With Democratic legislators in the audience, two of the Republican candidates on Charlotte’s election ballot made their case that Raleigh Republians had gone too far in their attempts to remake North Carolina.
And Peacock, a former two-term City Council member, lit into the current council for the way Council committed millions to one of the richest NFL teams in the nation.
Mayoral candidate Peacock had been scheduled to appear with his opponent in the Sept. 10 primary, along with GOP candidates facing off in primary contests in Districts 6 and 7. None of those Republicans attended the Forum. There is no primary in the GOP at-large race, but Peterson showed up and Peacock immediately beckoned him to the speaker’s table.
From later comments, it appeared that Peacock has an interest in showcasing not only the moderate views of the Republicans running, but their diversity. He took credit for Vanessa Faura being on the at-large ballot in November. Faura, a native of Peru who came to Charlotte by bus in the late ’90s, co-founded a business, is working on her third degree from Queens University, and is currently serving on N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory’s Advisory Council of Hispanic/Latino Affairs.
Today’s Forum included introductory comments by Peacock and Peterson, then a Q&A session.
Introductory comments
Q&A Part 1
Q: What are your views on a commission to run the airport? On ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council? And the trolley should be a dead issue, right?
Q: House-hunters always want ‘good schools.’ You use the term also. What is your definition of a ‘good school’?
Q: What proposals should have been on the table to tether the Panthers to the city?
Q: What’s your perspective on how the black-white achievement gap occurred? And what do you think should be done about it?
Q: Regarding economic development, what can be done to place grocery stores in the ‘food deserts’ of this city?
Q&A Part 2
Q: What would you do to support or oppose those in Ballantyne who would like to secede from the city?
Q: Can you do anything to promote bipartisanship and an end of warfare between the rich and the poor? Can America become America again?
Q: You’re both sounding very moderate this morning. But if you’re elected, will you change your colors?
Q: What can we as a city, community and state do right now to get beyond the reputation created for the state by the recent session of the General Assembly?
Q&A Part 3
Q: How would you revive the moderate wing of the Republican Party?
Q: Did you support the Voter ID bill and why?
Q: The Republican Party in the South is not the party of Lincoln, but an outgrown of the Dixiecrats and racists of the Democrat Party. Have either of you considered forming another party?
Q: Racism has created inestimable damage among black people. How would you correct that damage?
Q: Do you support reform of child custody laws to encourage the maintenance of two-parent families?
Q: Has the Republican party tried to recruit more blacks and other minorities to offset “all the old white mailes with cowboy hats”?
Q: What are your views on vouchers?