'Experienced leadership'

If you've followed the mayoral campaign, especially the debates, you know it's John Lassiter's motif, the term he invariably uses when asked why he wants to be mayor and why he thinks we should elect him.

There's a significant quality-versus-quantity gap that undermines his claim. It has to be the right kind of experience and leadership, and there's a difference between length and depth.

Since he graduated from the law school at New York University in 1996, Anthony has:

• Worked in all three branches of the federal government, as a law clerk for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit; as a trial attorney for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Voting Section; and as counsel for the House Judiciary Committee.
• Served on a number of boards, including the Mecklenburg County Education Budget Advisory Committee, the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Foundation Board and the North Carolina Dance Theatre Board.
• In four years on the City Council, spearheaded the business corridor plan to revitalize underserved Charlotte neighborhoods; helped lead the effort to fully fund the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's requests for additional police officers; and served as chairman of the Environment and Transportation committees.
• Become a successful lawyer and raised a family.
  

Since he graduated from the Wake Forest law school in 1980, when Anthony was 8, John Lassiter has:

• Served on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and City Council, including chairmanship of the Economic Development and Planning committee.
• Spearheaded the Arts and Cultural Facilities plan and the rental car tax hike to pay for it.
  
• Served as president of the Mecklenburg County Bar.
• Served on the boards of several local organizations, such as Crisis Assistance Ministries, Charlotte Center City Partners and the Charlotte Regional Partnership.
• Become a successful lawyer and business owner and raised a family.

Laudable achievements all. But it's no stretch to say that Anthony has done as much as, or more than, Lassiter in less time. And Anthony, having served in government, with ties to the current administration, and having grown up fatherless in a minority neighborhood on the west side, has a depth and breadth of career and life experience Lassiter can hardly begin to fathom.

And although we'd never disparage Lassiter's years of service to his community, it's been fairly narrow, restricted to tried-and-true Charlotte governmental, business and cultural interests. Again, nothing wrong with that. But as Charlotte grows in size and continues to jockey with larger cities for funding, economic development projects and prestige, doesn't it make sense to elect a mayor with experience moving in circles inside and outside the 704 area code?