He probably costs the city less than $50,000 in real dollars when his salary, travel expenses and incidentals are all figured in. What the city is getting for that, though, isn’t entirely clear. McCrory is an ace schmoozer who has collected a long list of national organization and committee titles and useful political connections while sucking up to national political and bureaucratic types. We have no doubt this will further his political career. But what has he done for Charlotte lately in terms of major initiatives, programs or even ideas? The last one that comes to mind was the mass transit tax in 1998. That was six years ago. Since then, exactly what use he has served, other than playing the role of a smile in a suit, is up for debate.
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2004.
