Governor McCrory Meets With Metro Mayors | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC  -  Governor Pat McCrory welcomed members of the bipartisan North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition to the Executive Mansion in Raleigh for a series of meetings today to discuss transportation and other major issues facing the state's largest cities.

    "When I was elected I promised we were going to have continuous communications and that we'd work together," said Governor McCrory. "There are several issues important to us all. One is transportation: tying in urban and rural areas, tying in ports and the coast."

    North Carolina Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata attended the meetings to discuss the parameters of the new Strategic Mobility Formula which will determine future state funding for major infrastructure projects including roads and airport improvements. The funding changes brought about by the Strategic Mobility Formula will yield 260 projects and create 240,000 jobs during the next 10 years, 85 more projects and 66,000 more jobs than the formula it replaced.

    Also in attendance was Susan Kluttz, Secretary of Cultural Resources and a former mayor of Salisbury.

    This was the second time Governor McCrory, a former mayor of Charlotte, has hosted the bipartisan organization which he helped establish in 2001. The coalition is chaired by Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane.

    "We appreciate the ongoing dialogue because that's the one thing we as a group really want to be a part of; a part of the conversation with the governor, a part of the conversation with the legislature because we do have similar goals. We do want to see the cities thrive and be successful and be that economic engine for the state," said Mayor McFarlane.

    Attending today's meetings were Miles Atkins, Mayor of Mooresville; Andy Ball, Mayor-Elect of Boone; Bill Bell Mayor of Durham; John Bridgeman, Mayor of Gastonia; Patrick Cannon, Mayor- Elect of Charlotte; Loretta Clawson, Mayor of Boone; David Combs, Mayor of Rocky Mount; Darrell Hinnant, Mayor-Elect of Kannapolis; Allen Joines Mayor of Winston-Salem; Mark Kleinschmidt, Mayor of Chapel Hill; Lydia Lavelle, Mayor-Elect of Carrboro; Esther Manheimer, Mayor-Elect of Asheville; Nancy McFarlane, Mayor of Raleigh; J. Scott Padgett, Mayor of Concord; Robbie Perkins, Mayor of Greensboro; Sammy Phillips, Mayor of Jacksonville; Nat Robertson, Mayor-Elect of Fayetteville, Bill Saffo, Mayor of Wilmington; Jill Swain, Mayor of Huntersville; Allen Thomas, Mayor of Greenville; Nancy Vaughan, Mayor-Elect of Greensboro; Keith Weatherly, Mayor of Apex; Paul Woodson, Mayor of Salisbury and Rudy Wright, Mayor of Hickory.

    Also participating in the meetings were General Assembly Representatives Henry "Mickey" Michaux, Chuck Grady, Floyd McKissick, John Faircloth, Steve Ross and Phil Shepard and Senators Kathy Harrington and Bill Rabon.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
      govpress@nc.gov