David Howard, Charlotte City Council at-large

Endorsement from the Charlotte Observer

| October 22nd, 2009 | Newsroom

The mayor’s race is taking up plenty of room in Charlotte’s political circles, but with the city’s council-manager form of government, it’s the City Council that has the power to make things happen.

The council sets property tax rates, approves (or not) development proposals and adopts city budgets to fund the police and fire departments and street and sidewalk projects, among other things.

In a city roughly balanced between Democrats and Republicans, over time the council’s majority has alternated between the parties. Currently there’s a 7-4 Democratic majority – on paper. But it’s not unusual for Democrats Patsy Kinsey and Warren Turner to vote with Republicans, and on some issues, zoning in particular, party isn’t a key determinant.

We like the Democrats’ general attention to environment and social justice issues and strong support for a regional transit system. We like Republicans’ attention to fiscal responsibility and their frequent questioning whether government should be routinely offered as the first and best solution to problems. In other words, a council with a rough balance among the varied philosophies found throughout the city will be a stronger council, even if not always an efficiently unified one.

Of those eight, we recommend Susan Burgess, Edwin Peacock III, David Howard and Tariq Scott Bokhari.

Among potential newcomers, David Howard stands out for several reasons. He has shown impressive civic leadership, including serving on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, two years as chair. He’s a vice president with the nonprofit Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, which is a well-respected affordable housing developer. He brings a sophisticated and much-needed grounding in the complexities of low-income housing. He understands, for instance, that just building subdivisions more cheaply is not a smart affordable housing strategy (despite arguments being pushed by some developers who want to gut key city policies).

See the original article in the Charlotte Observer by clicking here.