of the assembly solidly behind him with Republican majorities along with some conservative Democrats. North Carolina’s next 4 years are definitely looking much more pro-business with lower taxes and reigning in of waste.
(I am assuming the Republicans carry through with their promises once they have the full reigns — I am an Independent and have no use for either party — just want what is best for the state and her people).
I know Connecticut has not been to your liking. Getting involved in a political campaign may be just what you need. You have a great deal of background information in the process and I have always though you would make a great speech writer.
But…I selfishly hope you will move the entire SG operation down south.
Please keep us posted.
That’s good news Art. We had that crazy Tim Kaine as Governor here in Virginia, He ran us into the ground , like Mark warner did before him.
Hey, You move to NC, we’d be neighbors then.
we visit Charlotte and Winston-Salem all the time. NC use to be a manufacturing powerhouse, a lot of furniture jobs are gone, mill towns closed up. Broyhill built Lenoir,
Now there is just a shadow of Broyhill and Bernhardt manufacturing there, it changed in just over 5 years in a big way. Mitchell Gold is hanging on in Taylorsville, but for how long ? They need a business governor, as soon as possible.
Good Idea, Have a good one Art
I made a trip to North Carolina about 5 years ago scouting out the options. They say you can never go home again, or something like that. One of the things I wondered about was how much the Spanish culture has changed the state. From afar, my impression was that as the tobacco business was dried out by the Feds, that raising hogs was filling some of the void – and the meat packing industries are typically big empoyers of recent immigrants.
As I was driving around Statesville, there was a woman being interviewed on the radio (it may have even been public radio) talking about how drugs were destroying cities like Statesville – that the South side was now dangerous even during the day, and the police are reluctant to patrol it. We lived in the area for a couple months while house shopping in 1970. I drove through the are – it was very empty with some boarded up houses – but when you’ve driven regularly through Detroit, “danger” is probably relative. It’s people who are patronizing the drug dealers most likely to be involved in related crimes.