http://66.225.205.104/LM20111028.mp3
Two years ago the race for Mayor of Charlotte had a high profile. Charlotte was guaranteed a new mayor for the first time in fourteen years. And that was big, even though the candidates were two city councilman who didn't have much name recognition. This time around the race isn't getting much attention. Mayor Anthony Foxx is now the familiar name and his opponent Republican Scott Stone is trying hard to get noticed. The Ballantyne Chili Cook-Off doubles as a candidate meet and greet. Some teenagers play a song with an apt title "Hunger for Power" as Foxx and Stone mingle and shake hands. Foxx introduces himself to a few people. "Hey, how are you?" says Steve Kreider. He then realizes he's talking to the mayor. "You don't recognize you in your apron." "Well, I've been working hard in the kitchen trying to get this chili going," jokes Foxx. Kreider is an Independent who says he leans Republican. He should be a prime target for Stone. But Kreider didn't even know Foxx was up for re-election, so he doesn't know who Stone is. But others here do. Not far away, Stone's making the rounds and people are somewhat receptive. "I appreciate you're leaning my way, if you want to keep unions from coming to Charlotte, if you want to improve the economy here, then I'm you're guy," says Stone shaking hands. He's touting a pledge he's asked the mayor to sign to keep out-of-state union workers from getting DNC jobs. He shows off a poster-size copy of it to a TV news crew. Stone's made a big deal out of this pledge. He mentions it at forums and has even taken it to City Hall with a few reporters in tow to try to get the mayor to sign it. "Does he not like that we're a right-to-work state? Does he not want to pick Charlotte over unions? Does he not want to balance Charlotte's needs over the DNC's needs? Sounds pretty straight forward, but it doesn't sound like he's willing to support it," says Stone as he shrugs his shoulders. But people don't seem too troubled over the concerns Stone raises about DNC contracts. For several of them, like John Reinecke, it's the economy in general they have on their minds. "I don't know how much the mayor can do about getting jobs here. But that would be nice to have a better job market," says Reinecke. "[The mayor's] worked for it. I'm assuming any of them would." Stone makes his way to Reinecke and his son-in-law. "Hope I can count on your support. It's less than a month away." "We'll see what we can do," says Reinecke. "Absolutely," says his son-in-law. "Good, I like that," says Stone. After Stone leaves they confess they aren't sure who they're going to vote for. Foxx hasn't done anything to upset them. The past two years haven't seen much change in the city's unemployment rate. It continues to hover around 10 percent. Foxx says he's doing his part. "We've announced 14,000 jobs. We've had net-positive job growth in the city over the last two years. We still have a long ways to go in terms of getting everyone a job, but we've made progress," says Foxx. Stone isn't impressed by the 14,000 jobs that have been announced. He says most of these are just promises. Stone is as an executive with an engineering and architecture firm based in Colorado. He says he knows business, but he says he also knows how to navigate city government. Stone has had to go through the zoning process for his projects. He's also chaired the small business advisory committee which makes recommendations to city council. He's calling for lowering property taxes to 2007 levels and loosening some regulations to the construction industry, like the tree preservation ordinance. "We have to do some things differently in construction to help investment in this community. Some regulations are just so burdensome to construction," says Stone. Like many candidates running from behind, Stone has challenged Foxx to a series of debates. Foxx committed to one debate and six community forums, including this chili cook-off. He says that's enough. As an incumbent Foxx hasn't had a problem raising money. He's raised about $600,000. Stone has raised about $100,000, a quarter of that is his own money.