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Out Foxxed: Mayor Won’t Seek Reelection

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No real shocker here. Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, hot on the tails of speculation that he’s been shortlisted for a cabinet position in the Obama Administration, announced today that he isn’t seeking reelection for another term as the Queen City’s majordomo.

“As we get older, we remember things shared by our elders when our own proving time comes,” Foxx waxes in an oddly rambling statement released Friday. “My grandfather often paraphrased the book of Ecclesiastes when he said, “There is a season for everything under the sun.” I remember his words as I announce today my decision to not run for re-election.”

A more appropriate Biblical reference for Foxx’s decision might be pulled from Galatians: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Despite the self-serving trail of accomplishments Foxx cites in his press release, his arguably biggest feat as mayor came from landing the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, a task that consumed the bulk of his second term and left the city baked in the national spotlight under equal parts praise and derision, not to mention in debt from a DNC party that couldn’t pay its bills.

Along the way, Foxx lost control of his own party, which despite having a super majority on the city council has been marred by bitter infighting and pettiness, a reflection of its leadership at the helm. The city’s relationship with legislative leaders in Raleigh is in equal disarray, with Foxx either unable or unwilling to let partisan sentiments take a back seat to progress.

Meanwhile, Charlotte still is absent a capital improvement plan, due in large part to Foxx’s misguided demands to include an exorbitantly expensive streetcar in the mix; a whole swath of south Charlotte in clamoring for secession; and the former city manager, Curt Walton, left office bemoaning Charlotte as a city on the decline.

Even absent a shot at a position in the Obama Administration, Foxx’s decision to not seek a third term as mayor can be equally explained in two snapshots:

Quite the legacy Foxx leaves in his wake.

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