Friends,

Voting for Concord City Council has begun!

I invite you to vote for me ASAP!

Because of anticipated low turnout, every vote is absolutely crucial (especially your vote for me).

Everyone who votes in the city votes for all four open council positions (3 candidates are running unopposed).  I, unfortunately, have three opponents on the ballot.

Absentee voting has begun and over 100 people have already requested ballots (including some folks in nursing homes and at college). You and family members may vote absentee by mail by contacting the Cabarrus County Board of Elections by phone (704-920-2860), email (www.cabarruscounty.us/elections), or mail (P.O. Box 1315, Concord, NC, 28026-1315).

Early one-stop voting begins tomorrow at the Cabarrus County Board of Elections at 369 Church Street North (the Old Cabarrus Creamery):

• October 16 to 18 (Wednesday to Friday) from 8am to 5pm.
• October 21 to 25 (Monday to Friday) from 8am to 5pm.
• October 26 (Saturday) from 9am to 3pm.
• October 28 to November 1 from 8am to 5 pm.

I (and some other friends) plan to be at the Board of Elections voting site during many of these hours to greet you.

Let’s get out the vote! You vote. Take a friend/family member/neighbor to vote. Encourage a friend/family member/neighbor to vote.

Almost without exception, the person who wins the early voting wins the election. With your help I will be successful.

Many thanks for your support.

Andy

For the past two weeks, I have been traveling to national parks with my brother. A great trip to some amazing parts of our great nation.

While riding in the truck (3,300 miles thus far) and camping in the outdoors, I have had lots of time for reading.

In addition to some easy adventure books, I have been reading some serious philosophy. I minored in philosophy in college. I have re-read about 900 pages by 60+ philosophers, from the pre-Socratics before 500 BC to the British romanticists in the 1800s.

A few brief observations.

First, all of these philosophers are significantly brighter than I. I am in awe of their ability to think and enable me to see the world with new eyes.

Second, a primary concern among our world’s greatest thinkers has always been how to live together with other people: from Plato’s Utopia to St. Augustine’s City of God and City of Man to Thomas Hobbes’ reflections on monarchs and subjects to John Locke’s emphasis on the duty of society to support life, liberty and freedom.

All these brilliant people yearned for a human society – one in which all people work together for the good of all. None of them agreed on how to create a perfect society, but all of them aspired for a better society.

No one is an island. We all live in community. We all must work together for the sake of every person.

As I reflect on the possible opportunity to serve on the Concord City Council, I am reminded that political office is never about what one gains but how one serves others. The best human communities are those where everyone cooperates together to benefit everyone.

I hope that all our leaders and I may learn from these philosophers to create a better Concord.

I have a fundamental understanding about how public servants must operate. True servant leaders serve without desire for money, recognition, advancement, or privilege. The reward is the joy one finds in serving.

These six core values that will guide me on the City Council:

• Excellence: I will serve in a manner that exceeds expectations of the whole community. I want to enable Concord to become an even better city of excellence from police and fire protection, utilities, roads, parks and greenways, housing, and more.
• Accessibility: I will be available to respond to emails, phone calls, and individual conversations. Everyone’s voice matters. You deserve to have your questions answered promptly.
• Accountability: I will assume responsibility for decisions made. You deserve to know who decided what and why. We will not always agree. But you will always know why I make the decisions I make.
• Transparency: I will do public business in public. This is a public office that must have open doors. Every meeting is open. Every vote public.
• Independent: First of all a citizen of Concord. I am registered neither as a Democrat nor Republican but unaffiliated. Picking up waste, providing parks, guiding smart growth, maintaining water and electrical systems, are ensuring public safety are not partisan issues.
• Inclusion: I will involve all residents and organizations within the city. For fifteen years I have listened to many voices, from the rich to the poor, from downtown Concord to the suburbs, from historic families to our newest residents, including all races, genders, and perspectives. Our diversity is a gift.

If you share these commitments, I encourage you to vote for me.