11/2 Letters: Mayor candidate Charles Francis defended after EqualityNC revokes endorsement

Regarding “LGBTQ rights group revokes endorsement of Democratic candidate for Raleigh mayor” (Oct. 23): Here are some fast facts about EqualityNC revoking its endorsement of Charles Francis. Francis’ donation to George Holding was based upon Holding’s support for community banking, a form of empowerment-based economics that falls under the umbrella of micro-finance. This was before Amendment One, which Francis couldn’t have foreseen.

Francis spoke for then-Republican State Sen. Fred J. Smith once at a campaign event long before Amendment One and HB2. Francis and Smith have been friends for over 30 years and it was in that capacity that Francis spoke for Smith.

EqualityNC stated that Francis has “courted” Republicans. All three mayoral candidates were invited to a Republican conference. Francis attended. McFarlane said in the debate that she would have gone had she not had another commitment. Both candidates have received donations from Republicans. Francis feels it is important to have good working relationships with all Raleigh residents, including Republicans, in order to best serve as mayor.

Not only does Francis state unequivocally that he supports and will support the LGBTQ+ community and LGBTQ+ rights, he provides specifics. The city currently does not offer inclusive health care benefits to all transgender people who are city workers. The city’s Human Relations committee cannot mediate complaints about discrimination. Francis has advocated for these protections. He has also advocated for more LGBTQ+ representation on our police force so that police are trained and knowledgeable about how to best protect LGBTQ+ youth and individuals.

You can be a proud Democrat and also care about bipartisanship and working together to create solutions to our city’s current problems. Our country is in such shambles due to the fact that many politicians refuse to listen to one another and work together.

No ‘reform’

Republican tax “reform” is the real hoax in today’s political world. What they call reform would actually cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, big corporations and now, we learn in “Trump’s $700 billion gift to wealthy foreigners? Tax reform” (Oct. 28), give $700 billion to wealthy foreigners.

And apparently Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) has only been masquerading as a deficit hawk. The budget Walker voted to support would add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. For years, Walker has railed against budget deficits while he has supported taking away health care from regular Americans who benefit from the ACA, Medicare and Medicaid. He recently voted against aid to Puerto Rico. But when it comes to tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and big corporations, Walker is A-OK with adding to the deficit. What we need in Washington are real reformers. We, in District 6, need a representative who listens to regular folks in North Carolina, not the Koch brothers and their ilk. Those are the real beneficiaries of Republican tax cuts.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "11/2 Letters: Mayor candidate Charles Francis defended after EqualityNC revokes endorsement."