Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2014 Report #1

This past Monday (July 21) I was shocked by the words of Mooresville constituent. I was collecting the last of my required signatures to be an official “write-in” candidate for Congressional District Nine, and this young man wanted to talk a minute about issues. Well, halfway through that he says, “I would not send my kids to heroin high school.”

He was referring to Lake Norman High School. I had already learned, since coming home to enter politics after my education, that serious narcotics were replacing alcohol and weed among Iredell County high schoolers. But for a school in my home county to be called “heroin high” really troubles me.

From day one of my campaigns, I have said the right to liberty is the right to education. How can North Carolina or America claim either to love liberty or to love children and be cutting off their support of public education and many other resources to nurture and guide youth.

Kids and young people generally are going to be looking for lots of interesting and fun activities, and if we the people do not help provide positively constructive activities, in schools, after school, and beyond, the terrible drugs are today so available, that the most ignorant or worst kids will lead our other children because we stopped doing our part.

There's no excuse for this. In Raleigh and Washington there are politicians working to do anything other than help the people with government. They have only bogus reasons to cut, cut, cut; anybody who still buys the national debt panic is not paying attention.

When you cut education and other community development activities, our kids are going to do more drugs and commit more crimes and ruin more lives.

Other campaign news

Supporters and friends, I am glad to announce that as of yesterday (July 22) the Election Board has certified me as fulfilling the signatures requirement to receive your vote in November as a write-in candidate.

You recall some months ago I had to abandon my effort to obtain over 20,000 signatures (plus address, birthdate) to have my name appear on the November ballot as “unaffiliated.” So now I have completed an easier task by gathering a smaller number of voter signatures. And that frees up more time to campaign.

More importantly, I made my first campaign speech at a public event Saturday (July 19). Though there was drizzle from the sky, the Inglewood Community Reunion at the ESC-Troutman Park was well attended, and I believe they liked my talk. I emphasized how Inglewood neighborhood was a very important part of my growing up because I learned many permanent lessons about friends, family and real community life.

Tony Davenport, a teacher at North Iredell, was in the crowd, and Tony was in my speech. I knew Tony coming up in my hometown; after high school he took a college degree and came back home to become a teacher. I worry about the decisions in Raleigh and Washington to cut education funding maybe causing us to lose a good teacher and a good coach. “I always respected Tony's work and progress, and feel as though people should increase and not decrease the respect we have for men and women who work hard and succeed,” I said Saturday.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #4

My latest week got split in half. Friday morning I started another trip to Alabama to attend and participate at the naming of a street in Tuskegee in honor of Amelia Boynton Robinson, for whom I work as a consultant and to whom I look for political wisdom and inspiration. The ceremony occurred Saturday; hot and humid, a gathering of 50 people, the unveiling of the new street sign, and the presence of dignitaries – overall a success.

You can bet I was glad to hear a speech by a Tuskegee City Councilman Frank Chris Lee, he is even a younger than me, now elected thanks to the nationwide voter movement of Amelia.

That was the second part of the past week. The first three days I spent composing and printing my key handout to Troutman residents, I will personally meet and talk with – providing the keys to my positions and my qualifications for office. Ask me for one, if you see me.

When I returned from Alabama Sunday, I grabbed my camera when I saw protesters lining the sidewalk of Troutman. They were opponents of abortion and, for a minute, were shy about my camera until I took up the invitation of Ms. Robin Blackwilder to stand by her and hold one of their signs while I talked with her. Then I had conversations with others.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #3

The highlight of the past week for me was some volunteer work I did this past weekend. Friday I helped to set up and Saturday I worked at the computers for kids giveaway at Statesville Senior High. I enjoyed seeing many Iredell citizens who voted for me last November. However, it was really a joy to get to train several kids on the computers, kids who are the children of my classmates at South Iredell and Troutman Middle and Troutman Elementary. I love teaching, and catching up with old friends and acquaintances.

Yesterday (Monday) I was out filming and chatting at the Town Troutman event involving the 1,000 bicyclers of Cycle N.C. who camped in our fairgrounds and road out this morning, just starting their ride from the mountains to the sea.

Over and over I had to think to myself that this event was more of a failure than necessary and that's why the Town needs me to be an Alderman on the Board. The organizers and cyclers had hoped to see dozens of local people all ages waving flags as they arrived from Morganton here in the afternoon; they left Morganton around 7 a.m. But, folks, there were only two or three flags at a time – at one point I counted eight – in the hands of happy children, and I think we could have done better.

The cyclers didn't complain to me; they said nice things about our town. The organizers told me they figured people were all at work. But my fellow locals told me they wished there had been more than that phone call recording. I told them my marketing and promotion experiences and my many, many event undertakings tell me several ways communication from our Town to us could be better.

At the Fairgrounds, as the balloon took riders up and down, you might have seen me with one of my principal campaign workers up at that stage talking with the headliner Jeff Little; Jeff had taught my friend audio and recording engineering over at GTCC. Jeff very much pleased the crowd with bluegrass music. When I said “you might have seen me,” I have to say it was easy because we were the only two blacks in the audience.

I also, this past week, launched a new campaign web page at Facebook; you can get there by googling me or by typing in my name at Facebook. As of the minute I'm writing this, the site has already 101 “friends.”

This morning I spoke at the Bristol Road Community Center in Statesville, where a number of Troutman residents attend events weekly. “Support Your Young Politicians” was the theme of my speech. Before and after my talk, I shared conversations of meaningful depth with a half dozen individuals. The audience was around 50.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #2

Most of my campaign work the past week has been on social media. I took photos of panhandlers at the I-77 Exit 42 who were standing at the bottom of the exit ramp, and I posted them on Facebook with a caption explaining that the Town of Troutman in its future growth will have more such challenges to deal with. Otherwise, I networked with my team.

I had the chance to act in my role as consultant to Amelia Boynton Robinson, Matriarch of Modern Voting Rights, this past week. The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Museum in Memphis at the site of Dr. King's assassination wanted very much to display a photograph of Amelia, Sam Boynton and their children. I had two jobs – representing Amelia to make sure the exhibit rose to her standard and to have all parties authorize the proper release/permission form. We had to obtain the best version of the photograph from “The Selma Journal Times.”

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2013 Report #1

Hello, readers. I have not posted since last November when I got over 22,000 votes and carried Statesville but lost my first campaign contest.

Now I am resuming weekly updates because this summer I decided to run for Troutman Alderman because I do not see diversity on the board and I do see an under-utilization of our town's resources.  In November Troutman voters will choose three from among six candidates for the Board of Aldermen. So far, my campaign is going well: I have been, with or without recording them, having conversations with as many Troutman residents as I can.

Some of the other activities I will mention today are also exposing me and my qualifications to the electorate.

In August I sponsored an all-star basketball game to raise money for the Amelia Boynton Robinson museum fund.  I worked with the South Iredell High School Athletic Boosters to bring together past and present accomplished Iredell County athletes.  Everybody had a very pleasant evening, in spite of heavy rain outside. Twenty different local businesses helped me and had their names, one each, on the 20 players' shirts.

In early September I traveled to Atlanta to the Auburn research library with Matriarch Amelia, and we successfully arranged the removal of more than 10 boxes of Amelia's memorabilia from there to Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, where Amelia lives.  That's how she and I spent the day celebrating 50 years after the March on Washington and the Dream speech.

On September 9 I attended the second meeting for the Million Youth March that will be held in Charlotte in 2014.  I want to be involved in this march because the ongoing violence in Charlotte worries me, and I would like to prevent the violence from spreading deeper or further into Congressional District Nine (9).  In my documentary project STR8 OUTTA CHARLOTTE, I followed two Charlotte gangmenbers for five years, highlighting their transitions from teen to adult. 

Also this month I attended two sessions of Connect Our Future – the citizens' forum for giving our input about every kind of development and change that probably will happen to our Iredell County between now and 2050. I attended one session as a participant; at my group's table (and at five other very large tables) we spent two hours putting “chips” for new roads, new neighborhoods, protected lands, etc., onto a huge map seven feet tall (you know Iredell County is a tall, upright county). Later I went back to attend another session as a “reporter” and collector of the wisdom of other concerned citizens, our government experts, and the consultants organizing the event.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2012 Report #10

Two days after the voting ended -- thank you is my first business on this last update of my first campaign.  You will see these updates resume when I begin my next campaign.

Thanks.  This is the first time in my life that I, Shawn Eckles, have to come up with ways to thank 22,151 Iredell County voters for supporting me in the voting booths in 2012.  I am so glad I was able to meet probably most of you in these last few weeks and months.  But your vote is one of your most precious possessions, and you saw fit to choose me.  Thank you over and over.

Why did I lose my bid to be on the District Board of Supervisors for Iredell County Soil and Water?

I told my team, the day the early voting began:  "Our only enemy and danger is the so called "conservative" list -- that skinny white sheet of paper all of you saw all over county, paid for and made by the Iredell County Republican Party.

"Whoa," we thought, "Hold it right there -- why is Shawn's rival's name on that list?  If public records show him a registered Democrat, why has the other party locked him in on their all important list telling who to vote for?"  Well, I refuse to say, much less think, that either my opponent or that dominant political party had something against me personally.  However, I do know that nobody from either camp came to ask me whether I am conservative or whether I am more conservative than that Democrat the Republicans decided to help against me.  And I, also, know that I lost my race by a similar margin as some of those Democrats who did not have their names on THE LIST.

THE LIST, in fact, was my opponent's total campaign.  He didn't come out to shake your hand or talk with you.  Before this year he had already "won your vote" in two or three previous elections -- when he did not even have an opponent or any other reason to come out and educate the voters about himself or anything he's done in all these years as an elected Supervisor.

That sort of trick move (THE LIST) against me is not the only lesson my first race taught me.  Mostly I am very happy with politicking in general, and especially the real value of meeting folks by the hundreds and talking with them, learning from them, synthesizing our different views.

So you do not have to worry about me quitting the field.  Shawn Eckles will have his name on your ballot in 2014, for sure.  I cannot say and will not guess which public service office I will fight for in two years, but I will choose carefully and fight hard to be your representative at some level of government.

Back to the "conservative" topic associated with THE LIST that defeated me.  Tell me this:  Is the true conservative the man who opposes or permits fracking in North Carolina?  I say that Shawn Eckles was, is and will be your conservative on matters of North Carolina soil and water, starting with the stands I have taken this year on fracking and defending and improving the environmental quality of our Lake Norman blessings, and every other acre of my home county and state.

As you know, I do not affiliate with either traditional political party, but I will share with you my concern about the North Carolina return to the 1800s by having Republicans control all three -- the N.C. Senate, N.C. House and our governor's mansion -- does this make anybody comfortable who looks our fields, hills, forests, beaches and mountains as blessings meant for something better than a quick natural gas or oil profit?

For now, my friends, I want you to stick with me and join my team as soon as we've chosen our next objective in the political arena.  For the next two years, I will be organizing and uplifting our team.  In January you will start to hear from me at ShawnEckles.com.  Right now, you can Google me in several directions, active or historical.  Along the lines of the Iredell County Talent Shows that I produced in May in Statesville and in November in Mooresville, you can count on me to bring people together at fun events in 2013 and 2014.

Once again, know my gratitude in my heart and my mind for your vote for Shawn Eckles this week.

Journal of Shawn Eckles' Campaign 2012 Report #9

"Two days to go before the election," Shawn Eckles said, "and I'm confident I'm getting votes all over the county."

During the last 48 hours I have continued to be on site every minute the Iredell early voting polls have been open.  Friday I went by all four early vote locations, Statesville, Troutman and the two in Mooresville.  Saturday, I had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of voters who were standing outside in the good weather at 1:00 when the polls were to close.  Since the rules allow all to finish who are in line at that time, there were so many that I talked to voters another hour until they had all gone in the booth.

Saturday night, I produced and directed the Iredell County Talent Show.  The winner is Ms. Kierra Brown of Statesville, who sang a capella.  Second place, voted by audience approval, went to a 12-year-old girl who played keyboard all by herself and sang.  Third was awarded to a rock and roll band named Chosen Rejects, a group of three high school students.

Some of you will remember, my campaign sponsored a first Iredell County Talent Show in May at West Iredell High school;  the winner in May was a pair of brothers calling themselves DyNasty.

At last night's event in the auditorium at Mooresville Senior High School, we all had a good time, and I was able to talk with more voters.

Monday I will be contacting friends and campaign supporters so that we can have our presence at the polls on Election Day 2012.  My next update here in  this space will be Wednesday, hopefully all about my victory to become and Iredell Supervisor of the Soil and Water District.