David Howard, Charlotte City Council at-large

Meet the Candidates: City Election 2009, David Howard

| August 20th, 2009 | Newsroom

David Howard (Democrat)

Occupation: Vice President of Special Projects & Community Affairs, The Housing Partnership
Education: Bachelor’s in sociology, UNCC
Age: 39
Family: Married, three children
How long have you lived in Charlotte? All my life
What neighborhood do you live in? Steel Creek area
One thing you want voters to know about you: That I’m a solution-oriented leader and that I won’t be afraid to take on the hard issues.
Web site: www.votedavidhoward.com

Fifteen candidates are running for the four at-large seats on the city council. The Mecklenburg Times will interview candidates before the Sept. 15 primary election, after which the top four vote-getters from both the Democratic and Republican parties will continue to the Nov. 3 general election. One Libertarian also is running for office.

If elected, how would you carry out your promises differently than other candidates?
The first thing I would do is not make promises if I don’t see how to make them work. One of the advantages of being from Charlotte is I have seen the way Charlotte has grown. The leadership was very intentional, they planned ahead, they were practical and innovative in their approach.

Those are the lessons I’ve learned from not only living here, but also having mentors that have made Charlotte what it is. I’ve been involved over the years with a lot of those hard issues and I know how we worked through them. I’ve actually been at the table 20 years, in some capacity or another; I bring a lot of experience and knowledge.

Give us an example of a situation where you have shown strong leadership and decision-making.
In 1993 I was the part of the creation of Mothers of Murdered Offspring after my god-sister was murdered by a serial killer. Back then the relationship between the police department and the community was just not good. … Instead of beating them up, I worked with veteran officers on coming up with a 10-point plan on how to improve relationships with the community and police department. Some thought we were just going to blast them for what they didn’t do. We didn’t; we helped those relationships. I’m proud of that because it changed the whole dynamic.

The other was chairing the planning commission the last two years. Commission and development-community relations were really strained. I spent a lot of time developing those relationships. There was a body called the community liaison committee made up of reps from all elected bodies in Mecklenburg County, with the sole purpose of coming together and talking about growth. Over the years it went to the wayside; no one came to meetings. … Now they get together on a quarterly basis. … The committee was going to die, and now it is a useful tool. I’m not looking for a lot of spotlight, but the city council is the logical next step for me.

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